Scaling Up Success | Brian Samson | Post-COVID Hiring Breakthroughs: Why LATAM Talent Wins

Sometimes reputation hasn't caught up to reality and infused with this culture that we see from the media. And I think the media doesn't tell the correct story all the time.

Brian Samson, founder of Plug Technologies. He's unlocking the power of nearshore talent, showing how smart global hiring, real time collaboration and built in arbitrage help companies scale faster and smarter.

The price you pay is actually based on the media and the reputation, not the reality. And that alone is this built in arbitrage for entrepreneurs. It's the same way to think about getting a senior level person for a junior level price because you're paying for the skill set today, but the reputation of yesterday.

What's up everybody? This is Ryan Van Or. I'm back with another edition of the Scaling Up Success podcast, powered by Synergist. Synergist is your scalable operations company that helps you grow exponentially faster at a fraction of the cost. Go check out synergist.com for more information. Also while you're at it, go like and comment and subscribe to all of our videos on Spotify and YouTube. While today I'm really excited, we have Brian Sampson with Plug Technologies on. Brian, how are you today?

Hey Ryan, doing awesome. Thanks again for the chance to talk to you.

Absolutely, man. Excited to hear more about what you got going on. You really excited about it, man. I know you got some really cool pieces of your business that you want to talk about. Let's just jump into it. Sound good?

Let's do it.

Awesome, man. Well, tell us a little bit about Plug Technologies. What you got going on there?

Yeah, Plug works in the world of near shoring and I know your business is all about that as well. Near shoring offshoring. Your audience knows the world is flat. Talent is everywhere. Talent is global. And if you're trying to grow your business, you've got to go where the talent is and find where you can get more value than anywhere else. My business has found that in Latin America and we are brokers for Latin America talent. There's a DIY model out there. You could do fiverr, you could do upwork, but if you're really ready for the next level, a company like us can make introductions you wouldn't get otherwise. And we have existed for about four years. But I've been, I've been in this Latin American nearshore world for about 10 and growing US companies that need talent from Latin America. We are the go to company for that.

That's awesome, man. It's hard to find up and down, you know like the Latin American area, like there's so many different countries and finding the right people and finding the top talent in there. That's why, that's why you guys are succeeding and growing it like you are. So can you tell me like, I mean, how was it building this company out like, you know, after Covid, man, I mean, it was probably a whole different scene after that, right?

Yeah. So, you know, I've been in this nearshore world for just over 10 years and it's kind of split in the middle. You know, there is pre Covid and then post Covid. I'll tell you with customers, you know, maybe how it's been different with customers and how it's been different with the talent with customers. We really had two sells Pre Covid. It was why Latin America was right for them and then why the company that I represented was the right company for them. Post Covid. Everybody gets it. They get the talent can be remote. They get, the talent can be everywhere. A lot of the companies we work with, they're optimizing for workday collaboration, which means the time zone has to be right on. And you know, all, all respect to Asia, which has some great talent, but you know, it's rough on people when they're doing, you know, third shift to try to map us hours. If everybody's kind of awake when the sun's up. That's where Latin America is. You know, the English is right there. They're watching the same Netflix shows we are. It's US style English. So there's a lot, a lot that I think people and companies were surprised by and really appreciated about the nearshore angle. So post Covid, when we talk about nearshore boom, they get it right away. Then it's just about, you know, what makes us different. One of the biggest differentiators for Plug is that I've kind of ate the dog food myself and my partner is eating the dog food. What I mean by that is I lived in Argentina, you know, I went through all the best and the worst part of it, you know, of amazing tree lined streets, the best steak in the world. You know, all respect to the midwest of the U.S. but Argentina, you know, trumps it. The, the malbec, the wine, the empanadas, the laid back pace of life. Which is really interesting because Buenos Aires is a mega city with 14 million people. There's high energy and you know, people are having dinner at 10 o' clock at night. So you, you kind of feel this like raw energy just like in New York. But Then you have things that hold it back, you know, wild inflation, institutions that. That struggle with providing black and white rules for businesses and citizens and all sorts of instability, geopolitical instability. So that kind of keeps the prices down. And, you know, I've kind of lived it, breathed it, you know, living there. I've been there nine times. My partner was an expat in Monterrey, Mexico, so he's kind of lived it, breathed it. So we can offer firsthand experience, you know, to our customers and prospects on what's the right city, what's the right country, how they should think about their budget, talent, pockets, shipping, laptops, getting stuff through customs. There's a whole bunch of nuances, and we can provide this firsthand knowledge. So that really sets us apart when we're talking to customers.

And that's fascinating. I love, I love what you're saying. You know, just being able to understand the differences between the countries, whether it's, you know, Mexico or Argentina, you know, the Central America portion, you know, like. Like how El Salvador, you know, has, you know, gone to a little bit of. A lot of. They've. They've actually embraced cryptocurrency in there too. So, like, know, understanding how payment travels, all of that stuff, it's. There's a whole lot more than goes on than what people expect.

Yeah. I think something that I wanted to. To hit on where you were going, Ryan, is sometimes reputation hasn't caught up to reality and infused with this, with culture that we see from the media. Right. And I think the media doesn't tell the correct story all the time. But I want to show how entrepreneurs can use this to their advantage. So when you think about Mexico, if you haven't been there, maybe you're, you know, you think about it with this, like, brown tint of whatever movie you're watching, like Traffic or something like that, or Sicario, you know, you see this, like, brown haze hint over the screen and you think that all of Mexico is like that or Colombia, and you think about, you know, narcos and cartels and. Right. Drug smuggling. Or you think about Venezuela and, you know, it's like a trillion of their currency to buy bread. And, you know, it's. But that stuff isn't total. Totally based in reality. I mean, El Salvador has completely flipped around their country. I think it's the safest country in the west right now.

Yeah, Yeah.

I mean, it is like just at a 180, it's super safe. It's a thriving business community. But, you know, maybe 10, 15 years ago, you hear about Ms. 13, so people think that's still the case. It's not Mexico if you've been to Mexico City. It is a thriving metropolis full of greenery. And you wouldn't know that if you thought about Sicario, right? Colombia's Medellin, which is the eternal spring. Just a gorgeous city, tons of tech talent. Brazil, Argentina, you know, Chile. Chile has one of the most scenic landscapes with the Andes, a super developed public transit system. Uruguay is extremely safe. You know, it's like the Switzerland of Latin America with banking safety, good regulation. So a lot of it is kind of knowing where to go, but also recognizing that what you read in the media isn't always the accurate case of today. And the price you pay is actually based on the media and the reputation, not the reality. And that alone is this built in arbitrage for entrepreneurs. It's the same way to think about getting a senior level person for a junior level price. Because you're paying for the skill set today, but the reputation of yesterday, absolutely.

Man, I couldn't. You nailed it right on the head with that. So, hey, one of the things that I always find interesting when you, when you're building businesses out, man, is like, I'm sure you come across like some unexpected opportunities that help you with your growth, like art. Is there something that is like, just like out of left field that you didn't expect? And all of a sudden you're like, man, I'm going to take this route with it. And it just opened up something amazing.

Yeah, I love that question. I think there's maybe, you know, a couple stories that I could share. You know, one is I wasn't really even thinking about this world called recruitment process, outsourcing RPO for those that are kind of in the recruiting world. But what that really means is outsourced recruiting. You lease recruiters. Why companies would want this is when you hire, companies tend to hire in waves rather than like a continuous burn, you know, at the exact same speed, Right? So maybe like you got this big plan. January, February, March, you want to get all your hiring done and then let your team go to work for the rest of the year. But the problem is if you hire full time recruiters, okay, like they crank the first quarter and then what do you do with them the rest of the year, right? So that's where RPO kind of lives is. You bring in this like embedded recruiting team for a couple months, they make the hires, you're like, okay, thank you. And then they move on. You know, you don't, you're not invoiced anymore. And then that RPO team moves on to other clients that are hiring, maybe in Q2 or Q3 and it's all kind of rotation. So I didn't really know much about this world, but in 2018, 2019, I had somebody that I knew reach out and asked if I could help them find an RPO recruiter in Latin America because, you know, I think they were trying to fill factory jobs and they had an Indian recruiting team and Indian recruiters worked amazing for them for software roles, recruiting software developers, but recruiting forklift drivers, it was not, they were not connecting with that blue collar workforce. So they said, let's try Latin America. Let's, let's call Brian. We know he knows this nearshore world. So I'm like, you know what, as the entrepreneur in me wants to say yes, so I'm like, I've never done this before, but let me, let me say yes and try to figure it out. So I did and then found two recruiters in Columbia and it worked out famously. Those two grew to 14 and then I flipped that to the VC funded tech world and that became 60 VC funded tech customers and a recruiting team of 55 that you know, was working on a project basis. So, you know, that initial call of hey, could you try to find me an RPO recruiter in Latin America? It was really a $2,000 investment that I made, you know, basically floating a payroll. And that 2000 has turned into eight figures of invoices, you know, that I've sent to customers over the years, you know, for RPO project work. So never saw it coming, but it did a lot for my family.

That's phenomenal, man. And congratulations to that and always taking that next step to be able to say, yep, I can achieve it, I can get it done for you. And look what it turned out to be. Nice work, man. Well done.

Thank you.

Absolutely. One of the things is like you, it, it feels like there's always like these trends that are happening like in, in business. Whether it's, you know, like the, the offshore, the near shore, like the, the staffing world, they all kind of go in eps and flows, it seems like, and there's always changes to it. What, how do you stay ahead of those trends?

Yeah, man, you hit it on the head like for the last 30 years, every year something's going to replace recruiters. Right, right. You know, either job boards or now it's AI, you know, something's always going to replace recruiters. I Think what it really comes to be is making sure that you're at the right level of efficiency and effectiveness. You know, but I think a lot of companies try to be efficient before they're effective. I always want to be effective and then try to find efficiencies, so. And you also want to try to be a little bit ahead of the curve. About to give you an example about, you know, 14 years ago I started getting into like recorded video interviews, which meant that candidates could get a link and then do the first, first round interview anytime. And it was like, you know, five minutes of their time. But I also saw on the other side, managers could then watch the interviews anytime they wanted to. And if anybody listening is in a hiring role, just like the brutal facts of interviewing are sometimes, you know, in the first two minutes if this person's just not going to get fit, right, but kind of stick around for at least 20 to 30 minutes to be polite. But you know, I saw that kind of right away, you know, 14 years ago, you know, now it's been more common, you know, the last few years. But 14 years ago is a very like novel thing. But I could see the benefit of both sides. And just trying to schedule interviews is hard, you know, when you have two busy people. You know, a couple years after that I saw the opportunity for video job descriptions, you know, where oftentimes like if you post a job description, everybody and their mother applies, you know, and you get, you know, a thousand applicants and like how on earth do you sort through this stuff? But also all these applicants, when they just read the text, it sounds interesting, it sounds like it could be a good fit. Without really knowing what's what. With video job descriptions, the hiring manager tries to do a very authentic, let's just be real, I'm here in front of my office. In the office, there's no fireworks or crazy production. It's just, just me and an iPhone, you know, talking for two minutes about what I'm like as a leader and what I'm expecting, you know, what the job is all about. And if you're a candidate, would you rather do a 30 minute call with a recruiter or watch a 2 minute video of the hiring manager explaining who it is and what the office looks like in the background. So this creates an opportunity for self selection. You know, instead of a thousand people just applying on a text job, maybe 50 people watch it apply, but you know that they really feel like they're a fit and they're not going to waste their time and not waste Your time. So I saw those trends, you know, like over a decade ago. So I think that's part of what I'm, I'm looking for is, you know, what, what's the trend today? How to be effective, then be efficient and try to do something that, you know, isn't really being done by the masses yet.

I really appreciate that, that answer, man. It gives that better explanation of how you go along your business. So thank you. Appreciate it, man. One of the things that we do here on the Scaling Up Success podcast is we do a little rapid fire on purse. Get to know the CEO or the, the, the cc Exact. On a personal level. You up for something like that?

Let's try it.

What book are you reading? Or like, do you have a favorite podcast that you, that you listen to?

Yeah, you know, book. I, I've got like a whole stack of business books, but I'm on, I'm on one right now that's kind of out of that. I wouldn't say it's my favorite book yet, but it's the biography about Pat Tillman, you know, who is on the Arizona Cardinals and lost his life, you know, post 9 11, you know, in the Iraq war. I think he was in Afghanistan. But anyway, I like reading stuff about that because it, you know, inspires me, you know, to, to keep keep going for it, keep getting better and expect more of myself.

I was on the same base as Pat Tillman in, like, 2003. It was pretty cool. I never met him, but he was on the same basis. Yeah. Yeah.

Oh, wow. That's awesome.

Yeah, pretty cool. Do you, what, what, what, what are you drinking? Coffee, tea, soda, Energy drinks? Water. What, what's your go to?

Yeah, coffee guy. You know, I, I, it's now like a regular part of the rotation. So morning, I'll have, I'll put a little creatine in the coffee, and then I'll get a bit of like, coconut powder if, you know, like that layered superfood stuff. So I'll throw that in there and I'm usually good to go until lunchtime.

Nice. Okay, cool. If you had, like, one superpower, like if you're part of the Avengers or X Men, what would that superpower be?

Yeah, I'm not, I don't do so much of the comic book movies, but, yeah, I'll take the, the cliche answer of being able to fly. I think that's.

There you go. I like it. Are you an early bird or not? Night owl, early bird.

You know, I've had, I've Got two young kids, so, you know, there's no. No rest for the weary.

Yeah, exactly, man. You got to get that rest when you can. I like it. If you could have dinner with, like, a historical figure, either living or deceased, who would it be?

Oh, that's an awesome question. Historical figure.

Wow.

What a. What a good question. You know, I've been on this, like, wild kick around, you know, World War I. I think I've been watching movies, you know, reading stuff about that. I think I would like to be a fly on the wall of, like, what's going on in the war rooms and the strategy rooms in Britain and Germany. Kind of see on both sides, because that was just like. And, you know, France, of course, you know, like a brutal battle of attrition. And. Yeah, years and years and years. Like, that line just barely moves. So I think I'm just, you know, totally random wild answer, but I think I'm just kind of fascinated with, like, nobody was making progress, but everybody was. Was so optimistic about it. Right?

I love it, man. That's. That was the whole thing about Armistice Day, right? Just. Just lay down your weapons. Yeah, I. I dig it, man. Very cool. If you. I know you've traveled a lot, but do you have a bucket list travel spot you want to go to still?

Yeah, I've never been to South Africa.

There you go.

And my youngest brother has been there, and he went shark cage diving, Cape Town, and I just thought that looked really, really awesome, so I'd like to try that.

Very cool. I got a couple more here. What's that? Go to cheat meal for you, man.

Go to cheat Meal. So I live in Hawaii, and there's nothing like a fresh poke bowl.

I knew you were gonna go poke bowl when you said Hawaii, my friend.

Yeah, you got. And you know, the poke here is. Is pretty tough to beat, so, you know, that big kind of fatty tuna, white rice. Get some furikake, avocado, cucumber. I could. I could do that every day, dude.

You know what? I could go for a little kalua pig right now or something, man.

Yeah, Yeah, I actually got some of that out of the fridge right now.

Oh, my gosh. You're a lucky man right there. That's some good stuff. Hey, last one is what's. What's on your workout playlist that you're bumping right now.

Workout playlist. I actually use that for podcasts, so I listen to a lot of podcasts when I'm working out. You know, it's Friday, so there's A few, A few things that I, I like where I realize I look forward to it based on the release day. So if you're a movie buff, the rewatchables, you know, which is a Bill Simmons ringer type universe.

Yeah.

That comes out every, every Monday night for me. So, you know, like, it, it's, I realize, like my anticipation now, you know, at like 8 o' clock at night, I'll check if, if it came out yet and if it's a movie that I love, I'm like, yes, I can't wait for this episode. Or if it's moving or heard of like, ah, man, this is a bust. But Friday, it's the all in podcast usually releases, which is, you know, four tech guys and California that kind of give their recap on business, politics, tech. And I, I always learn a lot every Friday.

Very cool, man. Well, you crushed this rapid fire section of our, of our podcast, so thank you for being a good sport.

Good questions, fun questions.

Thanks, man. One last thing. If you could go back and be a time traveler back to when you're younger, you know, getting out of high school. What's that one piece of advice you give yourself?

Man, I, I waited way too long that. Try entrepreneurship. I, I wish I did it like right out of the gate. I just didn't know any entrepreneurs. I didn't think that was something that was in my, my bloodline. And I waited till, you know, my 30s to get into it, but I would have loved to do that, you know, right out of the gate. There's. There's nothing like it. And you realize how much it compounds, you know, all that learning is for you and for your family, you know, and you can't beat it.

I love it, man. Hey, if people are interested in your services, how can they get a hold of you?

Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. We are Plug Technologies, Plugg Tech Tec.

Awesome, man. Brian, it's been an absolute pleasure having you on the podcast today. Thank you so much for your time, man. Really appreciate it.

It was a lot of fun. Thank you.

Absolutely. Brian Van Ornam signing off for the Scaling Up Success podcast, brought to you by Synergist. Once again, go check out our site and make sure you like, comment and subscribe on all of our videos on Spotify and YouTube. Have a great day, everyone. Till the next time, stay blessed. Take care.