Several people on this board have consistently claimed that US would not lose talent due to retrogression, immigrants constitute only a small portion of the workforce, it does not matter if people get discouraged and go back to their country due to retrogression etc. The article pasted below shows that immigrants do contribute a great deal to the US, even brilliant people are affected by retrogression in EB3 and EB2 and the US stands to lose a lot if they are discouraged by retrogression. UN, please comment
Immigrants behind 25 percent of startups By RACHEL KONRAD, AP Technology Writer
Wed Jan 3, 11:08 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO - Foreign-born entrepreneurs were behind one in four U.S. technology startups over the past decade, according to a study to be published Thursday.
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A team of researchers at Duke University estimated that 25 percent of technology and engineering companies started from 1995 to 2005 had at least one senior executive — a founder, chief executive, president or chief technology officer — born outside the United States.
Immigrant entrepreneurs' companies employed 450,000 workers and generated $52 billion in sales in 2005, according to the survey.
Their contributions to corporate coffers, employment and U.S. competitiveness in the global technology sector offer a counterpoint to the recent political debate over immigration and the economy, which largely centers on unskilled, illegal workers in low-wage jobs.
"It's one thing if your gardener gets deported," said the project's Delhi-born lead researcher, Vivek Wadhwa. "But if these entrepreneurs leave, we're really denting our intellectual property creation.
Wadhwa, Duke's executive in residence and the founder of two tech startups in North Carolina's Research Triangle, said the country should make the most of its ability to "get the best and brightest from around the world."
The study comes nearly eight years after an influential report from the University of California, Berkeley, on the impact of foreign-born entrepreneurs.
AnnaLee Saxenian, now dean of the School of Information at UC-Berkeley, estimated immigrants founded about 25 percent of Silicon Valley tech companies in 1999. The Duke study found the percentage had more than doubled, to 52 percent in 2005.
California led the nation, with foreign-born entrepreneurs founding 39 percent of startups, even though they make up only 25 percent of the state's population. In New Jersey, 38 percent of tech startups were founded by immigrants, followed by Michigan (33 percent), Georgia (30 percent), Virginia (29 percent) and Massachusetts (29 percent).
Saxenian, also co-author of the new study, said the research debunks the notion that immigrants who come to the United States take jobs from Americans.
"The advantage of entrepreneurs is that they're generally creating new opportunities and new wealth that didn't even exist before them," Saxenian said. "Just by leaving your home country, you're taking a risk, and that means you're willing to take risks in business. You put them in an environment that supports entrepreneurship, and this is the logical outcome."
Researchers started with a list of 28,766 companies classified as technology and engineering companies in Dun and Bradstreet's Million Dollar Database, which lists companies with more than $1 million in revenue and at least 20 employees. Researchers were able to reach senior executives to determine the backgrounds of key founders for 2,054 of the tech startups.
Immigrants were most likely to start companies in the semiconductor, communications and software niches. They were least likely to enter the defense sector.
One of the study's biggest surprises was the extent to which Indians led the entrepreneurial pack. Of an estimated 7,300 U.S. tech startups founded by immigrants, 26 percent have Indian founders, CEOs, presidents or head researchers, the study found.
Indian immigrants founded more tech startups from 1995 to 2005 than people from the four next biggest sources — United Kingdom, China, Taiwan and Japan — combined.
"People who come from India are laser-focused on technology," said Rosen Sharma, who immigrated from India in 1993 and is now president and chief executive officer of Palo Alto-based management software company SolidCore Systems Inc. "They come here and they learn to tell a story and paint a vision. Once you have those two things, you're off to the races."
The Duke researchers also found that foreign-born inventors living in the United States without citizenship accounted for 24 percent of patent filings last year, compared with 7.3 percent in 1998.
Without permanent citizenship, inventors are more likely to take valuable intellectual property elsewhere — and U.S. companies would have to compete with them, Wadhwa said.
"The bottom line is: Why aren't these people citizens?" Wadhwa said. "We're giving away the keys to the kingdom. This is a big, big deal once you figure out what this means for U.S. competitiveness."
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AP Photo: Rosen Sharma, CEO of Solidcore Systems, smiles at his office in Palo Alto, Calif., Tuesday,...
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Immigrants behind 25 percent of startups By RACHEL KONRAD, AP Technology Writer
Wed Jan 3, 11:08 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO - Foreign-born entrepreneurs were behind one in four U.S. technology startups over the past decade, according to a study to be published Thursday.
ADVERTISEMENT
A team of researchers at Duke University estimated that 25 percent of technology and engineering companies started from 1995 to 2005 had at least one senior executive — a founder, chief executive, president or chief technology officer — born outside the United States.
Immigrant entrepreneurs' companies employed 450,000 workers and generated $52 billion in sales in 2005, according to the survey.
Their contributions to corporate coffers, employment and U.S. competitiveness in the global technology sector offer a counterpoint to the recent political debate over immigration and the economy, which largely centers on unskilled, illegal workers in low-wage jobs.
"It's one thing if your gardener gets deported," said the project's Delhi-born lead researcher, Vivek Wadhwa. "But if these entrepreneurs leave, we're really denting our intellectual property creation.
Wadhwa, Duke's executive in residence and the founder of two tech startups in North Carolina's Research Triangle, said the country should make the most of its ability to "get the best and brightest from around the world."
The study comes nearly eight years after an influential report from the University of California, Berkeley, on the impact of foreign-born entrepreneurs.
AnnaLee Saxenian, now dean of the School of Information at UC-Berkeley, estimated immigrants founded about 25 percent of Silicon Valley tech companies in 1999. The Duke study found the percentage had more than doubled, to 52 percent in 2005.
California led the nation, with foreign-born entrepreneurs founding 39 percent of startups, even though they make up only 25 percent of the state's population. In New Jersey, 38 percent of tech startups were founded by immigrants, followed by Michigan (33 percent), Georgia (30 percent), Virginia (29 percent) and Massachusetts (29 percent).
Saxenian, also co-author of the new study, said the research debunks the notion that immigrants who come to the United States take jobs from Americans.
"The advantage of entrepreneurs is that they're generally creating new opportunities and new wealth that didn't even exist before them," Saxenian said. "Just by leaving your home country, you're taking a risk, and that means you're willing to take risks in business. You put them in an environment that supports entrepreneurship, and this is the logical outcome."
Researchers started with a list of 28,766 companies classified as technology and engineering companies in Dun and Bradstreet's Million Dollar Database, which lists companies with more than $1 million in revenue and at least 20 employees. Researchers were able to reach senior executives to determine the backgrounds of key founders for 2,054 of the tech startups.
Immigrants were most likely to start companies in the semiconductor, communications and software niches. They were least likely to enter the defense sector.
One of the study's biggest surprises was the extent to which Indians led the entrepreneurial pack. Of an estimated 7,300 U.S. tech startups founded by immigrants, 26 percent have Indian founders, CEOs, presidents or head researchers, the study found.
Indian immigrants founded more tech startups from 1995 to 2005 than people from the four next biggest sources — United Kingdom, China, Taiwan and Japan — combined.
"People who come from India are laser-focused on technology," said Rosen Sharma, who immigrated from India in 1993 and is now president and chief executive officer of Palo Alto-based management software company SolidCore Systems Inc. "They come here and they learn to tell a story and paint a vision. Once you have those two things, you're off to the races."
The Duke researchers also found that foreign-born inventors living in the United States without citizenship accounted for 24 percent of patent filings last year, compared with 7.3 percent in 1998.
Without permanent citizenship, inventors are more likely to take valuable intellectual property elsewhere — and U.S. companies would have to compete with them, Wadhwa said.
"The bottom line is: Why aren't these people citizens?" Wadhwa said. "We're giving away the keys to the kingdom. This is a big, big deal once you figure out what this means for U.S. competitiveness."
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Studios OK technology for movie downloads AP Surprise: Blockbuster Online hits 2 million subscribers USATODAY.com Cisco to pay $830M for IronPort AP South Korea regulator probes Qualcomm AP Google, China Mobile cooperate on search services Reuters Most Viewed - Technology
Time Warner to announce dual-format DVDs next week Reuters Brazil court orders YouTube shut on celeb sex video Reuters Studios OK technology for movie downloads AP Hybrid technology to speed laptop start-up AP Upgrade makes aging Mars rovers smarter AP
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Cutting the Cord: Wireless Power in the Works AP - Thu Jan 4, 11:14 AM ET Not Just Your Boss's Smartphone Anymore ABC News - Wed Jan 3, 7:39 PM ET Conjoined Twins Successfully Separated AP - Wed Jan 3, 7:08 PM ET Plastic microchips CNN - Wed Jan 3, 6:37 PM ET
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www.goxium.com Practical Approach to SOA
Deliver reusable data services, while leveraging and protecting existing systems. SOA Web services.
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AP Photo: Rosen Sharma, CEO of Solidcore Systems, smiles at his office in Palo Alto, Calif., Tuesday,...
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^IXIC 2456.45 +33.29
^IXK 1074.99 +18.77
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Elsewhere on the Web
CNN.com
Studios sign off on movie downloads
ABC News
Fourteen-Year-Old Sails Atlantic Solo
CNN.com
EarthLink CEO dies at age 49
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