Business Visa United States: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to B-1, E-2, L-1, O-1, EB-5 and Startup Parole

You can form a U.S. company in an afternoon. You can buy a domain, sign a lease, open conversations with investors, and call yourself the CEO of a Delaware corporation before the week is over. But none of that automatically gives you the right to sit in a New York coworking space, manage your team, sell to U.S. customers, or pay yourself from a U.S. payroll.

That gap is where many founders get into trouble. The phrase business visa United States sounds simple, but for entrepreneurs it is not one visa. It is a choice between several different pathways: visiting for meetings, investing in and directing a U.S. enterprise, transferring from a foreign company, proving extraordinary ability, seeking permanent residence through investment, or requesting parole for a high-growth startup.

This guide is written for the founder who is trying to make a real relocation decision: Can I visit? Can I operate? Can I raise money? Can I hire? Can I move? Which path fits my company, my nationality, my capital, my traction, and my long-term plans?

Direct answer: which U.S. business visa should an entrepreneur consider?

If you only need to visit the United States temporarily for meetings, conferences, negotiations, or market exploration, you may be looking at B-1 business visitor status or Visa Waiver Program travel if eligible. But B-1 is not work authorization and should not be treated as a soft launch visa.

If you need to actively work for your own U.S. company from inside the United States, you usually need a work-authorized founder pathway. The main entrepreneur-relevant options are:

• E-2 treaty investor: for nationals of E-2 treaty countries who make a substantial at-risk investment in a real U.S. business and come to develop and direct it.
• L-1 intracompany transferee: for founders, executives, managers, or specialized knowledge workers transferring from a qualifying foreign company to a related U.S. company, including a new U.S. office.
• O-1 extraordinary ability: for founders with strong independent evidence of extraordinary achievement in business, science, technology, education, arts, athletics, or another qualifying field.
• EB-5 immigrant investor: for entrepreneurs or investors pursuing permanent residence through a qualifying investment and job creation.
• International Entrepreneur Parole: a discretionary parole option, not a visa and not a green card, for certain founders of U.S. startups with substantial potential for rapid growth and job creation.

The right answer depends less on the label “business visa” and more on what you will physically do in the United States. Meetings are different from management. Ownership is different from employment. Passive investment is different from productive work.

If you are comparing the United States with other founder or remote-work destinations, it can help to benchmark how document-heavy the process is against alternatives such as the Portugal digital nomad visa checklist for U.S. applicants or the UAE relocation hidden rules for digital nomads.

The first distinction: visiting for business is not the same as working in business

The B-1 business visitor category is often misunderstood because the word “business” does so much damage. In ordinary founder language, “doing business” can include fundraising, managing contractors, taking sales calls, reviewing product sprints, negotiating with vendors, hiring staff, and closing customer deals. In immigration language, many of those activities may look like work.

Official U.S. guidance generally treats B-1 as a temporary visitor classification for limited business activities. Commonly accepted examples include consulting with business associates, attending conferences or conventions, negotiating contracts, attending meetings, or exploring business opportunities. The key idea is that the visitor is not entering the U.S. labor market and is not performing productive employment in the United States.

Generally safer B-1-style activities

• Attending investor, client, or partner meetings.
• Participating in conferences, trade shows, or industry events.
• Negotiating contracts.
• Consulting with business associates.
• Exploring the U.S. market before deciding whether to expand.
• Meeting lawyers, accountants, bankers, or advisors to understand setup requirements.

Activities that create risk on B-1 or ESTA

• Running day-to-day operations of a U.S. company from inside the United States.
• Managing U.S. staff or contractors as an ongoing operating role.
• Providing services to U.S. clients while physically present in the United States.
• Filling a role that looks like local labor, even if the founder owns the company.
• Receiving U.S.-source salary for services performed in the United States without proper authorization.
• Using a coworking space as a base for ordinary work rather than temporary meetings.

The difficult cases are the ones founders actually live: demo days, investor pitching, board meetings, accelerator participation, unpaid founder work, customer discovery that turns into sales, or “just checking Slack” from San Francisco for two weeks. The question is not only whether you are paid. The question is what activity you are performing while physically in the United States.

Can you start a U.S. LLC or corporation without a visa?

Often, yes. Many non-U.S. residents can form and own U.S. LLCs or corporations without first obtaining a U.S. visa. State business registration systems commonly allow foreign owners, and the IRS provides processes for obtaining an Employer Identification Number, including for entities with foreign responsible parties.

But this is a setup answer, not an immigration answer. Think of the U.S. company as three separate tracks:

1. Entity formation: Can you legally form or own the company?
2. Tax and reporting: What federal, state, foreign-owned entity, payroll, and information-reporting obligations apply?
3. Immigration authorization: Can you physically work for the company while in the United States?

A foreign founder might form a Delaware corporation, obtain an EIN, sign customer contracts, and hold equity. That still does not mean the founder can move to Austin or Miami and run the company from a laptop without the right immigration status.

At a high level, foreign-owned U.S. companies may need to consider EIN setup, responsible party rules, federal tax classification, state filings, registered agent requirements, bank compliance, payroll registration, and special reporting for foreign-owned entities. This is an area where immigration, tax, and corporate advice should be coordinated rather than handled in isolation.

The main U.S. entrepreneur pathways compared

E-2 treaty investor: founder-friendly, but not universal

E-2 is often the closest practical match for a founder who wants to invest in and operate a U.S. business. It is designed for nationals of treaty countries who invest a substantial amount of capital in a bona fide U.S. enterprise and come to develop and direct that enterprise.

The first filter is nationality. Before you build an E-2 business plan, confirm that your nationality is on the U.S. Department of State’s E-2 treaty country list. This is not a small technicality. A founder with excellent capital and a credible business can still be ineligible if the treaty nationality requirement is not met.

What E-2 usually needs to show

• You have qualifying treaty nationality.
• You have invested or are actively in the process of investing substantial capital.
• The funds are at risk and committed to the business, not merely sitting idle.
• The enterprise is real and operating, or close to being operational.
• You will develop and direct the business, usually through ownership or operational control.
• The business is not marginal; it should have capacity beyond merely supporting the investor and family.

There is no single fixed E-2 minimum investment amount. A small consulting company and a restaurant have different launch costs. The investment should make sense relative to the type of business. A founder from a treaty country who has signed a lease, bought equipment, hired staff, funded the company account, and documented the lawful source of funds is in a very different position from someone with a pitch deck and a small deposit.

L-1: expanding a real foreign company into the United States

L-1 is not only for large multinationals. It can be useful for founders who already operate a genuine company outside the United States and want to open or grow a related U.S. company. The founder may qualify as an executive, manager, or specialized knowledge employee if the legal and factual requirements are met.

The structure matters. There must be a qualifying relationship between the foreign company and the U.S. company, such as parent, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate. The person transferring generally must have worked for the related foreign organization abroad for at least one continuous year within the required lookback period in a qualifying role.

Why new-office L-1 cases require planning

If the U.S. company is a new office, USCIS expects evidence that the business is real and has a credible plan. That can include physical premises, ownership documents, organizational charts, hiring plans, financial projections, business contracts, proof of foreign operations, and evidence that the U.S. office will support the executive or managerial role within the required timeframe.

A profitable agency in Berlin opening a U.S. subsidiary, leasing office space, hiring U.S. sales staff, and transferring the founder as CEO may have a real L-1 story. A founder who just formed a foreign shell company last month does not.

O-1: not a startup pitch, an evidence test

O-1 can work for some startup founders, especially in deep tech, biotech, AI, finance, design, media, science, or other fields where the founder has independent recognition. But O-1 is not granted because a company is exciting. It is based on evidence that the person has extraordinary ability under the relevant standard.

USCIS criteria may include evidence such as major awards, membership in associations requiring outstanding achievement, published material about the person, judging the work of others, original contributions of major significance, scholarly or professional authorship, employment in a critical or leading role for distinguished organizations, high salary or compensation, or comparable evidence where appropriate.

A founder with patents, respected press, invited talks, judging experience, major open-source influence, industry awards, high compensation, and letters from recognized independent experts may be worth evaluating. A founder with only a strong pitch deck and early revenue may still be impressive commercially but weak for O-1 unless the evidence maps to the required categories.

EB-5: permanent residence through investment, not just “having the money”

EB-5 is an immigrant investor pathway that can lead to lawful permanent residence if the investment, job creation, and program requirements are satisfied. It can be used by investors and, in some cases, entrepreneurs building their own qualifying business. But it is not simply a matter of wiring funds.

Current EB-5 investment thresholds are generally $1,050,000, or $800,000 for qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure project investments. EB-5 also requires creation of the required number of full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers, typically ten. The job creation analysis differs depending on whether the investment is direct or through a regional center.

Source of funds is often as important as the investment amount. If your capital comes from business sales, dividends, gifts, loans, overseas accounts, cryptocurrency, inheritance, real estate transactions, or multiple companies, expect detailed documentation. Do not move major funds or commit to a project without immigration, tax, securities, and financial review.

International Entrepreneur Parole: useful for some startups, but not a visa

International Entrepreneur Parole can allow certain founders to enter and remain in the United States temporarily to grow a startup with substantial potential for rapid growth and job creation. It is discretionary parole, not a visa classification and not permanent residence.

At a high level, the startup must generally be recently formed in the United States, and the founder must have a significant ownership stake and an active, central role. Current USCIS thresholds should always be checked before filing, but the framework looks at factors such as qualified U.S. investment, government grants or awards, revenue growth, job creation, or alternative reliable evidence of substantial potential for rapid growth and job creation.

Recent threshold figures include an initial founder ownership requirement of at least 10 percent, and initial evidence may involve qualified investment of at least $311,071 or government grants or awards of at least $124,429, with alternative evidence possible. Re-parole uses different ownership and growth measures, including continued founder ownership and evidence such as jobs, revenue, or additional investment. Because thresholds adjust over time, confirm the current USCIS numbers before building a strategy around this option.

Decision tree: which U.S. entrepreneur pathway should you evaluate first?

1. If your U.S. trip is only for temporary meetings, conferences, negotiations, or market research: start with B-1 or Visa Waiver Program rules, but keep the trip tightly limited to visitor activities.
2. If you need to work in the United States for your own company: do not rely on B-1. Move to a work-authorized pathway analysis.
3. If you have E-2 treaty nationality and meaningful capital: evaluate E-2 first, especially if you will own or control and actively direct the U.S. enterprise.
4. If you already run a real foreign company: evaluate L-1, particularly if the U.S. company will be related to the foreign company and the foreign operation will continue.
5. If your personal achievements are unusually strong: evaluate O-1 and map your record to the evidence categories before assuming it fits.
6. If permanent residence through investment is the main goal: evaluate EB-5, but start with source-of-funds and job creation planning, not only the investment amount.
7. If you have a high-growth U.S. startup with qualified funding, grants, revenue, jobs, or strong growth evidence: evaluate International Entrepreneur Parole.
8. If speed is the emergency: compare USCIS processing, premium processing availability, consular appointment waits, and document preparation time. The fastest legal option is not always the first form you can file.
9. If a green card is the real objective: separate your temporary work-authorized plan from your permanent residence plan. They may be different strategies.

Validity, extensions, and the visa stamp trap

Entrepreneurs often confuse three different concepts: visa validity, status, and authorized stay. A visa stamp in your passport generally lets you travel to a U.S. port of entry and request admission. It does not itself determine how long you may remain after entry. Your authorized stay is reflected on your I-94 record, which you should check after each admission.

Typical periods vary by pathway. B-1 admission is often up to six months, depending on the officer’s decision. E-2 admission is commonly up to two years per entry, with renewals possible as long as the enterprise and eligibility continue; visa stamp validity depends on nationality and reciprocity. L-1A can have a maximum stay of up to seven years, while L-1B is generally up to five; new office L-1 approvals are initially shorter. O-1 is typically approved for up to three years initially, with extensions tied to the event or activity. International Entrepreneur Parole may be granted initially for up to 30 months, with possible re-parole. EB-5 is an immigrant pathway leading, if successful, to conditional permanent residence and later removal of conditions.

Always calendar the I-94 date, not only the visa stamp date.

Processing times, premium processing, and launch reality

Startup timelines are emotionally brutal because immigration timing rarely aligns with product launches, accelerator dates, investor commitments, lease deadlines, or hiring plans. You may have a launch window in six weeks while a petition, consular appointment, or source-of-funds review takes much longer.

For L-1 and O-1, Form I-129 is usually the central USCIS petition, and premium processing may be available for eligible filings. EB-5 uses immigrant investor filings such as Form I-526E or related forms depending on the model. International Entrepreneur Parole uses Form I-941. Consular visa applications generally involve the DS-160, visa fee payment, appointment scheduling, interview attendance, and supporting documents.

Government fees and processing standards change, so check the USCIS Fee Schedule, USCIS Processing Times tool, USCIS Premium Processing page, Department of State visa fee pages, and local visa appointment wait times before committing to a U.S. launch date. For some founders, the consular interview queue matters as much as the petition processing time.

Document readiness: what to prepare before choosing a pathway

Good immigration strategy starts with evidence, not optimism. Before you speak with counsel or commit to a pathway, build a document folder that tells the truth about the founder, the company, the money, and the U.S. plan. If you are also evaluating a second country, compare how your evidence folder differs from a more general digital nomad document checklist for Portugal; the U.S. founder file is usually more company-, capital-, and activity-specific.

Core documents most entrepreneurs should gather

• Passport, prior U.S. visas, I-94 records, prior refusals, and immigration history.
• U.S. and foreign incorporation documents.
• Cap table, founder ownership records, shareholder agreements, and investor rights documents.
• Business plan, pitch deck, financial projections, and market-entry plan.
• Bank statements, investment records, wire confirmations, and source-of-funds evidence.
• Contracts, customer letters, invoices, purchase orders, and revenue records.
• Lease agreements, office evidence, equipment purchases, and operating expenses.
• Payroll records, employee lists, contractor agreements, and organizational charts.
• Tax records and financial statements where available.
• Press, awards, speaking invitations, publications, patents, judging evidence, and recommendation letters for O-1-style analysis.

Pathway-specific document focus

• B-1: itinerary, meeting invitations, conference registration, proof of foreign residence or business, return travel, and evidence that the trip is temporary and limited.
• E-2: treaty nationality proof, investment trail, at-risk spending, business readiness, ownership/control evidence, source of funds, lease, contracts, hiring plan, and non-marginality evidence.
• L-1: foreign company operations, qualifying relationship, one-year employment evidence, payroll, foreign and U.S. org charts, premises, business plan, and role descriptions.
• O-1: evidence mapped to the regulatory criteria, independent expert letters, media, awards, judging, original contributions, leading roles, publications, and high compensation evidence.
• EB-5: lawful source and path of funds, investment documents, job creation plan, project documents, tax records, business sale records, gift documents, loan documents, and regional center materials if relevant.
• International Entrepreneur Parole: startup formation evidence, ownership percentage, active role, qualified investment, grants, revenue, job creation, growth metrics, investor qualifications, and alternative growth-potential evidence.

First 30 days: what a serious founder should do now

1. Define the real U.S. goal: meetings, fundraising, hiring, opening an office, managing operations, or relocating permanently.
2. Write an activity map showing what you will do inside the United States and what will be done remotely.
3. Check E-2 treaty nationality if investment is part of your plan.
4. List all existing companies, ownership percentages, roles, employees, revenue, contracts, and payroll history.
5. Decide whether you truly need to work physically in the United States or can stage the launch remotely.
6. Collect core founder and company documents.
7. Check current government fees, processing times, premium processing options, and visa appointment waits.
8. Avoid setting U.S. salary, payroll, or operating duties until the work authorization strategy is clear.
9. If planning a short visit, prepare a clean B-1-style itinerary limited to permitted visitor activities.
10. Get immigration advice if the plan involves active work, U.S. hiring, fundraising, payroll, or relocation.

First 90 days: build the relocation strategy

1. Choose a primary pathway and one backup pathway based on nationality, capital, foreign company structure, achievements, traction, and long-term goals.
2. Align the cap table, ownership, investor rights, and founder title with the immigration strategy before closing financing.
3. Prepare pathway-specific evidence instead of relying on a generic pitch deck.
4. For E-2, document at-risk investment, spending, business readiness, control, and non-marginality.
5. For L-1, organize both the foreign and U.S. company evidence, including the qualifying relationship and the founder’s prior role.
6. For O-1, gather independent evidence of achievement and map it to the USCIS criteria.
7. For EB-5, begin source-of-funds documentation before transferring major funds.
8. For International Entrepreneur Parole, review ownership, startup age, funding, grants, revenue, jobs, and growth-potential evidence.
9. Create a realistic timeline covering petition preparation, government processing, consular appointments, travel, housing, tax, banking, and family logistics.
10. Review what you can and cannot do during any interim U.S. visits while the longer-term strategy is pending.

The U.S. process has its own rules, but the sequencing discipline is similar in any move: documents first, then permissions, then settlement. For comparison, review how a practical arrival sequence is structured in the first 90 days in Portugal checklist for digital nomads.

Common mistakes entrepreneurs make

1. Treating B-1 as a soft launch visa

A founder flies in for investor meetings, then starts working daily from a coworking space, managing developers, closing sales, and handling customer issues. The trip may have begun as business visitation, but it can drift into unauthorized work. The better approach is to use B-1 only for clearly temporary visitor activities and secure a work-authorized pathway before operating from the United States.

2. Forming the company before thinking about immigration

Company formation is fast. Immigration strategy is not. If you finalize ownership percentages, investor control rights, payroll, or founder roles too early, you may weaken E-2, International Entrepreneur Parole, or L-1 arguments. Build the immigration strategy before locking the corporate structure.

3. Assuming E-2 is available to anyone with money

E-2 starts with treaty nationality. If you do not qualify by nationality, the investment discussion may be irrelevant. Check the official treaty list first.

4. Under-capitalizing the business

For E-2, there is no single fixed minimum, but that does not mean “as little as possible” is safe. The investment must be credible for the type of business and enough to show commitment, readiness, and non-marginality.

5. Neglecting the foreign company in an L-1 plan

L-1 depends heavily on the foreign company: its operations, staff, revenue, ownership, and the founder’s qualifying role. If all attention shifts to the U.S. launch and the foreign business evidence becomes thin, the case can suffer.

6. Thinking investor validation equals O-1 evidence

Venture funding can help tell a story, but O-1 requires immigration-style proof. Independent press, awards, judging, original contributions, leading roles, high compensation, and comparable evidence matter.

7. Moving EB-5 funds before documenting them

For EB-5, the path of money matters. A founder with capital spread across companies, gifts, property sales, and international accounts should plan documentation before transferring funds.

8. Ignoring consular timing

Even if a petition is prepared quickly or premium processing is available, a local visa appointment backlog can delay travel. Check both USCIS and Department of State timing.

Hidden friction points founders often discover too late

• The word “business” creates false confidence. A business visitor visa does not mean permission to do every business activity.
• Incorporation is easier than immigration. A U.S. entity can exist before the founder has permission to work for it in the United States.
• Cap tables can affect visa strategy. Dilution, preferred investor rights, voting control, and founder titles may matter for E-2, parole, and role-based cases.
• Unpaid work can still be work. Immigration risk often turns on the nature of the activity, not only salary.
• Startup evidence and immigration evidence are different. A beautiful pitch deck may not prove source of funds, job creation, treaty control, extraordinary ability, or qualifying corporate relationships.
• The strongest business option may not be the strongest immigration option. A funding structure that pleases investors may complicate founder control or ownership arguments.

Before you choose: questions every founder should answer

• What exactly will I do while physically present in the United States?
• Am I visiting for meetings, or will I manage, build, sell, hire, or operate?
• Is my nationality eligible for E-2?
• How much capital have I invested, and is it genuinely at risk?
• Do I control the U.S. company now, and will fundraising dilute that control?
• Do I have a real foreign company that can support L-1?
• Have I worked for that foreign company in a qualifying role for the required period?
• Do my achievements match O-1 evidence categories?
• Can I document the lawful source and path of funds for EB-5?
• Does my startup meet International Entrepreneur Parole ownership, funding, grant, revenue, job, or growth-potential criteria?
• Do I need temporary work authorization, a green card strategy, or both?
• Will I apply from abroad or consider a change of status from inside the United States?
• What will I say at the border or visa interview if asked about my U.S. business activities?

Keep your documents, checklist, and move plan in one place

A good relocation decision starts before the application. For entrepreneurs, the useful question is not “What is the fastest business visa?” It is: “Given my nationality, ownership, capital, company structure, traction, timeline, and green card goals, which pathway is realistic, and what should I avoid doing while I prepare?”

You can use Borderless Self to create a relocation workspace for your U.S. plan, organize founder and company records in the document vault, build a country-specific checklist, and track your readiness before applying or moving. This is especially useful if you are comparing E-2 versus L-1, wondering whether O-1 is realistic, deciding whether a short U.S. visit is safe, or preparing for a legal consultation.

Download the Borderless Self app

FAQs: business visa United States for entrepreneurs

Can I visit the United States to meet investors or clients on a B-1 visa?

Often, yes, if the visit is temporary and limited to permitted business visitor activities such as meetings, consultations, conferences, or negotiations. But you should not use B-1 to work from the United States, manage U.S. operations, or perform services in the U.S. labor market.

Can I start a U.S. LLC without a U.S. visa?

In many cases, a foreign nonresident can form and own a U.S. LLC or corporation without a U.S. visa. But ownership is not work authorization. You still need the right immigration status to physically work for the company from inside the United States.

If I own the U.S. company, can I work for it while visiting?

Not automatically. Ownership and work authorization are separate. A visitor may own shares, attend meetings, or negotiate contracts, but hands-on work or day-to-day management from inside the United States can create immigration risk without proper authorization.

Can I pay myself a salary from my U.S. startup?

Only if your immigration status permits the work and compensation arrangement. Salary for services performed in the United States is different from passive ownership returns such as dividends or distributions. Compensation should be reviewed with immigration and tax advisors.

Is E-2 the closest thing to a U.S. entrepreneur visa?

For many founders from treaty countries, E-2 is one of the most founder-friendly options because it allows the investor to develop and direct the U.S. enterprise. But it requires treaty nationality, substantial at-risk investment, control or direction, a real enterprise, and non-marginality.

What if my country is not an E-2 treaty country?

Then E-2 may not be available unless nationality eligibility is addressed in a legally valid way. You may need to evaluate L-1, O-1, EB-5, International Entrepreneur Parole, or longer-term green card strategies instead.

Can I use L-1 if I already have a company outside the United States?

Possibly. L-1 requires a qualifying relationship between the foreign and U.S. entities and qualifying prior employment abroad, usually at least one continuous year within the required lookback period. The foreign company must be real and well documented.

Can a startup founder qualify for O-1 without being famous?

Yes, fame is not the only route. But the founder needs strong evidence of extraordinary ability under the relevant criteria. Independent documentation matters: awards, press, judging, original contributions, leading roles, publications, high compensation, or comparable evidence.

Is EB-5 only for passive investors?

No. EB-5 can be relevant to entrepreneurs as well as investors, but it has strict investment, job creation, and source-of-funds requirements. It should be planned carefully with professional support.

Is International Entrepreneur Parole a visa?

No. It is discretionary parole. It can allow certain qualifying startup founders to be in the United States temporarily to grow the startup, but it is not a visa classification and not permanent residence.

Which pathway is fastest?

It depends on petition type, premium processing availability, document readiness, consular appointment waits, and whether you are applying from abroad or inside the United States. For urgent timelines, compare the full process, not just USCIS processing.

Which pathway is best if I eventually want a green card?

EB-5 is directly designed as an immigrant investor pathway. Some L-1A founders may later consider EB-1C if the business structure supports it. Some O-1 founders may consider EB-1A or EB-2 National Interest Waiver strategies. E-2 and International Entrepreneur Parole usually need a separate permanent residence plan.

Can I enter on B-1 or ESTA while a longer-term petition is pending?

Sometimes, but it can be sensitive. You must still have a legitimate visitor purpose and be prepared to explain your temporary activities. A pending or planned long-term strategy does not authorize work during a visitor trip.

What should I do before speaking with an immigration lawyer?

Prepare your activity plan, nationality, ownership records, company documents, cap table, investment evidence, foreign company history, achievements, funding records, U.S. timeline, and questions about what you need to do physically in the United States. The clearer your facts, the better the strategy session.

Final thought: design the visa strategy before the U.S. launch

For founders, U.S. immigration is not just a form. It is a business design constraint. Your nationality, cap table, investment trail, foreign operations, role description, payroll plans, and relocation timeline can all affect the right pathway.

The smartest founders do not wait until the investor meeting is booked, the lease is signed, or the border officer asks what they are doing in the United States. They decide early what is exploration, what is work, what is ownership, what is compensation, and what immigration status supports each step.

A U.S. business opportunity can move fast. Your visa strategy should be built before you have to improvise.