How to Start a Company on a Visa — H1B, TN, E2, J1, etc.
Introducing the Unshackled Roundtable Program

We at Unshackled really believe in investing as early as possible.
So far we’ve invested in dozens of companies at the pre-seed stage and have backed independent operators through an entrepreneur-in-residence program. It’s becoming clear, however, that we need to go bigger and earlier.
Over the years we listened to countless stories of soon-to-be founders who, in addition to the typical challenges to start a company, had immigration as a crucial bottleneck. Highly capable operators that, even if offered a community of support, access to co-founders and experimental capital, still had considerable risk to deal with. Most US work visas prevent people from freely moving between projects. Jeopardizing someone’s (or their family’s) ability to stay in the US is a huge ask. For too many people on work visas, the math of starting a company simply doesn’t add up.
At the same time, we validated, again and again, the need for a space to experiment. Potential immigrant founders often tell us they need a community to discuss business ideas, understand the immigration process, do early customer validation or even to meet potential co-founders. If most people can take advantage of a community of aspiring founders, that value is doubled for immigrants.
So we decided to set out and create that space, through what we’re calling the Roundtable Program. Inspired by the many networks of talent in the Bay Area and beyond, we think that an immigrant-focused network needs to exist. So if you’re a proven operator on a temporary work visa (H, L, E, J, etc.) who’s thinking about your next move, read on and let us know what you think.
What we are building
To start, we’re creating a small group of potential founders — people who are on a visa and thinking of starting their next thing but don’t know what (or how) just yet.
The goal is to give you (1) a small cohort of highly qualified peers, (2) real-world insight on what it really means to start a business as an immigrant and (3) a safe and confidential space to test your ideas.
To accomplish that, we’ll do two things:
— 6 small in-person sessions at our offices in San Francisco, which will happen between Late February and Mid April 2020. Each session will bring in experienced people from our network to engage in frank discussion (not lectures). Things we may cover in these sessions include:
- Starting a company on a visa
- Forming a founding team/what to look for in co-founders
- Demystifying customer validation
- Building product
- Selling & going to market
- Fundraising
— In parallel, we’ll make office hours available with the Unshackled investment team. We will provide direct & honest feedback as your idea evolves. We may also, as needed, plug you into our network (depending on your area of focus and level of readiness).
Who‘s this program right for
We’re looking for 6–10 stellar operators on a temporary work visa (H, L, E, etc.) who have had a demonstrated desire to start a business but haven’t been able to do so full time yet.
There is no requirement in terms of sector, years of experience or background, but we are looking for strong talent. Most likely we’ll focus on people with 5–12 years of experience, but we encourage you to apply even if you don’t fall within that range.
While joining the program does not require you to leave your current job (sessions will be in the evenings), it does require you to be in the San Francisco Bay Area. We may experiment with virtual sessions in the future, but for now, we want to focus on creating strong relationships between participants. The entire program will be confidential (we respect your timing and the relationship you have with your current employer).
Finally, on stage: it’s ok if you’re prototyping, building an MVP or just considering a few concepts on the side. Even if you only have half-baked ideas, as long as you have the itch to start something — we’d love to hear from you. The only exception is if you are still at your job and have paying customers. In that case, this program is likely not a fit for you and we suggest you tell us more about your company here.
What we want to get out of this
Our goal is to create a safe space where immigrant founders can experiment. For that reason, the program is entirely free of charge and people who join are not expected to launch a business. In other words, there is no expectation of an Unshackled investment at the end. If an investment does come out of it (by us or another pre-seed fund) great, but it is not an expectation.
We’ll give you a curated space to discuss starting your company on a visa, with our honest feedback and support. In return, we expect you to take the exploration process seriously, which will likely require much of your free time in those two months.
If you are interested and up for the ride, let us know here. We’ll be taking applications until February 12, 2020. Feel free to email Lucas in our team at lucas@unshackledvc.com if you have any questions. We look forward to hearing from you.
