Trip to Silicon Valley.

Solaiemes participated during the past week in MadridTech, an initiative from PromoMadrid (promoting internationalization of Madrid firms) and CEIM (Madrid's general industry association), in partnership with Opinno, to introduce the "most promising startups the Madrid region has to offer" to San Francisco and Silicon Valley vibrant entrepreneur and investor communities.

Together with other 9 companies, we have spent five days participating in networking events, visiting companies big and small, meeting prospects, potential investors and exchanging ideas and point of views with fellow entrepreneurs.

Opinno team has done an excellent job in the previous weeks supporting us, understanding the different companies businesses, finding and setting up meetings with appropriate contacts, ... They have a truly great network of contacts that can only grow better as the time passes.

The visit has been far from a tourist trip: interesting, motivating, and inspiring, but also very useful, we have met and got closer to very interesting contacts, an embryonic network that hopefully we will capitalize in the next months, surely lots of hard work ahead, but also plenty of opportunities. PromoMadrid and CEIM have also setup an international trade advisor, working with the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, it will surely help.

Ways and means are very different in San Francisco ... there are good and not so good aspects; plentiful money (at least from the Spanish perspective), positive energy and "can do" attitude by everybody (big and small, VP and just-out-of-the-college entrepreneur) are an integral part of the Silicon Valley culture. Difficult to transplant here to Spain, it would need a cultural change that we don't see happening soon.

Thanks to PromoMadrid and CEIM for inviting us to participate, congratulations and best luck to the participants, and kudos to Opinno for the excellent work !!!

Jose Recio