Workshop for international student entrepreneurs April 5
Caterina Ranieri and Anna Putintseva, attorneys with Bousquet Holstein PLLC, and Andrea Godfread-Brown, attorney with Harris Beach PLLC, will present a workshop for international students interested in exploring entrepreneurship at 10 a.m., Friday, April 5 at the Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars at Bird Library. The workshop is free and open to the entire community.
One out of every five students at Syracuse University is international, and students from 91 countries are among the more than 3,300 members of the LaunchPad. Many are interested in pursuing venture development, and charting a path to launch a life or business in the United States. That is not surprising, since immigrants founded 51% of U.S. billion dollar startups.
However, the process of pursuing a venture in the United States is still very challenging, particularly for international students and New Americans. It requires a very sophisticated understanding of the complex issues associated with the visa landscape and regulatory environment in the United States.
As SU international students engage in venture planning, what do they need to know? What do mentors, faculty members, professional service providers, and investors need to know as they offer guidance to international students? What do startup ventures need to know about building an international team? What do employers need to know about working with international students or New Americans? How can U.S. ventures hire international students? What are the “do’s and don’ts” related to a developing a startup venture in the United States for those here on F-1 or J-1 status?
This workshop will feature experts on these topics and help make it easier to understand both the guidelines and options available. The immigration and visa landscape is rapidly changing, so it is especially important to learn more about options for international students to launch ventures, be part of venture teams, or be employed by ventures.
There are many reasons to form a team with international students, especially in the connected global economy. Diverse cultural perspectives and insights also makes for better informed and more engaged global citizens – a core value of Syracuse University.
To assist with planning, please RSVP to the: LaunchPad@syr.edu
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Want to get inspired? Read this Forbes story on how international students are founding America’s great startups. Here’s a sample of international students who went on to build something amazing:
NAME, UNIVERSITY, COMPANY FOUNDED/COFOUNDED, EMPLOYEES, COMPANY VALUE
Noubar Afeyan, MIT, Moderna, 645, $ 7.0 billion
Ash Ashutosh, Penn State, Actifio, 400, $ 1.1 billion
Barry Canton, MIT, Ginkgo Bioworks, 200, $ 1.0 billion
John Collison, Harvard, Stripe, 1,100, $20 billion
Patrick Collison*, MIT, Stripe, 1,100, $20 billion
Nicolas Desmarais, Amherst, AppDirect, 700, $ 1.0 billion
Louay Eldada, Columbia, Quanergy Systems, 250, $ 1.6 billion
Borg Hald, Stanford, Medallia, 1,300, $ 1.3 billion
David Hindawi, U.C.-Berkeley, Tanium, 750, $ 3.5 billion
Arvind Jain, Univ. of Washington, Rubrik, 1,200, $ 1.3 billion
Tomer London, Stanford, Gusto, 600, $ 1.1 billion
Soham Mazumdar*, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, Rubrik, 1,200, $ 1.3 billion
Elon Musk, Univ. of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, SpaceX, 7,000, $21 billion
Adam Neumann, CUNY Bernard M. Baruch College, WeWork, 6,000, $20.2 billion
Dhiraj Rajaram, Wayne State, Univ. of Chicago, Mu Sigma, 3,500, $ 1.5 billion
Daniel Saks*, Harvard, AppDirect, 700, $ 1.0 billion
Mario Schlosser, Harvard, Oscar Health Insurance, 850, $ 2.7 billion
Eric Setton, Stanford, Tango, 500, $1.0 billion
Bipul Sinha*, Wharton School, Rubrik, 1,200, $ 1.3 billion
Vlad Tenev, Stanford, Robinhood, 250, $ 5.6 billion
Ragy Thomas, NYU, Sprinklr, 1,400, $ 1.8 billion
Andrew Thompson, Stanford, Proteus Digital Health, 300, $ 1.1 billion
Arean van Veelen, Univ. of Washington, Ferris State, OfferUp, 240, $ 1.2 billion
Renaud Visage, Cornell, Eventbrite, 900, $1.0 billion
Tianyue Yu*, Cornell, Quanergy Systems, 250, $ 1.6 billion
Michelle Zatlyn, Harvard, Cloudflare, 715, $ 1.0 billion
Source: National Foundation for American Policy; company information. *Denotes second or more international student from same company. Values as of October 1, 2018 from “Billion Dollar Startup Club,” Wall Street Journal.