Lavu president speaks out against travel ban
Startup, other tech firms worry over destabilizing effect on business
One of New Mexico’s high-flying technology startups, Lavu Inc., is adding its voice to the lineup of technology and other companies speaking out against President Donald Trump’s travel ban.
Lavu President Ohad Jehassi told company employees in a memo Tuesday that the travel ban on seven Muslim countries does not reflect Lavu’s core values, which are based on diversity, embracing differences, and trust and respect for one another.
“We are respectful in our interactions and assume good intent,” Jehassi wrote. “To be frank, the travel ban does not reflect those values. It goes against those core values that we created together, as a team.”
The internal memo aimed to reassure employees in a difficult time and was not meant as a public statement, Jehassi told the Journal. But the general “uncertainty and confusion” generated by Trump’s executive order compelled him to share his thoughts with employees, especially given the company’s basic immigrant roots.
Taiwanese immigrant Andy Lim launched Lavu in 2010 with a business partner after creating a proprietary point-of-sale software system for restaurants and hotels. Together, they built it into one of New Mexico’s fastest-growing startups, which is now backed by Washington, D.C.-based Aldrich Capital Partners.
Lim said in an interview that he hates to get into politics, but today’s “hatred and negativity” is a problem. “I’m an immigrant, and that kind of says it all,” Lim told the Journal. “These are not the core values of this nation that I love and believe in.”
Trump’s executive order, which also requires foreigners from any nation requiring a visa to apply for it through in-person interviews at embassies and consulates, has spurred sharp pushback through legal action and protest demonstrations at airports around the country. Some of the nation’s largest tech firms — including Facebook, Google, Airbnb, Dropbox, Etsy, and Linkedin — have spoken out in opposition. Airbnb is providing housing for refugees and anyone not allowed in the U.S., and Starbucks said it will hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years.
It’s unclear how the new immigration rules will affect New Mexico companies, but Jehassi said the government’s haste in imposing the travel ban is destabilizing for business in general, particularly given the sudden way Trump’s executive order was announced.
“In business, we plan. We consult. We test. And we collaborate,” Jehassi told employees. “We don’t just roll something out without having those conversations.”
As a result, the order is creating uncertainty and “political instability” that can discourage businesses from investing, Jehassi told the Journal.
“I see it impacting the ability of companies to do business,” he said.
Stuart Rose, a serial entrepreneur who founded the Bioscience Center in Uptown and the FatPipe business incubator Downtown, said the executive order may not cause major problems for local companies if it’s only temporary, but it sets a bad precedent.
“We need talent from all over the world,” Rose said. “We need immigrants. They’re critical to the success of our country, to our innovation and development.”