We are some Harvard + international students that dealt with Visa (founders, O1's, early engineers), etc and we want to help.
If you are a highly ambitious (tech, non-tech all ok) international student now affected, we want to help offering the following:
If you are interested in any of the above, please FILL OUT THIS FORM.
Access the form here →(Gap year/full-time opportunities)
Below are companies and funds offering visa-sponsored gap year and full-time opportunities.
Neo is a startup accelerator, recruiting platform, and a mentorship community - their portfolio include rising startups such as Cursor, Cognition, Ramp, and Kalshi.
A16z is a VC firm - their portfolio include companies like Airbnb, Coinbase, Databricks, Lyft and more, with more recent investments in AI such as ElevenLabs, Cursor, Hedra, Hebbia, Thinking Machines Lab, and more.
GC is a VC firm - their portfolio includes companies like Stripe, Airbnb, Snap, Grammarly, Mistral AI, and more, with more recent investments in AI such as Together AI, Portia AI, Sapien, and more.
Khosla Ventures is a VC firm - their portfolio includes companies like OpenAI, Square, DoorDash, Instacart, and Impossible Food, with more recent investments in AI such as DevRev, Rogo, Waabi and more.
8VC is a technology- and life-sciences investment firm that both builds and backs ambitious companies across logistics, defense, healthcare, IT infrastructure, AI, and more—its portfolio features Anduril, Palantir, Ramp, Addepar, Epirus, Saronic, and many others.
Alternatively, if there are companies you want to reach out to, we're happy to see if we have any connections there.
Additional resources:
• List of startups that raised from top tier-funds recently• Another list of recent raisesIf you are ready to build something on your own, below are some accelerators that help in the process:
We are happy to put you in touch with lawyers we worked with previously, such as:
Tl;dr - aka "Extraordinary Ability" visa, often for founders, early startup employees, artists, researchers, etc
Definition: "The O1 visa is for individuals with extraordinary ability in fields like science, business, education, arts, or athletics. You must meet at least 3 out of 8 USCIS criteria (e.g. major awards, critical roles, press, original contributions). It's common among founders, early startup employees, artists, and researchers."
It's a common first step for founders and early employees. You can get an O1 visa as long as you 1- have a sponsor (self-sponsor is possible) 2- meet at least 3 out of the 8 criteria.
Examples
You need to meet at least 3 of 8 criteria listed by the USCIS and be employed full-time at a company:
Official guide from Harvard
People who want to start their own companies ASAP or join an early stage company
O1 Visa | H1B Visa |
---|---|
No lottery | Annual lottery system |
Can self-petition (in some cases) | Employer must sponsor |
Flexible timeline | Fixed application windows |
For extraordinary ability | For specialty occupations |
3 year initial, unlimited renewals | 3+3 years, then green card needed |
More alternative visa pathways coming soon...