This document discusses reasons for startups to consider going global or staying local. It argues that startups should go global if they live in a small country with few local investors or predatory local investors. However, startups should stay local if they have no customers, revenue, or language skills in other markets and their local market is large enough. It also provides tips on assessing global markets and distribution platforms that can help startups reach customers internationally.
1. Startups Gone GLOBAL!
(What a #ShitShow)
@DaveMcClure
@500Startups
Pioneers Festival
Vienna, Oct 2012
2. This Talk Is AboutâŠ
(Pro Tip: Leave Now B4 This Gets Ugly)
âą 500 Startups
â Internet Seed Fund + Accelerator + >100 Intl Startups
âą Assessing Global Markets
â (# users, by language/geo) * (avg $ GDP) * (% internet) = avail online spend by lang/geo
âą Why You Shouldnât Go Global
â Youâre a Crappy Little Startup with no customers, revenue, or funding
â You Donât Speak the Language (not very well, anyway)
â Your local market is >50M+ users, and nobody else is going after it
âą Why You Should Go Global
â You Live in a Small Country / Startup Ghetto
â There arenât any local market investors worth a famn.
â There ARE local market investors, but they might be predatory, revenue-focused a-holes
â Your customers and partners are in [X] (where X = California, NYC, London, Beijing, Brazil, etc
4. 500 Startups
Mountain View, CA â Founded 2010
âą Seed Fund & Startup Accelerator
â $50M under management
â 16 people / 8 investing partners
â 10,000 sq ft / Silicon Valley HQ
â SF, NY, MEX, BRZ, IND (+ more)
â 700 Founders / 200 Mentors
â Focus: Design, Data, Distribution
âą 400+ Coâs / 100 Intl / 20+ Countries
â Wildfire (acq GOOG, $350M)
â Twilio
â SendGrid
â TaskRabbit
â MakerBot
â Viki
â 9GAG
5. GeeksOnaPlane.com
(my excuse for an Intl road trip w/ geeky friends)
âą Travel The World with Geeks & VCs
âą Meet MORE Geeks & VCs in other countries
âą Learn about Intl markets, technology, people
âą Get drunk & eat great food with friends who
donât speak your language ï
âą East Asia (3x), Europe (2x), LatAm (2x), India
âą Next: Middle East, India, SE Asia, Africa
6. Global Languages
âą English: 1-2B+ ppl, most online, high GDP, modest growth
âą Mandarin: 1B+ ppl, lots online, med GDP, flat growth
âą Spanish: 500M+ ppl, some online, med GDP, strong growth
âą Arabic: 500M+ ppl, some online, low/med GDP, strong growth
âą Others: Hindi, Portuguese, French, German, Japanese, Russian,
Korean, etc
7. Global Markets
âą US/Can/UK/AU (400M+): big market, not much growth but lots of spend
âą Europe (400-500M): not much growth, many lang, high GDP
âą China / E. Asia (1B+): lots of ppl, growing usage / GDP, flat growth (pop.)
âą LatAm (500M+): Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile; LOTS growth
âą India/Pak/South Asia (1.5B+): lots of ppl, growing mobile, strong growth
âą SE Asia (600M+): Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines; strong growth
âą Middle East / Arabic (500M+): growing mobile, lots of future growth
âą Africa (700M+): growing infrastructure, lots of future growth
8. How to Assess Global Markets
âą 1) # of ppl / language speakers by geography
âą 2) % internet usage (web, mobile, smartphone, etc)
âą 3) $ Avg GDP / $ online spend / disposable income
âą Online spend / lang, geo = (#ppl) * (%internet) * ($GDP)
â % Growth rates of ppl, lang, internet, GDP
âą Currency, country, culture, etc
âą Online distribâtn platforms (search, social, mobile, video, etc)
âą Online payment methods / credit card distr
âą Physical goods delivery / logistics
âą Social media usage / behavior
âą 3 markets in 1: rich, middle-class, internet poor
9. Distribution Platforms
Customer Reach: 100M+
âą Search: Google (also Baidu, Yandex, Yahoo-J)
âą Social: Facebook, Twitter (also TenCent, Sina, vKontakte)
âą Mobile: Apple (iPhone, iPad), Android
âą Media: YouTube (Video), Blogs, Photos, Music
âą Comm: Email, IM/Chat, SMS, Voice
10. Why You SHOULD NOT
Go Global
cause ur a shitty little startup,
u donât speak the language,
& ur local market is plenty big enough
11. Why Stay Local? Cuz Ur an Idiot.
âą You donât speak English (well enough).
âą Your solution wonât travel well / you wonât localize it well.
âą Thereâs not as many people competing locally.
âą Your local market has 50M+ users.
âą You have customers / revenue.
âą You have great living situation, family, kids, etc
12. Why You SHOULD
Go Global
Because u live in a ghetto little country,
all the local investors are a-holes,
who donât write checks
and/or give u shitty low valuations.
13. Why Go Global / US / China?
(bcz California is fucking *awesome*)
âą Itâs BIG. (US, China are huge markets)
âą All the [rich, online] customers are here.
âą All the investors are here (Silicon Valley)
â also: Local Investors Screw You / Donât Invest / Low Val$
âą All the platforms & partners are here (Silicon Valley).
â NorCal: Google, Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Android, YouTube
âą Because you watch too many goddam action movies and listen
to too much rap.
âą Because you love California / NYC. (hey, we understand ï)
14. Angel* List: It Rocks.
(Use it, You Idiot: angel.co)
âą Startups & Investors
âą Activity & Metrics
âą Platform & APIs
âą *ps â not just for Angels,
not just for USA