How can I plan the best road trip?

What's the best way for a European startup to plan a US fundraising road trip?

• We are a European start-up, focussed on Europe, but with ambition and the capability to scale internationally going forward. We've taken on a comfortable amount of seed funding from European sources; we went through Seedcamp, but we're not a Seedcamp company. Although we are making progress raising further funds in Europe, we have a good network of contacts in the US and want to organise a US road trip, with the following aims in mind: Speak to potential US partners about working with us Speak to potential US investors about investing in us (either as a European firm, or for internationalisation) Meet interesting people who might lead us to interesting opportunities We are well-connected within the European scene with several of the top-tier VCs and some of the major startup names on this side of the Atlantic. We do have some high-level contacts in the US, also. If we wanted to hop on a plane to SF and NYC, how would we best plan a funding/startup roadtrip: How long ought we to allocate? Where should we base ourselves? How should we leverage our existing contacts? How can we identify new leads that we don't yet have contact with? I appreciate some may put us off this, but I feel we've got nothing to lose and everything to gain. We have a great start-up, well-liked product, decent early traction and interest from European investors. Some of our competitors were well-funded from the US also. At the very least, it's a chance to visit SF for the first time also...

• Answer:

  How long ought we to allocate? 1-2 weeks in SF and NYC. Where should we base ourselves? LinkedIn is good place to start. How should we leverage our existing contacts? Introductions to possible customers in both locations and online through LinkedIn. How can we identify new leads that we don't yet have contact with? Look for propects on LinkedIn.