Dreams should come true. For many a Czech startup! there is nothing less than a dream to succeed in Silicon Valley. Our colleague Zuzana Maderová! who helps companies manage their business more effectively with the help of the Salesforce CRM platform! knows this. Zuzana Maderová! as Expansion and Business Development Director of Enehan! went on a mission to San Francisco and is sending us exclusive notes from her trip.
As Enehano! we decided to expand into the US market because of references. We were lucky that the Czech-American Productboard chose us to implement Salesforce store automation and! after a successful implementation! they also recommended us to their business partner who was looking for a company to supply Salesforce with.
When we then decided whether it was better to try to break into Germany or the UK without references! or in the United States with references (and from a very sexy brand)! it was a relatively easy choice in the end. The importance of the Productboard reference is especially evident now when we address the VCs themselves and mention that Productboard is invested in by! for example! Index Ventures. So it is definitely a good idea to work with references and use them as much as possible.
After making the decision to move to the United States! one of the first and most important steps should be to set clear and realistic goals! which in my opinion is a quarter of success! if not more. I went to Silicon Valley with a few main goals:
Prove that we can succeed in the market and that we have customers in the Bay Area. At the same time! investigate obtaining additional case studies within the B2B SaaS framework.
Define Enehano’s UVP based on market feedback.
Create a new Pricing model.
Find a director for the United States.
Enthusiasm alone is not enough
I don’t need to emphasize too much that enthusiasm alone gambling data hong kong won’t help you at the beginning. Be sure to put in the work to prepare for your first trip. I’ve picked out a few things that helped me and might be useful to you too. Of all the general practical advice! I would recommend applying for a visa (B-1) at least two weeks in advance. They do it on a waiting basis! but it’s better to leave some space for an interview at the embassy. The visa allows you to stay in the United States for six months.
Before you travel! arrange accommodation close to the city center! which means no more than 40 minutes on foot. You will pay more for accommodation in the city center! but walking or using UberPool will cost you a few dollars (yes! UberPool is as cheap as public transport here).
I recommend a similar strategy with coworking. Find one near Market St./Howard St./Union Square. They are the most expensive! but you will have all the events and meetings within a 20-30 minute walk! which is priceless (we! for example! sit in Galvanize). And one more hack! if you have a Revolut Business Account! the WeWork coworking is free for three months – they are starting in the United States and are currently running this promotion.
Clear rules and definitions
In my opinion! the basis of business preparation is a clear how to increase your website conversion rate: 9 effective actions assignment. First of all! setting KPIs and percentage scenarios for their fulfillment (e.g. what will the output be if we fulfill 50 percent – will we continue with expansion?). The KPIs themselves should be set realistically so as not to demotivate. I agree that it is necessary to set high goals! but in this case it is also good to remember that often a person is there alone or in two people.
Expectations between the Expansion Leader and the thailand data home branch should also be clearly defined in advance. The markets are completely different and you cannot expect that if you work with large corporations in the Czech Republic! you will immediately work with them in the United States.