This is my presentation at World Forum for Direct Investment in Vilnius, June 2009. I talked about our startup (programeter.com) experience of going international.

1. estonian b2b startup
going internet-ional

2. I am Mark Kofman
enterpreneur, 2nd startup, business
experience in 5 countries, software
offshoring and outsourcing
expertise

3. co-founder of…

4. analytics for companies that
outsource and offshore
software projects

6. US, India,
our customers are in
China, Russia, ...

7. young startup reach the
How does
customer so far away?

8. …example of programeter not
so successful expansion to
USA-silicon valley

9. I spent 3 months in silicon
valley doing direct sales to
potential customers and partners

10. results: 100 meetings, 20
events, 10 new business
opportunities, 3 investment
opportunities...
sounds good?

11. … actually not
after landing in Estonia we failed
to follow-up effeciently and lost
most of the opportunities

13. resources only
to do first steps

14. you should plan at
least 1 year ahead

15. but reality is different. baltic
startups typically have cash
only for 3-6 months

16. what can we do about it?

17. opportunity for this region startups:
go for internet-(ional) market

18. It's not just setting up an e-shop
you need online strategy, suitable
business model, specialists,
resources

19. benefit: you can control your
budget for expansion and
marketing
think pay per
new customer

20. think pay per new customer
1. pay per click ads
2. make 80% of your sales
process online
3. monitor converstion rates

21. customer aquisition cost
1. 100 clicks = $100
2. 5 phone calls = $25
3. 1 online meeting = $25
4. contract printing costs = $1

22. think pay per new customer
If new customer aqusition
costs you $151, you can
approach new market even
with $1000 in cash

23. call to action:
government and
investors should
understand and support
internet-(ional)
companies

24. Handshake
will be always local

25. local authorities can
improve quantity and
quality of handshakes?

26. 1. networking
and
matchmaking
events

27. 2. office space for visitors
with meeting rooms

28. 3. local legal help so
companies can focus on their
business

29. resume:
@companies: think pay per new
customer
@autorities: internet-(ional)
model support
@all: improve handshakes

30. estonian b2b startup
going internet-ional