About us
Here's the one explicit reason why it pays to join Influence Others:
You Gain by Understanding Your Brain
And this is a great time to jump aboard because:
More has been discovered about the human brain in the last ten years than in ALL of human history.
But those advances also present founding teams with an unavoidable stark choice:
[Learn, Adapt, Profit] OR [Fall Fatally Behind]
SUMMARY
It turns out many neuroscience findings are not only fascinating, but readily applicable to the two distinct skill sets crucial for every startup team’s success in the commercial marketplace:
· Mechanics of communicating with confidence, conviction and credibility
· Traction – the triumvirate of attracting, acquiring and retaining customers
The Influence Others meetup filters those recent discoveries, presenting the ones pertinent to the sales and marketing challenges startups typically face.
By attending you'll gain from better understanding how the brain’s decision making actually machinery works.
Specifically, you’ll learn to take advantage of what science teaches is the optimal approach to communicating persuasively and you'll pick up several immediately useful science-based tips on earning market traction.
DETAILS
Imagine if you could offer your product to customers or to pitch your company to investors so they, on their own accord and before you spoke your first word, were influenced to buy into your vision because of techniques you used; and equally important, because of those you avoided.
That astounding claim is true because the anatomically modern human brain is hard-wired by millions of years of evolution to scan for certain signals it much prefers over others. Such built-in biases are among the recent discoveries about how we influence each other.
Indeed, with multiple disciplines focusing simultaneously on the human brain, more has been discovered about that singular organ in the last decade than in ALL previous history.
As a result, we’re in a propitious position of witnessing the birth of a radically counter-intuitive model of how neural processes motivate our behavior, both as individuals and in groups.
Taking insights from such well-regarded books as Thinking, Fast and Slow (Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman), Influence: Science and Practice (Robert B. Cialdini), and Start with Why (Simon Sinek), the sessions apply those findings to typical communication challenges entrepreneurs face such as:
· Explaining the startup’s business model so it interests investors and attracts team members
· Designing marketing material and a home page that encourages engagement
By joining Influence Others you’ll learn that influencing others is no longer the art it was for centuries, but instead persuasion is emerging as a science, making it a skill you can readily acquire.
Even more, the fastest way to come up to speed on is to volunteer in the meetup and help prepare the next session. If that's interesting to you, then contact Nathan Schor 305.632.1368 nathan@rcsm.io .
Instructor – After graduating Boston College (Summa Cum Laude in Philosophy and Psychology) Nathan Schor began his IT career as a database programmer. Preferring conversation over code, he evolved into sales, accumulating over three decades of experience, including deploying CRM applications in hundreds of businesses across a wide range of sizes and sectors.
About ten years ago he stated noticing more and more discoveries in neural science having a direct bearing on influencing people. Tracking those breakthroughs, he found several of them useful in improving his own technique. He created the Influence Others meetup to chronicle those findings and share his insights.
Encouraged by the positive reviews the sessions earned, Nathan founded the Resource Center for Scientific Marketing to expose a wider audience the discoveries coming out of neural science labs applicable to the sales and marketing challenges startup teams face.
Upcoming events
1
Foreign Investment/Hiring Foreign Nationals Could Doom Your Next Round or Exit
5 Palo Alto Square, Palo Alto, CA, USThis event is organized by Access Silicon Valley.
Our meetup group is collaborating by promoting this event.
In order to attend, please register here:
We have been allocated a limited number of comp tickets.
For comps, use promo code:
IPOVIP
Hurry!
Slots are limited!
Thursday, March 5 | 6:00 – 9:00pm
5 Palo Alto Square
Palo Alto, CA 94306
First Floor Event SpaceFor many startups, foreign capital and global talent are essential to growth. But what most founders don’t realize is that one early decision - made long before your Series A or exit - can quietly poison your cap table, stall a deal, or dramatically reduce valuation years later.
Accepting funds from a foreign investor (individual or fund), granting a board seat/observer rights or information rights, or hiring foreign national developers in the U.S. can trigger CFIUS review, export control violations, and national security concerns, often without any warning at the time. These issues rarely surface until a major financing, acquisition, or IPO, when they become expensive, time-consuming, and sometimes impossible to fix.
Access Silicon Valley invites you to join us for this must-attend workshop is designed specifically for startup founders and early-stage operators in tech, AI, biotech, fintech, robotics, and other innovation-driven sectors who want to grow globally without unknowingly creating deal-killing risk.
In this highly practical session, Brett Johnson and Troy Galan will break down the regulatory landmines that routinely derail otherwise successful startups—and explain what founders need to do early to avoid them.
SEATING IS LIMITED: REGISTER HERE
What we’ll cover
- Foreign Investment Pitfalls
How taking money from foreign individuals or funds can trigger scrutiny years later - and why “standard” early-stage terms can create unexpected national security issues.
- CFIUS Traps That Blindside Founders
How the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) can affect fundraising, governance, and exits, including common mistakes involving board seats, observer rights, and information rights that create serious obstacles in diligence.
- Export Controls - Even Before You Have Revenue
Why export control laws apply to early-stage startups, including software, AI models, data access, and technical know-how - and how founders unintentionally violate them.
- Foreign Nationals on Your U.S. Team
What founders must understand when hiring or working with foreign national engineers or developers in the U.S., including “deemed export” risks that many companies don’t discover until investors or acquirers raise red flags.
- Due Diligence Deal-Killers
What sophisticated investors and buyers are actually looking for and how failure to address these issues early can delay, restructure, or collapse a transaction entirely.
Why this workshop is critical
Most founders assume these issues can be “cleaned up later.” In reality, CFIUS and export control problems often cannot be fixed retroactively. By the time they surface, the damage may already be done - slowing a financing, forcing deal concessions, or killing an exit outright.
This workshop gives founders the foresight to design their company correctly from the start, rather than scrambling under pressure when stakes are highest.
What you’ll walk away with
- A clear understanding of how foreign investment and export controls intersect with startup growth
- A founder-friendly checklist to evaluate risks before taking foreign money or hiring foreign nationals (in the U.S. or abroad)
- Practical steps you can implement immediately to reduce regulatory and diligence risk
- A framework for asking the right questions early - before investors, acquirors, or regulators do
If your startup plans to raise capital, hire globally, or build technology with international reach, this workshop isn’t optional—it’s preventative medicine.
SEATING IS LIMITED: REGISTER HERE
March 5, 2026
6:00-7:00PM | Dinner and Networking
7:00-8:30PM | Workshop and Q&A
8:30-9:00PM | NetworkingSPEAKERS:
Brett Johnson, Partner, Snell & Wilmer
Brett Johnson focuses his practice on international trade, advising businesses on export controls, global regulatory compliance, and cross-border transactions. He counsels multinational and U.S. companies on CFIUS and foreign ownership compliance, tariff mitigation strategies, customs rulings, export licensing, and enforcement risks, and helps develop internal compliance programs for international operations and supply chains. Brett also supports clients in navigating government investigations related to trade laws and regulations, and regularly provides guidance on international sales, distribution, and agency agreements.T. Troy Galan, Associate, Snell & Wilmer
Troy Galan advises domestic and international clients on matters at the intersection of national security and international trade, with a focus on international transactions, government contracting, and regulatory compliance. He counsels companies on CFIUS reviews, export controls, economic sanctions, customs regulations, and foreign anti-corruption laws, helping them navigate foreign investment risks, cross-border transactions, and federal contracting requirements. Troy also assists clients with due diligence, licensing, tariff and duty determinations, and developing internal compliance programs tied to global operations and supply chains.1 attendee
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