US Expansion Guide
Move from the American myth to a controlled trajectory.
THE MISSION
KEY FIGURES
Find out in this guide
The United States is not an extension, but a change of dimension
It is a profound transformation of the product, positioning, organization and pace. A European PMF cannot be transposed. It is being rebuilt, with a much higher level of requirements.
Without solid foundations, American expansion fails
Multiplied costs, uncertain recruitments, legal and fiscal constraints, strong personal impact. Succeeding requires rigorous preparation, a senior landing team, a real presence of the founders and financing designed to last several years.
The human factor remains the decisive factor.
Success depends on the ability to recruit the right local profiles, organize transatlantic teams, manage cultural differences and calibrate the founder's involvement over the long term. Without total human commitment, the US foothold remains fragile.
The United States is not an extension, but a change of dimension
It is a profound transformation of the product, positioning, organization and pace. A European PMF cannot be transposed. It is being rebuilt, with a much higher level of requirements.
Without solid foundations, American expansion fails
Multiplied costs, uncertain recruitments, legal and fiscal constraints, strong personal impact. Succeeding requires rigorous preparation, a senior landing team, a real presence of the founders and financing designed to last several years.
The human factor remains the decisive factor.
Success depends on the ability to recruit the right local profiles, organize transatlantic teams, manage cultural differences and calibrate the founder's involvement over the long term. Without total human commitment, the US foothold remains fragile.
SUMMARY
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GOING US: NO SHORTCUTS
Setting up in the United States is no longer a fantasy reserved for a few startups. It became, for many French founders, a natural trajectory when the ambition is to change scale. Market size, buyer maturity, depth of budgets, speed of execution: the American market offers opportunities that Europe is still struggling to match.
But this evidence masks a more complex reality. The US expansion is neither a commercial extension, nor a simple duplication of the European model. It is a profound transformation of the company. Product, positioning, organization, recruitment, financing, financing, financing, legal framework, legal framework, pace of decision, personal balance of the founder: everything is impacted. And mistakes, when made in the United States, come at a high cost. In silver. But especially when it comes to time.
This Guide is based on a simple observation: too many decisions are still being made based on misleading signals. A first time American customer is not a Product Market Fit. A deal signed after a trade show is not a strategy. A European PMF cannot be transposed mechanically. And leaving “when everything is going well in France” can sometimes make the movement more difficult, even irreversible.
The purpose of this Guide is not to convince everyone to go to the United States. It is to bring lucidity. To help founders answer the real questions at the right time:
- When is it really appropriate to go to the United States?
- How to build a specifically American PMF?
- Where to set up to maximize your chances of success?
- What level of financial investment is required to last over time?
- What place should the founder take in the field?
- How to recruit, structure and operate transatlantic teams?
- What are the legal, fiscal and personal blind spots to anticipate?
” This playbook is not a promise of success. It is a lucidity guide. The objective is not to push everyone to go US. The objective is to allow those who go there to do it at the right time, for the right reasons, with a preparation worthy of the level of risk, and therefore the level of ambition. ”
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