Meet Lumia Global Success
Market Selection and Entry Structure
In selecting markets, be thoughtful about local market requirements and how it fits your ethos and brand (e.g., China and firewalls)
- Jamie Perlman
- Head of Global Business Development & International Expansion at Box, responsible for generating more 20% of Box's new ARR
Should we organically build or use M&A to buy our way in?
What criteria would we use to select the ideal market for us?
How do we get local market diligence and scouting insights?
International Sales and Growth
Marketing can change up to 80% for each new country – while product stays the same, each culture and values differ.
- Patrick Morselli
- Led Uber’s launches in Europe and LatAm. Scaled 10x in 2 years as Head of Global Expansion at WeWork
Is our current sales and marketing approach work portable? How to validate?
Would a local channel partner allow us to enter faster and cheaper?
How should local mobile/telcos play a role in getting rapid distribution?
Recruiting & Performance Management
It may be ideal to bring leaders from HQ to set up real expansion end ensure cultural fit. Establish the level of decision making power that the office/local leader has, level of autonomy, etc. Remember many things differ (e.g., labor laws, way you set up entities, etc.). Getting any of these wrong can be morale killers.
- Allen Shim
- CFO at Slack
What corporate structure should we use? Centralized? Local GMs? Other?
How do we goal the team appropriately? Are we tooled to track that goal?
Where do we find the right leaders? The local sales and marketing teams?
Local Regulations and Public Policy
We keep an eye out to potential regulatory concerns. It depends on the startup. For instance, FinTech often has more considerations.
- Paul Holmstrom
- Head of Group Strategy at Tele2, one of Europe’s fastest growing telecom operators
Who do we need to know in government? How do we get access?
What public relations are key to winning in the local culture?
Which legal structures are important? Where do we get advice without breaking the bank?
Corporate Operations and Excellence
When you scale globally, major operational shifts need to occur to ensure satellites stay in touch with the company and feel a core part of the team. Heavy Slack use, all meetings via video conference, etc.
- Pascal De Mul
- Built Spotify’s hardware partnership program and led its international business development team
What financial structures and tooling needs to be in place?
Which entity structure is ideal? Who can help us make trade-offs right for us?
Do we invest in local HR and offices? What are our options?
Local Financial Infrastructure
Mistakes made? Not having local legal, salary, medical insurance, holiday insights, etc. Get this infrastructure in place!
- Pascal De Mul
- Built Spotify’s hardware partnership program and led its international business development team
What taxes will we pay? How do we optimize our structure?
Are there differences in payments and payment processing we need to know?
How do we deal with local payroll? Do we need new systems?
Income Repatriation
What's the secret to helping manage global complexity on the businesses financials? Ensure you consider up front how easy it is to get money out (repatriate income, tax considerations)
- George Green
- As President of Hearst Corporation expanded to titles in 55 countries in 34 languages
What are the regulations and restrictions around repatriating income?
Are there ideal structures and strategies that simplify our lives?
How do we think about allocating our resources across geos as a result?
Product Readiness
Startups should start local product design when first thinking of potentially going global, not after they enter
- Anya Oleinikova
- Senior Director, Talent at Hired. Formerly, led Strategy and intl. Expansion at Eventbrite. Drove search and display internationalization at Google
How can we deal with local language structure and format?
Are our use cases/features valued differently in other geos? Does it affect our messaging and development emphasis?
Do we need to tweak our branding for local preferences?
What local tech and services infrastructure investments are needed?