Episode Details

She was one of the baddies who showed up on this show back in 2021 — and four years later, Vanessa Wachtmeister is back and she is NOT the same woman. She's paid off $130,000 in debt, earned her German passport, and is about to launch her second tech startup. And she did all of it from Europe, where blueberries cost a dollar and a minor surgery runs you 300 euro — total.

In this episode, Vanessa and I are getting into ALL of it: what it actually looks like to build a career, a business, and a life abroad. How she navigated work visas, taxes, and even burning down a GmbH to the tune of $100K of her own money to rebuild her startup in the US. We're talking passport diversification as the new financial strategy, why the American dream was always a lie, and how her new job platform Go Onwards is coming for LinkedIn's neck.

If you've been thinking about leaving, this is your sign to stop playing and start moving.

WE GET INTO:

00:00 - Intro: The Baddie Who Left America in 2013 and Never Looked Back

02:51 - Why Vanessa Said "Bye, America" at 21 with $2,000 and a Dream

04:20 - The World Tour: China, London, Syria & Germany

05:42 - What Her Life Would Have Looked Like If She'd Stayed

08:42 - How to Actually Get a Job Abroad: Visas, Work Permits & What Nobody Tells You

10:22 - How to Choose Where to Move

13:20 - Grocery Bills, Free Healthcare & Why She Can Never Come Back

16:16 - From Masterclass Girlie to Tech Founder: Her Creator Evolution

18:57 - The Gap in the Market That Built Go Onwards

21:55 - Why LinkedIn Doesn't Give a F*ck About Job Hunters (and She Does)

23:33 - Pricing, Features & What You Get with Go Onwards

24:44 - The $100K Founder Mistake She Made in Germany

28:36 - The Real Tea on European Taxes

31:33 - Digital Nomads, Remote Work & What 100% Remote Actually Means Abroad

32:03 - How She Made $310K and Paid $26 in Federal Tax

35:22 - Passports Are the New Insurance Policy

36:03 - The (Very Legal, Slightly Gray) Way She's Bringing Her Family to Europe

38:08 - How to Financially Prepare to Move Abroad

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Getting a job in Europe as a US passport holder is more doable than you think — but you need to understand how work permits and visa sponsorship actually work
• The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion lets you exclude up to $130K of foreign income from US federal taxes — stack it with tax credits and you'll be shocked at your bill
• Passport diversification is the new financial strategy — multiple citizenships give you options that no investment account can
• Go Onwards filters out ghost posts, non-English jobs, and low-paying roles so you only see high-quality opportunities with visa sponsorship across all 30 EU economic areas + the UK
• You don't need to fundraise to fund a startup — Vanessa liquidated part of her stock portfolio at peak to self-fund, treating it as diversification into a revenue-generating asset
• Living abroad doesn't have to be expensive — Vanessa's all-in monthly budget in Berlin (including rent, health insurance, CrossFit, and Ubers home) is $2,500

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Listen to Vanessa’s past episode of the pod
• Go Onwards (Vanessa's job platform)

CONNECT WITH VANESSA:

• Instagram
• Website

TAKE THE NEXT STEP:

• Listen Now