From AI pitch floors to real clients worldwide—Doug Bruhnke’s network turns global intent into action.
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Show Notes:
In this Mission Matters episode, Adam Torres interviews Doug Bruhnke, CEO & Founder of Global Chamber. Recorded at the Korea Conference in Marina del Rey, Doug shares how Global Chamber connects companies to clients worldwide through a trusted chapter network, why AI-driven startups should think cross-border early, and his mission to create win-win growth across 195 countries.
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Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres, and if you’d like to apply to be a guest on the show, just head on over to mission matters.com and click on Be Our Guest to Apply.
All right, so today I’m in Marina Delray, California. I’m at the COR Conference, been coming to this for a three or four years straight. I do not miss this conference. I highly recommend coming to it. I was watching these amazing Korean founders. Pitching their ideas, raising money, getting it done. Ai a big topic of today, um, and, and big things happening in Korea and, and also in the United States.
So great stuff here. And I today I also have a return guest. When I saw, I heard the name, I was like, wait a minute. I know this. Guy, I know him. I heard global Chamber. I’m like, wait a minute. I had to, I had to go and look in my catalog and, and hit the, I had to hit the, uh, the old Google, uh, and search and, uh, what came up.
LA Our last interview, Doug, welcome. First off, our last interview was in 2020. Welcome back to the show. Uh, it’s a pleasure and an honor. Thank you so much. So, Korea conference, what brings you out here today? What easier way to hit, uh, high tech companies from Korea than Marina Delray. Yeah, just right down the street, you know, it’s, Jenny has done it, a spectacular job to bring these companies now for the fourth year from Korea.
Many of them, maybe all of them, yeah. Looking to grow their business in, in the United States. Yeah. It’s exciting to see. Do so, do you follow the I myself, when I come here, I see some of the innovation happening in Korea, and I see what the business going back and forth. But, um, your part, I mean, we will get into all as well what you’re doing at the Global Con, uh, at the Global Chamber.
Um, but what do you, what do you see happening? What are you following in terms of trends or otherwise in, in Korea or to the United States? So Global Chambers everywhere. Yeah. We’re in 195 countries. Uh, amazing, by the way. Well, it’s, uh, it’s a pleasure to be able to help connect companies to opportunities.
So we have five chapters in Korea Wow. Of Seoul and Busan and Daegu, and Deja and Kang, j And it’s an honor to help. Them come to the US and vice versa. There’s so much opportunity in Korea for companies. So to be able to see what Jenny has put together here mm-hmm. In bringing four really. Strong companies.
Yeah. Mostly AI infused. I saw, I saw almost all AI infused to see the opportunity. I was just talking to Plex as one of the four companies. Mm-hmm. They did not win. They got a great business model. So it’s, it’s really exciting to see what’s going on. Yeah. So what was one of the highlights? Like one, one of the reasons why I come out here is ’cause I want more people to come.
I want more people to know about this conference. What were some of the highlights for you today? I was a little surprised. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised that there were so many Koreans here. Yeah. And you know, it’s the Korean conference, Doug. What do you mean? It’s the Korean conference.
It’s like, where are the Americans? You know, there should be more Americans and and Filipinos and you know, Spanish people considering we were in Marina Delray. I understand. That’s why I love it. That’s why I bring this content to everyone else. I’m like, come. So being global chamber guy. Yeah. For me, everything is global, so 195 countries.
So I see a lot of Koreans and I see a lot of people from LA or a few people from la. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It’s like there should be a lot more people here. Yeah. You know, from kind of my world. Absolutely. And so, definitely talk to Jenny. You know, she’s got her own plan and she’s been so amazingly successful in putting this together.
Mm-hmm. It’s so exciting to see what she’s done from scratch mm-hmm. To bring these companies. And I was talking to several of the people who’ve been here for the four years Yeah. And they said this is the best group of companies they’ve, they’ve had. Yeah. So it’s exciting to see the development. Wow. Tell, tell us a little bit more about the Global Chamber.
You said 190 something countries. Um, so who a lot of business owners, a lot of entrepreneurs, a lot of executives that watch this show. Um, who’s app appro? Who is it appropriate for? What’s the mission behind it? Why, why should people, um, where do they get value out of joining? Appreciate the question. So the, the original idea actually came from a meeting I had in San Diego and it surprised me that there was no business organization between San Diego and Phoenix.
I am a global guy. Yeah. So the whole thing about cross border is like, people are not successful. We should be doing something globally. Mm. What about San Diego to Phoenix? There should be some organization. Yeah. You know how many chambers of commerce there are in the LA area? I have no idea. Just take a guess.
Uh, a hundred. 420. Wow. Okay. In the four county area of la Wow. 420 chambers. And those are great, you know? Sure, sure. If you want to be in one town. Mm-hmm. Super. What Global Chamber’s all about is connecting people from LA to San Francisco, to Tokyo, to Moscow, mm-hmm. To wherever you want to grow your business.
And so. For the people who are looking to grow internationally. It’s, it’s a great thing. So that’s why one of the reasons why this conference is so exciting. Yeah. To see companies coming in from Korea that are interested in growing their business in the us, who do they turn to that’s trusted to be able to connect them to clients?
Yeah. That’s what we do. We connect people to clients and it’s a, it’s a joy and an honor. And how long has it been in existence now? Obviously since 2020. I know. ’cause that’s when we talked last, but, um, like in general, how long you been been working on this? It was my fateful 11 year ago meeting Wow. With the World Trade Center, San Diego.
That got me thinking, there’s nobody gonna do this unless I do it, so I’m gonna do this thing 11 years. And so, man, so almost, almost 11 years now that we’ve been going at it and it’s, it’s a joy and a pleasure to see the progress and to see companies benefiting from. The, the connections that are hard to do.
Mm-hmm. You know, we all have our own network. Yeah. So the idea for me has always been let’s split up the world into as many metro areas of the world. Mm. And then find people better and smarter than me in each of those. Mm-hmm. And if I could build that network, that would be one that I’d want to be part of.
Yeah. Yeah. So that’s what we’ve got. So I’m curious on your end, like in terms of how you’ve been able to scale from country to country, how that work. And I’ll tell you where this comes from too. Part part of it I, part of my favorite part about doing this show is I get a bunch of free consulting from individuals like you.
That’s what I’m talking about. Like over the, so when we first spoke, I mean, that’s five years ago and the company was smaller. My catalog was way smaller. Yeah. And um, our reach wasn’t as big, but now. Based on so many people doing remote interviews and, and obviously after COVID, the travel opened up. So now it’s not uncommon for me in a single day to interview start, start my day in, in Europe, go to Africa, go to like, go to Middle East, go to Brazil.
Like I, I cover the world sometimes. Around the world in the same day and that virtually obviously. Um, so as I manage and as I start going into different markets, like for example, when I do end up going to Korea in person or other things like that, my question to you is as you’re going through and as, because you’re 195 countries, you’re dealing with a lot of cultures, you’re dealing with a lot of different ways to do business.
Um, and we’re just getting to that point to where we’re big enough to where we’re getting demand in other countries. So I’ll be going to, for example, Riyadh for the first time. All these are different. Countries different. Like how do you manage that? Like what are some things that should be on my mind?
Selfishly, I’ll ask you that question, and then for the audience as well, as they think about going global. Yeah, ours is a unique situation where up until the last few years, I largely did it fairly randomly in the sense of like, here are the countries that we where we need to be. Yeah. And some of that was proactive where we did reaching out, but a lot of it was word of mouth.
And Yeah, people would tell people, and relatively random. The last couple years I’ve become more proactive to say, you know what? In Cairo. We need somebody, you know, and or, you know, kind of we’re, we’re approaching that way. So again, I’m looking for people that are better and smarter than me, that are well connected, that are entrepreneurial and that are connected into the community.
The other day I had a conversation with someone who had been a member of Global Chamber at a large company. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And he left that company, or he was let go and he’s in Geneva. And Geneva’s actually a town that I know quite well through my DuPont days. Yeah, I looked at corporate, that’s where their Europe headquarters is.
So he was saying, you know, I’m so global, um, but I want stay local for a while because he has some family situation. So I’d love to be able to get connected to the community. So that’s perfect for us. Mm. So somebody who knows global business that is, wants to be connected to the mayor and the community and the business.
It’s a little unusual when you’re a multinational company. Mm-hmm. To be connected to a city. Yep. If normally you’re in a small, medium sized company and you might be connected, but you won’t be visible to those people. Mm-hmm. So we’re looking for people in all these cities around the world. We’ve got about 300 of the 525 covered with someone who can really build the chapter that has that nature.
They’re global, they’re entrepreneurial. They’re trusted. They’re professional. Yeah. They’re a leader and they can build the chapter. So I’ve become more and more proactive in finding those personalities. Mm. They’re hard to find. Yeah, with all those characteristics. ’cause they also have to sell. Yeah, of course.
They have to sell membership and sponsorship and they have to have people follow, of course, some sort of a new idea called the global chamber. Mm-hmm. And so it’s a joy because normally when they come in, this is something unusual. It allows them to do other things in addition to this. Mm-hmm hmm. It allows them to connect to the community.
Yeah. And it allows them to connect people for their success. And I’m not sure there’s anything better than that. Man. That’s amazing. Well, Doug, I’m, I’m loving to see the progress through the years to see all that you’ve been able to build and as it continues to grow and continues and continues. Um, last thing I’ll ask you is, um, look into the camera.
If people wanna follow up, they wanna learn more about the global chamber. Um, they wanna open a new chapter, man, I mean, what, what’s the pitch? Come on. There’s business owners and entrepreneurs watching. But we’re looking for people to run chapters for sure. Even in the US a lot of our growth has been outside the us.
Mm-hmm. Um, but we’re looking for people who are growing their business, whether it’s from San Diego to Phoenix. Yeah. Or it’s, uh, LA to anywhere in the world if you’re looking to grow and be connected in ways that are, I mean, you can do a lot on your own, but we’ve got special access to people around the world because of this network.
And I encourage anyone who is looking to grow and looking for opportunities. To join Global Chamber. Mm-hmm. We should be working together as you’re talking about growing internationally. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I don’t know why we, I’m sorry that I didn’t know we were there. I don’t know. I’m just, I’m just doing interviews, man.
Where’d you go, Doug? I don’t know. I, I, you know, I, I apologize, you know, ’cause apology. Accept it. Come on, man. See how people are, they forget about you when they’re over here growing and I’m just playing. I’m just pulling your chain. Come on, man. The stuff that you’re doing in different parts of the world could be very supportive of a lot of different organizations that we’re.
That are part of Global Chamber and Vice. I mean, you can help people in all sorts of ways. Mm-hmm. And vice versa. So that’s what we’re all about is at the end of the day, win-win. Mm-hmm. Most of the world is siloed. Yeah. There’s a whole bunch of people doing the Korea, Bangladesh chamber. Yeah. Or you’ve got a business and you’re just kind of focusing on your own area.
Mm-hmm. And that’s all good. It’s the only way to get about, you know, you gotta be local, you gotta be very focused or else you could. Just focused. You unfocused. We’re kind of crazy. We’re everywhere in every market segment. Of course. We migrate to things that are gonna be more growth oriented. And so when someone like you mm-hmm.
Are thinking about, Hey, I want to go global. I want to be inter, I want to talk to people in Durban, South Africa, and the next day in Geneva, Switzerland. Mm-hmm. Um, we can help and vice versa. Mm-hmm. So I look forward to the opportunity. Awesome. Um, and again, how do, how do people follow up? What’s the websites?
All that good stuff? Global chamber.org. Mm-hmm. Uh, you’ll be able to see the locations. You’ll, when you join Global Chamber, you’re member everywhere. You don’t have to worry about like, where am I gonna be based? And that kind of thing. I do, I have to join multiple places. You join one place, it’s the world.
And so anybody that’s interested in growing in the world. Join Global Chamber. Awesome. And for everybody watching, just so you know, we’ll definitely put some links in the show notes, so you can just click on the links and head right on over. And speaking of the audience, if this is your first time with Mission Matters and you haven’t done it yet, hit that subscribe or follow button.
This is a daily show. Each and every day we’re bringing you new content, new ideas, and hopefully new inspiration to help you along the way in your journey is. Well again, hit that subscribe or follow button. And Doug, man, reunion episode, baby. We did it. This guy, he’s amazing. How many you have you done now?
Oh my gosh. Over 6,000, man. It’s just a, yeah, before breakfast, no, again, hit that Subscribe or follow button. Uh, and I’m very pleased and honored. Two of the, the 6,000 are Doug Bru in Global Chamber, so thank you so much. I appreciate it. May let’s not wait for five years for the next one. Game on.
