4 ms·

I moved to a different country and attempted to start a business. I failed, but here is what I learned: 1) Doing business in a foreign country is hard. Your tw

by sumy23 4y ago

I moved to a different country and attempted to start a business. I failed, but here is what I learned: 1) Doing business in a foreign country is hard. Your two options are to target your new country or target your home country. If you target your home country, meeting with potential clients is going to be hard due to the physical distance and the time zone difference. If you target your new country, you're going to be at a disadvantage from a language and business relations perspective. Also, pretty much every country is inferior to the U.S. in terms of business development. Companies outside of the U.S. can be much more risk adverse and unlikely to do business with an upstart. 2) Getting a cofounder is really important. Moving to a different country can be lonely, and running a business can be stressful with a lot of failures. You need a partner in your business to lean on and to fill in for your weaknesses. 3) Have a good idea of your business plan before you start. You should basically have people lined up to use your product before you build anything. If you don't have that, it's likely you won't have a product people want once you build your product.

pmarreck 4y ago
With cofounders, do you have any advice on how to make sure everyone's OK with how everyone else is contributing (especially in a remote situation)? or is it just a lot of candid communication combined with some trust?
- neonbat 4y ago
  What's most important is to have complimentary skills and shared values. Lots of clues to what sharing values can look like: 1- social cues (do they say or do things the same or different?) 2- similar goals/motivations (do you often pursue similar milestones? do their motivations match or compliment yours?) 3- similar methods/reasons (do they think in lean terms? or large strategic moves? are they abstract? or ultra practical and metric driven?) Make sure you can trust this person and that they always try to follow through on what they say. Understand how their own perception of their own status and recognition by others affects their decision making. I'd advise to watch very closely what they do, and weight what they say (justifications, rationalizations,) very lightly.

by sumy23 4y ago

pmarreck 4y ago

With cofounders, do you have any advice on how to make sure everyone's OK with how everyone else is contributing (especially in a remote situation)? or is it just a lot of candid communication combined with some trust?

neonbat 4y ago
What's most important is to have complimentary skills and shared values. Lots of clues to what sharing values can look like: 1- social cues (do they say or do things the same or different?) 2- similar goals/motivations (do you often pursue similar milestones? do their motivations match or compliment yours?) 3- similar methods/reasons (do they think in lean terms? or large strategic moves? are they abstract? or ultra practical and metric driven?) Make sure you can trust this person and that they always try to follow through on what they say. Understand how their own perception of their own status and recognition by others affects their decision making. I'd advise to watch very closely what they do, and weight what they say (justifications, rationalizations,) very lightly.