Dj Growthtown Feb09

Going Global: some experiences from Australian startups
David Jones
#GrowthTown Feb09

Context/History OEM Channel Enterprise Consumer EmU Tech Reach Software 90’s 2000 2003 2004 2006 2008 High Touch Low Touch NetWorth

Austria or Australia? david DOT jones AT gmail DOT com | skype://djinoz | Cell:+61 412 683 111 | @djinoz + 612??? Where is the “+” ?
The reality:
is that 70-100% of revenues for US companies come from US customers
“if you build it” they won’t come
You PROBABLY have a US competitor
Your product is PROBABLY better
Your product is PROBABLY cheaper
They don’t really care (risk, barriers)
“Touch” matters

Ironed out bugs
Hit the core features
OZ companies are often early adopters
Do you need to?….feedback is now global (getsatisfaction, uservoice etc)
Have you validated locally?

Presence in target market (the OEM anomaly – you think its low cost – but no free lunch) OEM Channel Enterprise Consumer High Touch Low Touch Firewall Vendors Security Vendors Per Vendor Customerisation Whiteboxing Are they blowing smoke?? No-one is incented as you!
Resellers/Integrators
Training
Mindshare
Are they Incented
Symbiotic product-line
Pilots/Integration Closing Complex Contract Negotiation Repeatable Contracts Debtors

Entering US - Team (may apply elsewhere)
Will a sales focused founder move to US? (CEO is often the best sales guy)
If not – your first Sales Hire in critical
Consider Sales/BD Contractor ( EMDG and COMET reimbursement (as an agent) )
Work LinkedIn first/SV OZ mafia
Be There – no substitute for spending time
Work some deals with them – will it work? (Bull-terrier, Hunter, Farmer?)
“ Blowing Smoke” factor?
What other gigs do they have on the side? (Integrity)
What profile do you need? (VP, Director, Outbound Sales)
Hire from your industry
Can you afford it? (SV VP USD150-180K => AUD23K/month (before EMDG)
Dial-for-Dollars – fill the pipeline
Anyone had good experience with Austrade outsource?
Anzatech, David Cannington? etc

Entering US/UK – Channel Is this relevant in a SaaS world? – trying not to be “vendor 1.0” – technical products
Impedance Match
OK, so its on their pricelist – but will they sell it? (scratch the itch)
Are they selling symbiotic product?
Will they be selling to the same customer?
Does your product give them a unique differentiator?
No-one will EVER sell like you!
Reseller Margin (you need to be more generous than you think)
Education/Training
Again – will they sell it? (training Surfcontrol Web ppl to sell Email Filtering)
Work some deals with them – countering objections
Cultural Differences
Taiwan and Japan were polar opposites

Getting Market Momentum (TMX example)
Analysts
Industry
Forrester/Gartner/451 group
Javelin Strategy
Glenbrook Partners
PR/SEO/Trade-shows
Leading Credit Card Companies
Leading Credit Card Processors
Leading Credit Bureaus/Scoring Providers
High End Merchants
Presence

“Born-Global” or “Flip-up” PTY LTD Commercial Ready Grant I personally prefer a data-room scanned from early on –”Investor/Acquirer Ready” Founders Investors Patents OEM/Channel contracts New Investor Due Diligence Delaware .Inc THEN Acquires 100% of PTY LTD ThreatMETRIX was a “flip-up” – the so-called “Israeli model”

“Born-Global” or “Flip-up” Billable Item Notes Cost (US) Cost Control
Statuatory Incorpration
Simpler if “Born Global”
Costs are a burden until need it
Distraction
I’d prefer to defer until needed

Tax Advice
existing shareholders
existing option pool

AU Attorney for Company
liaise with US Attorney
Execute OZ end of flip-up
Advice on Commercial Ready Grant
Get a capped quote
US Attorney for Company
Flip-up/Mirroring of Articles and Shareholders Agreements (SA)
1 st Draft (if you can) of new SA
Negotiation of SA
Employee Contracts/PIIA
Establishment of BoD
Get a capped quote – they won’t stick to it but drives behavior Pre-negotiate in the term sheet EVERYTHING not just numbers Never let a lawyer argue business terms – drive it to conclusion with the stakeholders Use a great CFO or project manager so you can keep one eye on the business The cost of Tier-1 attorney
Attorney for Investor
Due Diligence
Negotiation of SA
Bad Cop
You pay investor’s costs Pre-negotiate in the term sheet EVERYTHING not just numbers Complete Scanned Dataroom
IP Due Diligence
Patent examination
We’ve always engaged a US Patent Attorney and pays off at this time.
Complete in dataroom
Patent Authors walk it through – accelerate understanding
Option Pool Pricing
Distributed transaction platform
US Valuer quotes were a rip-off. Engaged OZ advice - OK.

Questions?

Dj Growthtown Feb09

by David Jones on Mar 04, 2009

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Dj Growthtown Feb09 — Presentation Transcript