They should be. The problem is that there are very little barriers to entry to these start ups and as such, pretty much anyone can start one and have a visa.
The problem with setting benchmarks are where do you set them? There is already a program know as the EB-5 program that requires you to invest $1MM ($500k in economic development zones) and create 10 jobs and after 3-4 years you can get a green card.
The US does offer a program like this, which the author referred to, and is the EB-5 program. It requires you to invest $1MM in the US and create 10 jobs ($500k and 10 jobs in economic development zones). You can go from a visa to a green card within 3-4 years after proving your investment and the creating of 10 jobs.
I'm all for opening up the US and allowing more immigrants in. With the author's solution, who determines what is and what is not a start up? If I start a restaurant, am I not a start up? What if I start a cleaning service, a landscaping company, etc?
The author still does not understand how a P&L or balance sheet works. If you are selling a business and you can show the buyer you have a $175k contract that is profitable pending, it will only add value to the business. Showing guaranteed revenue and income to a potential buyer would only make a buyer more confident in buying the business and more willing to pay more, not less.
What it seems like happened is the customer paid all or a portion of the contract in advance. As such, the business recorded an increase in cash and had a corresponding liability recorded for unearned revenue. What likely happened was this cash was used to pay expenses and/or pulled out of the business and all that was left was a liability. Thus, it wasn't the fact that he had a future $175k contract that made the business worth less, but the fact that he used the funds he had been paid with for something other than the event. Thus, the author had less cash than he should have, which the buyer deducted from the sales price.