How to start a company on a (H,TN,J,O,L,E) visa
We’re launching our Unshackled Roundtable 2.0 for future immigrant founders!
We all heard Marc Andreessen’s call “It’s time to build” but for many visionary immigrants with visas tied to their employment, it’s not so simple. For the past 5 years, Unshackled Ventures has worked to alleviate this pain point, by supporting operators to make their leap into entrepreneurship, regardless of the letter (H,TN,E,J,L) in front of their visa. We consider it our honor to help these brilliant minds realize their potential in the U.S. — we know they will build their own businesses, we just want to help them succeed faster.
With this in mind, today we’re launching Unshackled’s Roundtable 2.0, a program to reach the earliest, undiscovered and underserved future immigrant founders in the U.S. and empower them with the resources to achieve their own version of The American Dream. Last year’s program was a tremendous success, and we’re hoping to replicate the incredible community this year with a focus on immigrant operators who are ready to make their entrepreneurship dream, a reality.
Ready to apply to Roundtable 2.0? Tap this link or feel free to share with those who might have interest!
Why a Roundtable Program?
We believe that being a student does not end at graduation, and we are excited to find the undiscovered talent taking on the challenges of business building, either as a side project or recently full time. We are looking for the scrappy operators who have been thinking about their start up idea from 5–9 on nights and weekends and are ready to take the next step of their founder journey.
What will I learn?
Throughout the 12 weeks, you will learn how to: conduct customer discovery, validate the problem you are looking to solve, how to think about early product and design, tips and tricks for working with your first users, and 🔥 takes on the trials and tribulations of being a founder and raising venture funding. You will also join a growing community of immigrants who are at similar stages of business building. The community is a combination of different skillsets and can support each other in their unique areas of strength.
Who is it for?
Our first Roundtable cohort (which you’ll get to chat with as part of the community we are building) came from various companies and skillsets. It included engineers and designers from Stripe, IDEO, Apple, Oculus VR, Facebook Research, Dropbox, and even some grad students!
This program is best for current (or recent) operators who are in the ideation phase and are looking to learn from industry experts and peers. We welcome applications from all 1st or 2nd generation immigrant operators who are willing and able to contribute 2 hours a week to the program. Whether you are prototyping, building an MVP or just ideating a few concepts on the side — we’d love to hear from you. Even if you only have half-baked ideas, as long as you have the itch to start something, the Roundtable program is a safe place for you to experiment. The program is free of charge, does not require you to leave your current job (sessions will be in the evenings) and will be totally confidential (we respect your timing and the relationship you have with your current employer).
Who will you learn from?
We’re excited to offer a curated curriculum that includes touch points with our investment team, founders, VC network and specialist immigration experts. Each session will have a goal and action items to lead you through your business building process.
Past Speakers include:
When is the Roundtable?
The Roundtable 2.0 program will run from October 13th to December 16th with bi-weekly 90 minute calls and ad hoc events throughout the Fall.
If this sounds interesting to you, apply here! Applications close September 30th at 12pm PST.
