Today we head to Chișinău, Moldova, where entrepreneur and American expat David Smith is making positive changes in community development by starting his own small businesses.
He started as a Peace Corps volunteer and has set up a life there, and he’s here today to share his trials and triumphs along the way, along with some meat, beer, and goofy people stories.
About David
David is an entrepreneur in The Republic of Moldova who has been running an American BBQ restaurant there called Smokehouse for the past year.
Prior to Smokehouse, David was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Moldova and Kazakhstan and all told has spent the better part of the last 5 years away from where he grew up in Northern Virginia.
In addition to running the restaurant and working on other business ventures, David maintains a blog (somewhat haphazardly) that chronicles the ups and downs (and sideways) of trying to conduct honest, bribe-free business in a country suffering from endemic corruption and endless bureaucracy.
If you ever want to hear stories about starting a business in Moldova or the general wackiness of the rarely-boring life here, saddle up a stool at the bar, order a craft brew and ask. David’s usually around.
Episode 74 Show Notes
- David’s restaurant: Smokehouse
- David’s blog (in three languages!): Open Source Entrepreneurship
- Great travel book with a chapter about Moldova that I mentioned: The Geography of Bliss
- Want to see where Moldova is on a map?
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