Why America's Best Minds Are Leaving
YouTube (Michael Burtov), Wednesday, August 26th, 2026
A talk on reverse brain drain and what losing top researchers means for US startups and innovation.
Michael Burtov argues that America's decades-long advantage in attracting the world's best scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs may be reversing.
He examines the forces behind the shift: aggressive international competition for researchers, immigration and research-policy friction in the US, the globalization of venture capital and technology infrastructure, and the growing ability to build world-class companies anywhere.
The talk connects research funding to startup creation years later, suggests scientists may soon be recruited like professional athletes, and argues venture capital will increasingly follow researchers. His closing point is that the real loss is the company never founded because its founder built elsewhere.