80 Days to Stay
"A wager against time, a race against bureaucracy, and an adventure in data for good."
Like Phileas Fogg's famous 80-day race around the world, we're on a mission against the clock. But instead of circumnavigating the globe, we're building a lifeline for international students and skilled workers facing visa deadlines.
The Problem (By The Numbers)
The employment gap for international students isn't about talent—it's about structural barriers:
The Lottery System
- Only 25% chance of H-1B lottery selection (2024)
- F-1 → OPT → STEM OPT → H-1B pipeline maze
- $100K H-1B fees proposed
- OPT restrictions looming
The Employment Gap
- 44.6% of international students employed
- 62.1% of domestic students employed
- Apply to 2x as many jobs (45 vs 22)
- Receive 30% fewer offers
This isn't a skills gap—it's an information gap. International students are MORE engaged with career services. The difference? Employer ignorance and automated filtering.
Why Startups Don't Sponsor (Even Though They Should)
Funded startups desperately need talent. They have the money. But they don't hire international students because of misconceptions:
1. Misconceptions About Cost & Complexity
- OPT requires NO employer sponsorship
- F-1/OPT saves ~7.65% in payroll taxes
- 1-3 years before H-1B needed
- "Immigration is expensive"
- "Too legally risky"
- ATS auto-rejects visa candidates
2. No In-House Immigration Knowledge
Big tech has dedicated immigration counsel. Startups don't. Unfamiliarity breeds fear: "What if we make a mistake?"
3. Perceived Risk vs Reality
Worry: "We'll train them, then lose them in the lottery." Reality: 1-3 years of work authorization BEFORE any lottery.
4. Path Dependence
Employers who have hired international students do it again. Those who never have, stay that way. Only ~25-33% of US employers even consider international candidates.
The Result: All international talent funnels to the same 100 companies with established immigration pipelines, while thousands of funded startups that NEED talent sit on the sidelines due to misconceptions.
Our Solution: Follow The Money
We're building a searchable platform using free, public SEC data that reveals:
- Funded startups ($5M+) with resources to sponsor
- Real-time job openings at these companies
- Direct founder contacts to bypass HR gatekeepers
- Sponsorship likelihood scores based on funding, growth, and hiring patterns
The Opportunity (By The Numbers)
Our thesis: Every Form D filing represents a company invisible to international job seekers but desperately needs talent. We're making them visible.
Who This Helps
International Students & Workers
- PhD researchers who can't find biotech sponsors
- STEM grads applying to 50+ jobs with no responses
- OPT holders with 60-day "unemployment clocks"
- H-1B lottery losers who need backup options fast
Funded Startups
- Series A biotech needing PhD-level scientists
- AI startups that need ML engineers but "don't sponsor"
- Medical device companies that don't know OPT exists
- Any founder rejecting great candidates due to visa myths
The Timeline: 80 Days to Proof
The Wager
Can we build a platform that saves at least one person's visa status in 80 days?
Unlike Phileas Fogg's £20,000 wager, ours costs $0 in data fees. But the stakes? Someone gets to stay with their family, continue their research, build their career in America.
Join The Adventure
Why volunteer with us?
For the Mission
- Help people stay with families instead of forced deportation
- Fix a broken system that wastes US-trained talent
- Turn data into human impact in real-time
- See your code save someone's visa status
For the Skills
- Real-world data engineering (SEC APIs, ETL pipelines)
- Full-stack development (FastAPI, React, PostgreSQL)
- Work with production data serving actual users
- Build portfolio projects with social impact
We Need:
- Data engineers - Python, web scraping, API integration, ETL pipelines
- Backend developers - FastAPI, PostgreSQL, RESTful APIs
- Frontend developers - React, Tailwind CSS, responsive design
- Researchers - Company validation, contact enrichment, data quality
- Community builders - Testing, documentation, user feedback
No experience required—just commitment. If you can code "Hello World" or write a clear README, you can contribute. We'll teach the rest.
Time commitment: 5-10 hours/week for 80 days. More if you want, less if you need. This is agile, async, and built around real lives.
Why We Know This Will Work
The data doesn't lie:
Our thesis is backed by research from NAFSA, Interstride, IZA, and multiple employer surveys showing:
- Employers who hire international students once, do it again - The barrier is ignorance, not capability
- 75% of employers don't understand OPT/CPT rules - Education works
- Startups with recent funding ARE hiring - That's what Series A/B money is for
- International students are MORE qualified, not less - Same degrees, higher engagement, lower offers
- The cost myth is false - F-1/OPT students save employers payroll taxes
The market failure is information asymmetry. We're fixing it with public data.
Sources: NAFSA International Student Employment Survey, Interstride 2025 Career Outcomes Report, IZA Institute Employment Research, SciTech Minnesota Employer Guides, multiple industry surveys on visa sponsorship attitudes.
The Technology
Stack
- Data Pipeline: Python + SEC EDGAR API (free)
- Database: PostgreSQL on Supabase (free tier)
- Backend: FastAPI on Railway (free tier)
- Frontend: React + Tailwind on Vercel (free tier)