Innovating Across Borders: The Power of Entrepreneur in Residence Programs With Steve Tobocman

Global Entrepreneur in Residence Programs are revolutionizing the startup world by providing crucial support to international founders. We'll discuss the impact of these programs to enable immigrants to innovate and become entrepreneurs and founders in the US startup space. 


I'm thrilled to be joined by Steve Tobocman for this discussion. Steve is a leader in community and economic development, with a special focus on immigrant inclusion. Since 2010, he's been the executive director of Global Detroit, an organization dedicated to driving growth and prosperity in Detroit and Southeast Michigan through immigrant-inclusive strategies. 


Before his work at Global Detroit, Steve served as an elected representative in Michigan's State House. There, he championed initiatives to support immigrant communities, including legislation to protect immigrants from exploitation and advocating for equitable access to education and services. 


In addition to his leadership roles, Steve is a partner at New Solutions Group, LLC, a Detroit-based consulting firm. He also co-directs the Michigan Political Leadership Program at Michigan State University. Steve holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School and a Master's in Public Policy from UM’s Ford School of Public Policy.






In This Episode:


[02:09] Global Entrepreneur Residence Programs are a solution to America's immigration laws which don't include a startup visa.  These programs connect founders with part-time employment at or by universities so they can get an uncapped H-1B visa. 


[03:34]  A variety of STEM founders take an H-1B job and then work on their startup outside of this job. The time in the program is as short or as long as they need to advance their startup or company.


[04:17] This levels the playing field for American innovation. It allows early stage startups to be launched here from all over the world.


[04:52] The first program started in 2014, at University of Massachusetts Boston. In the first 10 years, they supported 81 founders who raised 1.5 billion in venture capital.


[05:20] There's about 10 programs. The program at Global Detroit has worked at about six different universities. More programs are also planned to be launched in the future.


[05:49] Global Detroit started in 2010. It was a vision of the philanthropic community. Funders pooled resources as the new economy initiative.


[06:27] They wanted to leverage and harness the economic driver of immigration.


[07:37] Over the last 15 years, they've seen a variety of new players in the immigration space that interact with economic development.


[07:54] These are local economic development agencies that realize that immigrants are important to the US economy.


[08:37] Global Detroit is a leader in the Global Entrepreneur in Residence Programs.


[09:11]  72% of all the electrical engineering students in America are international students.


[10:03] Steve talks about Chening Duker, a computer science student from Ghana and Britain who worked for a startup, before starting his own and launching Goodpluck, a startup that brings the freshest produce to your door. 


[14:11] The biggest challenge has been lack of awareness.


[18:20] Steve talks about the role of these programs to attract talent. California and other states are trying to adopt the model. There's a lot of growth. The programs have created a competitive advantage for Michigan. 


[21:14] Key considerations for tech transfer offices to leverage these programs include keeping in mind that International students contribute disproportionately to the ecosystem.


[26:04] Navigating the complexities to provide support for international founders. Read The Startup Visa or contact Global Detroit. 


[27:39] These programs not only provide a Visa they also provide other aspects of support. 


[34:21] The mission is to support the success of local programs. We believe America is stronger through immigration and robust integration.


[39:58] A global EIR strategy is a strategy to build an innovation ecosystem and the startup community is critical to the future. We can always be the global design leader. Michigan is investing in the global EIR program. 






Resources: 


Steve Tobocman, Executive Director Global Detroit (https://globaldetroitmi.org/steve-tob...)


Steve Tobocman LinkedIn (  / steve-tobocman-62615423  )


Goodpluck (https://goodpluck.com/)


The Startup Visa: U.S. Immigration Visa Guide for Startups and Founders (https://www.amazon.com/Startup-Visa-I...)