Blueseed's bonkers idea for housing non-visa having engineers in the Bay. Park a ship in int'l waters that houses 1000 engineers and ferry/helicopter in to work when needed. No H1B visa required. Skip to slides #18 & #54

1. International entrepreneurs in
international waters

2. Table of contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
There's no startup place like Silicon Valley
But there’s no U.S. entrepreneur visa
Blueseed’s novel win-win solution
What will we offer?
1. Cost of living
2. Visas
3. Questions
5. How can you help?

3. What’s the best place on Earth
for a startup entrepreneur?
Silicon Valley?
Of course
Skip next 6
slides
Tell me
more
Keep reading
R
E
A
S
O
N

4. R
E
A
S
O
N
Silicon Valley is the best place for startups
Silicon Valley is the best place for
startups – a unique combination of:
Ideas
Capital
Culture

5. Ideas – US is #1 place to file patents
R
E
A
S
O
N
Patents by office, 1995-2010
US
Japan
Republic of Korea
European Patent Office
China
Russian Federation
Germany
0
500,000 1,000,000 1,500,000 2,000,000 2,500,000 3,000,000
Source: WIPO - http://www.wipo.int/ipstats/en/statistics/patents/

6. Ideas – Silicon Valley is #1 U.S. area
Top U.S. regions by number of
US Patent & Trademark Office patents, 2006-2010
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
San Francisco Bay
Area
New YorkLos Angeles-Long
Northern New
Beach-Santa
Jersey-Long Island
Ana, CA
Source: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/cls_cbsa/allcbsa_gd.htm
BostonCambridgeQuincy, MA-NH
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7. Capital – US is the #1 region
Venture capital investment (US$b)
US
$7.70
Europe
$1.40
Israel
$0.47
China
India
Canada
R
E
A
S
O
N
$0.70
$0.20
$0.10
$0.00
$1.00
$2.00
$3.00
$4.00
$5.00
$6.00
Source: Ernst & Young - Global quarterly venture capital investment by geography, 2Q’2010
$7.00
$8.00
$9.00

8. Capital – Silicon Valley is #1 area
US venture capital investments by region, 2011
Silicon Valley
New England
NY Metro
LA/Orange County
Texas
Midwest
Southeast
DC/Metroplex
San Diego
Northwest
Colorado
SouthWest
Philadelphia Metro
North Central
Upstate NY
South Central
Sacramento/N.Cal
Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers National
Venture Capital Association MoneyTree
Report, Regional Aggregate Data 2011
http://bit.ly/PWCMoneyTree2011
R
E
A
S
O
N
Amount % of total
$11930M
$3248M
$2771M
$1986M
$1527M
$1504M
$1091M
$1019M
$892M
$781M
$627M
$565M
$485M
$382M
$119M
$115M
$67M
41.0%
11.2%
9.5%
6.8%
5.2%
5.2%
3.7%
3.5%
3.1%
2.7%
2.2%
1.9%
1.7%
1.3%
0.4%
0.4%
0.2%

9. Culture – Silicon Valley is unique
Risk taking
It’s OK to fail
World class
universities
Cultural
diversity
Engineering
tradition
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10. So you want to come to
Silicon Valley…
But you are a foreigner!
P
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11. PROBLEM
“There simply are no US visas
available for entrepreneurs”
-- American Immigration Lawyers Association,
March 2012
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLCYfhZEFb8#t=3m15s

12. No U.S. visas for entrepreneurs
Inadequate existing alternatives:
Visa type
Can
work?
Can selfemploy?
Expires
Restrictions
B1/B2 Business,
Tourist or Waiver
✗
✗
<6 mo/yr in
U.S.
P
R
O
B
L
E
M
Can’t earn income
But can travel!
E-2
Treaty Investor,
or Employee of
✓
✓
2+2+2… yrs
Not for India, Brazil, Russia, China
“substantial” investment (~$100K)
must own 50%+ of the business
can’t convert to Green Card
EB-5 Investor
✓
✓
Never
Must invest $1M+ and create 10 jobs
H1-B
Skilled worker
✓
✗
3+3 yrs
If laid off, must find new sponsor
ASAP – there is no grace period
Cap at 65,000 per year
L-1
Intra-company
Transfer
✓
✗
3 yrs
Must have worked at foreign
branch for 1+ years

13. Political solutions?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Startup Visa (Mar ‘11) - died
Startup Act (Jun ‘11) - died
IDEA Act (Dec ‘11) - died
Startup Act 2.0 (May ‘12) - died
Startup Act 3.0 – 2% chance
Comprehensive Immigration
Reform – opposed by House
Source: GovTrack.us - http://www.wipo.int/ipstats/en/statistics/patents/
No
progress
in U.S.
Congress
on
Startup
Visa Acts

14. P
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O
B
L
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M
Startup
entrepreneur
kicked
out of US
due to
visa
issues

15. P
R
O
B
L
E
M
Startup
kicked
out of US
due to
visa
issues

16. Startup
entrepreneur
kicked out
of US due
to visa
issues
P
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M

17. Image credit: siliconvalley.com
P
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18. 1
Ship located 12 miles offshore,
in international waters,
outside US jurisdiction – Bahamas flag
International waters line

19. 2
Convert the cruise ship
to a live/work/play space for 1000

20. 3
Convenient travel both ways
by ferry, helicopter
30 minutes to shore
20 minutes to Palo Alto

21. 4 Use B1/B2 business/tourist visa
to travel to mainland & stay <180 days
Average # of U.S. visas granted per year, 2006-2011
4,000,000
3,500,000
3,000,000
2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
0
H-1B (skilled
worker)
L-1 (intracompany
B1/B2
transfer)
(business/tourism)
Source: http://www.travel.state.gov/xls/FYs97-11_NIVDetailTable.xls
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22. 5
Streamlined customs checkpoint – e.g.
“Global Entry”
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program
• For frequent low-risk travelers
• Enter the U.S. by using automated kiosks

23. Work on the ship, in international waters
Travel to the US using business/tourist
visas, which are easier to obtain
Bahamas flagged ship:
• can earn income, start companies
• streamlined regulatory environment
Business/Tourist Visa:
• can travel to US, 180 days/yr
• can attend meetings, events
• streamlined border entry
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24. Where are we right now?

25. Press from A to Z
(working on Qz and Xconomy)

26. On TV – CBS, CNN, BBC etc. (click to play videos)

27. Startups that expressed interest
Latest stats at blueseed.co/come-aboard/results
1516
entrepreneurs
United States
23%
Other 34%
India 10%
496 startups
Singapore 2%
China 2%
Germany 2%
France 3%
Brazil 3%
Spain 3%
Canada 4%
Australia 4%
Russia 2%
UK 6% Italy 2%
72 countries

28. Motivations for moving to Blueseed
Not important
Somewhat important
Important
Very important
Critical
An alternative to having to get US work
visas for myself or other company
founders
25.7%
16.0%
17.8%
18.8%
21.7%
An alternative to having to get US work
visas for my employees
26.3%
21.9%
21.7%
18.4%
11.7%
Streamlined legal and regulatory
environment made with low overhead in
mind
7.5%
13.4%
26.5%
28.1%
24.5%
Ease of finding talent
6.3%
14.0%
22.5%
30.8%
26.5%
Proximity to Silicon Valley's investors
3.4%
10.5%
19.2%
30.8%
36.0%
Living and working in an awesome
startup- and technology- oriented space
1.0%
2.8%
10.9%
30.0%
55.3%
Coolness factor / fame
14.2%
16.0%
24.3%
22.5%
23.1%

29. Top motivation for moving to Blueseed
“Living and working in an awesome
startup- and technology- oriented space”

30. The Blueseed formula
High-tech
university
dorm
24/7
hackathon &
coworking
space
Awesome startupand technologyoriented space
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31. O
F
F
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Live/work/play environment onboard:
“Googleplex of the Sea”

32. Cabins for different budgets
O
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33. Customizable office space
O
F
F
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R

34. Recreational facilities
O
F
F
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35. 24/7 food/medical/security
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36. High-speed Internet access
Wireless 1Gbps+ link to shore
Liquid Robotics ocean drone
relays mesh network
O3b satellite backup,
130ms round-trip, 500Mbps
Future: fiber-optic cable
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37. Transportation to/from the mainland
• Large capacity round-trip ferry boats,
morning and evening
• ~30 minutes from ship to shore

38. When time is critical, helicopters
• Medical or other emergencies
• ~20 minutes to Palo Alto

39. Amenities onboard
Shared
equipment:
3D printers etc
Gyms
Pool
Sports fields
Entertainment
venues
Convenience
stores
Game rooms
Post Office
ATMs
Cafes
Food service
Concierge
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40. Accelerator programs
300 startups on the ship means…
…multiple cohorts in parallel
…variable-length programs, e.g.
• 3 months for web startups
• 6 months for biotech or robotics companies
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41. Startup accelerator services
Connection with
Silicon Valley
startup events
Access to angel
investors and
venture capital
Networking
activities
Mentors and
training
programs
Legal help:
immigration,
IP/patents etc.
Events onboard
+ more…
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42. Benefits of being aboard Blueseed
No visas or immigration restrictions
Much lower regulatory costs – you choose where to incorporate
Simplified business and regulatory environment
Bring into your team talent from anywhere in the world
No stressful commuting, no traffic
“Perpetual hackathon” atmosphere
You’ll be in the middle of cutting-edge innovation
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43. Backup plans
When moving to Blueseed, you’ll deposit an amount
to cover transportation to your country of choice
Q: Did your startup fail?
A: The startup in the next cabin is probably hiring.
“*in Silicon Valley+ every company I work with is
absolutely starved for talent: qualified software
engineers, managers, marketers and salespeople”
- Marc Andreessen, August 2011, Wall Street Journal
83% of the tech startups in the U.S. are looking to
hire in 2012. – Silicon Valley Bank survey
Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903480904576512250915629460.html
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44. Cost of living aboard Blueseed
(preliminary estimates; Blueseed doesn’t impose tax)
Combination of rent • More cash + less equity, or
• Less cash + more equity
+ startup equity
Cash rent: from $1200/person/month (shared room for 4)
Up to $3000/person/month (private room with ocean view)
Cost includes office
space!
• San Francisco rent (May 2013): $2,211/mo
• Plus desk at startup incubator: $500+/mo.
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45. Blueseed’s interests are aligned
with yours
Blueseed
taking
equity in
startups
We
succeed if
you
succeed
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46. How we’ll work to reduce your rent
(extra revenue streams)
Media
• Shows like “Shark Tank” can bring significant revenue
Talent scouting
• Offices aboard for big companies looking to hire
brilliant entrepreneurs like you
Early acquisition of
startups
• Since 2009, Google has been acquiring one new
company per week. We’ll own equity in startups
onboard, and cash in on exits.
We’ll be a unique
environment
• Rent out space for events, conferences etc.
• Hotel rooms for visitors
• Other partnerships enhancing the ecosystem
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47. Visas you’ll need
To live and work aboard Blueseed: no visa
To travel to the U.S. mainland:
•
•
•
•
business visa (B-1), or
tourist visa (B-2; often combined with B-1), or
Visa Waiver (some countries, valid only 3 months), or
transit visa (least recommended)
B1/B2 visas generally valid for 10 years
Must spend at most 180 days/year in the U.S.
Americans (e.g. investors) visit Blueseed freely
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48. Ease of getting business/tourist
visa vs. work visa
Average # of U.S. visas granted per year, 2006-2011
4,000,000
3,500,000
3,000,000
2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
0
H-1B (skilled
worker)
L-1 (intracompany
B1/B2
transfer)
(business/tourism)
Source: http://www.travel.state.gov/xls/FYs97-11_NIVDetailTable.xls
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49. What laws apply on board?
The laws of the flag
state
• Bahamas (English common law)
• Fair, efficient, speedy, predictable
International
commercial arbitration • You choose what country to incorporate in
Taxes
Patents – as usual
• To country of residence/incorporation
• No taxes paid to Blueseed
• International patents (WIPO)
• United States patents (USPTO)
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50. FAQ – blueseed.com/faq
Seasickness
• Not a problem: large vessel (200m x 30m)
• Meclizine - inexpensive preventative medication
Tsunamis,
Hurricanes
• Tsunamis/earthquakes doesn’t affect ships at sea
• Hurricanes don’t exist near California
Storms
• Happen rarely; affect large vessels less
• In case of “force majeure”, we can come to shore
Pirates :)
• We’re the only ones in the region :)
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51. When will Blueseed launch?
Estimated: Q1 2015
R&D we’re conducting – your help is welcome:
• Startup incubators – partner with us!
• Media exposure – the more, the merrier
• Cleantech companies – get in touch
• Ambassadors – spread the word!
If you can help – contact us: blueseed.com
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52. Near future
Blueseed
Los Angeles
Blueseed
East Coast

53. Long term vision

54. Concept ship – Terraces

55. Concept ship – Artful Containers

56. Concept ship – Hive

57. Blueseed Atoll concept – stabilization barges and floating breakwaters

58. Concept ship – Modern Hull

59. How can you come aboard?
Get referred by a reputable:
• Investor
• Startup network – see blueseed.com/partners
• Trusted contact – make a profile on AngelList
Or directly:
• Be awesome – apply online – get selected!

60. Dario Mutabdzija
CEO
Dan Dascalescu
CTO/COO
+
partners…
advisors…
mentors…
ambassadors…
YOU!
Baoguang Zhai
Bus. Dev.
The
Blueseed
Team

61. Apply online

62. Want to be a partner?

63. “The people who are crazy enough to think they
can change the world, are the ones who do.”
-- Steve Jobs, 1955-2011
www.blueseed.com
info@blueseed.com