The estimated reading time for this post is 4 seconds
When I first went to Ireland, I worked hard on a business plan & got a business visa for many years through the Justice Department. Â It was a long process but it was doable. Â I had been trying to get funding for an online matchmaking business in London for 4 years and finally had to close the business down last year due to the difficulties in achieving that goal. Â It appears that English & Irish investors are incredibly conservative and do not seem to be comfortable with technology or online business. Â One Angel investor suggested I apply to Dragon’s Den on the BBC – they also had told me to come back when the business was making money????? Â (Remind what Angels are for anyway???) Â Being committed to doing whatever I had to give my business a chance at success, I duly obeyed. Â I got a screen test and had to pitch as if I was in front of the ‘Dragons’. Â I fluffed my figures as I had feared beforehand due to only being given 24hours notice for the screen test. Â However I even managed to turn that around. Â The camera man suggested that the ‘Dragons’ would love my pitch. Â When asked on a scale of 1 to 10 where would he place me, he said at the top. Â I gathered they had originally thought I would be ‘humiliation material’. Â In the UK going on Dragon’s Den is the only way to get attention for many startups from venture capitalists, however the show really exists to humiliate entrepreneurs & make ‘good television‘. Â One young girl I spoke with said that that is the only reason they watch the show is to see entrepreneurs humiliated. Â This is the reason why I had never considered doing it – too much pride I guess & morally wrong in my book. Â However there I was at the screen test and I was told that they would now need much more time to film my pitch (because it wasn’t humiliation factor stuff) and that I could give it a shot next season.
Soon after I saw the ad for the coming shows. Â The Dragon’s appeared as giants & the female Dragon squished a tiny ant entrepreneur into the floor with her stiletto?????? WTF Â No way Jose not for me. Â I make life hard for myself being so principled! Â However I figured life & business can be challenging enough for entrepreneurs but I wasn’t going to support a show that made went out of their way to make fun of entrepreneurs. Â Life can do that easily enough, without stepping into a setup like that. Â I had heard stories from other entrepreneurs who had gritted their teeth & bared it & gone ahead with the show. Â Apparently at one point they were running entrepreneurs up a few flights of stairs so that they would be puffed & out of breath & not prepared & then walked them immediately in front of the Dragons & the cameras????
So this is one BIG reason why English & Irish entrepreneurs need access to a Startup Visa for the US. Â It seems that particularly in Silicon Valley vcs are more educated about technology & online business & therefore know what opportunities exist. Â They also appear to be more willing to take risks well at least more willing than say European ones. Â After all there is meant to be some sort of risk with venture and therefore high returns at exit? Â Read some of the articles related to the Startup Visa like Techcrunch ‘The Startup Visa: Create Jobs, Get a Green Card’ A number of US vcs presented the bill & you can support & read more at their website.
I got a place on TheFunded.com Showcase to pitch for a dating site in January this year. Â I noted that of all 12 entrepreneurs most were originally from other countries apart from the US. Â I was the only one who came for the event but there were a myriad of backgrounds amongst the pitchers. Â We all had different challenges pitching. Â Initially I couldnt get the microphone to work properly. Â Then I had set my powerpoint to automatic pilot & of course it went out of control. Â I had sacrificed, worked hard & was determined to make the best of this opportunity so I pitched on & at the end finally caught up with the powerpoint??? Â Despite that many people congratulated me on a good pitch & Adeo Russi even came up at the after party & said that I was ‘a woman with balls’ because I had not wavered & continued to pitch despite the obstacles. Â This was a precious opportunity for me to be finally in front of Valley entrepreneurs & vcs, I surely wasn’t going to ditch my attempt.
So think of all the European entrepreneurs who struggle to get their startups recognized. Â They are just counting the days until they too have choice to join the more enlightened businesses in the US. Â So I would encourage all US people to support this bill.