1. CROSSING THE POND:
FINDING YOUR
AMERICAN AUDIENCE
Courtney Boyd Myers
Founder, audience.io & 3460 Miles
Friday, November 1, 13
2. INTRODUCTION
2
COURTNEY BOYD MYERS (@CBM)
FOUNDER, AUDIENCE.IO & 3460 MILES
‣ Working
with Fueled, Makeshift, SHADOW, REQQI, Artsy, Rize,
YPlan, Qriously and Ignite100
‣ Director
of Audience Development at General Assembly London
‣ Member
of #10’s Tech City Advisory Group
‣ Writer
at Wired UK & The Next Web
‣ Mentor
at BBC WorldWideLabs, Seedcamp, Ignite100
‣ Community
Friday, November 1, 13
Member of Sandbox, Summit Series & ICE
3. AGENDA
3
‣ Startup
Landscape
‣ Picking
Your City
‣ Logistics:
The Nitty Gritty
‣ Funding
‣ Brand
+ Messaging
‣ Community
‣ Internet
Marketing
‣ Marketing
‣ PR
‣ 10
‣Q
+ BD
+ Media
Takeaway Tips for CEOs
&A
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STARTUP LANDSCAPE
‣ Mobile
Ubiquity
‣ Changing
‣ Data,
Workforce
Data, Data (+Analytics)
‣ P2P
Economy
‣ Gen
Y
‣ Hardware
‣ The
Intertwingularity
Image: Shutterstock
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5. CROSSING THE POND
TO BUILD SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTS FOR TOMORROW,
YOU MUST LIVE IN THE FUTURE TODAY.
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BEING THE BEST, BEING AUDACIOUS & BEING COURAGEOUS
IS A STATE OF MIND.
FIND YOUR NICHE &
SET YOUR SIGHTS ON BEING A WORLD LEADER.
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BRIDGING THE ATLANTIC
What makes the U.S. a great
target market?
•313+ million people
•Online ad spend of $25+ billion
•Greater amounts of venture capital
•Bigger exits
#ATLANTASTIC
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Source WSJ
8. CROSSING THE POND
WHICH U.S. CITY IS RIGHT FOR YOUR BUSINESS?
Size of startup ecosystem, type of industries represented,
access to talent, investors and media are just some of the
factors to consider when deciding which city is right for
you.
(Also weather, restaurants, nightlife, babes and beach
destinations, right?)
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NEW YORK CITY
•“Silicon Alley” 1.0
•Hyphen-Tech: Finance,
Advertising, Fashion, Music and
Media
•About That Media...
Image: Shutterstock
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NEW YORK CITY STARTUPS
AppNexus
Artsy
BarkBox
Bitly
Birchbox
Etsy
Fab
Fueled
General Assembly
Gilt
GroupMe
Foursquare
Kickstarter
MakerBot
NewsCred
OKCupid
Quirky
SailThru
SecondMarket
Thrillist
Tumblr
Warby Parker
Yipit
ZocDoc
* More extensive list can be found at: http://nytm.org/made-in-nyc
Friday, November 1, 13
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GET INVOLVED: NEW YORK CITY
‣ New York Tech Meetup — nytm.org
‣ We Are NY Tech — wearenytech.com
‣ Hack NY — hackny.org
‣ Internet Week — internetweekny.com
‣ Social Media Week — socialmediaweek.org
‣ 3460 Miles — 3460miles.com
‣ Raised By Us — raisedby.us
‣ NYC Digital — nyc.gov/digital
‣ Made In NY — wearemadeinny.com
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SAN FRANCISCO
• Epi-Center, Mecca
• Mono-Culture
• The future is made here
• Tech-Tech
• About That Money...
• According to CrunchBase data, the
amount of funding raised by startups in California in July 2013 was
$1.4 billion
Friday, November 1, 13
Image: Shutterstock
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SAN FRANCISCO STARTUPS
‣ Airbnb
‣ AdRoll
‣ Asana
‣ Band Page
‣ Dropbox
‣ GitHub
‣ Good Eggs
‣ Gumroad
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‣ Lyft
‣ Mixpanel
‣ NewHive
‣ New Relic
‣ Optimizely
‣ One King’s Lane
‣ Path
‣ Pinterest
‣ Quantcast
‣ Strongloop
‣ Square
‣ Stella & Dot
‣ TaskRabbit
‣ Tripit
‣ ZenDesk
‣ ZenPayroll
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HAVE YOU CONSIDERED?
•Los Angeles
•Austin
•Boston
•Boulder
•Las Vegas
•Seattle
•Washington, D.C.
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Image: PandoDaily
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EUROPEAN STARTUPS IN THE U.S.A.
Lyst
Conversocial
Huddle
Trigger.io
Songkick
One Fine Stay
Summly
Moo
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Decoded
SoundCloud
Unruly Media
YPlan
MixCloud
Hailo
Qriously
Skype
Spotify
SkimLinks
3Beards
Mimecast
Blippar
Campalyst
Erply
Prezi
18. CROSSING THE POND
LOGISTICS: THE NITTY GRITTY
‣ Taxes
‣ Legal: Contracts, LLC, S
Corp, C Corp
‣ Hiring
‣ Banking, Payroll, Insurance
‣ Healthcare!
‣ Procurement Companies
‣ MoveGuides
‣ Visas...
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19. CROSSING THE POND
VISAS
1. H1B (for large, established
companies)
2. L1 (intra-company transfers)
3. E2 (closest to a startup visa)
4. O1 (alien of extraordinary ability)
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20. CROSSING THE POND
FUNDING
•
Growing internationally is expensive
•
But you only get one shot at launching in
a new city
•
Tip: Raise money from connected angels
or VCs in the city you want to launch in
•
Get on AngelList
•
Or have really thick bootstraps, thick skin
and a rich uncle...
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22. CROSSING THE POND
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BRAND + MESSAGING
• Moms vs. Mums + a
Jumble Sale?
• Humor doesn’t always
translate!
• Does your startup’s
name even translate?
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‣L
23. CROSSING THE POND
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SEEKING COMMUNITY
Identify Stakeholders:
•
Target Demographics
(Customers)
•
Potential Partners (Marketing,
Business, Talent and Investors)
•
Then seek those groups of
people at local events,
coworking spaces, online
(Stalking, YES!) and in the
media (read! Do your HW.)
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‣L
24. CROSSING THE POND
BUILDING COMMUNITY
•
Hire Locally
•
Choose reputable local partners ‣ L
•
Seek government support
•
Seek corporate support
•
Establish ambassador programs,
“Street Teams,” and create systems
for Evangelists
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25. CROSSING THE POND
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HIRE LOCALLY
Hiring a local expert with industry street cred will help you:
•
Tap into local insights, contacts and deal opportunities
•
Avoid market pitfalls + “no-nos”
•
Get your business plugged in faster
•
‣L
Know the local competition
To hire locally:
•
Tap your networks and get personal recommendations
•
Use recruiting services (Try HireMyFriend.io)
Friday, November 1, 13
26. CROSSING THE POND
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INTERNET MARKETING
•
Create a localized website or localize your
product page in the App Store / Google Play
•
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
•
Paid Advertising: Media, Social + Google
AdWords + Retargeting Campaigns (AdRoll)
•
Build Virality (also Vitality + Virility!) into your
Product (or use LaunchRock)
•
Social Media Marketing: Facebook, Twitter,
Linkedin, Pinterest, YouTube, Tumblr, Foursquare,
Instagram, etc.
Friday, November 1, 13
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MARKETING TRENDS
•Crowdfunding as a marketing tool
•Content Marketing
•Product Marketing
•Promotions
•Company Culture as a marketing tool
•Social Good as a marketing tool
•Sidenote Marketing
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‣L
29. CROSSING THE POND
PR + MEDIA
• Hire a PR Firm to reach
influencers and journalists
• To help you plan + execute your
“launch story”
• For on-going press / mentions in
the media
• For events + conferences
• Or take PR on yourself (not
suggested for introverts + those
with anti-social behavior!)
• Host events / Go on a roadshow
• Teach!
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30. CROSSING THE POND
WHAT’S THE STORY?
•“We’ve launched”
•Funding
•Trend Stories
•We’ve hit X # of users
•New features
•Acquiring
•Major, new hire
•Hint at future plans
......But first... Can you name at least 3 tech journalists in the U.S.?
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31. CROSSING THE POND
AMERICAN MEDIA LANDSCAPE
Follow:
ç
@Eldon
@BBosker
@ChrissyFarr
@JennyDeluxe
@SethPorges
@ADRJeffries
@ErinGriffith
@HarrisonWeber
@LanceUlanoff
@GilbertJasonO
@LaurenGoode
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32. CROSSING THE POND
ALSO READ...
Blogs
‣Fred Wilson (A VC) — http://avc.com
‣Chris Dixon — http://cdixon.org
‣Paul Graham’s Essays — http://paulgraham.com
‣Hacker News — http://news.ycombinator.com
‣The Full Start - http://fullstart.com
Newsletters
‣The Fetch http://thefetch.com
‣3460 Miles http://3460miles.com
‣Startup Digest http://startupdigest.com
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33. CROSSING THE POND
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EVENTS + CONFERENCES
•SXSW
•CES
•TED
•TechCrunch Disrupt
•The Next Web NYC
•AllThingsD
•Fortune’s Brainstorm
•Big Omaha
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•Summit Series
•Foo Camp
•Sandbox Network
•Startup Weekend
•Catalyst Week
•YxYY
•WeWork Summer Camp
•Burning Man
34. CROSSING THE POND
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10 TIPS FOR CEOS
1. Ask yourself: The What,
Why and a little bit of How.
Friday, November 1, 13
35. CROSSING THE POND
10 TIPS FOR CEOS
1. Ask yourself: The What, Why and a little bit of how.
2. Identify competitive or
similar companies that
have failed and succeeded
before
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36. CROSSING THE POND
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10 TIPS FOR CEOS
1. Ask yourself: The What, Why and a little bit of how.
2. Identify competitive or similar companies that have failed and succeeded before
in your target market and make sure you have a deep understanding of WHY.
3. Get used to doing
business fast
Friday, November 1, 13
37. CROSSING THE POND
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10 TIPS FOR CEOS
1. Ask yourself: The What, Why and a little bit of how.
2. Identify competitive or similar companies that have failed and succeeded before
in your target market and make sure you have a deep understanding of WHY.
3. Get used to doing business fast
4. Read. For the love of
god, read.
Friday, November 1, 13
38. CROSSING THE POND
38
10 TIPS FOR CEOS
1.Ask yourself: The What, Why and a little bit of how.
2. Identify competitive or similar companies that have failed and succeeded before
in your target market and make sure you have a deep understanding of WHY.
3.Get used to doing business fast
4. Read. For the love of god, read.
5. Hire locally
Friday, November 1, 13
39. CROSSING THE POND
39
10 TIPS FOR CEOS
1. Ask yourself: The What, Why and a little bit of how.
2. Identify competitive or similar companies that have failed and succeeded before in your
target market and make sure you have a deep understanding of WHY.
3. Get used to doing business fast ‘
4. Read. For the love of god, read.
5. Hire locally
6. Pack Yourself! You need to meet
with local partners, customers and
make time for meetings with local
media.
Friday, November 1, 13
40. CROSSING THE POND
40
10 TIPS FOR CEOS
1. Ask yourself: The What, Why and a little bit of how.
2. Identify competitive or similar companies that have failed and succeeded before
in your target market and make sure you have a deep understanding of WHY.
3. Get used to doing business fast ‘
4. Read. For the love of god, read.
5. Hire locally
6. Pack Yourself! You need to meet with local partners, customers and make time
for meetings with local media.
7. Ask for help, guidance and
introductions
Friday, November 1, 13
41. CROSSING THE POND
41
10 TIPS FOR CEOS
1. Ask yourself: The What, Why and a little bit of how.
2. Identify competitive or similar companies that have failed and succeeded before
in your target market and make sure you have a deep understanding of WHY.
3. Get used to doing business fast ‘
4. Read. For the love of god, read.
5. Hire locally
6. Pack Yourself! You need to meet with local partners, customers and make time
for meetings with local media.
7. Ask for help, guidance and introductions
8. Be open-minded to new
approaches and new ideas
Friday, November 1, 13
42. CROSSING THE POND
42
10 TIPS FOR CEOS
1. Ask yourself: The What, Why and a little bit of how.
2. Identify competitive or similar companies that have failed and succeeded before in your target
market and make sure you have a deep understanding of WHY.
3. Get used to doing business fast ‘
4. Read. For the love of god, read.
5. Hire locally
6. Pack Yourself! You need to meet with local partners, customers and make time for meetings
with local media.
7. Ask for help, guidance and introductions
8. Be open-minded to new approaches and new ideas
Make Friends with Founders, Investors,
Journalists, Wannapreneurs, Coworking Space
Heads, the Cleaning Ladies and everyone in between!
9.
Friday, November 1, 13
43. CROSSING THE POND
43
10 TIPS FOR CEOS
1. Ask yourself: The What, When and Why.
2. Identify competitive or similar companies that have failed and succeeded before in your target
market and make sure you have a deep understanding of WHY.
3. Get used to doing business fast ‘
4. Read. For the love of god, read.
5. Hire locally
6. Pack Yourself! You need to meet with local partners, customers and make time for meetings with
local media.
7. Ask for help, guidance and introductions
8. Be open-minded to new approaches and new ideas
9.Make Friends with Founders, Investors, Journalists, Startup Wannabes, Coworking Space Heads, the
Cleaning Ladies and everyone in between
10. Start now
Friday, November 1, 13
