Today’s podcast is a recording of “How Investors Think About Global Growth” from Global Ready Conference. The panel features Caroline Xie and David Pakman, who are both venture capitalists and investors in Smartling from Iconic Capital and Venrock respectively.
This discussion revolves around how to take a brand global and what it means for language translation. Both experts in investing in and growing companies, Caroline and David join us today to talk about what companies need to do to prepare for global expansion, how technologies have changed in a short space of time and why all companies need to become more forward thinking and globally minded.
Jump into the episode
[01:39] About Caroline and ICONIQ Capital.
[02:13] About David and Venrock.
[02:47] What Caroline and David think companies to do before taking their brand global.
[05:50] The path that North American companies are commonly taking to expand.
[09:05] How David and Caroline’s brands are handling cultural differences and adapting to new markets.
[11:48] Ensuring management teams are driving shareholder value in global expansion.
[13:59] How have teams handled pivoting during expansion?
[16:34] Percentage of revenue brought in from global markets after global expansion and how it varies in markets.
[19:28] Common mistakes companies make when expanding internationally.
[22:30] Successful partnerships that David and Caroline have seen between companies and distributors.
[26:50] Why going global is the only choice for success and growth.
[28:50] Final words of advice for companies looking to go global.
Resources and links:
