Hoe Een Canadese Oprichter Met Deel Een NYC-Startup Lanceerde

Quinn Litherland is the founder and CEO of Authentic, a technology company that helps brands certify and track their products to support re-commerce and circularity initiatives. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Litherland went south to the United States to study at Northeastern University in Boston on a D1 track and field scholarship.

While attending university, Litherland immersed himself in the local startup scene. He was the President of Northeastern's Entrepreneurs Club, worked at several local startups, became a partner at Rough Draft Ventures (student investing arm of General Catalyst), and even helped found an accelerator during the Covid-19 shutdowns.

Shortly after graduation, Litherland moved from Boston to New York City and founded Authentic. He began growing his new company on his optional practical training (OPT) work authorization.

Litherland, a serial entrepreneur, spent several years in the US as an international student before launching Authentic. But he had a serious problem—his OPT work authorization was about to expire so he’d have to return to Canada and leave behind his entrepreneurial aspirations and life in the US.

Without legal work authorization, Litherland had no way of building his new startup in the US. He felt NYC was the best place to start and grow his company, given the investor and founder networks.

US immigration can be tricky; despite Litherland living in the US as an international student, there wasn’t a clear pathway to obtaining a work visa after graduation.

And since he didn’t have a STEM degree, he wasn’t eligible for the STEM OPT work authorization extensions that allow many international students to work in the US longer than a year. He also didn’t see the H-1B as a viable option and couldn’t figure out a work visa that would align with his CEO and founder role.

Searching for a way to stay in the US, Litherland talked to somewhere between five and ten US immigration lawyers. “Every lawyer was super negative. One after another, they told me that the chances of getting a work visa were super slim, and urged me to not get my hopes up,” Litherland said.

Litherland didn’t give up on searching for a solution, but the stress of his immigration challenges was undeniable. For months on end, it was always on his mind and his immigration situation was a constant stressor.

This immigration journey also posed serious challenges for Authentic. Launching a startup is always time-consuming, but doing it while navigating US immigration is incredibly difficult.

Everything changed when Litherland heard about Deel Mobility (at the time known as Legalpad) at a founder event in New York. After hearing that another founder with a similar background got an O-1 visa in a few days, Litherland immediately booked a call with Deel’s team.

It was quickly apparent that an O-1A visa with Deel Mobility was the right solution because of Deel’s:

• Rapport as a leader in O-1 visas in the startup community

• Honest and realistic assessment of his case

• Full-service immigration solutions

• Supportive customer service and immigration team

Despite all the doubts and fears other immigration attorneys had planted in his mind, Litherland received approval on his O-1A within three days of submitting his application with Deel.

In de VS wonen heeft Litherland op een manier ondergedompeld in het startup-ecosysteem en de community die op afstand onmogelijk zou zijn geweest.

“Als ik persoonlijk in de VS aanwezig ben, krijg ik toegang tot oprichtersnetwerken en investeerders die ik anders misschien niet zou bereiken. Als oprichter vergroot het hier zijn je bereik en netwerk met 10x of meer en kun je een evenement binnenlopen en iemand ontmoeten die een toekomstige investeerder of teamlid kan worden,” legde Litherland uit.

Litherland noemt zijn O-1-visum van onschatbare waarde voor zijn bedrijf. Zijn verhaal is niet uniek; talloze oprichters, leidinggevenden en professionals zoals hij proberen de internationale mobiliteit voor henzelf en hun teams te regelen. Immigratie naar de VS en andere landen kan stressvol zijn, maar dat hoeft niet zo te zijn.

Litherland spoort anderen die worstelen met immigratie-uitdagingen aan om de oplossingen te verkennen die Deel biedt. Hij weet waar hij terechtkan wanneer zijn bedrijf in de toekomst immigratieondersteuning nodig heeft. Of hij nu permanent inwoner van de VS wil worden of een nieuw teamlid in het buitenland wil aannemen, Deel is nu de vertrouwde mobiliteitsaanbieder van Authentic