Founder Real Talk - International Founders: Growing Your Business in the US
Founder Real Talk — International Founders: Growing Your Business in the US
Date: Wednesday, February 11, 2026
Time: 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Where: YesSF — San Francisco, CA
Presented by: Wisdom Partners & Sway
What We’ll Cover
Tips and tricks for fundraising as an international founder
The legal ins-and-outs of visas for you and your teammates
Getting your first US-based sales channel up and running, and how your new customers can differ from your existing customers
Establishing a US-based business entity, either as your first business or as an extension of another entity operating outside the US
Banking, taxes, employee healthcare, and all of the other not-so-fun logistics of running your business in the US
Who Should Attend
Pre-seed & Seed stage founders who are new to the US, exploring moving to the US, or planning to expand into the US market
Startup operators looking to expand with a new US-based sales channel
Investors who work with and fund international founders, or are interested in doing so
Our Panelists
Milo Poplar is an attorney and the founder of Fellow, a specialized law firm that services only startup founders and funders. Milo and Fellow both have deep know-how and experience helping international founders scale their business into the US, particularly into San Francisco. He's seen practically every mistake an international founder can make when coming to the US, and helps his clients avoid those pitfalls and stay focused on building their vision.
Isabel Bescos is a partner at Entrepreneurs First, which specializes in finding top-tier international founders and supporting them on their mission to crack into the US market. Isabel formerly founded a startup based in London, and is now the general manager of Entrepreneurs First's San Francisco office where she's able to use her firsthand experience to guide founders on getting their businesses established in the United States.
Mijin Han is a principal at the US arm of Korea Investment Partners, a leading Korean venture capital and private equity firm which has been investing in global startups for over 30 years. An immigrant herself, Mijin understands both the personal and professional challenges involved when expanding a startup into the US, and is particularly experienced in startups focused on healthcare, digital health, fitness, mental health, and insurance.
Gangesh Pathak is the founder and CEO of OWOW, the trust layer between humans and AI agents in the AI workforce, which helps verify the experts that are training your AI. Gangesh bootstrapped and sold his first business in India, then moved to San Francisco to keep building, and is now actively growing OWOW's business in the US and abroad.
Format
6:00 - 6:30 PM: Welcome + Networking
6:30 - 6:35 PM: Opening Remarks and Panel Intro
6:35 - 8:15 PM: Moderated Panel Followed By Audience Q&A
8:15 - 9:00 PM: Open Networking
About Founder Real Talk
Founder Real Talk is a monthly panel talk series put on by Wisdom Partners and Sway to help founders on their startup journeys by bringing together expert panelists to discuss a different action-oriented topic each month. Subscribe to our Luma calendar to get informed as soon as our next events go live!
Our Sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors whose support allows to host these great events!
Fellow is a San Francisco-based law firm that works exclusively with startup founders and funders. Rather than operating like a traditional outside counsel, Fellow embeds with its clients as an extension of their team - agile, responsive, and accessible through the tools startups already use. The firm believes legal support should feel like a natural part of building a company, not a dreaded phone call or formal email to a lawyer. Fellow's approach is designed to remove friction from legal work, so founders can stay focused on growing their business while knowing they have qualified counsel in their corner.
Your Hosts
Wisdom Partners is a founder coaching and consulting firm that helps Seed through Series B founders succeed at every step of their founder journey. Led by Dr. Josh Broward, Wisdom Partners boasts a 12-coach roster of specialists spanning organizational leadership, product, GTM, sales, PR, and everything else in between. They offer both 1-on-1 advising, as well as group off-sites, to support founders in any way they need.
Sway makes hosting events simple by handling the planning, sourcing, and promoting for you. Whether it's a corporate conference in NYC or an intimate dinner in SF, Sway handles every detail for you. They're not just another event planner, they're a strategic partner to ensure your event leaves a lasting impression on guests and stakeholders.
YesSF supports innovators in the city of San Francisco that are working on sustainable solutions to revitalize downtown SF. Initially launched as an innovation challenge by the SF Chamber of Commerce, YesSF now has a physical co-working space downtown where they host regular programming for startups, small businesses, and SF residents that are curious about the future of their city.