I've just returned from a few weeks in the USA, we spent most of our time in Austin, Texas. This was a working trip, spending most mornings catching up on things in the UK, working on Be Your Own Coach strategy and then afternoons sampling what this great place had to offer.
We had the full Texas experience and loved every second of it, from it's bars & music, to it's food and wildlife ... and not forgetting it's BBQ, simply spectacular!
There really is something uniquely special about the United States, something about the way the people think and operate, there's a can do attitude, one that looks to push the envelope and do more, they want to build things, make it better and faster, it's innovation at it's core, and nowhere was this more obvious than Austin.
It's no secret, the USA is a special place for me and having spent most of my time in California previously, Austin really felt like the San Francisco of old, 10+ years ago when I first visited, (just an awful lot hotter!).
And it's not just me, it's attracting the tech companies from the traditional homeland of California, Apple, Meta, Google, SpaceX & Tesla are all moving/moved here, we even got a glimpse of the new Tesla Giga Factory from the highway and it's huge.
The investment is high and that speaks volumes about the way Austin and Texas positions it's self.
It was commonly spoke about that 'no one is from Austin', and this was broadly true, the vast majority of people we spoke to had moved there from other states or countries, mainly for work or school, but it's clear it's a place that's attracting people wanting to push forward, build things and the Texas values of freedom and independence do so much to bolster this ambition.
The energy of the place was palpable and I'm sure we will spend more time there over the next few years.
We had the full Texas experience and loved every second of it, from it's bars & music, to it's food and wildlife ... and not forgetting it's BBQ, simply spectacular!
There really is something uniquely special about the United States, something about the way the people think and operate, there's a can do attitude, one that looks to push the envelope and do more, they want to build things, make it better and faster, it's innovation at it's core, and nowhere was this more obvious than Austin.
It's no secret, the USA is a special place for me and having spent most of my time in California previously, Austin really felt like the San Francisco of old, 10+ years ago when I first visited, (just an awful lot hotter!).
And it's not just me, it's attracting the tech companies from the traditional homeland of California, Apple, Meta, Google, SpaceX & Tesla are all moving/moved here, we even got a glimpse of the new Tesla Giga Factory from the highway and it's huge.
The investment is high and that speaks volumes about the way Austin and Texas positions it's self.
It was commonly spoke about that 'no one is from Austin', and this was broadly true, the vast majority of people we spoke to had moved there from other states or countries, mainly for work or school, but it's clear it's a place that's attracting people wanting to push forward, build things and the Texas values of freedom and independence do so much to bolster this ambition.
The energy of the place was palpable and I'm sure we will spend more time there over the next few years.