Welcome to Unfiltered w/ PORCH, where we explore what it means to be an immigrant entrepreneur from the POV of the immigrant.

Join us as we explore the world of the immigrant entrepreneur.

In this episode, I'm speaking with Abhijitt Sankar Roy and Dev Mitra of Matrix Venture Studio, a boutique consulting firm that helps immigrant entrepreneurs to build and grow their businesses in Canada.

Roy and Dev left behind established legal careers in India to start over in Canada. But it seems the "starting over" gene was a feature not a bug, because after a couple of years in corporate Canada, these two humans resigned and launched Matrix Venture Studio.

What I found interesting, or more like mind-boggling, was that they launched their business in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this conversation, Roy, Dev, and I chat about leaving secure cushy jobs to work on their business, how to vet founders by looking beyond the balance sheet, why Canada's conservative investment culture needs to change , and their advice for other immigrant entrepreneurs on building a business from the ground up.

Key Takeaways

* Fall in love with the boredom: Success often is just consistently doing the same things over and over again until they become second nature. The most successful people have fallen in love with the boredom of their process.

* Canadian investors need to do better: Canada's investment scene is too conservative, often acting more like lenders than partners. An investor who only wants to join after you're revenue-positive for five years isn’t an investor.

* Your network is everything in Canada: I feel like this lesson keeps popping up again and again. Networking is crucial to your long-term success, especially if you are an entrepreneur starting out in a new country. Building the right connections helps you understand the nuances of the business landscape.

* Your past is important but don’t turn it into a crutch: Many immigrants show up with a sense of entitlement based on their past successes. To succeed, It’s important to accept that you be receptive to the new ecosystem’s expectations and understand that you are starting fresh.

Official Links

* Connect with Dev Mitra on LinkedIn

* Connect with Abhijitt Sankar Roy on LinkedIn

* Speak to them about launching your business idea

Roy and Dev’s Media Diet

* One newsletter you’d never miss: Forbes Leadership & Business and the Betakit newsletter

* One immigrant entrepreneur that inspires you: Andrew Carnegie and Ajay Virmani, CEO Cargojet

* One podcast you regularly listen to: The Tony Robbins Podcast and The Joe Rogan Podcast

* Any books or resources that have significantly shaped your entrepreneurship journey:

* Atomic Habits by James Clear

* Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne

* Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

One Ask

If you got value from this episode, please forward it to one immigrant entrepreneur you know.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thenewcomers.substack.com

Welcome to Unfiltered w/ PORCH, where we explore what it means to be an immigrant entrepreneur from the POV of the immigrant.

Join us as we explore the world of the immigrant entrepreneur.

In this episode, I'm speaking with Patrick Findaro, Founding Partner of Visa Franchise, an immigration consultancy that helps immigrant entrepreneurs move to the U.S under the E2 Investor Visa. He's also the author of Own Your American Dream: 8 Proven Paths to Start a Business and Secure a U.S. Visa.

Immigration to the United States is a touchy topic right now. But Patrick thinks it's important to consider what actually happens versus what gets said. According to his data, Trump's first term maintained an 88% E2 Investor Visa approval rate, just 3% lower than under other administrations.

And he hasn't heard any reports of people on talent and investor visas being denied at the border.

In this conversation, Patrick and I chat about the nitty gritty of the E2 visa process—from business incorporation to visa approval, why senior care businesses get approved faster than fast food businesses, and tips to help you hit investment thresholds.

Key Takeaways

* Investment amounts vary by business type: The type of business directly impacts the investment requirement; online consulting needs minimal capital, service-based franchises like cleaning or painting require moderate amounts for equipment and vehicles, while brick-and-mortar restaurants demand significant upfront costs for kitchen equipment, buildout, and inventory.

* You can use borrowed money: Loans from family, banks, or rich uncles and aunts all qualify as long as you document the source. Gift money from parents works too.

* Business failure has consequences: If your business fails, you must report it and either apply for another visa or leave. You can set up holding companies for visa flexibility.

* The first 18-24 months are key: Success requires rolling up your sleeves, working super hard to establish your preferred business culture, getting initial clients, and integrating into the local business community.

Official Links

* Connect with Patrick Findaro on LinkedIn

* Check out his Own Your American Dream book

* Check your eligibility for an E2 Investor Visa

Patrick’s Media Diet

* One newsletter you’d never miss: Wall Street Journal

* One immigrant entrepreneur that inspires you: He’s contentious, but Elon Musk inspires me to think big

* One podcast you regularly listen to: The All-In Podcast

* Any books or resources that have significantly shaped your entrepreneurship journey: Traction: Get A Grip On Your Business by Gino Wickman

One Ask

If you got value from this episode, please forward it to one immigrant entrepreneur you know.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thenewcomers.substack.com

Welcome to Unfiltered w/ PORCH, where we explore what it means to be an immigrant entrepreneur from the POV of the immigrant.

Join us as we explore the world of the immigrant entrepreneur.

In this episode, I'm speaking with Kingsley Madu, Co-Founder and CEO of Expedier, a super app for all things money.

Kingsley thinks the concept of work-life balance is a myth, especially if you are an entrepreneur. Hold on...don't get defensive. Calm yet?

Now let me paraphrase Kingsley: "Kids never seem to get tired of playing. Why? Because play is fun for them. So, if you're asking for balance from work because it's stressing you, then maybe you aren't having fun."

You would agree there's some sense in that. The irony is that he did pay for his crushing schedule with burnout and a trip to the ER.

In this conversation, Kingsley and I chat about holding down three jobs while he built Expedier, why the traditional boundaries don’t work for entrepreneurs, and the brutal and sad reality about raising funds in Canada.

Key Takeaways

* Fun doesn't need balance: When you're genuinely enjoying what you're building, taking a break becomes irrelevant, similar to kids who never get tired of playing.

* Quality over quantity: Blocking out time for “family hour” doesn’t matter if you aren’t fully present. If taking your kids to school every morning and picking them up means you spend that time wholly present with them, do that instead.

* Accelerators vs. the funding reality: Going through major Canadian accelerators provided Kingsley with mentorship and connections. But zero investment dollars when it came time to write checks.

* There’s no end to the entrepreneurship journey: With each passing day, the journey gets longer, not shorter. And that is where most would-be entrepreneurs miss it.

* Start making noise from day one: Nobody would talk about you if you don't talk about yourself first because a perfect product doesn’t exist.

Official Links

* Connect with Kingsley Madu on LinkedIn

* See how Expedier works

Kingsley’s Media Diet

* One newsletter you’d never miss: Forbes Daily

* One immigrant entrepreneur that inspires you: You reading this and every other unstoppable folks out there

* One podcast you regularly listen to: The Ramsey Show

* Any books or resources that have significantly shaped your entrepreneurship journey:

* Zero to One by Peter Thiel

* The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz

* The Power of Focus by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Lewis Hewitt

* The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

One Ask

If you got value from this episode, please forward it to one immigrant entrepreneur you know.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thenewcomers.substack.com

Welcome to Unfiltered w/ PORCH, where we explore what it means to be an immigrant entrepreneur from the POV of the immigrant.

Join us as we explore the world of the immigrant entrepreneur.

In this episode, I'm speaking with Katherine Li, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Pulse FX, a startup that helps Canadian businesses make sense of all the chaos that comes with currency exchange rates and international payments.

Before launching PulseFX with her co-founders, Katherine had worked in the finance industry for 10 years. But that didn't stop her from dealing with self-doubt or getting in her own way.

In this conversation, Katherine and I chat about entrepreneurship as a journey of self-discovery, staying curious, the need to find supportive communities as an immigrant entrepreneur, and why being experienced in the problem you are looking to solve doesn't guarantee entrepreneurial success.

Key Takeaways

* The bad days are not forever: Don't mistake the moment for who you are. Bad days will pass, and they're not your normal.

* Entrepreneurship is a search for yourself: What we build is a vision of how we see the world. The “more” that drives entrepreneurs is really the search for meaning and self-discovery through creating something new.

* Name your inner critic to control it: Katherine calls her inner critic “Randall” and actively works to quiet his voice when he keeps on yapping that she can't succeed.

* Networking after a certain age can serve a dual purpose: This was surprising but it tracks. Networking events can also be an opportunity to make new friends because we all know how hard it is to make friends as adult immigrants.

Official Links

* Connect with Katherine Li on LinkedIn

* Book a call to chat exchange rates and international payments

Katherine’s Media Diet

* One newsletter you’d never miss: Doesn’t have any that she doesn’t miss.

* One immigrant entrepreneur that inspires you: Juan David Gutierrez, Co Founder of Sostanza Global

* One podcast you regularly listen to: Hidden Brain

* Any books or resources that have significantly shaped your entrepreneurship journey: Think Again by Adam Grant

One Ask

If you got value from this episode, please forward it to one immigrant entrepreneur you know.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thenewcomers.substack.com

Welcome to Unfiltered w/ PORCH, where we explore what it means to be an immigrant entrepreneur from the POV of the immigrant.

Join us as we explore the world of the immigrant entrepreneur.

In this episode, I'm speaking with Ben Su, Co-Founder & COO of Capita, an AI-native legal tech company building the tools to remove legal cost as a barrier to entrepreneurship.

What happens if a country's startup ecosystem optimizes for the wrong metrics? You get what we are currently dealing with in Canada: builders moving to the US, incubators charging startups to access grants, and entrepreneurs learning how to pitch to bureaucrats instead of selling to customers.

Ben Su thinks we would have better Canadian startups if the government stepped out of the way and allow the market decide who stays up and who goes to the startup graveyard.

In this conversation, Ben and I chat about the outcomes we incentivize for in Canada when startups optimize for grants, why he thinks America is the greatest startup in the world, life before Capita, and more.

Key Takeaways

* Grants are great: But they can also incentivize the wrong behaviours. When startups can get money without proving market demand, they never learn if customers actually want their product. We can’t be rewarding skilled grant writers over market-validation.

* Network effects compound: The best founders want to be around other great founders, not folks focused on securing handouts. Ouch. This also has consequences because when the best talent congregates in one ecosystem (i.e. Silicon Valley), other countries lose both human capital and growth opportunities.

* You can’t out-entrepreneur government policy: Once a system rewards certain behaviours, they become self-reinforcing cycles that are difficult to break. And yes, some companies can succeed despite these limitations, but we need systemic change to start seeing any real growth.

Official Links

* Connect with Ben Su on LinkedIn

* Get legal support for your startup

Ben’s Media Diet

* One newsletter you’d never miss: Doesn’t subscribe to any.

* One immigrant entrepreneur that inspires you: Elon Musk

* One podcast you regularly listen to: The All-In Podcast

* Any books or resources that have significantly shaped your entrepreneurship journey:

* Cold Start Problem by Andrew Chen

* Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore

* The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh, Steve Jamison, and Craig Walsh

One Ask

If you got value from this episode, please forward it to one immigrant entrepreneur you know.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thenewcomers.substack.com

Welcome to Unfiltered w/ PORCH, where we explore what it means to be an immigrant entrepreneur from the POV of the immigrant.

Join us as we explore the world of the immigrant entrepreneur.

In this episode, I'm speaking with Asli Kahraman, Founder of Operations Mavenue, a business operations consultancy operating out of Toronto, Canada.

After years as a corporate lawyer at one of the world's largest law firms, Asli packed up her life into a couple of suitcases, moved to Canada as an international student, finished school, worked for a year, and launched her first business.

However, it took her trying about 30 different business ideas before she hit on Operations Mavenue.

In this conversation, Asli and I chat about turning our disadvantages into advantages, why traction is all that matters when you launch a business, and everything moved upward once she stopped trying to sound like no one else but herself.

Key Takeaways

* Your accent can work in your favour: Asli’s “broken English” and foreign accent allowed her close more deals because prospects saw her authenticity and commitment as proof she believed in what she was selling.

* Focus on product-market fit over passion: After 30+ business ideas, Asli learned that traction matters more than loving your concept. If people aren't buying or engaging, move on regardless of your emotional attachment.

* The resilience you built as an immigrant is transferable: The same determination that got you through the physical and mental chaos that comes with settling into your new country can also become fuel for getting through the challenges that inevitably come as a business owner.

* Authenticity beats imitation: Stop trying to sound like native-born entrepreneurs. Your unique perspective and background are what differentiate you in the marketplace.

* Accept you're not special: Drop the expectation of overnight success and accept that progress might seem average sometimes. This mindset makes the entrepreneurial journey more sustainable.

Official Links

* Connect with Asli Kahraman on LinkedIn.

* Buy a business operations manual

Asli’s Media Diet

* One newsletter you’d never miss: City of Toronto’s BusinessTO and CultureTO newsletters

* One immigrant entrepreneur that inspires you: Marina Mogilko, Founder of Linguamarina Inc.

* One podcast you regularly listen to: I’m more of a book nerd.

* Any books or resources that have significantly shaped your entrepreneurship journey:

* Good to Great by Jim Collins

* The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber

* Unfair Advantage by Ash Ali and Hasan Kubba

* Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles

* The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer

* Most books from Louise Hay and Brian Weiss

One Ask

If you got value from this episode, please forward it to one immigrant entrepreneur you know.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thenewcomers.substack.com

Welcome to Unfiltered w/ PORCH, where we explore what it means to be an immigrant entrepreneur from the POV of the immigrant.

Join us as we explore the world of the immigrant entrepreneur.

In this episode, I'm speaking with Mario Meyer, Founder & CEO of Reyem Tech, who believes becoming an immigrant entrepreneur is a “double leap of faith.”

Mario moved to Canada from Brazil and launched his first business the day he landed. Literally. He started talking to lawyers in Canada six days before he boarded a plane to Toronto, Canada.

Two months later, COVID-19 slammed into the world.

In this conversation, Mario and I chat about why networking must become your "second profession" as an immigrant entrepreneur, how he built relationships at 3-4 events per week for years, and the power of referrals versus cold outreach.

Key Takeaways

* Consistency beats intensity when networking: Three years of showing up to 3-4 events weekly helped Mario build a network that delivered leads into his sales pipeline 60 days after launching his second business.

* Spend time understanding the business culture: The Canadian business culture runs on trust, referrals, eye contact, and handshakes. Learn the nuances. Ask questions. Join communities that expose you to these cultural subtleties in a safe space.

* Don't overthink the small stuff: Focus on what generates revenue now, not whether you should bank with TD or RBC when you don't even have clients yet.

* Make networking your second business: As immigrants, we had 30-40 years to build networks in our home countries. In Canada, you know nobody. Networking is essential to your business’s survival. It’s not optional. Mario's biggest contract came from a referral from someone he met at an event two years prior.

Official Links

* Connect with Mario Meyer on LinkedIn.

* Looking for a fractional CTO, speak to Mario

Mario’s Media Diet

* One newsletter you’d never miss: TechTO & BetaKit

* One immigrant entrepreneur that inspires you: Leandro Rubio Faria, Founder & CEO, Starbem

* One podcast you regularly listen to: This Week in Tech (TWiT)

* Any books or resources that have significantly shaped your entrepreneurship journey: Like a Virgin from Richard Branson

One Ask

If you got value from this episode, please forward it to one immigrant entrepreneur you know.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thenewcomers.substack.com

Welcome to Unfiltered w/ PORCH, where we explore what it means to be an immigrant entrepreneur from the POV of the immigrant.

Join us as we explore the world of the immigrant entrepreneur.

In this episode, I'm speaking with Marcelo Ribeiro, founder of LovShield, a startup that protects seniors from fraud in real time.

Marcelo initially moved to Canada from Brazil in 2016 to study English. A few months later, he fell in love with the Canadian way of life and decided to move here permanently. The first few years were primarily focused on the going from student permit to work permit to permanent residency.

In 2019, he launched his first Canadian business, a construction firm.

In this conversation, Marcelo and I chat about the balance between passion and survival as an immigrant entrepreneur, doing business in Brazil versus Canada, why he left construction to launch LovShield, and more.

Key Takeaways

* Talk about your ideas early and often: Treat your community as a sounding board to pressure test your ideas. You gain nothing from keeping your ideas secret. Execution is everything. You’re better off aerating your ideas and validating your business model in the process.

* Find your community: Local resources like city programs, community forums (like PORCH), and accelerators are great places to find support as an immigrant entrepreneur. Especially because we often lack the traditional social safety nets.

* Think global from the start: Yes, you should start with your local market. But who says you can’t scale to international markets. Build with that in mind. Marcelo sees the senior protection business as one that addresses a global market of approximately 1 billion seniors. And I agree, my late father wouldn’t have been scammed if Marcelo’s solution existed six years ago.

* Immigration is a business opportunity: Immigrants aren't merely a new source of demand, they are also a new source of supply. Supply of ideas, innovations, and products. Canada has a lot of untapped potential, we just need to unlock it.

Official Links

* Connect with Marcelo on LinkedIn

* Check out LovShield

Marcelo’s Media Diet

* One newsletter you’d never miss: Ground News

* One immigrant entrepreneur that inspires you: Ash Maurya, Founder/CEO of LEANSTACK

* One podcast you regularly listen to: Autoline Daily

* Any books or resources that have significantly shaped your entrepreneurship journey:

* Million Dollar Weekend by Noah Kagan

* Atomic Habits by James Clear

* Deep Work by Cal Newport

* Running Lean by Ash Maurya

One Ask

If you got value from this episode, please forward it to one immigrant entrepreneur you know.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thenewcomers.substack.com

Welcome to Unfiltered w/ PORCH, where we explore what it means to be an immigrant entrepreneur from the POV of the immigrant.

Join us as we explore the world of the immigrant entrepreneur.

In this episode, I'm speaking with Nida Ateeq, fractional CMO and Founder of Anagar Media, who decided to launch her business one year after moving to Canada.

Talk about cojones.

In this conversation, Nida and I chat about planning and how it gives you a better chance at succeeding, building her business via referrals, her biggest challenges as an immigrant entrepreneur, why not every immigrant will make a great entrepreneur, and more.

Key Takeaways

* Referrals are gold in North America: Cold outreach works, but warm intros shorten the sales cycle and help you leapfrog the trust gaps you’ll often face as an immigrant entrepreneur.

* Small is an advantage: Big agency is great. But being small can mean nimbleness and faster response times that clients can come to appreciate.

* Find your community: You can’t do this alone. Find communities like PORCH. Speak to fellow immigrant entrepreneurs. But don’t limit yourself by chatting with only immigrant entrepreneurs. You can learn from everyone and anyone.

* Automate, automate, automate: The rise and rise of AI means it’s easier than ever to delegate a lot of tasks to the robots. Focus on what you know how to do best - building the business.

Official Links

* Connect with Nida on LinkedIn

* Get a quote from Anagar Media

Nida’s Media Diet

* One newsletter you’d never miss: The Daily Upside

* One immigrant entrepreneur that inspires you: Payal Kadakia, Founder of ClassPass

* One podcast you regularly listen to: How I Built This with Guy Raz

* Any books or resources that have significantly shaped your entrepreneurship journey:

* The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

* Atomic Habits by James Clear

* The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

One Ask

If you got value from this episode, please forward it to one immigrant entrepreneur you know.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thenewcomers.substack.com

Welcome to Unfiltered w/ PORCH, where we explore what it means to be an immigrant entrepreneur from the POV of the immigrant.

Join us as we explore the world of the immigrant entrepreneur.

They say entrepreneurship is hard. Well, try doing it in a country where you weren’t born, sometimes in a language that isn’t your first, with a social network you’ve had to build from scratch. That’s the story of the immigrant entrepreneur.

Together with Hunter Weitzman and Neil Weitzman of PORCH, we are launching the Unfiltered w/ PORCH podcast, where where we explore what it means to be an immigrant entrepreneur from the point-of-view of the immigrant. Real stories. Real journeys. Immigrant entrepreneurship, told by those who have lived it.

In our first episode, I'm speaking with my co-creators Neil and Hunter, who recently refocused PORCH on the personal side of the immigrant entrepreneur's journey.

If you sat down with a group of entrepreneurs today, they would probably be talking about the tariffs and the various steps each of them is taking to manage the chaos.

If you sat down with a group of immigrant entrepreneurs, the conversation would be a mix of the tariffs and how to handle the thousand and one things that come with moving to a new country.

As Neil puts it, "The business journey of an immigrant entrepreneur matters not one iota if we can't take care of and handle the personal journey."

In this conversation, we explore:

* Why they launched PORCH

* Biggest lessons from running an immigrant entrepreneur community

* Why stories matter way more, and a lot of other good stuff.

Official Links

* Follow Hunter on LinkedIn

* Follow Neil on LinkedIn

* Check out PORCH’s website

* Sign up for PORCH’s Talk newsletter

One Ask

If you got value from this episode, please forward it to one immigrant entrepreneur you know.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thenewcomers.substack.com