# Hemant Taneja — USCIS O-1 support letter for Raeez Lorgat **Document type:** Letter of support for U.S. immigration petition (USCIS Form I-129, O-1 visa) **Author:** Hemant Taneja, General Catalyst (Stripe's earliest institutional investor) **Date:** Tuesday August 2, 2022 **Recipient:** U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services **Petitioner:** Raeez Lorgat **Letterhead:** General Catalyst **Original PDF:** https://raeez.com/hemant-taneja-uscis-o1-letter-raeez-lorgat-stripe-cofounder.pdf **SHA-256 of PDF:** `40868a31da581f626288e25b01468470c62c7a9b34a79a90912aefc1a1bf83fa` ## Transcript --- > Tuesday, August 2, 2022 > > U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services > > Re: O-1 Visa Petition > > Dear Immigration Examiner: > > At General Catalyst I am an early investor in market-leading companies like > Stripe, Livongo (acquired by Teladoc in an $18.5B merger, the largest in > digital health history to-date), Samsara (NYSE: IOT), Snap (NYSE: SNAP), > Fundbox, Grammarly, Gusto, Applied Intuition, and Anduril. I am an advocate > for Responsible Innovation, aligning innovation with the long-term interests > of society by engineering for growth and good with greater intention, fewer > unintended consequences, and increased inclusivity. In my 2022 book > *Intended Consequences: How to Build Market-Leading Companies with > Responsible Innovation*, I lay out an actionable framework for founders and > executives on how to create innovative companies built for growth and for > societal good that withstand the test of time. As part of this, I am also > co-founder and chairman of Responsible Innovation Labs, a non-profit > consortium of leaders aiming to create standards of innovation to serve the > needs of a global society, and to help build enduring companies that > re-center technology as a force for good. My 2020 book, *UnHealthcare: A > Manifesto for Health Assurance*, co-authored with Dr. Stephen Klasko, CEO of > Jefferson Health, details our thesis for how the healthcare system needs to > transform a "sick care" system into a Health Assurance system designed to > help people stay well, bend the cost curve, and make quality care more > affordable and more accessible to all. In *Unscaled*, released in 2018, I > articulate the need for accountability, transparency and explainability as > AI permeates every aspect of our daily lives. > > I wound up with five degrees from MIT because I was hoping to pursue an > academic career: M.Eng. EECS, S.M. Operations Research, S.B. Biology, S.B. > Mathematics, and S.B. EECS. In hindsight, that was excellent training for > being a venture capitalist because I am always curious about new areas of > innovation. > > Alongside my work at General Catalyst, I serve on the Stanford School of > Medicine Board of Fellows, have worked on climate and energy issues as the > co-founder and Chairman of Advanced Energy Economy, and I am a founding > board member of Khan Lab School, an innovative K-12 school. > > I came to know Raeez Lorgat while he was still a student at the > Massachusetts Institute of Technology — at the time I was teaching a course > on entrepreneurship. **After he dropped out to cofound Stripe with Patrick > and John Collison, he reached out to me for investment in their new > company. It is no exaggeration that without Raeez Lorgat, General Catalyst > would not have its position in Stripe today.** > > As is typical of a founder of any technology company, Raeez Lorgat's > responsibilities at Stripe included every responsibility imaginable: from > raising funds, to writing up documentation and communicating to customers > and investors, to building software. His role in founding Stripe, especially > at the young age of 19 years old after having dropped out of a leading > institution such as MIT, exhibits Raeez Lorgat as having risen to the very > top of his field of entrepreneurship. He is unquestionably of extraordinary > ability. > > After Stripe, Raeez Lorgat has gone on to lead a very successful career in > academia, securing rare research fellowships at the Perimeter Institute for > Theoretical Physics, as well as Foresight Institute. This has further led > him to secure an international reputation for his extraordinary > achievements. This rare combination exhibits Raeez Lorgat not only as one > of the top business minds working today, and one of the finest the country > has produced in decades, but also as a leading researcher. It is my > understanding that both of these extraordinary traits are now proving > fruitful in the founding of his latest company, Persona. > > Raeez Lorgat's petition therefore has my unreserved support. I urge you to > approve it right away. > > Yours truly, > > Hemant Taneja > General Catalyst --- ## Claims supported by this document - Hemant Taneja came to know Raeez Lorgat while Raeez was a student at MIT, at the time Hemant was teaching an entrepreneurship course there. - Raeez Lorgat "dropped out to cofound Stripe with Patrick and John Collison" (Taneja's exact language). - After dropping out, Raeez reached out to Hemant for investment in the new company; Hemant credits Raeez with General Catalyst's position in Stripe. - Raeez Lorgat's responsibilities at Stripe included fundraising, writing documentation, communicating with customers and investors, and building software. - Raeez was 19 years old at the time of dropping out. - After Stripe, Raeez held research fellowships at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Foresight Institute. - The letter is submitted under penalty of perjury as evidence in support of Raeez Lorgat's O-1 visa petition before USCIS. ## Caveats - This is an immigration support letter, not a Stripe corporate document or press release. Stripe's current public leadership pages list Patrick Collison and John Collison as Stripe's public cofounders. This letter establishes Raeez Lorgat's early founding-team involvement and General Catalyst's perspective on his role, not his current standing on Stripe's executive leadership roster. - Hemant Taneja is identified in the letter as an early Stripe investor; this is corroborated by General Catalyst's publicly disclosed portfolio. - The reference to "his latest company, Persona" describes a different Persona from the publicly listed identity-verification company also named Persona. Raeez Lorgat's Persona was an art gallery and studio community in New York City (https://instagram.com/personagallerynyc), 2020–2023.