Bitcoiners - Live From Bitcoin Beach

Why Canadians Are Leaving Everything Behind for El Salvador (While They Still Can) | John McBride

• Mike Peterson

Share episode

John McBride didn’t plan on moving to El Salvador. It started as a short trip in 2022 to see if the buzz around Bukele’s El Salvador and the Bitcoin experiment was real. Two weeks later, he bought property. Today, he runs multiple companies, holds a Salvadoran passport, and sees the country as an “early-stage investment with traction.”

In this episode, we talk about why John left Canada, how he evaluated risk, and what convinced him to go all in. He shares a candid look at investing in El Salvador across real estate, startups, and aviation. He also explains how his family went from calling him crazy to flying down regularly and helping build operations on the ground.

If you’ve looked into moving to El Salvador or are curious about what's really happening beyond the headlines, this episode gives you a grounded view from someone who has skin in the game.
Subscribe for real conversations about freedom, risk, and building in places with momentum. Share this with someone stuck in analysis mode. And comment if you’ve ever looked at a map and thought, “What if?”

-Bitcoin Beach Team


Connect and Learn more about John McBride
https://empoderarsv.com.sv/main/ 
https://satstreet.com/ 

Support and follow Bitcoin Beach:
X: @BitcoinBeach
IG: @bitcoinbeach_sv
TikTok: @livefrombitcoinbeach
Web: bitcoinbeach.com


Browse through this quick guide to learn more about the episode:

 00:00 – Why did John McBride leave Canada for El Salvador?
 03:41 – What made him change plans from Panama to El Salvador?
 05:15 – What problems did he see in Canada that led to moving?
 10:45 – How did SAT Street begin and what does it do in crypto?
 18:16 – What convinced him to invest and stay in El Salvador?
 21:27 – What happened during his hospital stay in El Salvador?
 29:07 – How does the El Salvador healthcare system compare?
 34:06 – How did his family respond to his decision to move?
 44:16 – Why is John building companies instead of retiring?
 50:13 – What’s it like investing in El Salvador today?

Live From Bitcoin Beach

John McBride:

I didn't know anything about El Salvador at all. You know, at that at that time, I, I sometimes describe it as I felt like Jack Sparrow in in Pirates the Caribbean, where, you know, I put my family in the boat, and we sailed across, and I let them out, and then I went back to the ship, and I went up the mast and up to the crow nest, and I took out my telescope, and I got on a plane in in January 2022, and just to check the place out, you know, I thought, Who is this Bucha le guy? And is this a party trick? Is there meat on the bone? Is it just rebranding what's what's behind it? As soon as I arrived, I can't really explain it, but the moment I got off the plane, you know, I was liking this place already, the vibe and everything and

Unknown:

you John, we

Mike Peterson:

finally got you in the studio. Good to see you. Mike, John is I feel like I've known you a lot longer than I actually have. I think we've only known each other for a few years now, right? Yeah,

John McBride:

I arrived in January 22 and and like a lot of people, you were kind of one of the first people that, you know, that I spent, you know, a little bit of time with trying to understand what was happening here. So, yeah, it's been since January 22 Yeah,

Mike Peterson:

some, somehow, we've already got wrapped up in a bunch of different things here in El Salvador, in the short time you've been here, John. John is he's been here for three years. I've been here for 20 John knows like 30 times as many people as I know. You're the type of guy that you just go places and you meet people and you're a connector. So I love that about you. Well, you're always having fun. Yeah, thank

John McBride:

you. A little bit of an exam. I think you know a lot of people, but yeah, I but yeah, it's

Mike Peterson:

no and it's been really fun for me to see just what a proponent of the country that you are. I mean, you are one of the biggest believers and cheerleaders in El Salvador. And, you know, not just from a you know, vocal standpoint, but you're actually putting your money, putting your Bitcoin where your mouth is, and investing in the country. And besides buying, you know, the number of places in real estate here, but also starting companies here, employing Salvadorans, doing a lot of exciting things. So we'll get into that a little bit later. But first of all, I'd love for you to share just kind of your origin story of how you wound up in El Salvador, because originally it was supposed to be Panama, and I, ironically, I am going to be doing a by this time this comes out. It might have already happened, but I'll be doing a panel at the Bitcoin conference in Las Vegas with the mayor of Panama City and talking about whether or not they are going to follow in El Salvador's footsteps. So it's funny that you were

Unknown:

so there seems to be stuff in the press, yeah, today and yesterday that they're doing it.

Mike Peterson:

No, they definitely seem to be watching what El Salvador is doing, and they don't want to fall behind. So, but it's funny because that's originally where you were going to go, and then when you heard the Bitcoin announcement, you decided, hey, it's time to switch plans. So I don't want to steal your thunder. I would love to hear in your words, kind of what brought you to the point where you were actually looking to leave Canada, and why Panama, and then why that shift happened? Yeah,

Unknown:

so maybe I'll just give you a little bit of context. As you said, I'm a Canadian, and I'm 67 and I number of years ago I I really started to see that there was a really disappointing, discouraging, scary trajectory in terms of what was going on in Canada, and let's say the West in general. And I know that's easy for people to see today, and it's, you know, you follow all over it now, but six or seven years ago, you know, it was, it was more subliminal, but I just had like, I could just feel it so our, you know, my family and I, you know, decided at some point, you know, what, I'd rather rather be a year early than a day late and but to me, it was kind of an inevitable, you know, outcome that that, you know, we were going in a bad direction. So hey

Mike Peterson:

guys, just a brief interruption. We'll get back to the exciting show here. But I just want to really ask a favor that you guys could make sure that you're subscribed. If you're watching this on YouTube, if you are listening to this on a podcast, please take. Take a second and review this. You don't even have to write a lengthy review or anything at all. Just click the number of stars that you want to give us. It really helps us in the algorithms to make sure people are finding out about what's happening here. All right, back to the show.

John McBride:

So we decided to find another place to be, and we wanted to be somewhere where the weather was warm when it's cold in Canada, we wanted to be in a time zone that was, you know, reasonably close to, you know, Toronto and and, you know, I looked into a lot of different places, but, you know, finally, it's like going into a stereo shop and trying to decide what tuner you want to buy, like eventually you just got to throw some darts. So I we ended up selecting Panama because it was, it was inexpensive, it was easy. I'm talking relatively it it was, it was simple and relatively inexpensive, and so on. And so, in the beginning, I really just wanted a place to land, you know, like that was, yet I never thought of Panama. Oh, I really want to be there. I'm going to be here forever. I might my the influence was a push. Let's call it. It wasn't a poll. It was a push, you know, from Canada in the West. And, you know, I've been in Canada for, you know, 10 generations, and it was a tough decision. I love Canada, you know it. But you know Canada, when you look behind the flag, there's nothing there anymore. It's just a brand that's doesn't reflect what's really going on there. So, yeah, so we, we decided on Panama initially. So I went to Panama and I started to sell, you know, all my assets in Canada, and started to redeploy in a, in a, in a, in a minor way. That's David Bowie, by the way. Okay, a lot of people don't know that song. It's that. It's the last song on Space Oddity album. Okay, anyway, I'll turn that off. So, so, so we set up. We decided to, you know, just start to redeploy and and I bought a place in in in Panama, and, you know, we were looking in Costa Rica as well for property and so on. I didn't know, I didn't know anything about El Salvador at all. You know, at that at that time, I, I sometimes describe it as I felt like Jack Sparrow in in Pirates the Caribbean, where, you know, I put my family in the boat and we sailed across, and I let them out, and then I went back to the ship, and I went up the mast and up to the crow's nest, and I took out my telescope, and because I wanted to watch the way the world, you know, I've been expecting and in watching and monitoring these new I call them governance structures, which are countries and so on, you know, and and so I really, I really didn't think I would probably stay, stay in Panama. It's a little bit, it's a little bit sterile, relatively, you know, compared to places like like El Salvador. So I was, I was just, I knew that I will just keep as the world is starting to morph into, you know, it's reassembling itself, in my view, you know, it's going to keep my eyes open, because I don't know, I can't predict what's going to happen. I just know it's, it's, it's it's, it's going to be different, and things are going to start to kind of move around. And so I'm a Bitcoin guy. I've been a big Bitcoin believer, investor, not just in Bitcoin, but related, you know, infrastructure, supporting technologies and different things. And I, I people always ask me, Oh, when did you get into Bitcoin? Into Bitcoin? And I can never remember the year, but I can remember the price. And so I started buying at 73 7500 let's say which was on the the way, way up again, okay, went up to 20 and down, or wherever it went and so. And during that time I, you know, I was, I would read and research intensely and and I really get it, okay, I we don't need to get into it here. But, you know, there's no question in my mind, it's, it's, it's ineffable in a way, to try to express. But I see it as just a incredible technology, and, you know, because of its properties and decentralization and all that with money. Okay, you know, I, I don't know when or whatever, but I just, I've been accumulating because I just think it's, it's going to play a major role. Don't know exactly how, or the timing and so on. So, so I was already, and it took me a year, by the way, to buy my first Bitcoin because, you know, Mount Gox and what was the other one in Canada anyway, you know, all the and I didn't understand it at first. And so I finally bought my first coins at Coin square in Toronto, and that'll be relevant in a bit. So I. One of the things that I I, one of my investments, is, I think it's sat Street, and sat Street is a, it's a white glove, institutional trading desk, OTC desk, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a facilitator, it's a liquidity facilitator. It's a liquidity facilitator, I think, is probably the most accurate way to describe it. And we only deal in high volume transactions. We don't do retail. There is a minimum$20,000 order, but we do the millions, 10s millions, 100 million, like, that's our niche and and so we service, you know, Bitcoin miners and institutions and and high net worth individuals, and anyone will buy it.

Mike Peterson:

I know there's been some real estate buyers down here. Yeah,

John McBride:

we've done we, yeah, we facilitated some of those transactions. But the reason why I mentioned that is because five years ago, I provided the startup funding for Satch Street, and, and that was over five years ago, and, and the founders okay, that I that I financed. One of them was my broker at Coin square, and we got, I got to know him, and he has the had at the time, and I think still the biggest book in in in Canada. And so over the first year, I really got to know him well. And he confided in me that he was going to, they wanted to start up his own business, and he said, with a partner, that that was at Coin square. And so I, he told me about his partner and his part, you know, this guy's a sales guy, very, you know, accomplished track record, already done it. And the other guy, he he was a young guy in his late 20s who had developed the software, the technology, and I'm not a technical guy that was under the hood, let's say it at Coin square. He developed it sold at the coin square in for equity, and then was working at Coin square. And so he was telling me this guy, and going, Oh, okay, you check, check, check. Now the other guy, well, he's got a complimentary skill. It's completely different. And he's and he's already developed something and sold it at his age. I thought, check, check, check. These are the kind of guys I like to back and and so I said, Come and see me. And this was in March 2020, or February, or whatever. You could hear a pin drop because of COVID, right? You couldn't raise money, and your life depended on it. And so I said, No, I'll back. It wasn't, you know, relatively, you know, a huge amount, you know. And you know, startups are something I have a lot of experience with, and those are my favorite kind of things to do. So I had them come over to visit me the next day, and I immediately said, you know, yeah, I'm gonna, I'll give you the money, or maybe it was within a week, we had some meetings and so on. So, so Satch Street, okay, now my my son, who worked with me up until that point, doing deals. We worked on every deal together, including sat Street. And the SAT street founder came to me and said, Look, you know, I've really gotten to know George, and I'd like to hire him, but I don't want things to get weird. I'm gonna ask you first. I said, Hey, go for it. So anyway, my son, George, you know, was the first employee, and he's, he's, he's still there, and he's actually the managing director of SAT Street, El Salvador now, but in any case, in June 2021, what am I? Okay, so we funded them in 2020 in June 2021, on June 6, I think it was, was when Jack mallor strolled out on the stage and buchayle was on the Jumbotron and announced that they were, they were adopting Bitcoin as legal tender. I was told there was a big announcement that day. I didn't know what it was, but I it was at four o'clock, and so I was on watching it. And that's the first time I'd ever heard about Kelly, or whatever. And remember, you know, I'm almost a student of different, as I call it, corporate governance structures, companies involving, you know, reassembling themselves and so on. And so this was very interesting to me, that who is this guy? And even though I'm a Bitcoin guy, it wasn't that I was so excited about them adopting it as legal tender. Quite frankly, I thought it was a little bit early for that, you know, it's very volatile. It's like it was, it was very nascent, you know, keep an open mind. And so I got on a plane in in January 2022, and just to check the place out, you know, I thought, Who is this Bucha le guy? And is this a party trick? Is there meat on the bone? Is it just rebranding what's, what's behind it, and, and I'm very curious. I love to travel and so on. So, so as a couple of guys trying to get guys to come with me, and everybody said they would, but finally I just said, Fuck it. I'm gonna, I'm gonna organize my own plane ticket and just go. And so I, I. I organized a ticket to El Salvador for, let's say, two weeks. And I think it was around, you know, 10 days to two weeks. And as soon as I arrived, I can't really explain it, but the moment I got off the plane, you know, I was liking this place already, the vibe and everything and, and I have done a lot of traveling. A lot of people say that, but, but, you know, I've done a lot of traveling, and, and, and so for me, you know, I could see it was, you know, it'll suffer. So let's call it more raw, you know, a lot more character, and just a lot going for relative, let's say Panama. I don't mean to disappear. It's a beautiful country, and so on. But I and, and I think within three or four or five days, you know, I could see that, that that that this guy was real. I got him right away. I thought, I get this guy. He thinks and acts like, you know, he is everything is very similar the way I think an act, although, you know, he, he's a lot more effective at it. So I don't mean to compare myself in any way to him, but I related very much and, and, you know, the one thing I'll say is that, you know, I've, I've been 40 years in the capital markets, and I've never experienced the type of sentiment that that exists here and economies are basically sentiment of the of the population. And I've done a lot of the investing that I've done over the last 40 years, as I mentioned, is early stage companies, like I fund a lot of early stage companies, and I have a really eclectic portfolio of investments, because I only invest my own capital. I don't preside over other people's capital, and and and so so it's, it's allowed me to get involved in all sorts of different types of companies, and so I'm very accustomed to evaluating and doing due diligence and that kind of thing on on early stage companies and, and it really is a variation of traveling, in my view. You know, you're traveling through somebody else's dreams and so on at these early stages and and so I very quickly determined and described this country as an early stage country bullish trend. It was, it was, it has all the ingredient you know, you could see was already off the runway. The ship had turned around. And by the way, Max I heard once say that he describes El Salvador as early stage country bullish trend. And I originated that, that that statement, in fact, uttered it at a breakfast, tomahawk steak breakfast at Stacy's birthday one day anyway. Just wanted to get that out there anyway. So, so for me, it was very, very similar to to an early stage company. And I mean, the short, so, so I've never left is, is, I guess you

Mike Peterson:

bought a place in Panama. You already had a condo there. Yeah, you'd gotten your residency there, short, and then you were like, yeah,

John McBride:

sorry. So I came here to visit and and really out of curiosity, and it just didn't take long where it it really started to sink in what was going on here, the opportunity, the execution, and I believe, the legitimate desire, okay, to change the trajectory of the plight and the and the outcome and the circumstances in the future for people that have been in the penalty box, you know, for decades, right? So there was something extremely attractive about about helping, being a part of that and, and so for a variety of reasons, I started to get more and more, you know, like in the place. So, yeah, I bought my first property before I left and and I got a call from one of my kids, Dad, I don't know what you're doing, but you get on a plane tomorrow and we're gonna have a family meeting in the living room. All right, you're gonna get killed. You're buying properties. You know, you're, you know, you're going crazy, right? Which is kind of normal for people, what their perception is about the place. It's because, you know, just the information, you know, the way it's branded and so on in the outside world. So I just sort of thought, Oh, Christ. But I ended up writing a manifesto that night, I wrote a really long, you know, as you know, I'm prone, but there's always meat on the bone. So I wrote something that was funny, it was serious, it was philosophical, it was it was there all the above and and really made, made my case. I don't like conversations. The words go. Into the ether, and everyone hangs on to the one thing you said wrong. And so I put it down on paper, and I never went home. And I ended up staying for quite a while. And I started buying properties, and I started, you know, traveling this country, like when I say travel the country. I went up and down and back and forth and crisscross. And I traveled it geographically, demographically, culturally, you know, like it by plane, car, boat. Well, at the time, at the time it was, it was all car, okay? So, I mean, when the first two weeks, or first week I was here, I had an armored car with a guy with a gun and, and because that's what my wife wanted me to have. And after about four or five days, you know, the guy, he parked far away from where we're going, he wouldn't get into the fast lane. And, you know, I just, I couldn't handle it, so I swore him off, rented a car, and I've never looked back. I've never felt unsafe, by the way, and and even even then, like before, the emergency act and all that stuff. So, so I just, it's been organic. Okay, it wasn't planned, like a lot of people say, Why did you go Bitcoin? Nothing in life is really that binary, and in this case, absolutely not. You know, it was a really gradual, you know, as they say, organic evolution. And my family too, remember they, nobody would even said they wouldn't even get on a plane over my dead body. My wife said, am I setting foot in that country, right? Well, a few weeks later, they come down to visit and the kids, and they're surfing. And, I mean, again,

Mike Peterson:

but I think you skipped the part, because it's this, then you almost die in the hospital here. And like, yeah, you know, I've had some experiences. Was that on the first was that on part of the first trip, it was, it was in

Unknown:

the first few months, yeah,

Mike Peterson:

but so and not because of the hospital. You got great care in the hospital. No,

John McBride:

no, no, no, yeah. I mean, you know what a story like that is, is, is, to me, was, even though, yeah, I was very sick, and so on. It was a beautiful story because of the the the impact that it had, even, let's say, on my family, you know, and so on. But so you got me off track there, and I won't go too far, because I know you're trying to move me along, but so, oh yeah, my family wouldn't come down. So they started to come down. And you know what it's like. I say this to everybody. I said, just come down for a week or two. I haven't seen a person yet that doesn't love it. After they're here, they may not stay, but, you know, they immediately see, whoa, this isn't, that's, this isn't like the brochure set. So my family started to come down and really love it immediately. And we started accumulate other thing, you know, properties and and businesses, and I get involved in in, you know, social community efforts and so on. And, you know, I've, you know, worked with you guys on a couple of things, and so it just was such a, it was such an exciting, stimulating, you know, place to be. And, and also, you know, for me, when I travel to a country like I, I absolutely, I don't want to see the the Coliseum, I want, I want to go, you know, literally, go and meet the people and understand culturally and stuff. And so instead of coming somewhere not knowing anything and worrying about it, to me that's like, that's, that's my candy store is to not know anything about anything and just go. And as far as danger, you know, I mean, again, traveled a lot, and there's many, many countries with a lot of, a lot of crime and danger and stuff, it's usually manageable. I don't mean to to minimize it, but, you know, you if you're thoughtful and so on, you know. But in fact, it wasn't, it wasn't dangerous. But a lot of people, and good point, they say, Well, what about the health care? You know, is a big question that you always get. And my perspective on the health care here, for example, is that it's actually a shitty system, okay, like it's, it's, it's, it's, there's, there's classes to it. And so I don't mean, I'm not going to say that the system here is good, you know, we got to, you know, we got to get it, get it changed things like that, they take a long time. It's tough to turn a ship around. You know, some things you can do quickly. You know, you can send in 1000 troops somewhere quickly, but, you know, you can't change the education system in a week, right? It's, you know, some of these things are challenging. So I was actually at at a hamburger joint, and in Santa beneath, or somebody do, I think, with, with Jorge Cruz, who I would just met at the time, who is a coffee, you know, he's fairly, you know, well, well known in a, in a, in our community sense, and, and I remember I started to Get a really bad cramp. Thought it was the food, of course, but I've had problems historically. You know, I had a class, to be honest, 30 and everything. I had a bowel obstruction before, and they'd operate. So I it started to get worse. And I went home, and it got so bad that I called. Called one of my friends, and he sent someone over and rushed me to the hospital, okay? And I know, like I've had bowel obstructions and they had to go in emergency and operate, okay? And the reason why they come is because there's, there's scarring and adhesions from when I was 30, when I had problems, right? So, so I got my friend to rush me to the hospital, and I didn't tell my my wife yet, at this point, I'm not going to worry her. And but it was getting so bad. And, you know, they had all the rushing in and put the hoses down your nose and everything and and so I decided better phone my wife. And so I phoned her, you know, on my FaceTime or whatever, and she's there on the FaceTime. And when I told her, you know, she can see me, I'm in the hospital, she's

Unknown:

sorry.

John McBride:

She said, and my kids are around her, you know, behind her back, you know, and they're all looking at the FaceTime and and, and she goes,

Unknown:

Oh, my God, I knew this would happen when you're in El Salvador,

John McBride:

right? And because they thought, you know, I was going to be operating on with rusty saws and stuff. And I'm going to tell you, man, the doctors are so qualified and, and so impressive and, and the difference in in expertise, or whatever that came to take, you know, to care with, take care with me and and the and the tests and things you got right on the spot. You got the blood test back. And, you know, it was, it was, it was the, it was the antithesis of the type of experience that you have in Canada. Everyone says, oh, Canada free health care. Oh, it's awful. There awful.

Unknown:

And you know what? In Canada, you'd still be in the waiting room trying, yeah, no, I bet, yeah. I

John McBride:

think the last bowel obstruction where they operated on me, I was sitting in the hallway for, you know, for the first day. But anyway, here, you know, you've got five nurses for one patient, instead of, you know, five patients for one nurse, like in Canada. It was awesome care, awesome care, and the quality of the doctors and everything and equipment, and it was just better than anything I seem or, you know, as good or better than anything I'd experienced. And so when we're on the FaceTime, you know, the doctor came in and I said, I said, Sweetie, you know, here talk to the doctor. And so she talked to the doctor, and I'd say, within about three minutes, she got it, this guy knows what he's doing, and she was immediately assuaged. Okay? So four days later, you know, they were able to clear it up without having to open me, open me up, which is good and bad, because they opened me up, they would have got rid of it, and now it's probably going to come again. But anyway, they didn't have to. They didn't have to, they didn't have to operate. So after four days, I left, left the hospital. And the beautiful thing about that is, because remember, you know, I'm trying to, you know, slowly, you know, get everyone not just to love it here, but more and more comfortable. So here was a very serious medical problem that I had, and I know it's anecdotal, but my God, there was no, no issue whatsoever. And this was at Hope at hospital diagnostic School, which is a private hospital. And so you pay for it, and but what you pay for it is, like, it's embarrassing that you get that kind of care for what it cost, didn't cost much, relatively what it would cost to the US, or whatever. And so afterwards, I actually asked, Can, can I make a donation to the hospital? Because, you know, wow. And they said, Well, you can't, because it's private, but the one down the street, they'll take your money, kind of thing. They didn't put it that way. So I actually did. I went and whatever it cost me at the one hospital, I donated the same, same amount. So moral story is, is that, you know, check a box. The, you know, the you know, the health care was actually a really positive experience. So,

Mike Peterson:

so to circle back that just, just for viewers, just so that they're not confused, you had initially started by saying that the health care system here is really has a lot of, yeah, a lot of issues and challenges. And you're speaking in general, like, if you can, if you have the means to access the private care, you get top notch, yeah, if you're dependent on the public system, it's a poor country. And you know the, yeah,

Unknown:

I think there's, like, I think there's three, three levels, you would know

Mike Peterson:

that. Well, there's like, there's a basic that they'll treat anybody, yeah. And then there's ones that, if you are, if you are working in a job, that you're paying into the system, you get a higher level of care. And then if you have money, you use the private Yeah. So

John McBride:

there's those three, three levels, which is, is not good, let's say, for society. But you know my answer? If it worked out fine, and

Mike Peterson:

for expats and Bitcoiners that are coming down, because that's questions, yeah, because what is about, yeah, health care and

John McBride:

yeah, yeah, you're, you're not going to be left dying on for us, like we've never

Mike Peterson:

even had insurance here, because the care is so reasonable. And I've had, I mean, my daughter was in the hospital, like overnight on several occasions, my my son, we've had a number of different issues. And, you know, you get your bill at the end, and it's like $1,300 where, in the US, it would have been $130,000 and so, yeah, it's one of those things. Yeah, it's

John McBride:

all you out there, you know, with money, thinking of coming here, don't worry, you're going to be taken care of. But like, you know what? I mean, it's, it's, it's still something, oh, we want to see it improve. Yeah, you we know we feel the same way, of course. And who wouldn't? So, okay, so like and, and I thought we turned that off.

Mike Peterson:

What happens when we bring boomers here? It's,

John McBride:

it's, it's called memories of a free festival. You know, it actually is really good. It's my favorite, favorite song in the Elton that's the one where it's ground control, the Major Tom. So no one knows that song. But anyway, so, so the healthcare, by the way, I've invested in in hospital software before, and one of my frustrations is I've got a global expert that I want to introduce to the government to help with this. Okay, and I've had some frustration getting it in front of the right right people, but that's a whole other story. But anyway, so another, you know, not so positive experience that I had with a hospital was, was, and I've had others, like, with some of the people who work with me and so on. Like, sometimes, you know, you, you know, we buy the medicine or things or help them out when, when things go on, but one of my very closest friends, when I actually one of the first people that I met here, you know, around the time that we met is, is, is a young lady named Norma Lobo, and Norma is a debutada, you know, she's a congresswoman, and she, by the way, is the hardest working, most loyal, you know, Congress person, I think, in this country. I mean, she's just a dynamo. In fact, she's about that big. And I call her little big woman. My favorite movies, little, big man, for those of you that are my age, Dustin Hoffman when I was in grade eight, anyway, so I call her a little, little big woman. So Norma, so Norma, okay,

Mike Peterson:

get your campaign hat on. I love it

John McBride:

so and by the way, I've been with our campaigns and stuff is so much fun anyway. So So Norma, her mother, and I know her family very well now, okay, we're very close. And and her mother broke her shoulder and and was in the hospital, and I went to go visit her, and this would be in the working hospital, and she's a bloody debutada. And, you know, it was like a, it was like a mash tent. You know, if you remember that show, younger guys won't. But anyway, it was, it was actually, it was troubling. And the people in the hallway and all that stuff, you go in and you go, Oh my goodness, you know. And so, you know, I went and visit, visited her, and I, I, in fact, she got, after the operation, she was sent home from the hospital the same day because they, you know, they needed to get her out of there, you know, for the bad and so I actually had had her come and stay at my home for for a week, and got a nurse in there and stuff didn't cost very much, you know, but she would, should not have been out of that hospital. Okay, so that's an example of, let's say, the antithesis of somebody who can afford to get the right care. So anyway, that's my health care perspective.

Mike Peterson:

No, I think that's, that's very fair. So, but through this whole experience, your family became more comfortable with El Salvador, and then, yeah, obviously, all of them have been down, oh, several times.

John McBride:

And I've got True North True North airways is, is a company, one of my investee companies, that were, you know, we're bringing in to the country. We know it's a operating company in Canada, and we're, we're bringing it in here. My son, James, he works for true north. He's, he's a commercial chopper and airline pilot, and he's actually moved here. Okay, so three years ago, they wouldn't come. Then they were always visiting and happy to and bringing their friends. They're here often. Now, one of them has actually moved here. The other one is, is is going to preside over and manage the El Salvadoran platform for SAT Street. Here we have a Toronto BVI, and now a el Salvadoran platform. So my son George, who I mentioned, he's now managing director of SAT street El Salvador, and he's Director of Sales for the. Company and so on. But, but So, okay, so I was here. Everyone's coming. I got one son, actually, it's, it's evolved to where he's actually moving here. He's going to be the CO manage the operation, reporting to the president in Toronto. I got my other son, who is, I mean, he, he's doing a lot of business here. He's here every two or three weeks, but he hasn't moved here. But, you know, he's got a she might watch this. Anyway. I think it's tough for him to get, to get out of town. But anyway, so, so it's, it's evolved. So now I got my, you know, my other son, and my daughter, Charlotte, who's a branding, marketing, social media. You know, she's an incredibly talented, creative person. She's doing a lot of our work on our different companies in that regard. But she remote. She works remotely, so she hasn't moved here, but she actually, my wife and her just left this morning to go back to Toronto after being here for a couple months. So, so yeah, it's really, it's gone from won't step foot there, and again, it wasn't binary, but it's just evolved. And we have a home in Antigua cuscatlan In Lomas de San Francisco, which is, which is an area in San Salvador. And I bought a house there. And amongst I, you know, I've got other properties and things, but I, I just, it was an impulse thing, because I walked in in the garden, I just fell in love with it. I push over so, so I ended up buying the house, and I, I didn't tell my, my wife, you know, because it'd been so many months and I was still, I just, I needed to feather a nest. I'm 67 and I just thought, I, you know, have her come for a month ago, looking around at properties, or maybe over in coaster. I just sort of, I had an epiphany, and I thought, You know what, I got to So, and it was a nice, big house, so I wanted to have

Mike Peterson:

enough. I'm glad I'm not the only one who just buys things like that. Wells my wife afterwards.

John McBride:

Well, yeah, a lot of people said she did that. I go. But I told her. I said, like, do I call you every time I buy and sell a stock? You know, this is what I do, you know so like, but houses are big and you can see them, and it was going to be our home. So anyway, it wasn't her favorite style, because there was dark and this and that and but again, when we're talking about the sort of organic progression, about six, seven months ago, she hired an architect and and is now refurbishing the place. Now that's not because, oh, great, my house is getting refurbished. It was like, You have no idea, no idea how meaningful that was, because now my wife is, is, is creating her own, you know, nest or whatever. And I just told her, like, I

Mike Peterson:

don't, well, we know that was your plan from the beginning. Yeah. No,

John McBride:

that, no, that's true. I always said to you, to you guys, say, you know, you and Lexi and Jim Barrett, everybody, I used to always say, you know, I'm using a method of attraction, not promotion, you know. And I also knew is that once one or two come the others, they don't want to be without, you know. So you know, who's the last one standing there, you know, anyway, I don't want to jinx it so. But, and the other tell that my wife was starting to feel better about this being, you know, a long term place was, was when she started, she was telling me, Well, you know, I'm gonna need to get a car. And I said, Yeah, okay. But she was saying that I was gonna, yeah, right, bowl. Then about seven or eight months later, you know Eduardo, who works with me, he said, you know, your wife and I were looking at, we were looking at cars today, when, oh, you know, and because that was a real tell, oh, now she wants to get a car, and then the home, and now she's redecorating it. So, yeah, that's, that's, that's really evolved. I also wanted to, like, just to give you context too, is that, is that, you know, I never completed University. I went one year, and I was so I had such itchy feet, you know, after those days, grade 13, and then I was there for a few weeks. I said I thought I was free. This is grade fucking 14, and I I, and I had so me and a couple buddies, we dreamed that we were going to go on a motorcycle trip and go make some so we ended up, that was in 1976 and seven that I was at at Western University in Toronto, in Canada and and we went, a bunch of us. We went out and worked on the oil rigs, you know, roughneck and motorman spin and chain and all that stuff. Drove taxi and planted trees and different things. And we made, we made so much money for young guys at that age, right, who never had two nickels to rub together. And we, we used that money, and we went over to England. We bought motorcycles. I'd never been on a motorcycle. And we traveled through North Africa and Europe for a year. Never had a plan, went somewhere, stayed once, you know, we just, it was just a beautiful adventure of freedom, okay? And that's another common denominator of people here, is, is a luster or or need for freedom, right? And, and you don't think of it that way when you're doing these things that you gone through, but it's obviously, you know, in my book. Blood to do that. And so when I came back, I never, I never went back to university. I went and I University was starting in six months. So I went and got a job, and I got a job at an investment firm as a clerk in the back office or whatever. Didn't know anything about anything. And I never ended up going back to university, because I started to take course, I started to get promoted. I started to like it, you know, and then I became a trader on the floor of the Toronto Stock Exchange. And then I from 79 and then in 85 I joined Merrill Lynch as a money manager, and I left there in 88 and I've been on my own ever since. And I left, I left the money as a money manager. It was a bloody stock broker. It, you know, you go to new I went to New York and was trained in New York and went back to the Toronto office. And what were we it was in the World Trade Center, by the way. And what were we trained to do? We weren't trained to understand how to manage people's we were trained how to sell, yeah, and so, like, it's actually an evil business, you know, because your interests are not aligned. And I didn't really think of it as this way. Oh, this is evil. But I didn't like it because I was, and I'm so responsive to, you know, someone says, like a, like a contest, you know, you do, you know, 10 times what your normal day was, and we'll send you somewhere. And so I would, you know, suit up and work all night and, and so I did very well, okay, but, but I was selling people things I didn't know about, and they were just things you could only sell things that that the analysts recommended and, and I've learned, you know, I learned very early that you actually want to be selling things when the when the analysts are recommending them, you want to buy them before they start to cover it, you know, kind of thing anyway. So, you know, people calling you about the interest in their account anyway. So in 88 and I was, I was always doing little deals on the side, and I was able to, you know, accumulate enough of a nest egg at that time that I said, Okay, I'm, I'm, I'm going to work on my own. And I've worked on my own ever since. And I I only invest my own capital. I don't take fees, as I think, I think I mentioned, and, and, and it aligns my interest perfectly with, with, with the investments that I get involved with. Because I, you know, I don't mark things up or whatever, you know, we I get involved with, with people at the same sort of terms and stuff, and, and, you know, because, you know, because I have, you know, an experience, but also a propensity to to want to back, you know, other people's adventure, or other people's dreams. You know, I found myself in a very eclectic, different group of investments, some of which have just, you know, really surprised me in terms of how well, well they've done because these things, they all have a little bit of a story behind them, how I met them, and how I got involved with it. They're, you know, they're all sort of unconventional, but

Mike Peterson:

so, so I would love to impact that, and I think we have a graphic that kind of shows, kind of some of your business interests. But before we dive into that, I just want to comment that when you like, when I first met you and you came in here, I got the impression that you were, like, kind of looking to retire and like, kind of take it easy. I mean, obviously you're a person that wasn't just kind of sit back by the pool all day, but, you know, I thought you were trying to slow down. And

Unknown:

I don't know whether that was the story I told

Mike Peterson:

me. Yeah, I don't know if it was your real intention or not, but, I mean, I thought I should be doing, you're just, I think I still should be doing so, so I'm that's, that's a question I have. You know, why? At 67 you know, obviously you've done well for yourself. You You don't need to keep building and working. But I see you like more excited than most young people about the opportunities here in El Salvador are building and you do this now, not just as a gringo. I mean, Salvadoran. You got your Salvadoran passport. You are, you are all in here. So what is it that like motivates you to get up in the morning and to throw yourself into all of these things. And, yeah, I would like to just set the stage with that first, and then we'll kind of dive into this. This, you know, well, an angle diagram of business interests you have,

John McBride:

yeah, you know, it's, it's, it's something that isn't contrived, you know, but it's it, it's something that I, I, you know, all through the years, I didn't really pay much attention to different what was driving me differently, but I've reflected a lot, you know, recently, and, you know, over The last, you know, few years and and I, my real passion, I think, If I could describe it is, is making, it's going to sound corny, is making meaningful, meaningful connections with meaningful people. I mean, it just really, it's my elixir. It turns me on. You know, I, you know, it's, it's just, you. Just so stimulating and interesting and rewarding and and so on. And so that manifests itself in in how I do business. Because I, when I meet someone, and I follow a thread, and I get to know little, and then you and then you can, okay, well, that guy, well, I know somebody in the Indian it just, it's not contrived, but it's, it's what I've been doing for 40 years is and so in the traveling is, to me, it's, it's just a variation of the same thing. But when you have a wife and kids, you can't go, you know, physically travel, but you can travel. You know that, you know through other people's dreams and so on. So it, it's, it's just something that, well, I've often thought that, let's say, over the years, you might have a decent deal that you're working on one a year or two, or whatever. Who knows. But you know here, I can't go to the bloody drug store without stumbling over somebody and seeing, Oh, you over here, or an opportunity, or and, and, and, because the environment here and so on. Is, is just, it's so primed, you know, in the trajectory, like I said, and so on that it, it's, it's just, it's, it's exciting and and it's, you know, the opportunities here are, are really, you know, endless. And every time you you get involved in a, every time I get involved in, in a new business. We're employing people, and we only like our whole mandated and polar Salvador, which is my umbrella company that I operate under here. It like our, our mission is, is to, is to help create sustainable economic opportunity, you know, for for, you know, for everybody, but you know, for the most impoverished and in line with what the government's priorities are, and and like we work very closely with, invest in going on eBay and different, you know, sort of avenues of the government and business and so on. And our, our whole raison d'etre is to is to try to be putting together, you know, businesses or economic opportunities that that will, that will actually very much align with, with, with some of the challenges that companies has, like, for example, we've got a logistics, you know, I know we're going to get in in a minute, but so, so why do What? I just can't help myself. I just, I It's, I don't know, but you know what I do? I do have to slow down, take some things off my plate. But the other thing is, is that, because I have never been, I've always been sector agnostic in terms of the things I get involved in, which has allowed me to have, like relationships and investments and access to expertise and in a lot of different you know, areas, and that's kind of unique, because most people, you know, they preside over a fund, and they've got their mandates and stuff, and I don't have one and and so I usually co invest with people in businesses that I don't really understand, which is most of them, but, but we, you know, I, you know, I've got technology, co investment, mining and oil and gas and, you know, guys that I invest with, and so on. So when I came to El Salvador, it was, you know, I, I could almost pluck from some of the things that I'm involved in, or friends are involved in and, and, and, as opposed to coming in and saying, you know, hey, invest, you know, meaning, you know, the old pro ASA, you know, we're here because we've got a widget manufacturer, and we'd like to know it's, it's, it's so eclectic and that, that it's, it's natural to me to to be able to put, to get involved in different things and put put them together. I don't know how else to explain it well,

Mike Peterson:

and I definitely agree with you about seeing opportunities everywhere. That's I feel the same way because I I don't think I'm quite as bad as you, but I have that same tendency to, you know, tell my wife I want to slow down, and I just keep putting more things on my plate. But you see so many opportunities here, and I think you have this interesting like, point in time where there's real growth potential in El Salvador, the government is doing all the right things. The economy is booming. You have all these great things happening. But historically, I think, be because of the the history, because of the wars, the gangs. There's not a real risk taking entrepreneurial culture in El Salvador, there's a there's an entrepreneurial culture in that like, if there's an accident on the road, there'll be people out there selling you stuff, like, right away. But it's survival. It's more of a like, Hey, I'm gonna just work harder than the person next to me doing the same thing that they're doing. But you don't see a lot of new ideas or new ways of people like tackling problems. So I think that that's why, as foreigners come in, there is a lot of opportunities, because you bring different insights, of, hey, there's nobody. Be doing this here, the way they do it, you know, in Europe or in the US. And so I think you see it from a fresh mindset. Plus you have, like, a workforce here that is amazing. I mean, really, like hard working. It's one of the, it's one of the most enjoyable to

John McBride:

work. Needs to be unleashed, is the people. So they're,

Mike Peterson:

yeah, oh yeah. So I think you'll see that, that risk taking, that entrepreneurial like rise up from the local people, and I think they'll benefit from the outsiders coming in, because I think there will be some clash of people saying, Oh, why are the foreigners coming in? And they're controlling the businesses. And it's like, yeah, maybe for a time, but they're bringing intellectual capital, they're bringing financial capital in. And it'll be the Salvadorans, the young Salvadorans that are, you know, maybe in grade school now, they'll be the beneficiaries of that, because they'll grow up in this and they'll have this new mindset, and they'll be the ones able to capitalize on when the country is truly prospering, as I think it will be in the next, you know, several decades. Yeah,

John McBride:

and, and the really unique thing about the environment here is that the government, and the government bought, you know, the like the bureaucracy. Let's say I hate that word. You know that that presides over foreign investment coming in and out. It's called invest. It used to be pro ASA and conanipay, which focuses more on the smaller business and so on. We work really closely with these guys. And in fact, our, you know, one of our initiatives, you know, we work together to design it specifically to try to help the smaller exporter. You have no idea what. You might have an idea, but people don't have any idea, how supportive, how proactive, how effective. In most instances, the support that business gets from the from the government they there is, it's, it's actually very constructive help. You know, they're there. I'll give you an example, the Ministry of Environment. Okay, everybody knows. They're scared of the Ministry of Environment, because they're going to make you wait 10 years for a permit or whatever. In most countries, I went in there with somebody to look at, we were thinking of developing a property that's in a very protected area. There's areas you can develop, and there's areas you can't. And, you know, the municipality, the rules are set, you know. But we decided, because it was such a really important area to the country, there's like a turtle international station. Look, you know, you know, because of, you know, endangered, you know species and so on. So is it? So we decided we better go and ask the minute the Ministry of Environment, you know, before we get you know started. So we went in there, we and first of all, we got a meeting with the Minister of the Environment, like, within 48 hours. And we were in there. We sat at a table like this, and he's sitting there and his lieutenants, and there's three or four of us, and we started to tell him about the what we were going to do, and he just put his hand up, and he said, Hold it there. He said, I want you to develop, I want you to develop this, this project. He said, and, and we're gonna, we're gonna help you be compliant. And he said, I'm really glad you came in here at the beginning, because we'll work with you right now. They set a team out there two weeks later to go tour the property, and they basically, there are no pushovers. They're not going to let you do anything that's outside of their their, you know, their comfort zone, or their rules or regulations. But they, they want, they want you to there. It's the right way. You know. The same thing goes with, you know, the digital asset you know, SEC or whatever they're they've put together, you know, one Carlos Reyes, shut up. Shout out. He's put together a really, very impressive, solid, predictable, you know, digital asset law. You know, together, but and, and, and, they're not going to take any they're not going to like people have to comply and be accountable and so on, but at the same time, they want you to come here. So it's not like there's a you know, anyway, so that the support that you get here is is unparalleled. I've never experienced it. And and and, there's a real camaraderie. There's a lot of people that feel the same way, that, let's say you or I do about you know, you know what should motivate our economic efforts and so on, you know. And and there's a real camaraderie where people like shoulder to shoulder, you know, help people. And that's always been my attitude, not because I'm Mother Teresa, but I've always, I've always, when I see somebody as a challenge, I can get that done. I'll help you. And it's just, it's just the way that, you know, the way that I think. And here there's a lot of similar, you know, it's funny, a lot of of my time is spent. And I'm, I'm going to say helping other people, but I don't really mean it in that sense. A lot of my time is spent is when I run into somebody who's interested here, I'll speak to them. I'll get on Zoom calls with Canadians and stuff, because I know what it's like to come here knowing nothing. And I, you know, I enjoy helping and so on and and, you know, if, I can, you know, we had somebody in here about 10 days ago who they're sitting on a lot of real like, real money. Okay, I never met the people before. They were, they were referred to me, and I said, you come on down here. And, oh, first of all, they never, they weren't even thinking about us hours. So, so I had a couple of zoom calls. Got their interest that came down. I spent a week, didn't do anything else other than line them up, you know, because they think a serious dope that they're looking to, you know, deploy. And I don't, I didn't want anything out of it. I don't want anything out of it. Didn't even occur to me. It said, Oh, the country really needs that kind of dough to come into. Let's say hotels or whatever, like they need it. Let's put, let's put it together. It'll come back. And maybe, you know, maybe, but it's so that's another, you know, part of my philosophy and why I, you know, have so many different things, and, know, so many people in stones, because, because I love putting them together and it, it. I won't give you no specific examples, but there's a lot of examples even here, where we're maybe a month or six months or even a year later, it comes back at you, maybe from that same person, but certainly a referral, or just out of the blue. So anyway, it's, it's a, you know, I get excited and I it's because the whole environment and the and the com, I say camaraderie, but the one for all, for one, you know, when we see something, even if it's in our, one of our related businesses, we have no interest in competing. We go meet them. Hey, how can we cooperate? You know, and it's that kind of attitude, and it's, it's my kind of attitude, the ethic and the, you know, and so on. It's, it's just, you know, now, it's not everybody. There's lots of mercenary, you know, people out there, but it's it. And the other thing that I, I observed here, and it's, it's unrelated, but I always think of El Salvador, like, like a Venn diagram, you know. And in the middle of the crossover in the Venn diagram, it, you know, in the middle there everybody, there's a real, shared, I'll call it value system, you know, like, whether it's libertarian, libertarian ish, okay? I don't mean to you know, you know freedom, no censorship, small government and and those type of things. No matter what age, where you're from, and so on, you will not find a person here. I don't think I've ever found a person here that thinks there's more than two genders. Okay, they don't come here. It's not like they're not allowed, but this place just sort of attracts, you know, that? And so for me, remember I said it was a push from Canada, you know, here it was. It was a real, it was a real easy decision, pull, you know. And as you mentioned, I mean, I started visiting hotels, bought property, home and residency. And in December 23 I was the first foreign national to obtain a passport through the Adopt El Salvador passport program. I was always going to get a passport, another one from somewhere as my plan B, and I was in the very, very final stages of getting one from St Kitts. And then they announced this here. It was about over two times the price of the other one. But to me, it wasn't about buying a commodity, you know. One was a commodity. This one, like, if you're buying a knife to cut your butter, it's a commodity. This knife over here, it'll cut my butter, but it was like a Swiss army knife, you know, because I'm here, I love it here. This is, you know, for so many reasons. So, yeah, I I'm all in this as as we talked about or use you mentioned earlier.

Mike Peterson:

Hey guys, hate to cut you off and leave you at a cliffhanger, but this conversation with John McBride with much longer than we anticipated, so we decided to make it a two part series, so you will have to come back next week and hear how it all ends. You.