Caute, nedavno som si ako slovak zakladal pre svoju US firmu bankovy ucet a nakolko je tato tema casto rozoberana a podmienky sa menia, napisem vam ako to bolo so mnou.

Hned prva vec ktoru by som chcel zdoraznit je, ze na zalozenie bude treba prist do US osobne. Hladat na internete rozne workarounds okolo tohoto, pripadne rozne sluzby/firmy ktore to za vas spravia je strata casu a mozno az nebezpecne. Este niektori zvazuju moznost, ze do svojej US firmy zo zaciactku zoberu znameho ktory je v US aby im tam zalozil ucet a potom ho s firmy daju von. Toto by som vobec neodporucal, pretoze ucet bude zalozeny nim – pytal som sa na toto bankara v HSBC a hovoril mi ze ja by som mal s tym uctom obmedzene moznosti co sa tyka narabania (ak vibec nejake). Mozno by to aj nejako islo, ak sa rozhodnete ale ist touto cestou tak si dopredu velmi dobre zistite ako to bude s uctom ked osoba ktora ho zakladala uz vo firme nebude.

Banky si kvoli bezpecnosti davaju velky pozor komu ucet zakladaju, myslite na to.

Takze k samotnemu zakladaniu: prineste si so sebou Articles of Incorporation (ja som ich mal certified, na nete niektore banky aj pisu ze chcu take – vybavite si ich kludne cez Incparadise – ak ste si cez nich zakladali firmu tak o to lepsie – napiste im ze chcete certified articles pre svoju firmu a oni vam ich za mensi poplatok vybavia (dokopy par desiatok $, zavisi od statu). Mozete si ich ale vybavit aj sami, tam budete platit len state fee. Dalej si prineste pridelene EIN (Employer Identification Number) – najlepsie kopiu SS-4 formularu kde vam bolo pridelene. Ja som mal pri sebe aj lease agreement mojej kancelarie (normalnej fyzickej) – ten si bankarka nezobrala ale adresu si ako sidlo firmy opisala. Tuto bacha, mail forwarding adresy sa uz v podstate neberu- treba mat normalnu kancelariu. Napr. aj na SS-4 musite vypisat vasu fyzicku location – nemoze byt pobox alebo len mail forwarding. Ak nemate tak najdete mensie kancelarie (pod 100SF,zalezi na location) za $200/month – tu tiez bacha, dobre si precitajte lease agreement, v niektorych mate povinnost mat uzavrete na office poistenie (niekolko tisic $ na rok) a podobne srandy. Moj lease agreement je super, ma 3 strany- treba ale hladat, ja som kontaktoval cez 60 agentov na konkretne office.

Samotne zakladanie je pre foundera ktory nie je z US trochu komplikovane – mne sa podarilo v Bank of America. Tiez je dolezite zdoraznit skusenost viacerych ludi, ktorym v jednej pobocke tej istej banky ucet otvorit odmietli a v dalsej nebol problem. Takze myslite aj na toto ked budete citat nasledujuce riadky- nemusi to tak platit vsade. Bol som v NY, firmu mam ale v inom state.

Chase – najprv som navstivil Chase – tam bolo treba okrem mojho pasu este nejaky dalsi identification document. Bankarka mi citala niekolko alternativ, co som ale zachytil bol americky vodicak alebo utility bill (nejaka faktura vypisana na vase meno ktora ale obsahuje americku adresu, napr. ucet za vodu alebo telefon). Pokial ste v US nebyvali toto bude pre vas asi problem.

HSBC – Tuto to vyzeralo ze identification by ani taky problem nebol, resp. este sme sa k tomu podriadne ani nedostali, u HSBC totiz to otvorenie trva 2-3 tyzdne a musite tam byt na zaciatku kedy nieco podpisete a potom aj za tie 2-3 tyzdne. Myslim si ale ze v urcitom bode by sme sa tam dostali aj k nejakemu identification documentu rovnako ako v Chase.

Wells Fargo – tuto ma prekvapili asi najviac – vraj maju vela frauds a podobne, takze vyzaduju bud aby v NY byval majitel alebo aby mala firma v NY office – hovoril mi ze sa tam chodia normalne pozerat ci firma naozaj funguje atd. Este mi ale hovoril ze mozem o ucet poziadat online a tak by to mohlo ist – to by som ale nerobil a) su zvyknuti ze to su vacsinou ludia ktori v US byvaju a nebyvaju ziadne problemy s identification b) je skoro iste ze aj tak budete musiet nieco podpisovat, bud osobne alebo vam dokumenty dorucia domov (na US adresu). Tym ze nie ste z US si ale myslim ze by vas tam chceli pekne osobne.

PNC Bank – Tuto to bol trochu trapas – nejako zle som si to na internete pozrel – v state kde mam firmu nemaju pobocku. Niekde som cital ze banka mi moze zalozit ucet aj v inom state ako v tom kde mam firmu, ale musia tam mat pobocku. V PNC to ale vyzeralo ze by MOZNO aj nejako islo, ale boli by s tym problemy.

Bank of America – tu sa to nastastie podarilo. Ako identification stacil pas a slovensky obciansky a este americka adresa. Ziadny utility bill, stacila americka adresa – pozor ale – musi to byt adresa domu, tj residencna, nie kancelaria. Mne povedala ze to moze byt aj adresa niekoho z rodiny alebo znameho. Na toto sa ale pre istotu opytajte dopredu. Podpisali sa teda nejake papiere, zvolilo sa meno/heslo na internet banking, zvolil sa pin na -> dala mi temporary (docasnu) debit card pomocou ktorej som si na ucet vlozil peniaze (ukazu vam ako) – minimalny vklad bol ale $100- odporucam ale vlozit viac – aby ste mali z coho platit najom etc. Ta karta sa ale da pouzivat aj normalne. Permanentnu debit card mi poslali postou- povodne to bolo na office address, mozete ale poprosit aby vam to poslali na adresu toho znameho. Ked vam dojde, bude ju este treba aktivovat tak,ze ju nejako pouzijete v ATM. Neviem ci to bude fungovat aj na sk/cz bankomate, ked tak teda dajte pin znamemu v US a nech vam ju aktivuje on a posle ak v uz v US nebudete.

Este taky tip: bankar sa bude zaujimat co bude vasa firma robit – pekne mu to vysvetlite, snazte sa rozpravat co najviac, vysvetlite mu ako to funguje, co su vase vyhody etc, ked tak mu ponuknite ze mu ukazete web (tam pre istotu na contact us subpage majte napisane meno firmy a adresu keby si to overoval). Tu ide o to ukazat mu ze naozaj nieco robite, nechcete ten ucet na pranie penazi alebo horsie.

Pocul som aj o pripadoch ze ucet po par tyzdnoch zavreli lebo zistili ze bola zadana zla adresa alebo nieco take. S jednym bankarom som aj volal a hovoril mi ze kazdy ucet je po zalozeni este preverovany a ze napr. maju databazu adries mail forwarding (virtual office) firiem a ked zistia ze ste zadali nejaku taku moze byt zle.

Neni to sranda, ked uz sa teda na to podujmete, chodte s tym ze ak vas odmietnu aj v 10 bankach/pobockach ze budete skusat dalej. Ked tak si zalozte aj 2 ucty (v 2 roznych bankach) keby vam 1 z nejakeho dovodu zavreli. Tiez bacha co si so sebou zoberete na letisko – ak vam najdu articles of incorp na turistickych bude zle – vytlacte si ich az v US napr v Staples

Zdravim John,

skusil som napisat prvy clanok. Ak sa ti paci mozes ho publikovat. Ak chces pokracovat dalej, daj mi vediet, alebo mozes sa spytat svojich citatelov ci maju zaujem aby som pokracoval. No hard feelings ak to s tebou alebo citatelmi nerezonuje. Je to v anglictine, pretoze mi to tak naozaj ide lepsie. Ak to chce niekto prelozit nemam problem to editovat, ci sa v preklade nieco nestratilo. Nakonci som pripojil moju email adresu, ak by niekto nieco chcel aby si to nemusil riesit ty.

Prajem prijemny den,

Rudy

Part 1 – Introduction – Opening a human mind

In this series of articles we are going to address intricacies of a human mind. And because this website is dedicated to entrepreneurship, our focus will be just that. We will discuss why some people are naturally successful in business and others are not, why reading self-improvement books does not really help, why at the pivotal moments we just can’t make that right business decision, then why we justify that it is because of our lack of experience, yet years go by and nothing changes. The above description may completely describe you, partially describe you, not describe you at all, and you may be aware of it, partially aware, or have no awareness of it at all. At the end it really does not matter. However in order to address these entrepreneurship topics, we have to look under the hood first in order to gain understanding. So the first few articles will be dedicated to this purpose. Subsequent articles will reference rich knowledge from these initial introductions.

“Know yourself and you will know your destiny, because you are your own destiny.” – oracle

My name is Rudy and I am a chemical engineer. I never studied psychology in school, however due to my own personal events, I studied psychology very deeply on my own and today I am where I am. Through these articles I’d like to share with you what I have learned, hoping to give an opportunity of self-discovery and self-growth to those of you that seek it.

The purpose of today’s article is to open your mind to ideas that you may otherwise reject. I am asking you to recognize that even in the world of macro physics, lot of physical laws today are based on empirical observations and ‘curve fitting’ and not based on understanding of matter and energy on a quantum level. Whether it is Newton’s law, laws of thermodynamics, or e.g. Reynold’s number is heavily used in chemical engineering when designing pumps and pipes. They are all based on empirical observations and sometimes ‘guess work’. Or in other words, while maybe not fundamentally correct, they give us a framework that works in the scope that is practical for us and it works. They allow us to build amazing machines, amazing processes, and factories and thus technologies seen today. But at the end, they may not be exactly correct on a microscopic level – they may even be wrong. At the end however all of these theories, or laws as we call them, are just human inventions that metaphorically describe the world as we perceive it. Similarly, we have decimal number system only because we, humans, have 10 fingers. From childhood we are taught to think in decimal system. Not until later years, we can learn and recognize that there are other number systems that may even be better and more practical. But let’s recognize here that without a decimal system first we would never arrive at more complex and abstract systems. Thus, while not as omnipotent as we believe the decimal system to be, it is very practical in our world, and without it, more complex systems could not be learned. We first need to learn a metaphorical framework that is simpler, makes sense for us at the moment before we can move onto more complex and abstract models. First step, if you will. But if we deny, refuse the simple, we not only cannot learn more abstract, but we do not even allow ourselves to be productive with the simple framework in a world where the simple is good enough.

Similarly, psychology is trying to study patterns of human behavior. Identify associations, decisions, mental processes and everything that a human mind brings. There are many psychological theories, but at the end they are all just metaphorical approximations to what is going on underneath. Some are better than others. Some of these theories may be simple, but they may describe certain situations well. They may describe our behavior on a macroscopic level, but completely miss the point on a microscopic level. But if we deny them before we even try to understand them, we are denying ourselves an opportunity to learn. From simple to something more complex. We kill it before it even has a time to evolve into something more complex and more real. So for example, when psychology describes that we have an ‘inner child’ that steers us away from making a good business decision, our immediate reaction may be ‘this is bullshit’, or a ‘psychobabble’. But I challenge you that the word ‘child’ is a metaphor here. Some theories call it ‘a part’, ‘a shadow’, ‘soul’, ‘demon’. All are bullshit, right? Well, it does not matter what you call it, it is a metaphorical word describing a neural connection in your brain that activates by certain external trigger and it actually can be identified by MRI – as I will mention in later articles with specific examples. Or in other words, in a certain situation a neural network in our mammalian limbic system can be triggered which directs our behavior and decision making (yes, decision making too and all conscious justifications along with it). Shall we call it neural pathway? Or a child? Shadow? RWG676? Does it matter? Whatever word we use, it just metaphorically describes the physical neural network and its activation under certain trigger.

As such, I am asking you here to be open minded to the words and sentences I choose. They are mine and they may not perfectly fit your current state of mind, but that should not be a reason for rejection. So hold your judgment until this entire series is over, and until you feel you understand this decimal system well – before rejecting it as flawed or too simple – which it very well at the end may turn out to be.

“Although it may sound strange, the underlining prerequisite to obtaining self-knowledge and having a possibility for change is accepting ourselves. Constructive awareness and development cannot be founded on rejection and denial.” – Peter Popper

Let’s start with little simple self-awareness: If you were to hit your head with an object in a really stupid way, in that moment, are you more likely to say to yourself ‘I am an idiot’ or ‘You are an idiot’?. Think about it for a moment. “Ouch….. I am an idiot!” versus “Ouch…. You are an idiot!”.

Which one is more compatible with your inner mental structure? You will immediately feel (but not know why) which one fits more. And while you can learn to force yourself to say the other, the core inside of you that decides which fits better is not going to change. You would force to change just a symptom of something much deeper. Yet, that is exactly what we do when reading self-improvement books and talking to mentors, we try to learn what to say in those elevator pitches, how to approach customers, how to make business decisions, not recognizing that is the core that guides us and that we need to approach that and not just the symptoms. Are you stuck changing the symptoms?

“Change yourself and your destiny will change as well.” – oracle

I have two exercises for you today. First one is this: Imagine you were born with an eye deficiency in such a way that you don’t see color blue. Now think about it hard and explain how would you find out? We will come back to this in later articles.

The second exercise is much more difficult: When you were 1 year old or so, you did not know how to speak yet. You did not have language yet. As such you also could not think! by using words. (Actually your frontal cortex wasn’t even developed to do any conscious thinking.) Everything you encountered at that time you processed without language! Tonight, before you go to bed, go and look at yourself in the mirror. Then look into (not at) your own eyes. But when you do this, don’t use language. No words allowed. Uttered or thought. Don’t say anything. Don’t think anything using words. Experience yourself without language and reflect on it. Some of you may feel fear, some peace, some anxiety, some something else and some a big nothing.

Both of these exercises use language as a tool to our consciousness and challenge it in a way that we don’t use it in a day to day basis. As such, our next article will be about language.

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For those interested in contacting me directly, feel free to email me at rudyvusa@gmail.com