- 123RF is a stock media company founded in 2005 that has expanded globally, with 389 employees located across 40 locations worldwide. - The company sells photos, illustrations, footage, audio, and fonts, and also invests in design-related software and platform businesses. It serves 12 million monthly active users and processes 480,000 transactions per year in 20 currencies. - The document discusses lessons learned from 123RF's global expansion, including solving meaningful problems, developing strategies and business plans, hiring local talent, embracing cultural differences, partnering with other companies, generating publicity, adapting products for new markets, and acquiring versus building new operations.

1. 123RF.com
Expanding Globally
by Leon Hudson

2. Hello! My name is Leon Hudson
• British citizen living in Malaysia, since 2010
• Appointed VP, Global Sales & Marketing at 123RF in 2013
• Has held a number of sales, marketing and general
management roles for startups and market leading
content and technology companies
• Has significant international business experience having
lived in 5 countries & worked in 20+
leon.hudson@123rf.com @LeonHudson/leonhudson

3. Our Founders
Andy Sitt Stephanie Sitt

5. We sell photos, illustrations, footage, audio & fonts

6. We invest in design-related SaaS and PaaS
businesses

7. 123RF Company Overview
389
employees
100%
bootstrapped
company
since 2005
40
locations
worldwide
20
languages
24/7,
365
support

8. 123RF in Numbers
90 million
creative works
and
1 million
premium imagery
480,000
transactions
a year in
20 currencies
110,000
daily content
from
300,000
creative
contributors
12 million
monthly
active users

9. Brands We Admire

10. Definition
Multinational
Corporation
vs
Micro
Multinational

11. Lessons
1. Solve a Big Beautiful Problem
2. Discipline
3. Develop a Strategy and Business Plan
4. Hiring the Right Local People - The A-Team
5. Embrace Language and Cultural Differences
6. Partners - Punch Above Your Weight
7. Generate PR to Sustain Momentum
8. Product - Disrupt, or Be Disrupted
9. Buy or Build
10. Final Thought
Expanding
Globally

12. 1. Solve a Big Beautiful Problem

13. 2. Discipline
● Market Segmentation Analysis
○ will your product sell in the local market?
● Product Gap Analysis
○ is there a demand that is not satisfied by a local
company?
● SWOT, PEST, GROW, & Data Science Analysis
○ will the market buy your product against competition?
● Market Opportunity / Sizing
○ how big is the market and how long will it take you to
capture your targeted sales?

14. 3. Develop a Strategy and Business Plan
● Define short-, medium-, and long-term strategy
● Define goals, objectives, and success metrics
● Complete the business model and structure
● Develop a top-down annual budget
● Develop a tactical project plan with commit dates

15. 4. Hiring the Right Local People - The A-Team

16. 5. Embrace Language and Cultural Differences

17. 6. Partners - Punch Above Your Weight

18. 7. Generate PR to Sustain Momentum

19. 8. Product - Disrupt, or Be Disrupted

20. 9. Buy or Build

21. 10. Final Thought
“What important truth do very few
people agree with you on?”
-Peter Thiel
Thank You!