SACC-New York Entrepreneurs Club offers New York for Dummies seminar
For the fourth consecutive year, the Chamber offered its “New York for Dummies” seminar in Stockholm, the day after the annual board meeting. Hosted by EY, the event is designed to give Swedish entrepreneurs an insider’s look at how to establish a business in the U.S.
Nearly 100 people turned out for the half-day seminar on August 21, which started with a presentation by Pia Gideon, program director of Swedish Gateway USA. The Chamber’s business mentor program, now in its second year, aims to help Swedish companies looking to enter the U.S. market. Gideon told the audience why it is better to focus on a specific region such as New York, rather than targeting the entire country at once. She went on to say that it’s important for companies to learn how to navigate cultural differences. “In New York, it’s important to meet a lot of people to build a large network,” she said. “In Sweden we put more emphasis on a having a ‘quality’ network.”
Richa Naujoks, an associate at Nixon Peabody, the sponsor of the Entrepreneurs Club, gave a legal overview, sharing insights and potential pitfalls of business expansion. Naujoks then joined a lively and informative discussion featuring panelists Peter Grauers, CEO of J.P. Grauers AB and former country manager of H&M USA, Kristina Lindhe, founder and CEO of the Lexington Company, Erik Ekstrand, CFO of Virtusize, and Erik Wilkinson, director of sales of Eton North America. Moderator Fredrik Oscarson, CEO of Mobiento Group, back for the second year, returned to the theme of understanding and capitalizing on cultural differences. “You can use Swedish leadership style, but you need to know what that means,” he said.