Senthil: Please let us know what your portal offers?

Xavier: We offer opportunities to H-1B aspirants and H-1B holders. For the aspirants, we give them an opportunity to find a sponsor. For those who already have an H-1B visa, through a Consulting Firm to the End Client, we help them to find a project.

Sailendra: Your site also provides a standard way of collecting resumes in a manner easy for US recruiters to browse. Could you also elaborate on this.

Xavier: Yes, the H-1B market caters to the contract industry in the US – which is looking for experts – so what we help the programmers do is to present themselves as experts. Our forms basically help in profiling them as experts in one technology area.

Sailendra: What are the additional features that your site offers? I believe that there are FAQ’s through which an H-1B holder’s query can be sorted out?

Xavier: Yes; we provide relevant information on the H-1B issue to the immigrant going to the US which is different from the information usually given to the tourist going to the US.

Sailendra: Correct me if I am wrong – the number of present H-1B visas that can be given out is 115,000 and it is likely to drop to 65,000 in the next year. So aren’t you addressing a market which is actually reducing?

Xavier: I don’t think so. It is usually a rhetoric every year. Last year they wanted to reduce to it to 65,000 but every year it always doubles from what it was.

Sailendra: The demand for programmers was because of the Y2K problem last year. Now that it has been solved, the demand will be greatly reduced. So in a way, aren’t you reducing your target audience?

Xavier: The Y2K, if you know is a very small problem. It only opened a few opportunities. If you look at the Internet it has opened many more opportunities than the Y2K – Y2K was a problem pertaining only to one system

Sailendra: What is the kind of revenue model you have? Are you charging the companies that use your database? Is the person who is an H1B holder also paying you something?

Xavier: We are not going to look to the H1B Visa holder or consultant for revenue– now we are going to look for revenues coming from consulting firms who use our software to manage their US business.

Sailendra: Are you also planning to add some other features for prospective students planning to study in US colleges and on the different kinds of Visa required – Are you planning to extend your service there?

Xavier: No, our target is the IT job market. We will not expand our service for other kinds of visas.