Moving to the US from Europe isn't that easy. I only made the move because my wife is a postdoc over here, but with things like H1-B freezes and covid-19 it can be very difficult to do.

I've worked with a lot of Europeans and overwhelmingly they are not on H-1B visas.

Green cards, L-1, O-1 and spouse visas are the way to go.

Getting an O-1 visa in the software space is a lot easier than you think, especially with the way the software industry works in Europe (it's a much smaller pool with a higher average level of education and way more public speaking & publishing opportunities) in general the requirements are easier than if I were to have to try for it.

This is a non sequitur. There is no way to directly get a green card. That is a final outcome after proceeding through one of the few remaining immigration visa options.

Also O-1 is decidedly not easy. Look at Peter Roberts frequent legal posts here for comments about it.

I'm on a J2 and think I can progress onto another one if I decide to stay in a couple years (via a work sponsorship). Saying this, Green Cards are obviously crazy difficult to get without already living in the US for years and O-1 visas are also really difficult to get. L-1's work if you're at a large company but not if you're working for startups.

I mean it's O-1 how easy can it be. Most likely requirements are publishing papers or making some insane startup.

One Javascript developer famously got one just from speaking engagements and writing a semi-popular framework.

There has to be more to it than that, what's their name?

It's not too trivial to go from an European country to the US. An H1-B is a hassle, as are the other types of visa available.

Can't imagine what is the process of "taking your startup" (with you) entails.

You don't really have a choice do you? Is he supposed to refuse to go to college for free/low cost because he pays taxes to be able to do that?

I also see a lot of brain drain in Brazil. Most are from public colleges, and they go mostly to Europe.

I thought this was because lots of Brazilians are eligible for Portuguese passports

Many come straight to Germany or other more rich EU countries.

A portuguese passport would allow just that. So would an Italian passport (many South Americans, especially from Brazil and Argentina would qualify).

My point is that as a Brazilian, you don’t need a Portuguese passport before you go to a rich EU country. It’s trivial to get a German working visa in tech.

If you've got a European passport then you can go anywhere in the EU.