The California-Portugal tech connection is on fire – sprouting unicorns like Feedzai, Talkdesk, Remote, and Unbabel – all with headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area and major offices in Lisbon. Place is a concept Susanna Camp and I celebrated in our book, The Entrepreneur’s Faces. Place matters even more in the Covid era – the network, ecosystem, mindset. Individuals and companies get an extra boost when you add in the spice of cross-pollination, the sparks that fly with the pulse, people and ideas that flow out of the mashup of two great cities. Web Summit is live this week in Lisbon, and there’s rarely been a better time to explore why Portugal is so darn hot.

Here’s my take in Los Angeles Magazine. “Portugal has become a vital destination for Californians in search of reinvention and rejuvenation. A nation that once split the globe with Spain, then lost relevance for centuries, is the new chic spot to grow a startup, forge an international team, buy an apartment or truly live…” (read full article here).