International Corner

How do you ask some key employees in your HQ to spend 20% of their time on a new market that currently brings 0% of turnover? You don’t 😅 But then how do you build the right HQ organization supporting your internationalization effort? There is no one-size-fits all solution. But whatever you choose to do, it’s going to be key to successfully expand into foreign markets Florian Garcia Business oper...

Are you looking at a market where you can grow exponentially? (I mean who is not?😅 ) Then make sure to include Brazil in your list of potential markets to consider. In Sao Paulo only, there are 11M inhabitants. Brazilians are actually really open to buying and using European products and solutions. And France has actually a special place for them. I mean… let’s not forget Carrefour is the #1 supe...

80% European and North American companies I’ve talked to over the last 12 months expand into Europe or North America. It’s a fact. Some are doing so because they have a true potential within these regions. But… maybe some companies are also doing so because it is more convenient. It’s culturally closer to what they are used to. Therefore… it feels like the barriers to entry are not that high… But...

Wanna launch a foreign market but you’re a bit tight on budget? It’s a new world we are living in. Frugality has become the #1 driver for all founders these days. However, Sales teams are still expected to reach a higher level of growth year after year. What if you could bootstrap your way into launching a foreign market? Well that is what Fleet has done in Spain. It has been the one-man work for...

In India, you have 15 seconds to make an impression on a cold call, or You. Are. Dead. It is super easy to get Exec’s phone numbers… And because it’s easy, they are spammed every minute of every day. See where I’m going here? As a BDR there, you have to be super impactful and creative to stand out from the noise. If you want to do business in India, you have to understand the culture and how it tr...

You’re never going to scale revenue globally by doing like everyone else is doing. Do you know why? Because all your competitors are already targeting your audience with salesy emails & linkedin messages, cold calling, webinars… You have to think out of the box. You have to develop a Growth Mindset Be innovative You have to do what nobody else is doing. That is exactly the thought process Ken...

What if you could successfully launch 6 new markets in less than a year and half? That’s what Ironhack did From launching the Mexican Market to now managing operations of the french, dutch and English markets, Manon Pellat shares with us the expansion playbook they have sharpened over the years. The 3 phases that makes them successful every time: Admin and Growth Marketing actions they do remotely...

7 years, 4 European markets launched, 14 people and a few millions euros of turnover generated. Wifirst has been scaling several countries at the same time while managing different growth stages. As Vince, VP EMEA reflects on their journey so far, he shares some key insights that have allowed them to get where they are today. One aspect they have been really strong at: Fostering cross-country coll...

And… that’s a wrap for Season 1 of the International Corner Podcast ! A few numbers to share: 21 episodes packed with global expansion intel’ Guests coming from more than 12 different countries More than 1500 listenings Around 100 hours of editing & topic definition  The first thing that comes to my mind is a heartfelt thank you. Thank you to… … My amazing guests for their insights … You…My au...

€3 millions of ARR. A 20-people team. Global expansion from day 1. Bootstrapped.   I had the pleasure to host Sunny Paris , CEO of NoCrm sharing his secret recipe of how NoCRM used product led-growth to sell internationally. His best advice on the topic: Don’t listen to advice and ask yourself if product-led growth is the right strategy for you? Have a message that is aligned from outside the app...

He moved from Brazil to Denmark and had to find work to pay his bills. After hundreds of sent applications with unsuccessful results, he stopped with traditional methods. He focused on content creation instead He created a blog about business in Brazil. He published Youtube videos. He started to have a presence on linkedin He created a network and founded his first business. Fast forward to now, C...

Quentin Debavelaere , GM UK, Benelux &  Nordics at Malt learnt the secret of how to launch a new market every time faster. After opening Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and now the UK, he found 2 key aspects to consider to nail your GTM strategy. No matter the geography. People and Localization. If I had 1 tip for each aspect to share with you (from him) it would be these ones : Don’t wait to...

Are you looking to launch the German market and struggling? Well… even though global expansion is a way to grow your business exponentially, let’s not forget that it is NOT an easy road. When you look out there, there are so many success stories that are highlighted. But for each success, you have 9 other…”learning” stories. Shiraz Buelbecker , ex- country launcher Germany for Papernest shares wit...

You’ve launched a new country and closed the first few million dollars. Now how do you scale the business? It doesn’t require the same skillset, the same plan, the same processes and sometimes even… the same people. That’s the question Caroline Sauvegrain , CEO UK at Theodo   She shares with us the plan she set up 8 months ago when she took over the UK market to set the right foundation to go to t...

“I bet you can’t go to Barcelona with 10 business meetings to attend“ What if some country launching stories started with a bet? Wait… that’s actually what happened to Anass Zekri as he launched the Spanish market for Spendesk. He took on the challenge… and he did it. Or should I say… crushed it! He booked 15 meetings with prospects through outbound outreach as he was heading to Spain the first ti...

France, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Canada, Japan… How does one company manage to successfully do business in so many different countries?   3 very important aspects to consider:   - Picking the right geographies for your company using a matrix methodology - Setting up the right country opening team, knowing there is no one size-fits-all - Managing an international remote team and setting perform...

Do you know what it takes to shift from selling a BtoC solution to a BtoB solution internationally? Well, that was the challenge faced by Maria Elena Magro at Y oopies during her nearly 4 years. How do you deal with country managers originally hired to sell BtoC? How do you change your lead generation model and where do you start? What do you do with the current international BtoC customer databas...

He led the scale of the business in the UK from 0 to 6.5M€ in 4 years. Diego Guerrero , former UK country manager for Team Tailor did that with: 👉No knowledge of Complex selling or international expansion at the start 👉0 Marketing budget for 2 years 👉360-degree Account executives (prospecting to closing)the 2 first years Fortunately, along the way he and his team got lucky and figured out GOLDE...

When you start expanding into a new market, you are virtually nobody there. You have to go from (close to) 0 customers to scaling the business exponentially. You might even be a small company with a (very) small team working on that new market. Partnerships can help you open the doors of that market. Partnerships will get you more easily in front of customers. But finding the right partners is NOT...

You have been tasked to open new markets, with 0 marketing budget. Tough, but that’s the reality of what international sales professionals have to face. Low to no marketing budget. HUGE expectations. And all you have is your phone, Sales Navigator and an email automation tool. Now what? Well… You have to close… FAST. The good news is: Even with 0 budget for Marketing… and very few human resources...

It seems impossible to start doing business in China right now with the pandemic Borders are still closed to travel. Business visa applications are virtually impossible to get. Yet, there is a lot of preparation and actions you can conduct remotely before physically getting there. Actually this preparation is crucial even without the current travel restrictions. Market research, network building,...

There is no one-size fits all process to build your sales strategy to go international. Yet, there is a methodology that has been used by companies of all sizes. From Enterprise ones such as Linkedin to startups and scaleups, they used this framework to successfully plan their expansion and keep track of their progress. Amine Slim , VP Sales at At Scale and ex Head of Regional Sales at Linkedin us...

Teamtailor is a 200-people Swedish scalelup that opened the Oceania market more than 3 years ago with Rebecca leading the team there. Culture is at the heart of everything in this company. However, with a Headquarter (HQ) located more than 18,000 km away, how do you make sure the team there feels like they belong to a common project? How do you manage business with a 10 hours differences from your...

Have you heard of global unicorns such as Atlassian or Canva? They are both Australian companies. This country, far away from the Americas and the EMEA region, rarely comes to mind first when it comes to global expansion. Yet… It holds a fantastic potential for Wanna-be global players. With the right strategic approach, Australia can be key to succeed in the Anglo Saxon world such as the UK or the...

More and more startups & scaleups use VC funding to expand internationally. And that’s understandable. Hiring is expensive. Marketing is expensive. Wanting to go fast to be #1 in a particular market, is expensive. And… to do all of the above, it can definitely get super expensive. Yes but… Some startups want profitability to be the main driver of their international strategy. And they want to...