Honest question; what numbers are you using to say it's a comparable amount? My quick search shows total 2016 expenditures of ~$3.9 Trillion. If you assume welfare is everything non-interest & defense related, that's about $3 Trillion; there's other non-welfare lumped in that number, but let's just use it anyway. That's $9,250 per person.
I really do hate that type of statement - why do people feel they can't have a family in order to make it in the startup world? I'm married, have a mortgage, have car payments, pets, etc. My income is the sole income of our household at the moment and my wife is excited every time I start a new project, regardless of the risk.
If we lost our house, cars, etc on a gamble and had to rebuild, we'd still be alive and do what we have to do to rebuild. BFD.
Hi Jim - Cleveland Local here as well. There's a few of us headed to Columbus for the event. I've attended previous SW and enjoyed it very much - I also host the Startup Drinks in Cleveland - you should check us out.
My fiancee is in the retail business (seasonal gifts, in 600+ stores). The key is finding a good sourcing company - there are some that will work on commission once you prove yourself to be a good product developer. They'll even haggle with the plants to get you multiple samples before forcing you into a production line.
4 months; I had a really good lawyer and qualified for EB1. Another thing to consider is what processing office you will go thru - the line is longer say in San Francisco than it is in Pittsburgh.
>> 'Startup funding meant series A rounds: millions of dollars given to a small number of startups founded by people with established credentials after months of serious, businesslike meetings, on terms described in a document a foot thick.'
This is a bit of a stretch in my opinion - there has always been companies taking smaller investments; whether seed from a VC, seed from an individual Angel, or borrowing money from family.
Regus offers 'Virtual Offices' from very prestigious addresses - they also have other services other than providing just an address (Office Space, Mail Forwarding, Phone Answering, Office Equipment, etc).
So am I, but I've flown to San Francisco for the last 2 years for this - contemplating applying for another year to go out and network. I have to admit, I partied a little to hard the night before SS last year with some fellow hackers and was very late for the sessions.
Ah, La Belle Province. It's been 5 years since I moved to the US, but I still have to go home for some Poutine - it's just not the same when I make it at home.
Boulder's great - good community of hackers. Startups work together to throw fun events (private hack-a-thons, discussions around new technologies, etc). They've got some great New Tech Meetups, The Boulder Open Coffee Club, etc. Good group of VCs in the area as well.