[bradleyjg]

It makes plenty of sense and it matches my experience. The UCSIS wants people that are going to come with substantial amount of money and set up a business.

They don't want someone coming in to go to San Francisco and network, pitch to investors, rapidly iterate till you find market fit, etc.

I think they should allow educated, motivated people to come into the country and give it a shot, but that's just not how the law is right now.

[mdda]

I agree that they should be more flexible (i.e. if someone can prove that they would earn more than the US average wage, it would be a net benefit to the US for them to be allowed in).

Further to the idea of coming over to SF and couch-surfing while iterating : The UCSIS wants to see 'CEOs' coming over. So that's what you need to give them. Your friends/fellow hackers may be surprised at the suit and distinguished haircut : But the picture you have to present at the Embassy (and through the documents) is one of business success being a forgone conclusion.

It goes beyond what you might do to impress a VC-like investor (who may also take a casual approach as some kind of signalling too). The UCSIS person is also getting 'invested' in your company. And they want to know that they're going to get their money back for sure. There's no equity upside for the UCSIS : They're much more like a debt investor/bank manager.