After spending two weeks on this awesome little Island, I have come to appreciate the way I?ve done business here and engaged with individuals. To begin with, engaging with individuals here was not easy at first. Everyone seemed to just mind their own business or sort of shrug me off. However, once I found a common interest, the locals were so incredibly friendly to talk to. For instance, I was able to connect with a foreign worker here named Jorge over soccer. We talked for at least thirty minutes just over soccer. In the aspect of doing business here, everyone seems so laid back and relaxed. It feels as if there is no rush and everyone is grounded here. For example, the CTO of GreenBytes, a food waste management company, was explaining to us why she doesn?t want venture capitalist money from the U.S. She said that they receive investments from Icelandic VCs and they are very chill, have no deadlines, and let them work at whatever pace they please. On the other hand, she said that American VCs set very high standards, expect a lot of production, and want them to work at a much faster pace compared to what they are used to. During my time here, I also have learned to be grounded in the moment. With all the time that I spent in the beautiful outdoors here, I began to realize why Icelanders are so calm in the first place. The nature here just makes you feel so down to earth and it is definitely a feeling I’d like to replicate when I get back to the States. My initial thoughts before I arrived were that this place was going to be cold. On that note, it was very cold so I?d suggest to anyone traveling to Iceland to pack cold AND rain gear because it rains quite frequently in this time of year. Nonetheless, I?ve loved every minute of my time here and hope to come back sometime in the future.
Center for International Business Studies Blog