In pursuit of finding a better job, I decided to give entrepreneurship a shot. I had a bunch of ideas on my notes app. I scanned those ideas and discussed some of them with my friends. One of them stood out: a private assistant for budgeting. I decided to put this idea to the test. I took this idea and applied for a place in the top startup accelerator: Y Combinator.
YC’s application form asks questions to ensure the applicant has given enough thought to the idea. They also required a one-minute video of the founders (just me in my case) to ensure that I’m human and can speak clearly. This accelerator provides three-month-long workshops twice every year and up to $500k of funding bundled with exposure to several other funding sources.
After applying to YC on a weekend morning, I started navigating their website for other resources. I found startupschool.org. This website hosts videos and articles to teach you why and how to start a venture. On top of that, it hosts a co-founder matching platform (think Tinder for entrepreneurs). I signed up.
I built my profile and started checking profiles of potential co-founders in my region. I immediately matched with two guys - one in Albany and one in France. I met them to learn more about their ideas and startup journey so far. I was receiving requests every other day. One day, I received a request from a finance professional from Boston.
Sohil is an accountant cum financial strategist. He moved to the US from India about two years ago and was looking for a technical co-founder to develop a financial tool for small-to-medium businesses. I had a few calls with him to discuss his vision and met in person in Springfield, MA. Both of us were convinced that we could give a chance to each other and find out if we could run a company together. However, I was worried about immigration issues around running a company as an alien in the US.
I am on an H1B visa which is meant for skilled workers, not entrepreneurs. I can run a company in H1B but I have to give up control and raise money to pay myself. So, Sohil and I decided to focus on fundraising and see how it goes.
Interesting!