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:
| 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.