market-entry
Articles tagged with "market-entry"
The Agent Trap: Why Founders Hire a Partner to Avoid Learning the Market
Founders hire a market entry partner before they know their buyer or their price. Here is the operator's rule for sourcing agent vs direct, and when to hire.
Your China Problem Isn't Finding a Factory. It's Who Owns the Relationship.
Founders treat China sourcing as procurement, then lose their margin. The WFOE vs local partner question is asked too early, and usually the wrong way round.
The First Partner Who Says Yes Is Almost Always the Wrong One
Why the fastest yes in a new market is usually the weakest partner, how to read intent across Europe and Asia, and the three questions that separate real partners from card collectors.
Your First Ten Customers in a New Market Are a Trust Problem, Not a Marketing Problem
Cross-border B2B lead generation rarely fails on volume. Winning your first B2B customers in Europe takes borrowed trust: local presence, named design partners, evidence.
Nobody Bought Your Software Because You Incorporated in Shanghai
Founders solve the entity and payments question first because it has clean answers. The hard question is who will actually sell for you in-market.
You Don't Have a Regulatory Problem. You Have a Distribution Problem.
Market entry rarely fails on paperwork. It fails on the first distributor you sign. How to run partner selection before compliance, and what to ask.
You Don't Sell in 20 Countries. You Sell in Four Markets, Badly.
Multi-market positioning fails when one message has to serve every buyer. Split by budget authority, not by flag, and let one market own the product roadmap.
When Someone Offers to Open a Market For You, Assume They Are Buying It
Partners who offer to open a market are pricing your option on it. Rules from 20 years in Europe and Asia on distribution, exclusivity and equity terms.
Stop Getting Export-Ready: Why Certification Is the Most Expensive Way to Avoid Selling
Export readiness is often validation theatre. Sell one ugly, manual unit abroad first: the order tells you which certification, price and channel you actually need.
Trade Data Won't Tell You If a Market Wants You
Customs data and TAM decks prove a market exists. They never prove you can win it. The commercial validation sequence I use before committing to any new market.