Globond Success Stories

1. Building a portfolio of clients and friends. The founder of Globond International, Inc. Kirstin Elaine Myers was the first Globonder. In the 1990s, she went to Brazil as an executive to open the marketing/sales operations of the branch of a U.S.-based multinational company with an Internet-based product. Her company’s name was unknown in Brazil, and the Internet was very new. She spoke Portuguese, but did not have the business contacts in the fields she needed. In order to pay her high living expenses, but with an inexperienced sales team, she set aggressive sales targets. Through smart actions and long hours, in six months her sales team ranked #2 among the firm’s 17 offices worldwide but the cost was very high to her personally. To finally create a social life, she re-organized a long-running group that had been meeting at the same bar once a month, and turned it into a community of like-minded global citizens who socialized together at diverse settings. Soon virtually all of these friends became clients of one another, and all of her company’s clients became friends. After two years, her sales team had acquired 200 corporate clients in Brazil, and she had a large circle of friends. The Globond prototype was born.
   
   
2. Raising major capital. A Globonder, CEO of an education-related start-up, needed to raise seed money. Globond successfully closed the first $250,000 with an investor, who was the former President of a Fotune 500 corporation and now heads a textbook company. Globond also went to the Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation, a state agency that invests money in start-ups on condition that the company finds partners to match its investments. Although told by many “experts” that it was too early for MTDC to invest in this company, Globond kept up the momentum and opened doors with other investor prospects, including various angel groups and Massachusetts’s top female venture capitalist. Two venture capitalists that Globond introduced co-invested in several projects, which eventually included the Globonder’s educational start-up. MTDC contributed $600,000 to match the same amount invested by a local investor’s group which Globond had also brought to the table. Through Globond’s efforts, the end result for the start-up was $2 million in capital raised.
   
   
3. Proving and funding a new technology. A Globonder, who is an inventor, created an algorithm that optimizes the routing of transportation vehicles in such a way that they are always full of paying passengers, who have continuous, convenient access to green, affordable transportation. Globond has put him in front of state, local and federal government officials (including the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Volpe Center), and senior executives of the leading car-sharing, limo and car rental companies. This work has culminated in a pilot project in which a casino has given the Globonder its monthly data of over 2,500 limo rides to bring customers to its entertainment complex. Globond has also retained its member’s former professor in MIS Operational Systems, who teaches at Harvard University and Salem State College, as a technical advisor and sales engineer. Upon completion of the pilot, Globond will close business with large car rental company, car sharing company, Federal and State Government Transportation projects who have all expressed interest in the algorithm and simply want to see that it works (hence the pilot). as new clients of the inventor Globonder , and the New York-New Jersey Port Authority’s decongestion project.With the potential of this transportation system to be national and international in scope, and funded through customers and strategic partners, the Globonder is on his way to becoming both wealthy and successful, leaving a legacy behind as well.
   
   
4. Working the system to get visas. Globond was asked to help plan the 10th Anniversary of the World Summit of Young Entrepreneurs, organized by the World Trade University of the United Nations, and to be held in Sao Paulo in 2006. Globond selected the keynote speakers, panelists and workshop presenters, arranged the topics, and invited world-class entrepreneurs from around the world. Some of the international speakers and participants were told at their Brazilian Embassies\Consulates that a visa would take three weeks or longer to process; the Summit was to start in a week and a half. WTU’s head told Globond, “Forget about the speakers…even the UN cannot violate international protocol.” Globond forged ahead and requested help from Brazil’s Minister of Immigration, who ordered that a letter be sent to every Brazilian Embassy/Consulate in the world, telling them to be on the lookout for visa requests on the WTU or Globond letterheads. All of the speakers and participants got their visas in time to attend the event on time and one visa was even processed in less than 24 hours.
   
   
5. Landing a World Bank job. A Japanese-Brazilian Globonder was a Senior Telecom Analyst for a major bank in Sao Paulo. As he was often in the media and well known in his industry, he did not feel free to openly seek other job opportunities. Asked by Globond what his dream job would be, he replied to work at the World Bank, but considered that to be impossible. Globond made phone calls, and found current and former World Bank employees to advise him. Competing against several thousand candidates, this Globonder got his dream job, working in a prestigious role involving the Middle East and Africa.
   
   
6. Receiving VIP treatment in India. Two Chinese-American female friends, a TV-commercial-and-film producer and an actress and real estate broker, called Globond to say they were leaving for India the next day, and asked for help in meeting people with places to stay and assistance in enjoying their visit. Globond searched its network and came up with various options immediately, including an offer by an Indian executive in London for his corporate discount rate at a top hotel. The result was that they chose the home of an Indian film producer who also picked them up at the airport. These Globonders were treated like VIPs on their first trip to India.
   
   
7. Getting the right job in the right country. A Colombian telecom executive in Brazil had left the telecom sector to work in a series of consulting firms, each time with increased responsibility and compensation. When at 28 years of age, he wanted to return to telecom in a more senior position, colleagues discouraged him from trying this in Brazil, his preferred destination, and advised him to move to the U.S., where they said he would have more lucrative opportunities. He wanted to stay in Brazil, however, so Globond introduced this Globonder to the major companies with the attractive opportunities, and then served as a character reference for him during the due-diligence phase. He ended up accepting a $250,000 a year position with a global telecom company based in Brazil.
   
   
8. Getting an almost-impossible reservation. Two Globonders, an American power couple – the husband is a money manager for an investment fund and the wife is a serial entrepreneur – told Globond that would celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary in Nantucket, MA. They said that their dream was to dine at the Black Pearl, a restaurant so exclusive that one has to make reservations months in advance. Although Globond learned that the waiting list was pages long, with one phone call and a return call Globond persuaded the restaurant maitre d’ to say he would do what he could. A phone call from the ecstatic Globonder wife said that the couple was inside the Black Pearl, at the best table and the center of attention. We later learned that her husband was friends with the owner but had not been able to get in with that connection.