1. Almost all the capital is in SF/NY. Move accordingly. Good luck with the Visa- it’s going to be a PITA

2. Have founders who raised capital as friends. Good luck with that too!

3. Now if you have a decent looking product and a plausible story you’ll raise seed

Or, you know, getting into YC kinda takes care of all 3 points.

Also, getting insane traction on your own, like WhatsApp did, takes care of all 3 points.