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Any advice for someone looking to do the same as yourself? Looking to do a similar move to the US from UK but not sure how to even start. I wonder if FAANG typ

Any advice for someone looking to do the same as yourself? Looking to do a similar move to the US from UK but not sure how to even start. I wonder if FAANG type companies are the only viable options for the move over to get a VISA. As for taxes I think California is one of the special cases where taxes are similar to UK levels but of course having a massive salary boost ceiling helps offset that.

spacedcowboy 6y ago
I'm not sure I have "advice". The route to getting out of where I was in the UK (my dad was a docker in Liverpool, we weren't well off) was to get to college and then start my own company. I spent 3-4 years wooing an Apple VP at trade shows twice per year, which was the entire point (the exit strategy) for what we were doing - video asset management in the film industry. This particular VP wanted "Asset management" in photos and figured that video was harder than photo, so we'd be a good fit. We were actually aiming for "Final Cut" but we got "Aperture" instead. It got to the point where he'd send me a calendar slot to appear and demo the latest work/progress on the stuff we were doing at both IBC (Amsterdam) and NAB (Vegas) every year. They eventually decided to buy the (small) company and as part of that we had to come out and work in CA, which to be honest, wasn't too big a problem :) As for how it started, myself and my co-owner took ourselves out to Amsterdam, walked up to an Apple stand at IBC and said "we've got something we'd like to show you. Can we have a slot with someone with the capability to make the decision ?" This actually worked (!) It still took a few years to persuade him, but I've since been at the company for 16 years. Sometimes you have to take the risk and tell yourself that being told "No" isn't the worst thing in the world - and I was pretty sure we'd be told 'No', but hey, we weren't.
- bestinterest 6y ago
  Beautifully spoken. I think I'm still in the being too safe camp from just getting out of university and into a for life corporate job. I like your attitude towards 'no'. Some risks are necessary but the worst outcome being 'no' like you said is really not a bad outcome. Hey, it could even be a good outcome since it lets you start focusing effort somewhere else earlier. Any chance I could contact you as a newer grad from a similar background?

spacedcowboy 6y ago

I'm not sure I have "advice". The route to getting out of where I was in the UK (my dad was a docker in Liverpool, we weren't well off) was to get to college and then start my own company. I spent 3-4 years wooing an Apple VP at trade shows twice per year, which was the entire point (the exit strategy) for what we were doing - video asset management in the film industry. This particular VP wanted "Asset management" in photos and figured that video was harder than photo, so we'd be a good fit. We were actually aiming for "Final Cut" but we got "Aperture" instead. It got to the point where he'd send me a calendar slot to appear and demo the latest work/progress on the stuff we were doing at both IBC (Amsterdam) and NAB (Vegas) every year. They eventually decided to buy the (small) company and as part of that we had to come out and work in CA, which to be honest, wasn't too big a problem :) As for how it started, myself and my co-owner took ourselves out to Amsterdam, walked up to an Apple stand at IBC and said "we've got something we'd like to show you. Can we have a slot with someone with the capability to make the decision ?" This actually worked (!) It still took a few years to persuade him, but I've since been at the company for 16 years. Sometimes you have to take the risk and tell yourself that being told "No" isn't the worst thing in the world - and I was pretty sure we'd be told 'No', but hey, we weren't.

bestinterest 6y ago
Beautifully spoken. I think I'm still in the being too safe camp from just getting out of university and into a for life corporate job. I like your attitude towards 'no'. Some risks are necessary but the worst outcome being 'no' like you said is really not a bad outcome. Hey, it could even be a good outcome since it lets you start focusing effort somewhere else earlier. Any chance I could contact you as a newer grad from a similar background?