Before I moved to silicon valley, I used to come here a couple of times a year, visiting as a Scottish person living in London. I would deliberately schedule any important meetings at the end of the trip, knowing full well that it would take me a while to get into the valley mindset and start thinking bigger. Unfortunately there is a pessimistic and sceptical mindset in Scotland which is extremely unhelpful.
By the way, if you'd just inflated your numbers that wouldn't have worked either; you need to believe them.