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WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF TOUCAN SYSTEMS

Toucan Systems in the USA

On 4–15 September 2018, Gdańsk Economic Development Agency investGDA organized a trip for selected IT companies from the Tricity region to the USA. Representatives of the agency appreciated our experience and export potential, inviting Toucan Systems to take part in the mission.

The event had an intense program! Both investGDA and the Polish Investment and Trade Agency deserve words of appreciation for organizing the trip in a splendid way. To summarize it shortly: we visited Silicon Valley, Reno, Las Vegas and Toronto. We had the opportunity to meet Polish entrepreneurs (who fulfilled their “American dream”), as well as business accelerators, co-working centers, local companies, government agencies and local politicians.

During the trip, we carefully observed the business environment and local business conditions. In this article, I would like to share my thoughts on the fascinating experience.

American Enthusiasm

In the United States, you can see enormous enthusiasm for whatever work is done. Basically, every person we met spoke about their career and about their workplace with incredible passion. This is extremely elevating and makes cooperation much more enjoyable. More importantly, this enthusiasm is visible not only in sales departments, but at every level of the respective organizations.

In Search of Specialists…

Companies from Europe and the US have a lot in common – they often struggle with a huge deficit of IT employees. In America, and especially in the Silicon Valley, it is even more evident than in Europe. The largest technology companies have their headquarters there. The competition in acquiring specialists is enormous and companies compete in offering various benefits. On the other hand, this is an opportunity for IT companies from the rest of the world, creating a broad field for cooperation.

Offices

Office spaces, especially in Silicon Valley, are organized differently than in Europe. Huge open spaces dominate; they do not have any transparent walls or separate zones. We know from experience that workers in Europe complain a lot about such working conditions.

What struck me the most was the lack of windows in a large number of open spaces. If they actually were there, they were located at a height of 2.5 m (which quite strongly limits visibility). Of course, you shouldn’t generalize and there are also a lot of modern and comfortable office spaces, but a significant part of them deviates from European standards.

Scale of Investment Funds

In our meetings with business accelerators and representatives of local companies, the topic of venture capital investments was often discussed. The size of the investments in comparison with UVP (Unique Value Proposition) is surprising. We were presented with projects of devices known in Poland, in which VC funds had invested several million dollars or more. It was the case with, for instance, a device equivalent to a parcel locker and a robot for serving drinks.

The USA is undoubtedly an extraordinary country, fascinating both in terms of culture and approach to life and business. From the perspective of a European tech enterprise, it is a market with an enormous potential. During the trip we managed to meet numerous inspiring entrepreneurs and establish promising relationships. Who knows, maybe this is just the beginning of Toucan Systems in the United States. We shall see soon. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

RADOSŁAW ZDUNEK

President of the Board

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