Interview Peter Buckinx Calysta in the USA
What does the opening of our office in the US mean for Calysta and our international ambitions?
The opening of this office is a big step in the continued grow of our firm. Having an office in the most important Intellectual Property (IP) market there is, will help us not only grow our business and visibility, but also enable us to serve our European based clients better.
Firstly our US clients and potential clients will greatly appreciate that we are now able to serve them even better but also quicker. Being in the same time zone is one of those huge advantages.
Secondly our European based clients will value our presence as well because this gives us the opportunity to find the best US IP firms out there to serve their needs. And this is what our vision is all about: Using the best possible firms to serve our clients interests abroad.
We greatly embrace this new challenge and will not hesitate to visit all of our clients, potential clients as much as needed to foster those great relationships that we have and look for.
What was your role in the launch of the U.S. office?
My humble part in this new office opening started a while ago. As you can imagine many questions arise when wishing to launch such an adventure:
- Location decision
- Accounting assistance
- Insurances
- Budget establishing
- Visa application
- Legal assistance
- etc
One by one we found excellent partners and answers to the many challenges we faced. Without the help of these partners we would never have succeeded.
Another important assistance was the advice received from so many US and Belgian people that we met over the years.
How will the collaboration between the European team and the U.S. office be organized?
The US entity can really be seen as an extension of our Belgian based Headquarters. The US entity will focus on being close to our clients and available at all times to answer their requests, questions etc. The Belgian Headquarters will keep managing all the rights of our US clients and coordinate with the US entity to offer the best possible services.
The time difference could be seen as a complication but I see it more as an advantage. We have great tools at our disposal to communicate properly and serve our clients (both entities having access to all these tools), on top of that frequent visits from one entity to the other will ensure that we can catch up often on the progress of our US entity.
What do you hope we’ll achieve in the first year?
Very simply to have the results that Calysta hopes for and seeing the satisfaction on the faces of my colleagues. It does not have to be more than that.
Of course like any firm would do, we have established a 5 year plan on where we would like to see ourselves in 5 years. These are very often figures and budgets. However I also look beyond the figures to a more simple approach, the wish to let as many people out here know that if they ever require any IP assistance in Europe they could think of us.
Networking, meeting people, speaking to people and listening to their stories is what is most important to me. This is truly the American way of doing business and something I wish to perform as much as possible during the upcoming 5 years.
After the first year I would be very satisfied if I have been able to discover in detail the 1st region that we have chosen to develop, in this instance California. California being such a huge region and having a vast potential, was a obvious choice for us to start. Of course time flies by very quickly and during the next 4 years we will have to turn our focus to other regions of the US. More in this will follow in due time as we are still exploring as we speak the next possible regions to settle our firm.
What are you most excited about regarding this new milestone?
The potential for Calysta must be number one no doubt there. When you see at how many firms there are across the country, the number of people one could meet, no surprise this is still the most important market for our clients, and I do not see this changing any time soon.
Another element is just how friendly and helpful everyone is, before and ever since I moved here. Friends, Colleagues, new acquaintances, everyone is prepared to provide advice, suggestions or anything related to daily life, business development and so much more.