Why Every International Founder Should Spend Three Months in the U.S.

A guest post by investor and writer Guillermo Flor

💡 This Week’s Big Ideas

📈 Jon Lai explains why you can’t fine-tune your way to product-market fit

📺 Troy Kirwin’s argues that AI could lead to “reality” tv becoming even more popular

❓ Jordan Mazer shares questions to ask when interviewing for your next job

💰 Several a16z speedrun alums have raised rounds recently! Check out announcements from Circle Games, Intangible, and Spekter Games

💼 There are currently over 400 open jobs listings across our portfolios. Join our talent network for more opportunities. If we see a fit for you, we'll intro you to relevant founders in the portfolio

We’re doing something a little different this week with a guest post!

Guillermo Flor is an entrepreneur and investor from Spain. He also writes two popular newsletters here on Substack: Product Market Fit and The AI Opportunity.

We often try to convince great international founders to move to America for our 12-week startup program, but Flor makes the argument that every international founder should try spending a few months in the U.S. We’ll let him take it from here.

---

I’ve always felt the urge to build things, but I could never see a clear path to do so here in Spain.

But after university, I took a job working as a lawyer, and that’s where I discovered startups. I knew instantly I wanted to be part of that world, so I quit my job and started my first company.

In short: It failed.

But honestly, looking back, I had so little skill that it’s kind of a miracle I managed to raise some venture capital and get early traction.

That first attempt kicked off a nonstop learning curve. I eventually made my way into venture capital, started building an audience of founders and investors, and launched my two newsletters. It was a new phase of my journey. Recently, that journey took me to the U.S. That’s what changed everything.

In San Francisco I met founders, recorded a podcast with the CEO of Substack, and attended a16z speedrun’s Demo Day. A few months later I attended New York Tech Week, which was on another level. A thousand events in a single week. Thousands of builders, operators, creators, investors. The density of ambition and talent was something I’ve never seen in Europe—not even across an entire year, let alone in one city in a single week.

Every conversation I had and every event I joined made me think faster, bigger.

And that’s when it hit me: Every international founder needs to experience this.

This is why.

---

1. Higher Levels of Openness

There’s a level of openness to new ideas in the U.S. that you don’t find in Europe.

Founders are open. Investors are open. Executives are open. Everyone’s default mindset is:
“Let’s talk, let’s build, let’s try something.”

In Europe, people are more guarded. They want to see pedigree, traction, connections. In the U.S., if you’re building something interesting—even if you’re unknown—people will give you a shot.

That openness alone can 10x your chances of building something great. It’s funny because one of the traits of great innovators according to Marc Andreessen is openness.

2. The Bias Toward Action Is Insane

Americans don’t waste time. If something seems like a good idea, they do it.

During New York Tech Week, I cold messaged the CEO of WeWork to invite him onto a podcast. He replied the same day. We recorded the next day.

This is the CEO of a $2B company. That would never happen in Europe. You’d go through layers of assistants, schedule a call a month later, and almost certainly get a “no.”

That kind of fast-paced, action-first culture is what gets startups off the ground. And it’s contagious.

3. Respect for Builders, Even Early Ones

In Europe, if you’re just starting out, people don’t take you seriously. It’s like: “Come back when you’ve raised a big round or hit €1M ARR.”

In the U.S., it’s the opposite. There’s deep respect for people who are building, no matter the stage. You can sell to big companies early. They’ll take meetings if they believe in what you’re doing. Because they respect ambition, not just outcomes.

That mindset makes it possible to move faster, get early customers, and build momentum.

4. Thinking Big Is Normal

In Spain, thinking big is… suspicious. If you say you want to build a billion-dollar company, people might roll their eyes. Or ask, “Why?” Or say something like, “That’s American nonsense.”

In San Francisco, thinking big is the default. Everyone you meet is working on something insane: new AI models, climate tech, hard science. It creates this energy — like everything is possible. And when you’re in that environment, you start believing it too.

You give yourself permission to dream bigger. You start taking bigger swings. You stop apologizing for wanting to win.

And that changes everything.

5. The Talent Density Is Unmatched

This might be the biggest one.

San Francisco is full of the smartest, most ambitious people from all over the world, many of whom are trying to solve the world’s biggest problems using tech.

It’s not just the startups. It’s the coffee shop conversations. The random intros. The DMs that turn into cofounder partnerships. You level up just by being there. The bar is higher, the tempo is faster, and you realize how much more is possible when you're around that kind of talent.

---

If you’re an international founder, you might not need to move to the U.S. permanently. But you do need to go.

Spend three months there, every year, especially in the early years of your career.

It will open your mind, expand your ambition, and collapse your learning curve in ways Europe or many other places simply can’t. (At least, not yet.)

—Guillermo Flor

---

That’s it for this week!

Subscribe below for weekly dives into the cutting edge of tech, entertainment, and AI:

You are receiving this newsletter since you opted in earlier; if you would like to opt out of future newsletters, you can unsubscribe immediately.

This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. This newsletter may link to other websites and certain information contained herein has been obtained from third-party sources. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.

References to any companies, securities, or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Any references to companies are for illustrative purposes only; please see a16z.com/investments. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund which should be read in their entirety.) Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Content in this newsletter speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for additional important details.