Season 2 Coming Up!
The wait is over and Season 2 of Move Your Business to The United States is finally here.
This season will be hosted and led by Nastaran Tavakoli-Far, a Journalist and Business reporter for the BBC, who also studied at graduate school in the US.
In Season 1 we went around London talking to lawyers, bankers, and accounts, and talked about the general mechanisms involved with moving your business to the United States.
This season is a bit different.
We’re going to be meeting people who have actually done it. Successful entrepreneurs who have made the move. They’ll share with us what helped them to succeed, as well as the difficulties they came across along the way.
Stay tuned...
Time Stamps:
00:38 - What we have coming up in Season 2.
01:36 - Nas’s background and previous experience.
03:18 - The kinds of questions that frequently come up as instability looms.
Resources:
Email us with your questions at - Info@mtbonnell.com
Twitter - @mtbonnell
Connect with Sebastian Sauerborn: LinkedIn
Connect with Nastaran Tavakoli-Far: LinkedIn
Episode Transcript
Episode 18: Season Finale
Sebastian: You’re listening to the Move Your Business to the United States podcast with me Sebastian Sauerborn
Emmett: And me, Emmett Glynn
Sebastian: Yes Emmett we are back, after South by Southwest in fact we are sitting here on a warm Irish summer day in our offices in Dublin and we are recording today the final episode off of the first season. You want to take this opportunity to look back a little bit, I mean, we have recorded sixteen or seventeen episodes or eighteen even and we’ve started this process almost a year ago when we first met in London to record the initial episode so we’re going to take this opportunity to recap a little bit, feature some of the highlights of all those episodes and then also talk a little bit the next season and the future of this podcast. So how’s been for you Emmett?
Emmett: Yeah, I can’t believe it’s been a year, yeah, it was amazing journey really to have met you and Kevin and to hear about your journey to the United States and how you’ve moved with your family to Miami, correct me if I’m wrong and now Kevin’s journey to the United States and all of that was involved on his learning all the complications all the things he had to overcome but also being with him as we had this grand surprises of what a welcome and joyful place is to be. So, on Kevin we’ve kind of missed a bit of him for the last episode, why don’t you fill us in on where he is?
Sebastian: Yes, our good friend Kevin, you know, basically he had a bicycle accident and is now recovering from an injury that he got there actually on one of our tours and so we think about him today and hope he will get better soon and we hope that he’ll return back to this podcast for today, the last episode of this season he won’t be with us unfortunately.
So why don’t we look back a little bit of how all this started so it started really at the lines at the Pyrenees where Kevin came to me and said you know if we have to do a podcast this would be really great you know this would be something, it’s the new thing, it’s the new kid on the block and everyone wants to have podcast and everything so Kevin was incredibly enthusiastic about it where I of course knew podcast and I listened to some, I wasn’t really familiar with the concept but I was open minded and I’ve realized that Mount Bonnell Advisors which was the new venture at the point could do with the podcast would be interesting and I would enjoying doing one. So then Kevin brought Emmett and that’s how all started. So we all met in London in a nice hotel, the Landmark hotel to record Episode One and had a great time there.
Kevin: So, here I am, Baker Street, the start of the adventure, this podcast is about, going to America, about leaving the old world, heading to the new, so what am I doing in London? Well like all the best adventures it has to start somewhere and I’m here at Baker Street. I’m going to a very nice hotel, five minute walk from here and I’m going to meet a man, a man who says that he can’t help me in the practical ways in another ways to make the dream come true of moving to the United States.
Sebastian: We’ve used this episode to really introduce the concept and the concept was Kevin you know being in the role of a potential client who is interested to move the business in the United States and starting that conversation with me, and how would I go in a real life situation with a real client. So we took him of the next three episodes through all the steps and we went to Orlando, the immigration lawyer, we interviewed a good number of people.
This is South Kensington.
Kevin: So Sebastian we’re here in South Kensington, Central London. Today you’re going to introduce me to somebody who is going to help me with that four-letter word I’ve mentioned the last time.
Sebastian: Exactly. Today, I’m going to introduce you to Orlando who is an immigration lawyer based here in London and he has helped me various times with my visa in the US and so I know he can get the job done Kevin, and he will help you.
Kevin: I’m really looking forward to meeting him. Okay let’s find our way through the streets and find out where Orlando is.
Emmett: I think what was interesting was how you were able to bring clarity to the endless list of questions that Kevin had, some really simple, I guess finding home, opening a bank account, these are reasonable simple things, other things are bit more complicated, sort of, navigating the visa system.
Kevin: So these visas are serious business. And the last thing that I want is to be refused entry at the airport before I even start my American dream. So I had to ask. Does that mean that someone can end up in court?
Orlando: It means that people can turned around at the airport entry put back on a plane and sent home, warned and told, next time when you come in, come in with a proper visa.
Emmett: Did the encounter with Kevin represent a real scenario meeting a client?
Sebastian: It very much did so. So all of these questions most clients would have so those questions had to be answered, I think we’ve answered them in great detail, and some of these questions would be answered either by a client themselves starting the website or in a personal consultation, either face to face or over the phone. But yes very much, I mean, these are all processes and entails what we typically talk about with clients and yes in many ways it was really real you know it was really real life. And then again it became even more real when we went to Texas didn’t it?
Kevin: Boy, Sebastian glad to see you
Sebastian: Glad to see you Kevin, I hope you had a good trip.
Kevin: I’m going to describe for our listeners, just how you’re dressed because that was the most shocking thing of all. You are dressed like a Texas cowboy, you’ve got the boots, you’ve got the blue jeans and you’ve got the country shirt that sort of the checkered blue shirt and the cowboy hat, my goodness. Oh and the belt, the belt.
Sebastian: And don’t forget the belt and the belt buckley don’t forget about that, you know
Kevin: Listen the belt is so big, Elvis would’ve been proud of it.
Sebastian: [smiling]
Emmett: It was incredible sensory experience really, to arrive in this new climate, this new culture that I really didn’t knew nothing about and to sort of trust you essentially to guide us around it and help us navigate it, looking back at that episode, one thing that I love is the experience when we’re walking out rainy street having been jet lagged and really surviving on very little sleep and sort of been topped up quite pleasantly with a few Austin beers and kind of going from bar to bar, I’ve really had this full on experience of Austin living, which for me it was just incredibly unique.
Kevin: So Sebastian took me for a drink or two, and we got to talking about the places and the people that he was going to introduce me to.
Sebastian: Let’s have a three bourbon- please.
Kevin: It may have been the bourbon but boy, it sure sounded good to me. By the end of the night I was dead tired and it seemed a long way from London, it was time to grab an Uber and while we were heading back to the hotel, our driver told us all about Austin.
Emmett: And I think for Kevin too, do you think that Kevin was expecting what he saw in Austin, was he expecting to be more, was he expecting it to resemble something else you think?
Sebastian: I think most people when they think about Texas, they think about something else, I mean they think about Wild West movies and huge deserts, which they are in West Texas but not in Central Texas. The Central Texas is really green and we went there at a time where there has been a lot of rain. And so yes, I mean totally, I think Kevin was expecting something different. He mentioned a few times in the podcast that it reminded him of Ireland, I mean, I would not much go that far but [smiling] it’s different, yeah, it was very large, very large and very green, even though I lived there for a while, it’s also a new experience to go there with new friends, you know, and people who have never been there. You almost kind of go through re-experience the place as if it was the first time, because you do it with a different set of people.
Kevin: Haven’t seen any cowboys or Indians yet.
Sebastian: Oh, no. [smiling]
Kevin: Other than yourself as a cowboy.
Sebastian: [smiling] When we will go, more to the small towns, you know, like on Sunday, you would definitely see that, you would see on Sunday man going to church in a cowboy hat and of course they take it off and they go to church but you will see it on Sunday, I promise you.
You boys like travelling. Yes especially this way you can see a lot and you can always catch your bus. But I though a cowboy always rode his horse every place he went. We do, ma’am but my horses are regular home body so I make the long trips by myself. Of course I send him postcards along the way [smiling]
Emmett: We were there for about ten days but you know, when you look back at the episodes it looks like we were there for a lot longer really, because we were sort of going from one meeting to another, from one rooftop to another as well. And one episode which comes to mind, is meeting Dan Dillard the creator of Founding Austin, really interesting magazine, tell us a little bit about Dan Dillard.
Sebastian: Yes it was definitely a very interesting episode, and so Dan Dillard is a Austin based entrepreneur, he has a lot of experience also with the form art of podcasting himself runs a number of successful podcasts and he has a very strong belief in community and the local community and that together we can achieve more than doing everything on our own. And that is very much his philosophy and we’ve talked about it at length about that philosophy that is also very much the philosophy of Austin and in so far really Dan Dillard represents really what Austin is all about, you know, he’s kind of easy going, relaxed, laid back, enjoying the weather you know, enjoying a good drink, being in a nice hotel, a nice bar. Enjoying the views, talk about views you know Austin is full of these roof top bars and we’ve explored quite a few of them, so yeah definitely meeting Dan Dillard was really impressive.
Kevin: But you said something when we first met, which struck a real cord and it wasn’t what I was expecting at all, was something about the concept of community and this magazine. Could you just for the listeners expand, because, I’ll tell you, I worked in journalism I never heard anybody talking about community I’ve talked about readers and I’ve talked about advertisers, I’ve never heard community.
Dan: That was the second part only earlier you asked the question and I said it into two parts. And one was what I love about Austin. And the second part, I’ve been asked many times, since I’ve- and I hear from so many people in Austin and obviously I love the city, if I can describe Austin in one word, what would it be. And the word is community. No, no doubt about it. Yes, sure it’s beautiful, sure there is outdoor life, sure there is a lots of business, sure there is a lots of bunch of entrepreneurialism, but the heart of Austin is this community. Meaning that you can pretty much email, contact, LinkedIn anyone in Austin, and say, “hey wanna grab a coffee, I need some help with my business”, and 99% of the time, they’re gonna say “yes”, no matter if it’s a CEO of a big company, or whoever it is. They’ll say, yes, they’ll take time and give, because Austin is also about giving and they know that it takes a community to build and so, I consider Austin as this garden of entrepreneurialism, and the reason that you have a garden is because you have cultivators that give, give, give, and want to give back through these coffee meetings and knowledge sharing. And that’s what makes this city so great, above everything else, it’s a great climate, and location and a lot of music and a lot of things to do, food is second to none, but just, community, just be able to pick the phone up and say I need some help with my business.
Sebastian: I think definitely one of the other highlights was to meet Andy Jones who is an investor from Britain and has been living in Austin for I think more than ten years now he moved there and never left Austin he has a family there now and you’ve meet him at Capital Factory which is an incubator, what was your impression of the whole Capital Factory and Andy Jones experience?
Emmett: Well I mean it’s absolutely mind blowing you know every floor you go up seems to get more and more interesting and you meet these very relatable innovators and some people who are very tech based but some people who are more entrepreneurial or artistic, you have this sense that you’re seating on raw energy, I mean everyone around is seems to be working something which is going to be the next Uber the next Google I don’t know, but people are seating on this great start up ideas and you’ve got these incredibly friendly people like Andy Jones who are holding their hand through that process and he almost did that for us, he kind of took us around the floor, took us to the room where it was sort of top secret work that we can’t talk about and then to the other room where there’s more open environment where the people are seating around sort of throw a football around the room and you know brainstorm and even I felt a bit old actually in the environment.
But also was cool that Andy was that like he said he was a British he was an expat someone who’s moved out here and essentially made it, and he’s done the American dream, if you like, in Austin. And, it was really enjoyable, really entertaining to hear how about he did that, especially how he used his Britishness.
Andy: People trust the European accent, they think you’re more intelligent it comes in a- I was “really?”, [smiling] and “why not”, and it works, and yes, I think that’s something as we look forward to, you know, I think as well it’s something I looked at, use your strengths, I mean there’s always a saying just surround yourself by people, excuse me, surround yourself with people who are more intelligent, who are better than you, but you’ve still got to have something that you rely on as your strength. And yeah, I’ve always thought that being quintessentially English, like, use that sort of whole, you know the history of Great Britain, use it. You know, to your advantage, and it’s definitely worth.
Emmett: It’s just goes to show that, you know we do travel around the world but, there’s something about our culture that makes incredibly valuable and provides new information wherever we go and that- I think that gave me great confidence don’t you think that this kind of hospitality is genuine when we move around Austin? And that people feel that we’ve actually got something to maybe even offer them.
Sebastian: In very much so, I think that, as someone who is active in business or in media, so someone who has kind of an interesting, I would say, career background lifestyle, I think very much fit in there pretty, pretty quickly and you don’t need to be rich to make it there or you don’t need to be like the top player in your game, I mean, if you have something to say, let’s say it like this, if you have something to say, and you know your “shit” you know [smiling] then I think you will find a lot of opportunities, particularly in Austin, to contribute to the community, to basically make a difference and bring something, you know, contribute something that is very useful there and it makes you feel good about yourself, I mean we’ve always felt what we were doing there made sense and was appreciated, was appreciated by everyone, so they were giving us a lot of positive inputs but, so were we, you know, and I think that’s a great thing about America that America is still very welcoming and it doesn’t really matter what background you have if you can contribute something to society and to business, you’ll be welcome.
Kevin: Here we are, Day 3 of the Mount Bonnell adventure, here at South by South West, I’m here with my other fellow at Mount Bonnell adventures, Sebastian Sauerborn and Emmett Glynn, we’re walking down at, what street is this, Sebastian?
Sebastian: Cesar Chavez.
Kevin: Cesar Chavez right beside the conference center, you can hear the traffic, you can hear the people, everything is buzzing today, that’s the key word around here, “buzz”
Emmett: Nowhere was that illustrated quite so well as at South by Southwest where we wrapped up the season and we’ve met with a number of incredibly interesting people, I’m sure you’ll agree and that became part of this sort of bubbling excitement that is surrounding Austin and I guess it kind of hit up around South by Southwest.
Kevin: You can hear the traffic, you can hear the people, everything is buzzing today, that’s the key word round here, “buzz”, Emmett, tell me what you really thought about yesterday what was the highlight for you?
Emmett: Yesterday we’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of Irish, German and English entrepreneurs bringing their products over the US and so it was really good fun to meet them, interview them and do some filming, check out the YouTube page you can find all our interviews there and it was really nice just to be part of this network and community.
Kevin: Yes, I agree, the meeting of the young entrepreneurs was quite something, yesterday, Sebastian you interviewed a lot of the German clientele yesterday, they were quite something?
Sebastian: Yeah, I think that we had a good time, meeting entrepreneurs from Berlin and very clever people and sophisticated business ideas, such as 3D printing of human tissue, it was incredible, I’ve learned a lot and I was really inspired and impressed.
Kevin: Today, it’s more of the same, the one thing that we are learning about South by Southwest is to expect the unexpected, you just never know what’s going to happen next, who you’re going to meet next or what’s round on the next stand so for now, from Downtown Austin, it’s over and out.
Emmett: One thing I really enjoyed about, it was the trade festival and meeting people from Enterprise Ireland and Enterprise Britain, I think it was called, the German Enterprise group, we went to the Berlin Saloon and you can catch all the highlights on this on the last couple of episodes where we’ve really split South by Southwest over several episodes, and now I’ll just give you a flavor just about how dense it is and to meet people who are having their first experience of America for a lot of them and for some of them just a first experience of Austin and I guess again it just reaffirms the sense that Austin is a buzzing place to be, and you know at that point it was my second time there so I already felt like I was a local, but you know for all these young people coming over and sharing a new program they’ve written or a new piece of AI they’ve created, and I can see the same sense of excitement and anticipation and fun that I also had on my first journey.
Kevin: Okay, we’re here on the exhibit hall of South By Southwest, 2019, and I’m going to introduce you with some of the Irish Enterprise zone here.
Andris: How you’re doing, so my name is Andris Macs and I’m the head of business development for company called the GECKO Governance.
Kevin: So what does that exactly do, Andris?
Andris: So we provide a suite of technology, KYC and compliance services to the asset management industry banks and digital asset companies.
Kevin: And it’s your first time at South By?
Andris: Absolutely, we’re very excited, Enterprise Ireland has been very good to us and fantastic support, they’ve brought us here to Austin, it’s a first time we’re looking forward to expand the network here in the US, meet potential exciting clients and investors.
Kevin: And I believe you’re pitching here at 02:30?
Andris: Absolutely, yeah absolutely, the Irish Innovation hour is on 02:30, and my pitch is at 3 o’clock. So definitely come by and see our speech.
Kevin: Andris you’ve got a wonderful Irish accents but you’re not from Ireland, right?
Andris: No, no, absolutely not, so I come from Latvia, from the Baltic states and I moved down in Dundalk about 12 years ago and I just, had to pick up the accent, had no choice.
Kevin: So, just for, your offices are in Dundalk -?
Andris: Sydney, Australia and New York.
Kevin: All very similar places [smiling]
Andris: Yeah, absolutely [smiling]
Kevin: Okay Andris, thanks very much.
Sebastian: Our main aim for this next season is to speak to people who have done it, so while we spoke a lot about general information in the first season of the podcast, how to do it, you know, what are the processes, what are the tasks, what are the steps involved, in this new season what I’ve actually talked to entrepreneurs who have done it. So, we went to speak to entrepreneurs from Europe who have established businesses in the United States, who have moved to the United States and have succeeded in doing though, maybe with obstacles, obstacles that they have mastered on the way that they overcome, maybe some even close to failure, so we have already lined up a number of very interesting guests on the podcast and we’ll start recording that soon, so second season, it’s basically talk to people who have done it, what are your goals for the second season Emmett?
Emmett: I think we’re going to hopefully do, is also spend this second season really getting to know you, our audience and so, what we really asking to do is to contact us and tell us how you think this show is going also maybe you’ve got some insights to share also, maybe you’ve done it yourself, maybe you’ve opened up business in the States or you maybe you’re in the process of doing it, either way, please do contact us and let us know how you enjoy the podcast and any questions that you might have and we will read them out on the show. So you can email us at info@mtbonnell.com you can find the address at the bottom of the show notes or follow us on Twitter @mtbonnell
So Sebastian at the start of this season Kevin asked you a question which was, what is the secret sauce someone needs to have in order to do this process, do you remember what your answer is?
Sebastian: I think I do, and I think I said that what I said, it’s the grit, most important greatest thing, the most important is attitude. I think to succeed in business because it’s going to be a bumpy ride sooner or later and you need to hang in there, to succeed, I think everybody would agree to that, lot more bumpier than producing this podcast everything was very smoothly here [smiling]
Emmett: Is that still the case, you know, it’s been a year since you’ve said that, do you still believe that’s still the case or have you learn anything yourself this year that is giving you insight to what kind of person needs to do this?
Sebastian: I definitely still stand by that statement that is still the case I definitely believe that, so grit is the most important virtue to succeed in business, I think. I think what I’ve learned through this past year is that money is not everything, especially not in business. I think we’ve met a lot of entrepreneurs and examples of people that didn’t had a lot of funding. In fact in Austin we’ve heard a lot about a seventeen-year old boy who is now an advisor to the military because he invented some sort of software which we can talk about. And we’ve heard about him at the Capital Factory.
So, I would encourage everyone who listens that is not really about the money, it’s about having a great idea and then having the determination and the grit to follow through with this idea. Because this has to be an idea that is wanted by the market place, so there have to be customers want to buy that stuff. If you develop something that nobody wants to buy, you know, that’s pointless, right, so then, of course grit is not always positive you know, there is no point of doing something, of beating a dead horse, so to speak, if the horse is dead, the horse is dead, you know, you can’t revive it. But I would encourage everyone to listen to this podcast episode where we talk, you know, as I’ve said too many interesting people and money really was never the deciding factor why these people were successful, not when Andy Jones arrived in Austin, not when Dan Dillard started in Austin or other people began their careers as entrepreneurs. I think that is something that I’ve realized that even more this past year talking to all these people. You can do it if you have a good idea and if you have the determination and the grit to follow through and work hard.
Emmett: So I think that’s it, you’ve been listening to How to Move Your Business to the United States with me, Emmett Glynn
Sebastian: And me, Sebastian Sauerborn
Emmett: Stay tuned for the Season Two.
