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This Entrepreneur Interview is with Matt Cameron, an Australian (New Zealand) founder of the  startup Corporate Catapult. Matt started up Corporate Catapult in the U.S. and this interview is all about starting up in the U.S.

We go into detail about the benefits of moving to Silicon Valley and starting up in the U.S., communication across countries, recommended networking events in the Bay area, advice about how to build relationships with U.S. angel investors and venture capitalists, how to register a company and get visa’s and much more. If you’re thinking about visiting the U.S. startup scene or moving over there, check out this interview.

The full interview on video is here:

If you prefer text, here’s the Summary Notes:

Benefits of starting up in the U.S.

• The primary reason we went to the U.S. is because we have a vision that we are a global company that will eventually be acquired by a US entity.
• Build relationships with the sorts of organizations that need to get to know us – companies like salesforce.com, LinkedIn and other professional networking type organizations
• Build relationships with the sorts of people we would like to finance us by getting over there and building as many data points as possible – it is necessary to build credibility with people over time
• Be in the ecosystem that is Silicon Valley in San Francisco – put your finger on the pulse and understand what is going on today
• Commercial reasons

Moving to Silicon Valley

• If you haven’t moved to a new country before, that’s a task that should not be taken lightly. If a company is thinking about moving, it is important to do a reconnaissance mission to scope out the scene and decide who from the company is going there. If you’re going by yourself, you’ve really got to be that outgoing, gregarious natural networker to get the value from it. Any new environment is challenging – it is a lonely place to be unless you have the inclination to go out there and get connected.
• My advice:

1. Make sure you’re the type of person that can succeed in that environment
2. There is a cacophony of noise and you have to filter that out and figure out how best to spend your time – there are only so many hours in a day
3. The first thing you need to do is go out and scope it in terms of events and figuring out what you need to sample
4. Go to one of everything to figure out what is going to work for you and is relevant – I segment my days so that this amount of time is spent on ‘x’ activity and part of that is networking and relationship building and then it’s a matter of just slotting in the right events
5. Follow up on those events and maintain relationships in order to get value from them

Following up a networking event

• Similar to any sales situation, following up a networking event is all about relationship development – a relationship is a two-way thing and there has to be mutual value in it. In the U.S., everyone is very open and everyone wants to help everyone else. In Australia and New Zealand, we have yet to figure out the fastest way to get to the top is to step on each other’s shoulders and help each other up the mountain – they’ve really got that sorted out in the U.S.
• If you meet someone and they have advice for you, they will give it to you on the spot. If you need to follow up with them, the thing you’ve got to think about is ‘what am I going to bring him or her next time?’.
• Send a follow-up note after the meeting saying “it was great to meet you and I enjoyed talking about ‘A,B and C.’ I’m going to think some more about this thing we talked about and see if I can help you with it.” This gives me some time to do some research and think about how I might assist them and make a deposit in their emotional bank account that I can draw down on later.
• Momentum is the key to relationship building. You should meet someone, send a follow up email, send them a note, article, or physically do something, make an introduction, before coming back and looking to draw back on that favor. What does not work well at all is if you follow up straight away and ask for something when there is no emotional capital between you.

Commercial and noncommercial benefits of moving to the U.S.

• Simpler exit – if you’re looking for an exit in the US, it is much simpler for that transaction if you are already based there. There are many capital gains and income tax issues if you are a non-resident US company. Many people incorporate in Delaware since there is no income tax if the business is operating outside of the state of Delaware
• Tax incentives – there are many tax incentives in the U.S. that we don’t get to take advantage of in Australia
• The ecosystem and access to expertise – there are people in the U.S. that have done this several times and people have had several successful exits over time. If you can get them to be advisors, that can be very beneficial and helpful. We have some great people in Australia but everyone wants access to them and there are far fewer of those people here than there are in the states.

Bigger size of the US market

• In the states you can make more mistakes since you have such a large market and you only need a small fraction of that to be viable, whereas in Australia and New Zealand, you need to get around 80 or 90 percent right because you can only burn so many customers in the environment – you can scale much faster in the U.S.

Downsides of going to the U.S.

• Access to talent in the West Coast – there is a lot of angel money out there right now, which means that tons of people are jumping into startups and there are some very high salaries being paid and equity arrangements being made
• Talent vacuums like Zynga, Groupon, Facebook, etc. – startups like ours going to the states are having difficulty attracting top engineering talent. In the past you could offer employees lots of equity and small salaries but today they’re getting top salaries and significant options to go with it

Communication across countries

• Our dynamic is like a marriage to the extent that we are committed to each other in this venture and we have good days and bad days and we have to make it work. My experience has been a very good one because my co-founder is someone I have worked with for the past six years and is a friend, so we have been through very difficult times and we both know how we react under times of stress.
• Even though we are very close friends, you have to speak almost every day. When we didn’t do that, doubts and uncertainties creep in and this can be especially challenging when working in different time zones. If people are looking to split the team, you must have very strong personal relationships and must have seen each other under stress before.
• I come back to Australia every six weeks and my co-founder, Steve Buchisen, rotates with me. I think six weeks is about the limit, you need to sit down, have a beer together, talk about how things are going and actually get some time together where its not just professional. When you’re skyping, there is very little time for small talk so if you want to keep a relationship, you’ve got to have down time together.

Recommended resources and advice

• Start doing digital recon

1. Meetup.com – most events and conferences list their events
2. Quora.com – Q&A site that focuses on talent in Silicon Valley
3. Mixogy
4. Look up coworking websites

• Find people you respect and follow them on plancast.com to see what they are doing
• Subscribe to Startup Digest, SF New Tech for upcoming events
• If you’re already an entrepreneur, you should get an account with thefunded.com – it is only accessible by entrepreneurs since it is a discussion site for people who are seeking finance and are going through that process and they will talk about VCs; it is like an insiders guide to getting funding
• Follow some prominent VCs and angles – such Mike Schuster, Brad Feld, Fred Wilson

Recommended events

• Bootstrappers Breakfast – facilitated meetup of bootstrappers to discuss challenges and help solve each others business problems
• Entrepreneur Commons – facilitated meet up once a month, network and discuss issues and successes in a mutually confidential environment with entrepreneurs.
• Code Camp, if you’re a technical person – serious event focusing on the lastest developments in technology with a startup focus
• Networking events:

1. SF New Tech – meets every two weeks
2. Biz Tech Day
3. Group get-together
4. Founders Institute meetings
5. Pitch Nights – listen to other entrepreneurs talking about their business, listen to feedback from the venture capitalists and angels and get a feel for what is going on in the industry
6. Angel investors and venture capitalists generally do not attend such events but will be present at Founders Day at the Founders Institute

Meeting venture capitalists, angel groups and angel investors

• The best way to meet a VC is to go to a specific panel night
• Angel groups are actually fairly easy to get to – there are the Band of Angels and Valley Angels, all very organized and experienced.
• I think presenting at an angel forum like that is a little bit a rookies game. If you are pitching to a band like that, you are basically trying to pitch to individual angels and this is inefficient.
• The number one thing is it should be people you really want to work with. When things get tough, you want your finance partner to be in the trenches with you. I don’t know that groups of angels fit that bill necessarily.
• I think a sign of a very good entrepreneur is someone who can shoot with a rifle, not a shotgun and look for people that can add value to what they’re doing – there should be a natural fit to that person’s portfolio

Angel investors and Australian companies

• There is a very limited possibility of angels investing in Australian companies – angels are people that are experienced entrepreneurs and want to add value to your company. It is very hard to do that when you’re not in the same country.
• If you have a business here with Australian angels and you can nearly exit, there is nothing precluding you from being bought by a US company.

Networking in the U.S.

• Anza Tech are active in the U.S. and their focus is helping Australian companies that build businesses that will send revenue back here and jobs for Australia. If you go to meetup.com there are Aussie, South African and Kiwi groups that tend to come together. I have found that every Aussie and Kiwi have wanted to help, as do I, but I don’t see the regular networking things going on.

Moving to the U.S.

• If you’re going to the states, you need to get the best lawyer you can find and spend your money. There are a couple big names in the Valley but you want a brand name for two reasons:

1. It is a tick in the box when you’re looking for funding
2. They have an incredible network

• The process for setting up, getting incorporated and getting myself a visa cost less than $10,000 (including legal fees)
• The process:

1. We had an immigration specialist get a federal employer identification number approved so that that entity can sponsor people into the country (it is the equivalent of a 457)
2. I got a professional sponsorship visa called an E-3
3. Corporate Catapult then made an application and I brought a letter to the consulate saying the company would like to employ me