I can't help but notice the inverse relationship between the number of H1-B's sponsored and the average salary by company.
http://www.myvisajobs.com/Reports/2014-H1B-Visa-Sponsor.aspx
There are many problems using the H-1B even at a policy level:
-Lottery/application in April, don't become active until October
-Doesn't work well for founders despite Aug 2011 change allowing founders to arrange their board to serve as "employer": http://www.uscis.gov/news/public-releases-topic/business-imm...
-Difficult and long timeline to green card meaning startup failure often leads to a fast mandatory exit from the US, even if investors continue to believe in the founder
-Neufeld memo means that startup sponsors are treated at a high level of suspicion by USCIS bureaucrats, which results in an even longer, more time/money/effort intensive process compared to bigtech: http://www.legalactioncenter.org/sites/default/files/docs/la...