A U.S. based co-founder and CTO has brushed aside concerns about the proposed $100,000 annual H-1B visa fee, saying he would pay that amount “per day” if he had to. Shahriar Tajbakhsh of the London-headquartered Metaview AI made the comment as the company’s hiring drive in India sparked debate online, especially at a time when anti-H-1B sentiment in the US is rising.
Responding to a post on X that argued the H-1B visa fee should be $100,000 per year instead of a one-time charge, Tajbakhsh replied, “Make it per day. I’ll set up a recurring payment,” signaling that the cost means little to him compared to the value skilled talent brings to his company.
His company also put out posters in India that said “Yes, we still sponsor H-1Bs” and “No, AI won’t build itself,” and these quickly spread across social media, according to Moneycontrol. The campaign set Metaview apart at a time when many firms see visa sponsorship as a growing burden.
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Tajbakhsh, an Iranian-origin tech entrepreneur and engineer, stressed that talent is non-negotiable when it comes to building products that can truly make an impact. “When you sum up the value created by people’s hard work, $100,000 just doesn’t matter. The only way to build anything meaningful that changes people’s lives is to have a world-class team — there’s no shortcut around that. Trying to save money on talent is the most irresponsible thing a founder could possibly do,” Tajbakhsh told Business Insider earlier this year.
For Tajbakhsh, the focus on visa costs overlooks the larger issue. He said Metaview still intends to file additional H-1B petitions in the next lottery, even as President Donald Trump’s executive order moves to tighten visa rules. “An organization’s success or failure is a function of its people,” Tajbakhsh said.
In the end, Tajbakhsh’s stance reflects a broader reality in the tech world. Companies that want to build cutting-edge products cannot afford to turn away skilled workers, regardless of shifting politics or rising costs. And as Metaview doubles down on its hiring plans, the message is clear: for some founders, talent will always outweigh the noise around immigration debates.