Unfiltered w/ PORCH: Real Stories About Immigrant Entrepreneurship
Real stories. Real journeys, told by those who've lived it.
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e01: Neil & Hunter Weitzman are tackling the human side of immigrant entrepreneurship
They say entrepreneurship is hard. Well, try doing it in a country where you weren’t born, sometimes in a language that isn’t your first, with a social network you’ve had to build from scratch. That’s the story of the immigrant entrepreneur.
e02: Nida Ateeq is building her agency one referral at a time
I'm speaking with Nida Ateeq, fractional CMO and Founder of Anagar Media, who decided to launch her business one year after moving to Canada. Talk about cojones.
e03: Marcelo Ribeiro thinks Canada has so much potential because of immigrants
Marcelo initially moved to Canada from Brazil in 2016 to study English. A few months later, he fell in love with the Canadian way of life and decided to move here permanently. The first few years were primarily focused on the going from student permit to work permit to permanent residency.
e04: Mario Meyer on doing business in Canada
Mario moved to Canada from Brazil and launched his first business the day he landed. Literally. He started talking to lawyers in Canada six days before he boarded a plane to Toronto, Canada. Two months later, COVID-19 slammed into the world.
e05: Asli Kahraman turned broken English into an advantage
After years as a corporate lawyer at one of the world's largest law firms, Asli packed up her life into a couple of suitcases, moved to Canada as an international student, finished school, worked for a year, and launched her first business.
e06: Ben Su on why some of Canada's best founders are leaving for the US
What happens if a country's startup ecosystem optimizes for the wrong metrics? You get what we are currently dealing with in Canada: builders moving to the US, incubators charging startups to access grants, and entrepreneurs learning how to pitch to bureaucrats instead of selling to customers.
e07: Katherine Li on the mental game of immigrant entrepreneurship
Before launching PulseFX with her co-founders, Katherine had worked in the finance industry for 10 years. But that didn't stop her from dealing with self-doubt or getting in her own way.
e08: Kingsley Madu on why he doesn't believe in work-life balance
Kingsley thinks the concept of work-life balance is a myth, especially if you are an entrepreneur. Hold on...don't get defensive. Calm yet?
e09: Patrick Findaro on moving to the U.S as an immigrant entrepreneur
Immigration to the United States is a touchy topic right now. But Patrick thinks it's important to consider what actually happens versus what gets said. According to his data, Trump's first term maintained an 88% E2 Investor Visa approval rate, just 3% lower than under other administrations.
e10: Matrix Venture Studio founders on why you must fall in love with the boredom
Roy and Dev left behind established legal careers in India to start over in Canada. But it seems the "starting over" gene was a feature not a bug, because after a couple of years in corporate Canada, these two humans resigned and launched Matrix Venture Studio.
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