And, just to be perfectly clear: I don't have anything against those H1B people themselves who are actually competent at their work; if I were in their situation, I'd do the same thing. My beef is with the companies who a) set up in the US but b) systematically exclude American workers and c) egregiously exploiting the workers they DO bring in, while d) complaining that they “can't find qualified people.” The fact that there ARE people available who are far more qualified/experienced than the ones being brought in just adds insult to injury — for both the Americans and the visa holders (who usually figure out how screwed they are within days or at most weeks after starting).

I'd love to see the qualification that EB-6 visa-holding founders cannot hire H1B or L1 visa holders, at least from their home country…because I've already seen forum posts aimed at these vultures I've been talking about, where the vultures are advertising “once SUVA is enacted, we will hook you up with visa holders who are also from (the home country).” I'm counting on — perhaps “praying for” would be more accurate — bad publicity slamming the door on any individuals who do try this.

If you want to come to America and start a business, great; we only ask that you hire Americans first. Otherwise, you might as well just stay put wherever you are. And I'd be willing to bet that most UK entrepreneurs considering making the move would be only too happy to play by those rules.

Nevertheless, in the last 4 years, I've notched up Ireland, India, 'on the road', and now Belize – and haven't once wished I was back living a professional and entrepreneurial life in the UK.

Maybe it's not so much that there's anything wrong with Britain – just that I've discovered I can be just about anywhere and still equally effective. (Although sadly no Veyron yet.)

It's no co-incidence that I am loitering in a nearby timezone whilst those to the north figure this new visa out. Perhaps I'll see you there.

I have just come back from an emerging market where I worked as an investment broker for 4 years. We worked with all types of investors and from a number of different countries. However, the UK investment funds were almost impossible to deal with. By the time the Brits had worked out a project might be interesting, an Arab or Asian syndicate would have jumped in and moved on and with far fewer fund managers, due diligence lawyers, accountants and tax advisors whose prime motivation often seems to be just just skimming off the top for the sake of a rubber stamp whilst simultaneously limiting their own liability (and without adding any real value).

The irony is, after passing on excellent projects time after time, the British funds I worked with would almost invariably end up investing in a truly awful project that was almost guaranteed to lose money. In one case an unscrupulous local employee had privately negotiated a backhander to promote a project internally and it was only months later (after the employee had left) that they realised what a mess they were in. They might as well have flushed c£50m down the toilet – at least they would have had more fun while they were doing it. We watched in amazement having warned them in vain. The investment managers ended up being sacked and replaced after the fund lost around 70% of its value but the new crew were identikit versions of the previous bunch. Maybe even a bit worse.

There are different approaches to investment. In my experience, the British sometimes hate to lose money more than the utility they would gain from earning a good return and as a result they often end up somewhere in between – this is why pension fund managers often fail to outperform basic yardsticks in spite of being paid huge sums. I realise this is a sweeping generalisation but it is based on my own experience and for better or for worse investors elsewhere definitely have a different way of doing things and these approaches are worth investigating. I know we did.

After a short period, the US started offering a similar deal, but cut the price for citizenship in half – invest $500K and build jobs and you could come in. If you're going to encourage real entrapeneurs you also have to be ready to compete with others that want them….

I went to grad school in Dublin and there they call it Begrudgery. In the last few months of my course, I was quite shocked by the depths of the bitterness and front-stabbing, most bizarrely it came from the folks who did the best in the course not the middle or last.

I think London is an exciting place and I know quite a few North Americans who are working in small firms or start ups in London and love it. I myself am seriously researching how I can come and live and work in London as I am a bit over California right now. ;o)

I wonder how much of your frustration is because you are British and you know the British culture, whereas maybe many of the North Americans I know in London originally missed the cultural cues you are talking about and then when they saw them, like Jessica's comment, then considered it a challenge to be taken on.

California is not a magic land, but is a place where many people from all over got sick of the Can'ts and moved to California because there are more responses of, “Cool! How are you planning on doing that? Can I help? Can I hook you up with X…”

At what point, does the culture change because folks choose to step out of the box and keep doing it?

Personally, I think the UK and the US should have a one in, one out policy for highly qualified tech folk & entrepreneurs. So, if you want to move to California to start a company, then I could move Black Phoebe Dev to London and we could each have a 3 year visa to the other's country. ;o)

A Dutch friend of mine is currently applying for the Start Up visa and he has asked two US based folks to be 'silent' founders for his firm, so that he can get the visa right away and not have to wait. You may want to consider this option.

I think what tends to happen is the smart Brits exit the UK and relish the Silicon Valley way — and don't ever bother coming back. Or do come back but understand that British can't-do culture is so engrained that it isn't going to change for a long, long time.

But on a serious note, you are spot on in many aspects. Maybe the only way to instigate genuine change is for a wave of British entrepreneurs to hit the Valley in numbers. Maybe after some time, people will wake up and attitudes may change, when people realise that their “can't do” business culture is forciing the brightest and best off-shore.

Having said that, I would much rather deal with the business culture in the UK than any other place (including Silicon Valley/SF) for a number of reasons.

I have run a search and selection company for 25 years and have
frequently recruited teams for technology 'start up's' and worked with
European subsidiaries of expanding US companies. Do you want more
detail? I have also run a couple of large events. Take a look at http://www.working2gether.net/
and some years before http://www.surfsup.org.uk.

James

However for those of us who do think differently in the UK, it does provide an opportunity in the simple fact there is less competition, however I do think it means we are much slower to roll products out, even though innovation levels are broadly similar.

Removal of taper relief on CGT in the UK in 2007 proves the short sightedness of our system, why take a risky 2-4 year investment when you could have invested in a bank back in 2007…….

My only negative prediction might be how open the US turns out to be re. immigration. VCs may be pushing for the new visas, but the Federal Government has shown itself to be pretty closed-minded; witness the ongoing H1-B debacle and various other matters of immigration policy. Or perhaps that's just my cynical, jaded Britishness showing through!

Surrounded by can't-dos, I find that it's easy to make a big impact with a can-do style. It cracks me up to be doubted and dis-encouraged so often, which would be toxic if it were not for my California blood. And who decided 'can't be bothered' was a legitimate excuse for not doing or trying something?!

Ewan, hope you and all the other CA-aiming startups can make it over there. The visas are ridiculous and I'd happily trade if we can get a scheme going. Think a bit of cultural mixing does everyone a lot of good.