New Business, New Home: Four Stories of Re-location
Often the first one to arrive, not only is their social circle thin to non-existent, so are the domestic basics: home, utilities, travel and the place to buy the milk. Youâre probably moving from a senior position with a larger team into one where you have to take care of all the small details. Simply rooting in can feel like building a brand new startup, complete with the existential angst.
We asked four start up migrants about their experience.
James Allgrove, Stripe
âBring as little as possibleâ
Bring as few possessions as possible. Moving is a great opportunity to declutter your life, both physically and mentally. Make your first place temporary, short-term, and arrange things from there. Bringing a lot of stuff with you will create a tangle of âinadvertent path dependenciesâ importing your stuff creates. For example, I brought my bed from London which meant my bedroom had to be a certain size, which limited my choice of apartments, etc.
âCapitalize on being newâ
Business and personal mix well in the first six months. Being new can be the perfect excuse to reach out to people youâre interested in meeting for whatever reason (or no reason at all). You have the fact youâre new as the purpose of meeting up rather than any specific agenda. With an open mind you can get a lot from this experience, even if not every conversation goes somewhere. Definitely donât just hang out with work people and try to reach beyond your industry.
âSocial Security Number; bank account; phoneâ
The three basics. Everything else flows from them in the US and without them itâs very difficult to move onto the bigger things like where to live and getting paid. Get these sorted before you arrive. Itâs even worth considering visiting a few weeks before you actually move to do so.
âLeverage your HQâ
When youâre first on the ground thereâs a lot to do and there often isnât a team physically there to support you. The default expectation can be that, being local, youâre going to do everything. Ask for help from HQ: for example, calling real estate brokers, getting referrals for people to interview, introductions to the right connections. If youâre the first on the ground you should make sure youâre spending your time doing the things that actually require you to be there in person so that you have maximum impact.
âDonât lose touch with friends back homeâ
Think about sending an email with your highlights of the monthâââwhere youâre living, what youâve been up to etc. It keeps you connected and avoids repeating the same conversation 50 times when you visit back home. Donât be boring. Donât be smug. Short and sweet works well.
Julia PaolucciâââWorkwell.io
âWelcome to the Shark Tankâ
A thick skin, particularly in New York, is worth bringing. You will encounter dismissive and abrupt behaviour. Equally, big egos can be sensitive: telling a potential client that their current solution is not market-leading may cause upset.
âCo-working spaces can be an answerâ
They put on events all the time. Youâll meet people in the same boat as you. WeWork, AG collective, the Neue Collective, Spacious⌠and thereâs an all-womenâs one, The Wing.
âFind your âthingâ outside workâ
Whatever it isâââsport, arts or otherâââany big city will be full of opportunity and new connections.
âGo back to your team oftenâ
Keep connected to keep you going and motivated. Make sure you have a really good webcam / microphone set up. Bring the team culture with you. (Julia visits her team back in Paris once a quarter).
âDonât expect help from the competitionâ
However developed your sectorâs community, thereâs likely to be less willingness to collaborate in the US than in Europe.
âGive it timeâ
Nobody likes NYC at month 5, but at month 7 (for some reason), it clicks!
Will GroganâââVanMoof
âHow do you know youâre not being ripped off?â
This can be a reality for the newly-arrived outsider. A lot of contract business gets done via informal networks built on local knowledge into which you have little insight. If youâre a local, you know how much a good lawyer should cost, who to contact, and what to avoid. As a newcomer it can be difficult to assess a situation no matter how long you look at it, even though all the information is âknowableâ in a concrete way. It just takes a bit of time.
âBoxing gyms in Amsterdam are the same as they are in New Yorkâ
It might sound trite, but joining a local group full of townies (gym, music, culture, volunteer work) is a great way of settling into a new place. The closer you get to universal habits, the more obvious it becomes that people are essentially the same everywhere.
âEverybody wanna be a bodybuilder, but donât nobody wanna lift this heavy. ass. weight.â (Ronnie Coleman)
You donât end up running a company in a new country by accident. Itâs worth remembering that you asked for the fight and fights donât go all your way all the time. If it were easy, everyone would do it. Remembering that helps you stay motivated and to come out fighting!
âJames Baldwin was rightâ
(âYou think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.â) Literature is especially rich on the subject of people displaced for one reason or another. It can help you get out of your own head and appreciate other people running up against the same problems.
Danny HakimianâââOnfido
âIâve lived in four cities on three continentsâ
⌠and New Yorkâs real estate scene is unlike anything Iâve seen. If youâre on a tight budget and want to live in Manhattan, youâre going to have to accept some very small spaces. New York does have a great public transport system, so if youâre okay with a commute there are plenty of outer boroughs with a ton of character and good access to the city. The StreetEasy app is your best friend.
âKnow a good immigration attorneyâ
The visa process can be a huge battle youâve got to be mentally ready for. A good immigration attorney will know the details of your various options and can set expectations and plan accordingly.
âEveryone knows someone in NYCâ
I messaged people I hadnât spoken to in a long time. Itâs amazing how many random connections from over the years also end up in places like New York. I also asked a lot of friends to intro nice people they knew. Remember there are a ton of people in the same position as you.
âEnjoy feeling slightly unsettled!â
If getting a bad haircut from a new barber or not having your favourite cheese in the supermarket is going to bother you, itâs going to be a struggle. You obviously get more in to a routine as the months go by, but part of the excitement is knowing thereâs always something different around the corner.
âChange the rhythm, change the rhymeâ
(âŚcome on up its blobsled time?). If youâre having a hard day, pick up the phone. Get out of the office.
âDonât miss out on the watercooler chatâ
Stay connected to the mothership office. Make sure they know what youâre working on and make an effort to find out whatâs happening on their side, including the smaller tasks and little challenges theyâre facing.