I understand the need for restrictions in industries like defense, space, or healthcare, where compliance is crucial. However, I’m curious because this requirement seems to appear even for more general roles, like front-end positions at SaaS startups. What’s the logic behind applying such a restriction in those cases?
Making the company US-based makes perfect sense, especially given the regulatory landscape. I had a similar experience when one of the top accelerators required us to register the company in the US in order to secure investment. My question is about hiring:)
My partner and I are working on Supabird.io (https://supabird.io), a tool to help people grow on X in a more consistent and structured way. It analyzes viral posts within specific communities so users can learn what works and apply those insights to their own content.
My partner shares our journey on X (@hustle_fred), while I’ve been focused on building the product (yep, the techie here :). We’re excited to have onboarded 43 users in our first month, and we're looking forward to getting feedback from the HN community!
Here's what nobody talks about: the author was RIGHT about the structural problems.
But completely wrong about the solution.
The PhD glut? Real.
The postdoc treadmill? Absolutely real.
The funding crisis? Still here.
But here's what changed:
The same skills that make you survive a PhD—deep research, systems thinking, hypothesis testing, data analysis—became the EXACT skills the market desperately needs.
2025 reality:
- AI companies hiring PhDs at $300K+ base
- Biotech startups led by former academics
- Data science roles requiring scientific rigor
- Deep tech ventures solving real problems
The trap wasn't the PhD.
The trap was assuming the ONLY path was tenure-track academia.
The researchers who thrived? They took their training and built different careers:
→ Industry R&D leadership
→ Technical founding teams
→ Quantitative roles in finance
→ Policy and strategy positions
→ Scientific consulting
The irony: that essay discouraged a generation from science right before scientific thinking became the most valuable skill set in the economy.
The lesson isn't "don't get a PhD."
It's "don't limit yourself to one narrow definition of what a scientist does."
The best training for solving hard problems is still solving hard problems.