How to launch Central European startups in the US  2012  WEBIT  Oliver  Holle,  CEO  

Entry  to  the  US  market  

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Tech Crunch Superstar

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Try  to  be  like  them  

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Not  them...  

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Leo Martin Me ;)

Meet  Three  Dudes  Who  Did  It..    

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Meet  Leo  

þ Amazingly young, no family, no girlfriend

þ Nice idea and a cofounder who can code

þ Little bit of cash from parents (probably)

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How  Leo  Did  it:  „NLB  Approach“  

1.  Apply for tier 1 accelerator

2.  Move to San Francisco

3.  Become American

4.  Raise seed round there, as one of them.

5.  Be excellent

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Leo‘s  Roadkill  Strategy  

1.  Do the „US trip“ for a few weeks

2.  Fundraise in SV while running the business in Slovakia

3.  Have „excellent meetings“ with investors, not going anywhere

4.  Participate in 3rd rated accelerator programme by local government

5.  Be anything less than an absolutely excellent entrepreneur

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Meet  MarGn  

þ CEO of a CEE tech company

þ Surprisingly, has true edge over US counterparts (timing, tech, ...)

þ Traction in Europe, some attention in US tech blogosphere

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How  MarGn  Did  it:  „Build  a  MUTANT“      

1.  Fundraise in Europe, keep core team there

2.  Build US DNA: US inc., local support & rollout infrastructure, etc.

3.  Find the right Biz Dev dude in US (!!!), make him shareholder

4.  Travel, travel, travel

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MarGn‘s  Roadkill  Strategy  

1.  Fundraise in SV while still a CEE based company

2.  Pay expensive consultants for 3 months halftime sales engagement

3.  Try to win US customers without US DNA

4.  Hope that your technology will win...

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Meet  Oliver  

þ Profitable, sizeable tech company in CEE

þ First few leads in US (big brands, little revenue)

þ Desperately looking for an exit J

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How  Oliver  Did  it:  „The  Wedding  Planer“  

1.  Be patient. Breeze, nothing will happen fast

2.  Free up „A team“ to work on US, incl. yourself

3.  Engage with your US buyers but don‘t talk about selling. Build business partnerships

4.  Be patient. Make them succesful. Avoid VC money and big expansion rounds.

5.  Sell, finally.

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Oliver‘s  Roadkill  Strategy  

1.  Spend all your time in the US with no operational backup at home

2.  Miss your numbers

3.  Hire expensive M&A bank to chase US buyers or VC‘s

4.  Try to sell before building relationships

5.  Delegate US expansion to expensive „hired guns“ and sit home, praying.

US  Market  Entry  for  Dummies  

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You have nothing (but your guts, an idea and a prototype)

You have technology (but not much clue otherwise)

You have a business (and want to sell to the US)

NLB

US Mutant

Wedding Planer

US  Market  Entry  for  Dummies  

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You have nothing (but your guts, an idea and a prototype)

You have technology (but not much clue otherwise)

You have a business (and want to sell to the US)

NLB

work with

We  will  take  you  there      Oliver  Holle,  CEO  Speedinvest  +4369913205532  oliver@speedinvest.com  TwiUer:  @oholle  www.speedinvest.com  

V i e n n a   s e e d   f u n d  u p   t o   5 0 0 k    E U R   /   d e a l  US   operaGonal   team      C E E   f o c u s  i n t e r n e t / m o b i l e  1 0 0 %   e n t r e p r e u r s