Anonymous Q&A: Moving to Silicon Valley from Southeast Asia, USA Hiring & Visa Roadblocks and Talent Ecosystems – E624

"We cycle at 7 PM to midnight, and it's such a weird thing to do because in America you would never cycle at night. There's a safety issue, and you don't have park-connected networks that are well lit. Culturally, you just never do those activities. When I was younger as a teenager, I thought Singapore was bad because it was not fun. You can't do anything, there are high taxes on alcohol, high taxes on cigarettes, and so many restrictions in Singapore. So there's a big push factor. It's like Singapore is Singapore incorporated, the government is too corporate centric. These push factors make the pull factors of America strong." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

"Applying for jobs in the US from Singapore, one of the key things is I first started off with LinkedIn and I realized how slow things are. By the time it reaches the US, LinkedIn is already too late sometimes. The greatest struggle was having to answer the question, do you need a visa to enter the US, and that became a screener. Most of the time you get instant rejection, and after two days you just get rejection from the companies you applied to. The greatest struggle is understanding the space from Singapore and the second is getting past the visa. Singaporeans have the H1B1, which is a non-lottery visa that allows you to work in the US with minimal costs, and only 20 percent of the pool of visas are used. That is the greatest challenge in these two parts." - Anonymous Guest

"Just the fact that if you're a startup, you have to fight for attention and fight for media. People end up using very external-oriented dynamic ways to get their message out there. You can’t rely on humility and say, my product is good but here are the bad things, and we’re only 2 percent better than the competition. Everyone will wonder why they should buy the product. Instead, people say, we are disruptive, we will destroy this occupation, the world will end because of my company. That level of salesmanship is very important. Silicon Valley is not just a technology ecosystem, it is also a salesmanship ecosystem." - Jeremy Au, Host of BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast

Jeremy Au and an anonymous guest discuss the challenges of pursuing career opportunities in the United States from Singapore. They talk about how visa rules limit options, why overseas LinkedIn applications often fail, and the appeal of Silicon Valley’s innovation cycles. They also cover cultural differences that require stronger self-promotion, and why resilience is needed when adapting to life abroad.