When companies expand into Europe, many start in the UK or Ireland, and as they gain experience they move into big GDP countries like France and Germany that are more challenging in terms of language, localization, etc. While this approach is understandable, there are many important markets that are left until later or treated as afterthoughts. When taken together, the Nordics plus Benelux make 16% of Europe’s GDP - which is larger than France, and larger than the UK in terms of contribution. At the same time, most of these nations are extremely English-savvy, and require less localization than Germany or France. That doesn’t mean you can take a generic approach, there is a learning curve and some important differences to be aware of, and in this episode I’m really excited to have Paulo Rodriguez as my guest to talk through his experience taking Software into Benelux and the Nordics. Paulo has done this at 3 very well known companies, starting at Google, then Dropbox, and now for Vanta. Please enjoy and share!

Links:

www.portofentrypartners.com

Paulo's LinkedIn

Here's what we cover:

• Diversity within Europe and the education needed before starting the expansion process.
• The expansion approaches most foreign tech companies taking when they enter Europe, and the most common mistakes
• Observations and learnings Paul has made during his experiences taking new technology across Europe. Mistakes and corrections Paulo has made.
• Internationalization vs localization and how much of each is needed to tackle the Nordics and Benelux
• Some of the most important differences between selling Software in the Nordics/Benelux versus other parts of Europe
• Cultural differences that impact buying and selling behavior
• The best locations in Europe for getting candid feedback on your product
• Striking the right balance between being data-driven and using your own observations about market behavior
• Where the Nordics/Benelux should rank in terms of a continental strategy for Europe, assuming the technology applies everywhere
• Operationally how to go in - where to put the first employees, where to expand later on.
• Anecdotes on selling in the Nordics and differences in body language from buyers.

If you asked 100 companies to rank the most challenging countries to enter, Japan would rank at or near the top on most every list. Not only does Japan have very high bar and specific set of localization requirements, nearly every aspect of doing business is different than in the US and most western markets. That said, Japan is the 3rd largest economy in the world, so it cannot be ignored by any company with global ambitions, and there are many success stories to learn from. In this episode, I’m honored to have Daiki Nakajima as my guest. Daiki is the Director of Business Development at the Japan External Trade organization, shortened to JETRO, whose main objective is to provide support for bilateral investment between the USA and Japan. Daiki oversees all activities of Invest Japan, Japan-US Bilateral Economic Relationships, Startup Initiative, and Global Acceleration Hub at JETRO in New York. When it comes to foreign tech companies entering Japan and vice versa, in the words of a mutual colleague at Hubspot, Daiki “has seen it all” over the past 12 years. Please enjoy and share. Here's what we cover:

• 4:00 Daiki's bi-cultural background, what led him to focus on Japan-US trade
• 6:00 Japan External Trade Organization - overview of how JETRO and how they help foreign companies enter Japan
• 11:00 Things you need to know and consider before you begin working on Japan market entry, pre-reqs for entry
• 18:00 Differences in marketing style and the research needed to adapt your marketing strategy
• 22:00 Beyond website and UX, the things that require localization
• 23:45 Differences in presentation styles, pitching properly in Japan
• 27:00 How meetings work in Japan - matching seniority levels, formality at mid-size companies, knowing how to interpret signals, expectations around timing and follow ups
• 33:30 Aligning with fiscal cycles and budgeting seasonality
• 36:00 How to gain trust, early traction, case studies, and retention when you are a newcomer. Value propositions that resonate with Japanese buyers.
• 45:00 Common traits among companies that have done well in Japan - the importance of persistence, having strong presence on the ground, meeting face to face, and more.
• 50:00 The hiring process and cycle for new grads, and the only time of year you will find a new hire.
• 56:30 What Japanese customers expect after the sale. The importance of excellent customer service and making a good first impression in terms of the product, translation, and overall experience.
• 1:01 What's changed in Japan since COVID. How policy drives rapid change within the business environment.
• 1:08 The emerging "global generation", how this generation is shifting the way business works, and applying these learnings to your Japan entry strategy.

China is one of the most complex and challenging markets for foreign tech companies to succeed in. It has so many hurdles to clear, including strict regulations, thorny geo-politics, and significant language and cultural learning barriers. But for those who succeed, the rewards and market potential are massive. With a GDP of over $18 Trillion it’s the second largest economy in the world, and in terms of population and potential end users, it’s the world's largest. One of the first things you have to do extremely well is to find an excellent leader for your team there, and I’m really happy to have Jason Li as my guest for this episode. Jason has been on the early teams at not 1, not 2 but 3 well-known foreign companies including Gartner, LinkedIn, and most recently at Branch where Jason and I got to team up. Jason scaled up our business from zero to becoming the highest performing regions and teams in the company, eventually opening 3 China offices and landing many of the largest logos in China in just 3 short years. He is also a multi-time startup founder and is currently CEO and building a new SaaS startup backed by Branch. Please enjoy and share!

Here are the topics we discuss with timestamps:

4:00 Maturity differences between Chinese and US SaaS companies

6:15 Similarities and Differences between China playbooks at LinkedIn, Gartner, and Branch, Gitlab, Canva and more. Expansion phases, partnerships, and entity structures

11:30 For companies that do not have experience in China - what you need to know about the tech ecosystem, user preferences, competitive dynamics

16:00 How to test and validate product market fit in China before making a bigger investment

18:30 ICP Licensing and the requirements for operating a business over the internet in China

21:00 The state of B2B SaaS in China - domestic supply and demand for cloud vs. on-prem services, willingness to build vs. buy, and the opportunity for foreign SaaS companies to sell to Chinese businesses.

26:00 What works when selling SaaS to Chinese companies. Jason's framework for value selling.

29:00 The importance of relationships and guanxi when selling, customer expectations, proof of concept and ROI, and cultural difference when selling in China versus elsewhere.

34:00 Tactics for building brand awareness in China

36:00 How to build a world class team in China - where to find candidates, local job boards, the role of headhunters, and how to classify and filter applicants to build your early team.

42:00 Beyond selling directly to customers - the role of agencies, partnerships, and government when entering China.

46:30 Preventable mistakes - hard lessons to learn from companies that have failed in China. Product Market Fit vs Solution Market Fit. Local vs remote decision making, respecting local business practices and norms.

50:00 Best practices and recommendations based on Jason's experience leading the China initiative multiple times

55:00 Post pandemic re-opening - perspective on timing and market readiness for foreign companies entering China as early 2023