H1Bs don’t work at startups. They work at BigCo doing Boring Stuff.
Most people associate it with IT workers, but many accountants, research scientists, engineers, and other professionals also hold H-1Bs. Where I work, it is the latter categories of professionals that dominate. Many of them have degrees from schools (e.g. MIT, CMU, etc.) much better than schools most of us went to.
And yes, some of them work at startups. They usually start out with an OPT after graduating and then convert to an H-1B.
IT worker and H-1B are not synonymous -- the former is a subset of the latter. It's unfortunate that the latter is used as shorthand for the former, and the two categories are conflated.
Explain to me how a degree from schools "much better than schools most of us went to" indicates the person is more competent or intelligent than anyone else? "better" should be subbed out for "prestigious".
Two engineers started this Monday - an iOS specialist, and an Operations engineer. One is a citizen, and one is on H-1B. We pay both engineers according to the firm's salary bands for those respective positions.
> Or because you dont have the budget to pay the required salary demanded by native workers with that skillset.
So what you insinuate is possible, but not always the case.
Believe me it’s an expensive last resort.
If you go to any startup event in the Bay Area, you will see plenty of engineers on H-1Bs. Or browse one of the "Who's Hiring" threads here to notice that many startups provide for H-1B transfers.