When companies think about international expansion, the default playbook is clear: enter new markets, open new offices, acquire local players.

But what if that’s no longer the smartest move?

In this episode, Erlend Mohus, Chief Strategy and Acquisition Officer at SuperOffice shares a radically different approach: using M&A not to expand geographically, but to strengthen your position where you already win.

After years of acquisitions across Europe, SuperOffice made a strategic shift—from entering new countries to building a powerful product ecosystem around their core CRM.

Instead of buying competitors, they acquire complementary solutions and turn integration into a real competitive advantage.

What you'll learn

• Why expanding internationally doesn’t always mean entering new markets

• How to shift from a “portfolio of products” to a true ecosystem strategy

• The real ROI of M&A: cross-sell and synergies—not just ARR

• How to approach post-merger integration (what to do in the first weeks and months)

• What most companies get wrong when acquiring competitors

A concrete example

You’ll hear how SuperOffice acquired an event management platform and turned it into a best-in-class integrated offering—creating a stronger value proposition than standalone tools or loose integrations.

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In this episode of International Corner, Laurent Leclerc, Co-Founder of Smappen, shares how his team expanded from France to the US, the UK, and now Canada — by turning outbound into a powerful inbound growth engine.

Smappen is a SaaS mapping platform used by franchise networks and multi-location businesses to decide where to open new physical sites. With over 1,200 customers and 80,000+ monthly users, half of their revenue now comes from outside France.

But their international growth didn’t start with a master plan.

At first, international customers came organically through inbound — thanks to a freemium model and an English version of the product. It was only later, anticipating market saturation in France, that the team became intentional about expansion.

In this conversation, Laurent explains:

• How outbound campaigns boosted brand awareness and actually increased inbound leads

• Why mass outbound failed — and what changed when they narrowed their ICP

• How they balance high-touch and low-touch sales (75% of new customers are self-serve, but high-touch drives most revenue)

• Why the US market requires extreme personalization and patience

• How to know when a new country is “working” before expanding further
  

One of the key takeaways?
Outbound doesn’t create inbound from scratch — it amplifies it. When done right, it becomes a credibility engine that fuels brand awareness, partnerships, and higher conversion rates.

If you’re building a SaaS company and thinking about expanding internationally — especially into English-speaking markets — this episode is packed with practical lessons on sequencing, focus, and building a repeatable growth formula.

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In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why trade shows matter in Germany: Build trust, meet decision-makers, and establish credibility.

• The 3-phase approach to market entry: From research and scouting to market entry and sales growth.

• Timing & preparation secrets: How to plan months ahead to maximize ROI, including pre-booking meetings and targeted outreach.

• Team & resource tips: Optimal booth sizes, team roles, and the “minimum viable preparation” if time is tight.

• The power of speaking slots: Position your company as an industry expert and accelerate market traction.

• Regional strategies: Why Germany’s decentralized structure requires thoughtful location and partner targeting.

• Realistic ROI expectations: How to measure success in long sales cycles and set achievable KPIs.
  

Tune in to discover actionable strategies to make your trade show investment pay off!

More about Barbara:

Barbara Gjurgjan Lempa is the founder of Interrelations and creator of Quest Germany, a market-entry program that helps international B2B companies expand into Germany with structure, credibility, and traction.
With over 15 years of experience guiding SMEs through trade shows, business development, and cross-cultural strategy, she combines practical market insight with a hands-on consulting approach.
Barbara has supported clients from more than 20 countries and is passionate about helping businesses turn “German complexity” into predictable growth.

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In this episode, I sit down with Frederic Vendeuvre, founder and CEO of Halifax to explore Halifax’s bold “far first, local next” strategy. Two decades ago, when most consulting firms focused on Europe or the US, Halifax went straight to Chile, Brazil, and Singapore.

We discuss how launching in distant markets gave Halifax instant credibility in France, how they moved from serving French clients abroad to winning local ones, and the organizational changes required to become truly global. Along the way, Frederic shares candid stories of costly mistakes, tough hurdles, and the moments when he knew the bet had paid off.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why choosing “far first” can accelerate credibility at home

• How Halifax won its first international and then its first local clients abroad

• The toughest challenges of global expansion (from admin nightmares to hiring missteps)

• The tipping points that showed Halifax had truly leveled up

• Practical advice for CEOs hesitating to take their business international

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Romaric shares how he approached global expansion intentionally, why the US was their first target market, and what it takes to win (and keep) American customers — even when selling remotely.

We dive into:

• Why Qovery went global from the start — and how they validated the US as their first market

• The cultural and strategic differences between selling in the US vs. Europe

• How ROI-driven messaging shaped their GTM and customer success approach

• What it's really like building and scaling a remote-first international team

• Lessons learned from expanding into the US — and what other European founders should know
  

Whether you're building a SaaS product, expanding into new markets, or hiring globally, this episode offers a tactical and honest look at what going global really means today.

🎧 Listen now and get the full playbook for international SaaS growth.

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In this episode of International Corner, we speak with Thibault Mathevet, co-founder of Collectif Skala and former expansion lead for Germany at Doctolib.

Thibault shares hard-earned insights from his experience scaling tech solutions across borders—focusing on the unique challenges and success factors in the German market.

Key Takeaways:

• 🔑 The signals that show a business is truly ready to scale internationally

• 🚧 Why rushing into Germany can lead to costly missteps

• 🌍 The importance of building local culture, hiring the right team, and speaking the language

• 🛠️ How to adapt (not copy-paste) your sales playbook to fit the German context

• 📊 Core KPIs and mindset shifts that drive sustainable, long-term growth

  
  

💡 “Going slow is the fastest way to succeed in Germany.”

Whether you’re preparing for your first international launch—or reassessing a market that’s not working—this episode is packed with actionable advice for founders, operators, and go-to-market leaders.

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In this episode, I sat down with Lucia Gonzalez Aguilar to talk about how I-virtual Sales team cracked the code on genuine, multi-channel outbound—and turned curiosity into conversions.

🎯 From day one, they went global—securing CE marking early on and targeting multiple markets at once.
💡 The tech creates a “wow” effect, and they built their entire outreach strategy around that spark of excitement.
📬 Mix of email + LinkedIn (cold calling coming soon)
🔍 Personalized > automated. Think: checking LinkedIn activity, likes, shared languages, or even acknowledging someone’s recent post.

What stood out?
✨ She never personalizes the connection request. But once accepted? It’s a real conversation—pulling the thread naturally until the prospect wants to know more.
🤝 “I want to learn” is the icebreaker. Curiosity creates space for trust.
🌍 And yes, cultural nuance matters. WhatsApp in LatAm & Spain. GDPR strictness in corporate EU. Ramadan? A moment to connect, not sell.

📊 Results?

→ 3-4 discovery calls per rep
→ 2-3 solid opps per rep
→ All from genuine outbound, led by just 2 people.

If you are trying to stand out from the crowd, leveraging a personalized and genuine approach might just be your way to do it

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Imagine we could apply this to early expansion? 

How much time would we save in the early days? 

How fast could we start seeing results in a specific market?

Well that’s exactly what we discussed with Caroline Ramade, Founder & CEO of 50intech in the first episode of season 3 of International Corner

You have to think about diversifying your team in the early days, from scratch to ensure you see successful expansion results faster.

Here is a snapshot of what we covered : 

• The impacts on global expansion of diversifying your team very early on 

• The main challenges of creating a true diverse team

• How to foster an inclusive culture within your organisation 

• How to be aware of your unconscious bias and fight them

• A deep story about one of her hardest time she had to live by those diversity standards

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There were 24 episodes with tremendous guests who shared so many insights. I computed their best strategies and tips in this recap episode.

Here is what you can expect :

#1 Finding the right market

• The market assessment matrix - Maxime from Hublo in ep#45

• Expand remotely Zoltan from The Launcher code in ep#31

• Expand where your competitors don't go Zach, global Sales mentor in ep#27

#2 Easier strategies than cold outreach to get there

• Proving ROI leveraging the land and expand - Anthony from Meeriad in ep#33

• Leveraging partners in the right markets - Sebastien from Beaver Partner in ep#43

• Leveraging communities - Coralie from Salesloft ep#37

#3 Invest in people

• Focus on the Country launcher /how to hire the right one - Manon from Iron Hack ep#23 and Jules from Little big connection ep#41

• Build a true Team cohesion - Cecile from Partoo in ep#40
  

#4 Invest in training

• Leveraging Sales enablement - Niamh from Mirakl in ep#35

• Feedback loop from the field Rachel from Zoom in ep#42
  

#5 Structure and processes to adapt

• HQ organization - Florian from Alma in ep#29

• Global vs local process - Frederique from Content Square in ep#39

Season 3 will be coming soon - stay tuneeed

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Except… it doesn’t Work. But Why?

And no… the answer is not Product Market Fit.

Or rather… it is not that simple.

In the last episode of international Corner, I’m welcoming Maxime Renault, chief Strategy & Expansion Officer at Hublo who shares how he has made Product Market Fit more concrete to them to successfully expand internationally 

Here is a snapshot of what you can expect in this episode:

• Why blaming PMF for a failure to repeat sales is the easy answer

• The 4-success-factor matrix he has build to assess success rate in any market

• Tips to go from the launching to the developing phase in a market

• The criteria he looks for in a country launcher to make the market opening successful

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However, this is not enough. 

There are a number of soft skills you need to gain to become a global leader and be effective at scaling your company.

Communication is one of them.

• External communication: to create compelling messages, amplify them while navigating cultural differences in the different markets you will grow

• Internal communication: to scale your mission and vision & to make sure as you grow that communication doesn’t get lost in translation

  
  

How do you become this skilled communicator as a global leader? Victoria Rennoldson, communication coach and cultural intelligence trainer and the CEO and founder of Culture Cuppa, is sharing her best practices in this episode.

A snapshot of what we covered:

• The 4 pillars to master as a global leader to become a skilled communicator

• Tips to improve yourself as a communicator with 0 budget to invest

• Scale your company mission and vision

• Seeking help & advice at every stage of your career

• Importance of having a sounding board

A bit more about Victoria:

She helps professionals to elevate and amplify their communication so they can speak with clarity and confidence.

She supports individuals and teams to prepare to pitch, with public speaking, on video and in Lives to enhance their personal and business reputation and opportunities. She helps people with their speaking confidence, messaging, verbal and nonverbal communication so they can share their voice, speak up and become more visible to grow their audience and attract new customers and clients.

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If the targeted country requires you to adapt more than 20% of your current alliance program to get in there, maybe consider choosing another one.

The key to succeed, is to make it simple. For this, 3 critical questions you need to consider:

• What are the right KPI to track?

• What is the momentum of your business model in the targeted country?

• Which models potential partners in the targeted country want?
  

These are part of the tips shared by Sebastien Moreau, CEO and cofounder of Beaver Partner in the last episode of internationa Corner.

Here is a snapshot of what you can expect : 

• The 6 different types of partner models

• How to make it simple if you want to successfully scale your program

• How much of your alliance program you should harmonize vs localise

• The level of partner training investment you should dedicate to make it work

  
  

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How do you adapt prospecting sequences for each market?

How do you make sure each rep ramps up properly if you can’t coach them because you can’t understand German or Hebrew?

And how do you set up the right KPIs to track performance fair and square for every one?

Those are the questions Rachel Fay, Senior Manager, Business Development EMEA at Zoom answers in today’s episode of International Corner.

One of the learnings she shares with us are the 3 tips she applies to adapt guidelines for each region: 

1- Creating a buddy system

• She pairs each new rep with another BDR or AE speaking the same language to role play.

2 - Fostering each rep to create an ecosystem with the wider team

• She pushes them to talk to marketing, finance people etc… that are speaking the same language as them within the organization to have coffee and get more understanding and support internally

3 - Feedback loops with Enablement

• She created a group of BDR delegates. 1 Senior BDR from each region joins a bi-weekly call with the enablement team to provide feedback and get help to adapt sequences and create scripts.

We deep dive into the above and more in this episode with Rachel!

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That’s what Little Big Connection has managed to do with a test-and-learn mindset and very little investment for each new country launch.

But…What is their secret recipe to make it work?

Jules Maillard, international expansion director, describes it in 4 steps:

• Hiring the right country launcher

• Leveraging the unlock program they created to support the launch of new markets

• Adopting a low investment & test and learn mindset

• Creating hubs to support multiple countries at a more local level

We emphasize particularly on the unlock program as they have spent years fine-tuning it to adapt to any cultural specificities country launchers stumble upon when they are in the job.

From closing the first deals, to hiring the first salespeople and to getting to maturity level in the targeted geography, the idea is to unlock rewards at every step of the way to help country launchers be succesfull in their mission.

In the last episode of International Corner podcast, you’ll learn everything about the steps of that program and their secret sauce to build a country launching machine.

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When she arrived at Partoo, there were 6 people within the expansion team.

2 years later, there are now 20 people.

That is what Cécile Farah, VP Sales Expansion, and her international team did at Partoo.

But it has been a long journey to make changes and generate positive impacts.

In today’s episode of International Corner, she explains what it took to get there: 

• 1) Build a true team cohesion

As she took over a scope with different maturity levels, people are not living the same thing from one market to another one. They had to learn to move together to make it.

• 2) Follow global processes but keep a local approach

They make sure they use the right processes at a global scale while having local adjustments to take opportunity of the famous land and expand strategy.

• 3) Make the other departments understand what is going on in the different markets

The idea is to spread the knowledge and adjustments needed to marketing, legal finance etc… to avoid copy, paste what they did in other markets and make sure the entire organization is on board with what they do.

Find out more about these aspects in the episode!

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You’ll Have A Tough Time.

Yet, you thought you went through the hardest part - getting the first few customers.

Well… I hate to break it to you… but this was just a “Mise en bouche”.

There are tons of aspects you need to consider afterwards such as:

• Building a clear vision of where you are going

• Spreading clear communication across local and global teams

• Adapting to the local market and localizing the Sales approach

• Implementing an agile sales process

And the toughest part according to Frederic KINGUE JOHNSON, GM and VP South EMEA and Latam at Content Square :  

Stabilizing a team to scale the business efficiently.

A few highlights of our discussion

• Mistakes when hiring in a new market

• Misalignment to avoid between new hires / local people and HQ teams

• Global vs local process

• Challenges when transitioning your team from the launching to the scaling phases

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It can sometimes be really tough to find it. 

And this is even more true for competitive markets such as the UK.

Edouard Epaud, Head of Sales Uk at My Traffic was obsessed about one key aspect in this PMF quest.

Nailing their Ideal Customer Profiles in the UK.

To grow sales in the UK over the past 2 years, his team has focused on 3 aspects to keep iterating fast to find their ICP 

1 - listening to calls again and again

2 - Gather data points to find lookalikes

3 - Get help from his growth team and his network

What else can you expect from this episode ? Differences in the way we do business France vs UK, finding your competitive advantage and tips about cold calling there.

If you are struggling to find your PMF in the UK (or any market) and are looking for some tips to start the year strong, listen to this week’s episode of International Corner !

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This is a strong means to strengthen your lead generation efforts… and in a more genuine way.

Communities are a way for you to:

✅ get insights

✅ get direct access to your target audience

✅ form meaningful connections

But they are not a way for you to:

❌pitch your product

❌get a list of contacts to send aggressive cold emailing campaigns

In this week’s episode of Interntaional Corner, Coralie De Robert, Sales Director at Salesloft explains how they are using communities in the Uk, Germany and France to boost their sales.

Expect to hear about how they create communities, how they entertain it, their approach towards fellow community members and Coralie’s vision about the ROI it provides.

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Just as much as there is no one-size fits all strategy to manage an international team.

I think we’d all agree that one of the toughest aspects of going international is to make it right with people.

People with different backgrounds

People from different countries

People with different personalities  

And no matter how different we all are, as a manager, you need to make sure everyone can work together, in harmony, to reach a common goal.

Anne Claire Cornée, Senior Director  EMEA and International Sales at Dailymotion currently manages a team of 3 individuals coming from different cultural backgrounds.

Multicultural management is at the heart of her routine and she shares with us how she adapts her management style to each individual while ensuring a sense of togetherness.

What you can expect in this episode:

• What multi-cultural management means to her
• The fit individual x the targeted market
• Her weekly routines with her team to achieve a sense of togetherness while making sure to meet individual needs

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Imagine being able to have all your new Sales hires get their first deal x2 faster, in every market?

Well that is what Niamh Murray Lalanne, VP Global Sales Ena blement at Mirakl managed to do with her team.

The power of Sales enablement is often underestimated in organizations.

This business unit is often created at a later stage of a startup's growth.

And it is often created… too late.

Yet, especially to help you go to the next stage of international expansion, Sales enablement is key.

How are you making sure new insights & contents are not only rolled out in all markets but also digested and adopted by all Sales teams? 

How do you successfully onboard new comers to make them operational as fast as possible?

In the last episode of International Corner, we discussed how you can leverage Sales enablement to grow internationally.

A snapshot of what we discussed:

• When to start creating a sales enablement organization as you expand internationally
• The Mirakl enablement team organization and how they work with Sales folks and Sales leaders of different markets
• Proving ROI of such an organization to your board

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But how do you achieve repeatable Sales now?

How do you prove you can sell again and again to the same type of companies, the same persona for the same price?

Well, as usual for the folks who work on expanding internationally, you know there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

But there are stories worth listening to get inspired

There are mistakes worth studying to avoid losing time

There are ideas worth using in your own context to help you grow faster

And today I believe you will want to hear what Alex Louisy, CEO of Upflow has to say in the last episode of International Corner

We discuss how they managed to achieve repeatable Sales in the US market despite covid times that account now for almost 50% of their total revenue.

Content to look forward to:

• Why targeting the US was relevant for Upflow
• How they found their target market & the criteria that were key for them
• Their value-driven outbound approach to sell
  

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This is the land and expand strategy

That’s most likely how most of us get the first 2-3 clients in foreign countries

But have you considered using this strategy as your main focus to grow internationally and not just to get the first few references?

That's what Anthony, CEO of Meeriad have done to expand into several markets.

They have mastered the art of landing and expanding into new markets.

Anthony tells us everything they do to make sure they convert their first POC or pilot into successful international cross-sells.

One key aspect he nailed to get there is this: How do you justify a soft ROI to your client?

Sometimes there is no direct relation between your solution impact and a company soft ROI.

For instance, how do you justify your solution can directly impact the retention rate of your customer?

Well… Anthony found a way. And you can find out how in today’s episode of International Corner.

What to expect:

• How Meeriad uses the land and expand strategy to turn POC and pilots into furthers Sales in other countries
• Justifying a soft ROI impact to your customers & prospects
• Getting the commit of your prospect/client during a POC/pilot to convert further locations

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Greeeeat.

How can you avoid making mistakes?

Well… let’s be honest, you most likely will 😅

But you can probably limit them by learning from Amanda Simon, CPO at The Briars group with her 30+ years of HR experience overseing several markets.

We discussed 2 crucial topics that should be at the heart of your HR priorities as you expand in nex markets:

• Hiring the right way in foreign markets
• Growing a global corporate cultures in all markets you are in

A snapshot of what we learned:

• DIfferences in hiring professionals across EMEA
• Top 3 mistakes made by companies when they hire the first employees in a new branch
• Her 4-step process to make sure you set up a global corporate culture and you make it live across time

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Especially if the new target market brings you close to 0% of revenue.

Very tempting to have these thoughts right?

Well, wouldn’t you miss the point as a founder if you close yourself off to internationalization?

There are ways to be more cautious about international expansion.

Actually, You can generate 10-15% of your revenue remotely before committing to having local operations

What are your current operations looking like?
Are there ways to switch to remote operations if they are local?

The idea is to cut costs while keeping your efforts on.

Zoltan Vardy, Founder of the Launch Code and Chairman at Antavo tells us more about how to expand globally in times of uncertainty.

What we covered during the episode:

• How to assess cautiously market relevance
• How to get to 10-15% of revenue generated remotely
• How to be efficient at localizing your business 

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How did Akt.io manage to be off to such a fast start?

Spoiler alerts, they didn’t spend much marketing budget

The key was to focus on 2 very important aspects:

• Leverage the right acquisition channel from day #1 - referral programs
• Create Trust for their users from the first release - cyber security and compliance are at the top of their priority

Kevin Régis, COO and CCO tells us everything about how they achieved these great results in such a short period of time

Expect to also hear about:

• Why they chose to expand in Italy
• How they created trust in their app so Italians would refer it in between each others
• The 3 KPIs he follows on a daily basis to ensure they are on-track
  

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You don’t 😅

But then how do you build the right HQ organization supporting your internationalization effort?

There is no one-size-fits all solution.

But whatever you choose to do, it’s going to be key to successfully expand into foreign markets

Florian Garcia Business operation and New market Director at Alma shares how their HQ organization has evolved in 2 years to now support their growth in 11 markets.

Key aspects we discussed:

• Move from a core team support to a broader business line HQ support for international markets
• Business unit ownership vs functional ownership to ensure the best coordination between markets
• Their team rituals to make sure everyone feels like they belong

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(I mean who is not?😅 )

Then make sure to include Brazil in your list of potential markets to consider.

In Sao Paulo only, there are 11M inhabitants.

Brazilians are actually really open to buying and using European products and solutions.

And France has actually a special place for them.

I mean… let’s not forget Carrefour is the #1 supermarket chain there and Blablacar has made Brazil one of their biggest markets.

But if you want to make it there, there are codes and specificities you absolutely need to master.

Danilo Gomes, internatio nal business developer at Business France in Brazil walks us through the Do and Don’t to make it there: 

• Tips to adapt to the local culture and seem warmer to Brazilians (spoiler alert, Brazilians see North American and Europeans as “cold” individuals 😱) 
• The number #1 lead acquisition channel to convert leads
• The networks you can leverage to navigate this market
  

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It’s a fact.

Some are doing so because they have a true potential within these regions.

But… maybe some companies are also doing so because it is more convenient.

It’s culturally closer to what they are used to.

Therefore… it feels like the barriers to entry are not that high…

But what if… the best business expansion opportunities were the ones that are underlooked at?

Wouldn’t it be better to go to markets where your competitors DON’T GO?

The African market for instance, is a goldmine IF you know how to navigate it.

Zach Selch, Global Sales Mentor, spent 35 years leading International Sales for various companies. He sheds some light into why and how you should expand into markets like Africa where your competitors don't go to unlock true international growth.  

Here is a snapshot of what you can expect from the episode:

• Fight the bias to go after “easier-looking”-to-get-into markets
• Barriers to entry you should expect if you consider African countries
• Fight the urge to hire people who are similar to you when you break into culturally-different markets

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It’s a new world we are living in.

Frugality has become the #1 driver for all founders these days.

However, Sales teams are still expected to reach a higher level of growth year after year.

What if you could bootstrap your way into launching a foreign market?

Well that is what Fleet has done in Spain.

It has been the one-man work for a few months of Baptiste Petelle, who is now Chief of staff at Fleet.

He shares his learnings of how they launched the Spanish market without dedicating a big budget.

Being bootstrapped has had impacts on:

• Human resources he got access to: just him for a few months
• Marketing budget he could spend: very small
• Lead generation channels he had to focus on: Outbound and Partnerships
  

They manage to reach 10% of their current total ARR in Spain in less than a year without raising any funds.

You'll also learn about cultural differences to master to do business in Spain ;)

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It is super easy to get Exec’s phone numbers…

And because it’s easy, they are spammed every minute of every day.

See where I’m going here?

As a BDR there, you have to be super impactful and creative to stand out from the noise.

If you want to do business in India, you have to understand the culture and how it translates into business practices.

Shishir, has opened 3 times the Indian market for non-indian companies.

In this week’s episode, he shares a bit of India’s history for us to understand how it impacts the way you choose how:

• You select the regions to target to do business
• You select your acquisition channels
• You negotiate
• You talk about contracts
• The Do-It-For-Me culture impacts customer support
• Timing is key in everything in this market
  

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Do you know why?

Because all your competitors are already targeting your audience with salesy emails & linkedin messages, cold calling, webinars…

You have to think out of the box.

You have to develop a Growth Mindset

Be innovative

You have to do what nobody else is doing.

That is exactly the thought process Ken Condon, E-com entrepreneur & Global channel director went through to find an innovative way to get potential customers in a room with him.

The key to scale revenue globally is by NOT SELLING.

When he found his secret recipe, he used all traditional channels to work towards that new lead revenue source.

…And today Segmentify is selling into more than 32 countries.

I can’t write here what he found, but I can tell you that partnerships, value-added content and networking were key in making it happen.

Fortunately, you can find out how he did by listening to the 24th episode of International Corner. ;)

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That’s what Ironhack did

From launching the Mexican Market to now managing operations of the french, dutch and English markets, Manon Pellat shares with us the expansion playbook they have sharpened over the years.

The 3 phases that makes them successful every time:

1. Admin and Growth Marketing actions they do remotely
2. Hire a country launcher to kick start the ground work in the targeted location
3. Create partnerships & scholar partnerships to scale their revenue

But there is more.

The playbook doesn’t JUST describe how to kick-start a new market.

It also gives keys to ensure PMF is met and revenue keep growing the following years.

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Wifirst has been scaling several countries at the same time while managing different growth stages.

As Vince, VP EMEA reflects on their journey so far, he shares some key insights that have allowed them to get where they are today.

One aspect they have been really strong at: Fostering cross-country collaboration.

Here is how their get-together routine looks like:

• The whole international team meets 2-3 times a year in Paris
• Every 6 weeks Vince visits a different country
• He introduced cross-country meetings between different layers -> weeklies for country managers, weeklies for operation managers etc…

And these are just part of his tips !

Highlights of the rest of the content:

• Key aspects to consider when you are hiring to scale your team in multiple countries
• His team get-together routine to foster cross-collaboration
• His 2 key learnings to go faster when you open new markets
• How Wifirst sets up targets & objectives for each country

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A few numbers to share:

• 21 episodes packed with global expansion intel’
• Guests coming from more than 12 different countries
• More than 1500 listenings
• Around 100 hours of editing & topic definition 
• The first thing that comes to my mind is a heartfelt thank you.
  

Thank you to…

… My amazing guests for their insights

… You…My audience… for your feedback and your continuous listening

It’s been an incredible learning journey so far and I’m thrilled to hear how it has helped some of you in your global expansion projects :)

As a wrap-up gift for season 1, I’ve created a special episode that sums up 5 aspects to consider to successfully launch any market.

You’ll hear a computation of pieces of advice from most of the guests I received in this podcast so far.

The 5 aspects we are going to deep dive in today’s episode:

#1 Plan your market expansion 

#2 Focus on People & Culture

#3 Leverage marketing early

#4 Create influence

#5 Leverage partnerships

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I had the pleasure to host Sunny Paris , CEO of NoCrm sharing his secret recipe of how NoCRM used product led-growth to sell internationally.

His best advice on the topic:

• Don’t listen to advice and ask yourself if product-led growth is the right strategy for you?
• Have a message that is aligned from outside the app to the inside of the app 
• Check you onboarding process constantly and perfect it

On top of thesse pieces of advice on product led growth, you can expect to hear about:

• acquisition channels they have used to scale in several markets
• choices they have made (or not) to prioritize their product roadmap to fit needs of diverse markets
• How they started global from day 1 

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After hundreds of sent applications with unsuccessful results, he stopped with traditional methods.

He focused on content creation instead

• He created a blog about business in Brazil.
• He published Youtube videos.
• He started to have a presence on linkedin
• He created a network and founded his first business.

Fast forward to now, Carlos is the CEO of Evolve, his 3rd Venture.

What led him to be successful ? Relationships he created and he leveraged throughout the years.

He was so good about connecting with people that he started to help companies build influence in a new market to generate business.

He shares with us his process to build influence in a new market to scale revenue!

What you can expect to learn:

• His 5-step methodology to build a network from scratch in a foreign country
• How to leverage local consultants to build influence
• Concrete examples of how you can reach out to people to build a network

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After opening Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and now the UK, he found 2 key aspects to consider to nail your GTM strategy.

No matter the geography.

People and Localization.

If I had 1 tip for each aspect to share with you (from him) it would be these ones :

• Don’t wait to hire a local country manager to launch the market (People)
• Don’t apply blindly the headquarters GTM strategy, it’s important to trust your employee locally and have people in these markets with entrepreneurial mindset (Localization)

There were many other recommendations, but I’ll let you find out yourself in the episode ;)

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Well… even though global expansion is a way to grow your business exponentially, let’s not forget that it is NOT an easy road.

When you look out there, there are so many success stories that are highlighted.

But for each success, you have 9 other…”learning” stories.

Shiraz Buelbecker, ex- country launcher Germany for Papernest shares with us why the launch wasn’t successful on the partnership/business development side for 1.5 years.

We go through the whole story of what did not work and the learnings they got from that ride!

what you can expect:

• Why outbound outreach did not work as their first lead acquisition channel
• The importance of adapting your approach and your product
• “Go big or go Home”: invest in people & marketing early to make it work
  

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It doesn’t require the same skillset, the same plan, the same processes and sometimes even… the same people.

That’s the question Caroline Sauvegrain, CEO UK at Theodo
 

She shares with us the plan she set up 8 months ago when she took over the UK market to set the right foundation to go to the next stage of growth.

Expect to hear:

• The mistake she made at the start when she arrived, that 90% of country managers do at the start 😱
• Her 2-step plan she has been rolling out to make sure Theodo scales efficiently there
• Concrete examples of what her team is doing differently now, that they were not doing in the previous stage of growth

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What if some country launching stories started with a bet?

Wait… that’s actually what happened to Anass Zekri as he launched the Spanish market for Spendesk.

He took on the challenge… and he did it. Or should I say… crushed it!

He booked 15 meetings with prospects through outbound outreach as he was heading to Spain the first time to assess market potential.

And 12 months after that bet… He was closing the 40th customer in Spain for Spendesk.

What you can expect from this episode:

• How to grow your revenue in Spain remotely from your HQ
• Spendesk’s lead generation strategy to launch Spain at an early stage
• Cold calling and emailing tips and tricks to try within your target market

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3 very important aspects to consider:

- Picking the right geographies for your company using a matrix methodology

- Setting up the right country opening team, knowing there is no one size-fits-all

- Managing an international remote team and setting performance indicators that make sense

Aletta Noujaim - sales development director at Algolia gives you the keys & elements to consider to get it right.

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Well, that was the challenge faced by Maria Elena Magro at Yoopies during her nearly 4 years.

How do you deal with country managers originally hired to sell BtoC?

How do you change your lead generation model and where do you start?

What do you do with the current international BtoC customer database?

Those were the type of questions she asked herself. She shares her answers in the last episode of international corner.

This is one of the international stories that used covid as an opportunity to scale even faster their international market openings!

And their international revenue represents today 30% of their total revenue!

Content:

• The difference in lead generation in an International BtoC Sales-led organization vs BtoB
• The importance of creating communities to scale internationally
• HR challenges faced with country managers who were not hired to do BtoB Sales originally

#englishepisode

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Diego Guerrero, former UK country manager for Team Tailor did that with:

👉No knowledge of Complex selling or international expansion at the start

👉0 Marketing budget for 2 years

👉360-degree Account executives (prospecting to closing)the 2 first years

Fortunately, along the way he and his team got lucky and figured out GOLDEN insights about the best strategies to penetrate the UK market: partnerships, influence, content.

And when they started to build on these 3 key points, they were increasing the month-over-month MRR.

But the road wasn’t easy, and there were a lot of mistakes made along the way.

4 years of ups and downs shipped in a 40min episode.

What you can expect:

• From mass-mailing campaigns to a more targeted approach
• From building influence by spending time in local events to being recommended by partners
• From 100% outbound to 60% outbound/40% inbound led sales
• From a 360 AE model to a specialized AE/BDR model

#englishepisode

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You have to go from (close to) 0 customers to scaling the business exponentially.

You might even be a small company with a (very) small team working on that new market.

Partnerships can help you open the doors of that market.

Partnerships will get you more easily in front of customers.

But finding the right partners is NOT an easy road.

And it can be time-sucking with no results if you’re not building & executing the right strategy.

Paul Gosselin with his 13 years working on building partnerships and alliances programs in different countries with companies of all sizes, sheds some light on How to Leverage The Ecosystem Of Bigger Companies When You Are Small.

A snapshot of what you can expect:

• Building your partnership strategy: from Analysis to Execution
• the 3-stage approach - Recruitment, Enablement & Go To Market - to build impactful programs 
• Tips to find the right partners & examples of how to reach out to them

#englishepisode

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Tough, but that’s the reality of what international sales professionals have to face.

Low to no marketing budget.

HUGE expectations.

And all you have is your phone, Sales Navigator and an email automation tool.

Now what? Well… You have to close… FAST.

The good news is: Even with 0 budget for Marketing… and very few human resources available, we CAN use marketing to help us fuel early and later sales.

Stephanie Mazier, Head of International at SPINIdeas with 20 years working internationally in both sales and marketing positions shares with us How to do IT!

What you can expect:

• Define your marketing strategy based on limited resources (financial and human)
• Choose the right content mix to promote your brand and get inbound leads
• Quick wins you can rely on when timing is (very) stretched

#english episode

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Borders are still closed to travel. Business visa applications are virtually impossible to get.

Yet, there is a lot of preparation and actions you can conduct remotely before physically getting there.

Actually this preparation is crucial even without the current travel restrictions.

Market research, network building, findinf the right partners and influenceurs, selecting channels, learning about business codes…

Jerome Delacroix, with his 20 years of experience in China - both personal and professional - shares with us his GOLDEN insights.

What you can expect:

• How to prepare a market entry to China remotely
• How to create a network remotely and where to find the right networks
• Business codes to be aware of in China
  

#frenchepisode

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Yet, there is a methodology that has been used by companies of all sizes. From Enterprise ones such as Linkedin to startups and scaleups, they used this framework to successfully plan their expansion and keep track of their progress.

Amine Slim, VP Sales at At Scale and ex Head of Regional Sales at Linkedin used it while working at Linkedin. He helps now scaleups he works with to go international thanks to this methodology.

5 steps : 

• Step 1: Define your goals
• Step 2: Define where you want to expand
• Step 3: What does success look like?
• Step 4: Define the required capabilities
• Step 5: Build your roadmap and anticipate needed resources 

#englishepisode

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Content :

• The challenges linked to a 10 hour difference with HQ and how Teamtaiilor overcomes it
• How to make your team members from international subsidiaries feels connected to the company culture even when they almost never go to the HQ
• How Teamtailor leverages culture to attract candidates for their international subsidiaries
  
  

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Yet… It holds a fantastic potential for Wanna-be global players.

With the right strategic approach, Australia can be key to succeed in the Anglo Saxon world such as the UK or the US.

Leo Denes, CEO & founder of Australiance,  has been helping international startups to successfully launch and scale in Australia for years and he shares with us Why Unicorns Conquer This Market To Become Global Players.

Content :

• The reasons why Australia is a land for global Unicorns 
• Cultural differences impacting the setup and hiring practices
• Aircall success story of scaling their business in Australia.

#english episode

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And that’s understandable. Hiring is expensive. Marketing is expensive. Wanting to go fast to be #1 in a particular market, is expensive.

And… to do all of the above, it can definitely get super expensive.

Yes but… Some startups want profitability to be the main driver of their international strategy. And they want to stay bootstrapped as long as possible.

Lemon Learning is one of them, and Pierre Le Roux, their CEO has found a way to open new markets without having to spend a ton of money. After test-driving a few markets in the past 2 years, they are now mostly focusing on Germany and the US.

And… guess what? They are still bootstrapped, and it’s working!

Content :

• How Lemon Learning opens new markets without burning too much cash
• The KPIs they are following to know when to make a focus of a new market
• Why they stopped targeting the UK and the Nordics
  

#french episode

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Nadja has been managing the International Sales team behind this success. Her team is multicultural and for the most part fully remote.

But she IS NOT your typical micro-managing, watch-every-move-each-sales-rep-is-making-every-day manager 😉

No Daily check of #emails sent, #calls done…

No Daily Pressure asking when the deals are getting in.

Instead… She has created a culture of Ownership, Trust and Empathy where everyone, regardless of their location feels included.

And guess what?  IT WORKS and the numbers speak for themselves/

What you can expect in this episode:

- Create a Sales culture where in-person and remote reps feel included

- Nadja's weekly structure with her sales reps 

- How she uses Accountability and Empathy instead of micro-management to have her team hit their numbers

#english episode

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Originally born and raised in Sweden, Nicolas is now heading the Finnish office for Oneflow and shares with us what is the best way to penetrate this market.

Content :

• Cultural differences between the Nordics and Western Europe
• How you should do business in Sweden vs Finland
• The #1 channel to leverage to successfully prospecting in Sweden and Finland

#english episode

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Content :

• The Headquarter based approach to open new international markets @ Partoo
• Partoo’s step by step secret recipe to open new markets
• How Partoo leverages Outbound prospecting for their Enterprise market to sign the first customers (and the next ones!) in each market 

#english episode
 

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Well Yousign did. And very early on on their international journey. They decided to go to Poland to open their 3rd foreign market after Germany and Italy.

The potential in Poland and other eastern european countries is HUGE and widely underestimated.

After selling into numerous European market, Pawel is now country manager for Poland at Yousign. He will reveal why Poland is a market with huge business potential and how to break into it. Bear with us until the end as he will share 2 secrets you wish you knew before as a salesperson selling into any market!

Content :

• Why you should consider selling into the Polish market
• The best strategy to open this market
• Cultural differences and outreach channels you must know to sell there
  

#english episode

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What about working with VIEs (Volontariat International en Entreprise) ?

Romain, General Manager USA will share how we (because I was working with them at that time) did it and the different steps needed to successfully open the US market.

What’s cooking for you: 

• Perks of using VIEs to open new markets
• How to manage and setup objectives with these profiles to make it work
• The different steps Toucan went through to open the US market

You can connect with Romain Duboc  on Linkedin 

🇫🇷  French speaking episode

More information on how we found product market fit in the US in this article  

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I already have some very exciting speakers lined up for the first few episodes. Experts working on international markets from Partoo, Toucan Toco and Yousign for instance.

Hit that subscribe button to not miss the first episode ;)

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