How can startups more effectively use the OPT program? (I work at a university) I see a lot of graduating international students who would love to stay in the US post graduation and work at startups but navigating that seems difficult for startups.
For the basic OPT, you don't really do any paperwork--the school and student do some paperwork and obtain an EAD that you use for the I-9 form.
For the STEM OPT extension, you have to be participating in E-Verify (required in many states anyway), and fill out a training plan for the two years: https://www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis/pdf/i983.pdf
I think the bigger issue is continuity--employers that plan to convert these to other visa types for continue employment will need to be planning for that from the beginning to avoid interruptions.