Successful US expansion depends on choosing the right first market and city, hiring locally experienced leaders, setting up the right entity, adapting pricing and positioning, and budgeting realistically. Common mistakes include expanding too early and underestimating cost and time to traction.
If your fund backs European companies, you probably get this request more than almost any other. And the questions repeat. Who do you know in New York? Which lawyer did the last company use? Should we hire a VP Sales or a GM? A founder asks them for the first time. Your team has heard them ten times.
I spend a lot of time with European funds, and honestly, the pain is the same everywhere. The answers exist. They just sit in someone's head or a WhatsApp thread. A platform team that turns those answers into a reusable kit saves each founder months, and it stops founders from repeating the expensive mistakes earlier companies made.
One warning before the kit: don't put it in a resource hub with a login. I hear this on call after call. Founders don't go there. Send the right piece to the founder, in the channel they already use, at the moment they need it. The rest of this is about spotting that moment, building the kit and advising founders through each decision.
Spot the move before the founder asks
US expansion rarely starts with a formal request. It shows up as signals first: a line in a board deck about "exploring the US," a US role on the careers page, a founder spending two weeks in New York, a first US logo in a monthly update. Treat those as the trigger to reach out. One useful message the week the signal appears beats a perfect playbook three months later.
Saw the Head of US Sales role go up. A few founders in the portfolio have done this from Europe. Want two operators who opened the US for a European company, plus the lawyer the last two used?
That's the bar: proactive and non-intrusive. Signal → one message → real names, with no homework attached.
Pick the first market and city
The US isn't one market. Founders who try to sell "to America" spread a small team across time zones, industries and buying cultures. Push them to pick one city and one customer segment first.
Have the founder answer three questions:
- Where are the first 20 target accounts headquartered?
- Where do the people who buy this product cluster?
- How many hours of overlap with the home team does the US team need each day?
New York is a common first choice for European companies selling to finance, media, retail or enterprise buyers. East Coast hours overlap with the European working day, which makes it easier for a small US team to work with product and leadership at home. The San Francisco Bay Area makes more sense when the buyers are tech companies, developers or AI teams. Other cities can be the right call for specific sectors, such as Boston for life sciences.
The answer to question one should settle most cases. And if the founder can't name 20 target accounts, that tells you more about readiness than about cities.
Hire leaders who know how US buyers work
The first US hire sets the tone for everything after, and I see two mistakes over and over.
The first is sending a strong home-market seller and expecting the same playbook to work. US enterprise buyers often expect faster follow-up, more direct ROI framing, formal security reviews and annual contracts with procurement involved. A great seller can learn this, but it takes time the company may not have.
The second is hiring a big-company US executive who's never built from zero. Someone who ran a 50-person region at a public company may struggle with no brand, no pipeline and no support team.
Look for someone who has opened a market or been an early seller at a startup, ideally one with a non-US headquarters. Your talent network should tag these people, so you can send a short list the day the role opens (not three weeks later). For the broader approach to helping with senior hires, see what portfolio companies need from VC talent teams. For how AI is changing what a lean US team can look like, see how AI is changing the leadership teams startups need.
Set up the right entity, payroll and visas
This is the admin layer. It rarely decides success, but mistakes here are slow and expensive to undo. Your platform team shouldn't give legal or tax advice. What it should have is a short list of advisors who've done this many times.
The decisions a founder will face:
- US subsidiary or a "flip." Many companies start with a US subsidiary of the European parent. Some later restructure so a US company becomes the parent, often because many US investors prefer to invest in a Delaware C-corp. Get a cross-border lawyer and accountant involved before the next round, not during it.
- Payroll. An employer of record or PEO lets a company hire its first US people before it builds full HR infrastructure.
- Visas. If a founder or existing employee will move, visa timing can take months. Categories such as L-1, O-1 and E-2 have different requirements, and eligibility depends on the person and their nationality. Start this conversation early.
Your kit should include two or three vetted firms for each of: US corporate law, cross-border tax and accounting, employer of record or PEO, and immigration law. After each engagement, send the founder one quick question: would you use them again? Take the answer in whatever shape it comes (please don't send them a form).
Adapt pricing and positioning
Founders often translate their home pricing into dollars and their website into American English, then stop. That's rarely enough.
Have the founder test three things with their first US prospects:
- Price level. US buyers may compare the product to a different set of competitors. The price that looked premium at home might look cheap here, or the reverse.
- Packaging. Annual contracts, seat-based or usage-based models, and enterprise tiers with security and support features are common expectations.
- Proof. US buyers want US references and case studies. Logos from home help less than founders expect. The first two or three US customers are worth extra effort, even at a discount, if they'll act as references.
Here's a positioning check you can run in office hours. Have the founder give the pitch to a US operator in your network for ten minutes. Then ask the operator what they'd cut.
Budget for more time than the plan says
The most common failure isn't a bad decision. It's running out of money or patience before US traction shows up.
Help founders build a US budget with every line, not only salaries:
- US salaries, commission plans and benefits, which are usually higher than home-market equivalents
- Employer of record or PEO fees
- Legal, tax and accounting setup and ongoing compliance
- Travel between the US and home, which grows fast with a small team
- Office or coworking space
- Marketing, events and US-specific content
- Ramp time before new sellers produce revenue
Then have the founder stress-test the plan. What happens if the first US deals take twice as long to close? If the answer is "we run out of runway," the plan needs either more capital or a smaller first step.
What the platform team can provide
A strong US expansion kit from your platform team includes:
- The decisions above, written once and sent in pieces as each one comes up.
- A list of vetted lawyers, accountants, PEOs and immigration firms.
- Intros to US buyers, matched to the company's ideal customer profile. When a partner meets a US corporate exec, ask who across the portfolio they should meet, and make each intro double opt-in. How VC firms build buyer networks covers how to make those intros count.
- Warm US co-investors. A company that flips to a Delaware parent often raises its next round from US funds. A regular co-investor newsletter means those funds have heard about the company's wins long before the founder asks for a meeting.
- A peer group of portfolio founders who have already expanded, with their permission to take calls.
- A US advisor bench of operators who have opened markets before.
Update the kit after every company goes through it. Ask what was missing, then add it.
When is a startup ready for US expansion?
A startup is usually ready when it has repeatable sales at home, a few US customers who found it without a big push, and enough runway to fund a US effort for well over a year. A founder or senior leader must also be willing to spend real time in the US.
A readiness checklist your team can share:
- The home sales motion works without a founder in every deal.
- Inbound or organic US demand already exists, even if small.
- The founder can name the first 20 US target accounts.
- The product works for US customers without major changes, or the changes are scoped.
- The board agrees on the budget and on how long to give the US effort before judging it.
If most of these aren't true, the better advice is often "not yet." That's an awkward thing to say to a founder who's excited about New York, but it's one of the most useful things a platform team can do.
Should the first US hire be sales or a GM?
It depends on who is already selling. If a founder will move to the US and lead sales, the first hire is usually a strong account executive. If no founder will move, hire a senior leader who can sell and build, often titled GM or Head of US.
Whichever role it is, make the first 90 days explicit. Agree on target accounts, pipeline goals and the support the home team will give. Set a weekly call with the founder. And get the founder on a plane often, because in-person time still wins US deals, and I don't see that changing. Early US hires often fail from isolation, not lack of skill. They're far from product, far from leadership and a long way from the people who can unblock a deal.