The three main types of mistakes that international technology companies make when entering the US and Silicon Valley market.

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Why international tech companies fail their US market entry.
Markets, Products and People.

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Tech Scouting and Market Expansion
Engineer (PoliMi), MBA (IMD Lausanne)
IBM, P&G, HP + a couple of startups
Lived and worked in 5 countries
In USA since 1998
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About Me

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Why do international tech companies
fail their US market entry?
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Market
Product
People
“Fail”
Mistakes of…

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Mistakes of Market
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Photo: Gilles Tarabiscuité/CC

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Unfocused Targeting
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“Large markets must be dissected into
narrowly defined niches that then require
extreme targeting.”
Viki Forrest, CEO, ANZA Technology Network
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Unfocused Targeting

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Misunderstood Market Dynamics
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• What the market values
• Distribution dynamics
• Regulatory shaping of industry structure
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Misunderstood Market Dynamics

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Sample of One (Customer)
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A.K.A. Extreme Market Extrapolation :)

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“Many companies come to America because one big
customer has called them, but they have no plan beyond
that one customer.”
Franz Neumeyer, German Automotive Executive
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Sample of One

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Mistakes of
Product
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Photo: Steven Barringer/CC

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Poor Product Localization
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• Poorly localized features
• Poorly localized pricing
• Poorly localized collateral
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Poor Product Localization

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Overemphasis on Technology
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• Vs. value for the market
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Overemphasis on Technology
Technology
Ecosystem
Timing
Support

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Insufficient Firepower
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Insufficient Firepower
$600 billions
Global Advertising Spend

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Insufficient Firepower
$28 billions 5%
$20 billions 3%
$347
$96
$59432%$190 billions
Per PersonShare

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Mistakes of People
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Photo: j_arlecchino/CC

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Bad Hires
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• The expat
• The third-rate salesperson
• The dozen-gigs, rolodex-waving, interim-exec advisor
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Bad Hires

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Slow Reorganization
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Slow Reorganization

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Cultural Faux Pas
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“You have to network.”
Nima Adelkhani, CEO, PITME
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Cultural Faux Pas

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“They do not take the time to learn how to
do business here, in terms of business
culture and practices.”
Matteo Daste, Partner, Squire Patton Boggs
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Cultural Faux Pas

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“Many international entrepreneurs […] over
estimate the value of the transactional aspect
of business and under estimate how much of
the business in SV is relationship based.”
Fadi Bishara, CEO, Blackbox VC
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Cultural Faux Pas

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+1 650 295 0915
mf@firematter.com
@matteofabiano
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Thank you!