Ask HN: Best countries for international grad student to bootstrap a startup
I'm finishing my master's degree in bioinformatics from the UK now and would continue for a PhD in either CS/bioinfo afterwards. During the PhD, I would also like to try to slowly bootstrap an Internet startup idea that I have in mind (not related to bioinformatics). My question is, which country would allow me to do graduate study while working on bootstrapping the start-up at the same time? For the UK, at least, people on student visa are not allowed to work on their own business during the course of their study, which is why I'm thinking of leaving after the master's. I'd considered the US too but the multi-decades timeframe required to complete the grad study there is quite scary.
Also, my current citizenship is Indonesian, so I could encounter visa restrictions for working in many western countries. Regardless, I hope this questions might be of some relevancy to others who're in the same situation as me.
PS. The matter of finding a suitable advisor in that country can be considered to be outside the scope. Thanks!
12 comments
[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 34.7 ms ] threadAnyway - to answer your question: have you looked at the Eastern European schools? Slovakia, Czech - both countries have wonderful tech uni's.
A student from outside of the EEA must not: • engage in business; or • engage in self-employment; or • provide services as a professional sportsperson or entertainer; or • pursue a career by filling a permanent full-time vacancy.
You can see that from page 71 here: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/empl...
There used to be a Post Study Visa that gave you the freedom for two years post-study to goof off/work/incorporate/whatnot but unfortunately that had been cancelled last year (just the moment when I enrolled .. sigh). However, there's an entrepreneur visa that an aspiring startup might try to aim for. However, my question specifically pertains to the cases where it would be good to incorporate (say, after the business proves to be feasible).
I talked with two guys from Germany and Australia, and both said incorporating in their respective countries was difficult. I'd research either Chile or Israel and see what their policies are.
For the entrepreneur visa, it looks like you must have 200,000 pounds in the bank, so for me that definitely takes the option off the table: http://www.visabureau.com/uk/entrepreneur-visa.aspx Feel free to let me know if you find other ways to do a startup in the UK or Europe. Good luck!
Are you solely working on the start-up? I would suggest going about your business without the need to incorporate right away. A lot of people waste a lot of time and money incorporating when they have no idea if the product can be built, is desired in the market place, or validated.
My suggestion would be to come to the U.S for your Ph.D (if visa requirements allow you to do so). You will have two years to work on your studies and then also validate your startup idea in the U.S, which may be more friendly in terms of validation and (if you moved to startup hubs) could be useful in terms of incorporating and scaling.
Whatever you decide to do, best of luck!
Also, when I mention about visa requirement, I mean the restriction on freely moving into a country and expecting to be able to work right away. Studying anywhere in the world is not much of a problem for me, visa-wise.