10: Establishing a US Technology Vendor in Europe w/ Patrick Conte

August 29, 2018 00:30:21
10:  Establishing a US Technology Vendor in Europe w/ Patrick Conte
B2B Revenue Acceleration
10: Establishing a US Technology Vendor in Europe w/ Patrick Conte

Aug 29 2018 | 00:30:21

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Show Notes

It’s tempting to think that just because you’ve had success in one market…

You’ll automatically be successful wherever you decide to expand your business.

Patrick Conte is the Senior Vice President & General Manager of International Business at HyTrust, and he understands the challenge in taking your product and moving it to another market like Europe.

HyTrust is a cyber-security company that specializes in cloud security.  They protect the cloud workload for their clients (which is becoming increasingly important in this era of data protection we live in). They also focus on locking down the virtual infrastructure (cloud servers and admins) for their clients.

Patrick and his team were able to expand their technology into the European market through careful strategy and execution.  Patrick joined us for this episode of B2B Revenue Acceleration to talk about the European expansion journey and the lessons learned along the way.

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Episode Transcript

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:04.519 Every company that wants to expand into a new market needs to look for some 2 00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:12.949 point of leverage. You're listening to be tob revenue acceleration, a podcast dedicated 3 00:00:12.949 --> 00:00:16.710 to helping software executives stay on the cutting edge of sales and marketing in their 4 00:00:16.789 --> 00:00:21.899 industry. Let's get into the show. Hi, you. Welcome to be 5 00:00:22.059 --> 00:00:25.019 to be a reven you acceeneration. My name is ohodium with Yer, and 6 00:00:25.100 --> 00:00:28.780 I'm here today with Patrick comte. How are you Patrick Today? Very good, 7 00:00:29.059 --> 00:00:31.260 very good, or really and Nice to be here with you. Good 8 00:00:31.859 --> 00:00:37.289 so, Patrick, today we want to speak about establishing a US technology vendo 9 00:00:37.450 --> 00:00:41.850 in Europe, and before we go into the details of your sorts and comments 10 00:00:41.850 --> 00:00:45.250 and experience around that, can you please tell us a little bit more, 11 00:00:45.289 --> 00:00:48.289 first of all about yourself, but also about high trust, the company that 12 00:00:48.409 --> 00:00:52.439 you represent at the moment? Sure so. High Trust is a cyber security 13 00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:57.280 company based in Silicon Valley there in California, and I like to tell people 14 00:00:57.560 --> 00:01:00.560 where we fit in the overall scheme of things as a relates to cybersecurity, 15 00:01:00.920 --> 00:01:03.750 because there are a lot of different technologies, a lot of companies, a 16 00:01:03.829 --> 00:01:11.069 lot of different ideas about what constitute cyber security. And so they're really three 17 00:01:11.269 --> 00:01:15.109 main categories of sober security. There's the network security, which is what most 18 00:01:15.150 --> 00:01:19.420 people think of when I think of sober security, and really is network security 19 00:01:19.500 --> 00:01:23.980 is really all about keeping the bad guys off of your network or containing them 20 00:01:25.299 --> 00:01:27.099 when they get on your network. It get it's a lot of investment money. 21 00:01:27.659 --> 00:01:32.180 Probably has the most bad press or good presses, the case may be, 22 00:01:32.379 --> 00:01:36.569 because the bad guys keep trying to breach the the network. And so 23 00:01:36.769 --> 00:01:40.090 it's a very important part of cyber but it's not us. The second part 24 00:01:40.129 --> 00:01:45.250 of sober security, of the second big category is endpoint security, which has 25 00:01:45.250 --> 00:01:48.920 been around for a long time, even before that the whole security era. 26 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:53.439 But for a long time it was really just anti virus for your laptop or, 27 00:01:53.760 --> 00:01:59.560 you know other devices. But now it includes Iot, includes configuration management 28 00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:04.989 and includes mobile device management and mobile content security. So it's also a very, 29 00:02:05.030 --> 00:02:08.710 very important part of cyber but it's also not us. So the third 30 00:02:08.789 --> 00:02:14.870 category is cloud, and that's where we play. So so is focused on 31 00:02:15.229 --> 00:02:20.819 sober security, but we're specifically focused in providing sober security in cloud environments. 32 00:02:21.180 --> 00:02:23.780 And cloud could be private cloud, it could be public clouder, it could 33 00:02:23.780 --> 00:02:28.580 be the hybrid environment, and there are two things that we only two things 34 00:02:28.620 --> 00:02:31.650 that we really spend our time on and develop our products for. The first 35 00:02:31.650 --> 00:02:38.129 one is protecting the cloud workload. The cloud workload is basically the VM that 36 00:02:38.210 --> 00:02:40.449 has all the critical data in it for the you know, for the company, 37 00:02:40.810 --> 00:02:45.520 or whatever the case may be, and whatever the organization is. So 38 00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:50.400 the workload is the most important thing, especially in today's data protection era that 39 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:54.479 we all live in, with GDPR and other day a protection legislation that's out 40 00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:59.789 there. So protect the workload, and we do this by encrypting it and 41 00:02:59.990 --> 00:03:04.189 also by Geo fencing it, meaning that we can make that workload stay where 42 00:03:04.189 --> 00:03:07.909 you wanted to stay. And then the second thing that we do is lock 43 00:03:07.069 --> 00:03:12.469 down the virtual infrastructure that sits underneath the cloud. And what I mean by 44 00:03:12.550 --> 00:03:15.580 this, this might sound a little bit esoteric, but what I mean by 45 00:03:15.860 --> 00:03:21.780 that is underneath every cloud our virtual servers, storage network and people. We 46 00:03:21.860 --> 00:03:25.699 call them admins or virtual admins or cloud admins, and actually at the cloud 47 00:03:25.740 --> 00:03:30.449 admin is where two thirds of all the breach has happened. So what we 48 00:03:30.569 --> 00:03:35.370 do is we lock that down with a whole package of access controls and other 49 00:03:35.409 --> 00:03:38.849 capabilities that are very unique. So those are the two things we focus on, 50 00:03:38.129 --> 00:03:42.840 protecting the workload and locking down the virtual infrastructure. So that's the high 51 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:45.800 trust part and that's probably spend a little bit too long on that, but 52 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:52.319 basically my job is to establish high trust in areas outside of North America because 53 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:55.669 for the longest time the company was really focused in the US and maybe to 54 00:03:55.750 --> 00:04:00.229 a lesser degree, in Canada, and since I've joined the company a couple 55 00:04:00.270 --> 00:04:03.469 of years ago, we made the decision to provide a global footprint for high 56 00:04:03.509 --> 00:04:08.870 trust and try to help customers who are headquartered outside of North America. Okay, 57 00:04:09.270 --> 00:04:11.819 that's what that's was running good and thanks for that. I mean that 58 00:04:11.900 --> 00:04:16.899 death was a very, very comprehensive idtunding of the very proposition of which wibviously 59 00:04:16.980 --> 00:04:20.779 love because we we've did a thou amount of work with you guys. So 60 00:04:20.860 --> 00:04:25.209 that's that's very useful. Thank you very much. But in some of the 61 00:04:25.290 --> 00:04:28.889 conversation can of coming back to the point that we want to discuss. There 62 00:04:29.050 --> 00:04:32.649 was I was particularly interested to invade you to join the podcast because obviously you 63 00:04:33.050 --> 00:04:36.490 are American, you are from the bay area, but I know from the 64 00:04:36.610 --> 00:04:40.839 work we've done together, that you have spent a lot of time not only 65 00:04:40.920 --> 00:04:45.560 in Europe but also in Asia and building up the business from scratch. And 66 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:48.879 really what I'm interesting to collect to them, and the topic that I want 67 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:53.629 to speak to you about, is is the journey of an American company, 68 00:04:53.670 --> 00:04:59.310 or anemy American individual yourself, if you will, in that process of onder 69 00:04:59.389 --> 00:05:02.509 something the local markets. Where do you start? Some of the challenges you 70 00:05:02.629 --> 00:05:05.430 came along the way? So I appreciate there is lots of things. We 71 00:05:05.470 --> 00:05:11.139 don't want to dig into too much details about all the issues, the issues 72 00:05:11.180 --> 00:05:14.860 and the problem that you come across. But but really what I'm interesting to 73 00:05:14.939 --> 00:05:18.939 understand is is your perspective from your American background, in your knowledge of the 74 00:05:18.980 --> 00:05:26.529 American market and kind of assessing the difficulties of the differences between your local markets 75 00:05:26.730 --> 00:05:30.850 and the markets in which you are now successfully but in which you had to 76 00:05:30.290 --> 00:05:34.089 start from scratch. So maybe we should start by if you could give us 77 00:05:34.089 --> 00:05:39.519 some positive and negatives of that expansion in Europe from available perspective, but with 78 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:42.160 the work for you. Yeah, yeah, that's fine. You know, 79 00:05:42.199 --> 00:05:46.279 we as company, we have to look for and every company that wants to 80 00:05:46.360 --> 00:05:50.310 expand into a new market needs to look for some point of leverage. Right. 81 00:05:50.389 --> 00:05:54.670 You want something that helps you lift more than your own weight. Otherwise, 82 00:05:55.189 --> 00:05:58.189 you know, you have to either hire a lot of salespeople or you're 83 00:05:58.189 --> 00:06:00.230 going to have a very small funnel and you're going to be very, you 84 00:06:00.310 --> 00:06:04.220 know, very laser focus on only a couple of things and and either one 85 00:06:04.259 --> 00:06:09.740 of those leads you to a situation where you know your odds of a big 86 00:06:09.819 --> 00:06:13.579 success or not very good. So you have to find something that is some 87 00:06:13.980 --> 00:06:16.019 different ways that will help you lift more than your own weight, and that's 88 00:06:16.060 --> 00:06:21.050 usually comes in the form of some type of reseller channel. Could potentially be 89 00:06:21.490 --> 00:06:27.970 a strategic partnership, something where a small company partners with a bigger company and 90 00:06:28.050 --> 00:06:31.610 then you get the benefit of the bigger companies relationships. So you know, 91 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:36.519 kind of business development type. I could be an OEM situation where you actually 92 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:43.319 sell your products through a bigger company than maybe that company even brands your product. 93 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:47.110 So they're these different, different paths. I think the least leverage comes 94 00:06:47.189 --> 00:06:51.389 from building a large sales force and, you know, immediately trying to sell 95 00:06:51.670 --> 00:06:58.790 direct into into European or even Asian markets, because companies outside the US want 96 00:06:58.790 --> 00:07:01.379 to buy from somebody that's local. They want to buy for the most part, 97 00:07:01.379 --> 00:07:04.060 they want to buy from somebody that is, you know, it's in 98 00:07:04.180 --> 00:07:10.459 country, that's you know, that already has maybe that they already have trusted 99 00:07:10.860 --> 00:07:15.019 by cell relationship with so they don't have to renegotiate terms in the dishes, 100 00:07:15.060 --> 00:07:17.810 etc. So again, you know, there are good reasons for finding that 101 00:07:18.009 --> 00:07:24.689 leverage and in whichever comes from. That's interesting that, because we always took 102 00:07:24.730 --> 00:07:29.209 about the chicken and the egg. So we when we engage with with US 103 00:07:29.329 --> 00:07:32.800 tatters that are looking at expending their marketing in Europe, all was as because 104 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:38.839 the questions, hey, should I start by recruiting someone on the ground or 105 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:42.240 should I start by building up a channel? And and, to be honest 106 00:07:42.279 --> 00:07:44.350 with you, the answer that we give them is you should do a bit 107 00:07:44.389 --> 00:07:46.910 of boats and you should do it almost at the same time, because the 108 00:07:46.990 --> 00:07:50.350 channel is important. The channel will led to potentially shot and yourself cycles, 109 00:07:50.629 --> 00:07:56.550 because you may find a Resett or someone who's got a relationship with that end 110 00:07:56.589 --> 00:08:00.379 user and because there are reference with the end users you mentioned. They've got 111 00:08:00.379 --> 00:08:03.019 the comin condition and all that. You can say. Six months of set 112 00:08:03.100 --> 00:08:07.459 cycles, which is fantastic, but so our recommendation is always to do a 113 00:08:07.500 --> 00:08:09.699 little bit of both at the same time. How did you go about it? 114 00:08:09.740 --> 00:08:13.290 Because I trust well, let me come and I what you said, 115 00:08:13.649 --> 00:08:16.490 because I agree with you. You really I don't think you can only do 116 00:08:16.689 --> 00:08:20.329 one. But even if you only have one person, they're going to have 117 00:08:20.410 --> 00:08:22.529 to find some way to balance their time, and the reason for that is 118 00:08:22.850 --> 00:08:30.279 the channel. Even if they share your view on the marketplace and the technology, 119 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:33.120 etc. They need to be shown that there's money, or else they're 120 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:35.679 not going to do they're not they're not going to invest, they're not con 121 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:39.879 invest their time, they're not can invest their other people's knowledge, because there 122 00:08:39.960 --> 00:08:43.110 for profit organizations just the same way that you are. So you have to 123 00:08:43.230 --> 00:08:46.990 show them some path to money. And the way you do that is you 124 00:08:48.509 --> 00:08:54.029 go and you talk to the customers first, you find the anchor customers and 125 00:08:54.590 --> 00:08:58.460 in this way, especially for a company like high trust that had success in 126 00:08:58.580 --> 00:09:01.980 North America, you look at the cut you look at the companies that are 127 00:09:01.019 --> 00:09:05.259 similar to the ones that we had success with, with some exceptions, but 128 00:09:05.539 --> 00:09:09.809 for the most part, for example financial services. We did very well in 129 00:09:09.889 --> 00:09:13.210 the United States with that government. We did very well in the United States 130 00:09:13.250 --> 00:09:18.450 with that. Now financial services a little faster time to time to value. 131 00:09:18.610 --> 00:09:24.480 Government is always a very long time to value. But but typically when those 132 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:28.039 deals start to happen, then they're very large. And then healthcare, in 133 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:31.559 the United States, something that we did very well, not really a big 134 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:35.759 opportunity. And outside the US, because of all the socialized medicine, however, 135 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:37.710 there are there are more and more private doctor groups and things like that, 136 00:09:37.750 --> 00:09:43.230 that and big hospitals and other things that need our expertise and helping to 137 00:09:43.309 --> 00:09:48.269 lock down the infrastructure for healthcare the same way we can for financial and for 138 00:09:48.470 --> 00:09:52.220 and for government. So there is some market there and there are certainly some 139 00:09:52.419 --> 00:09:56.820 groups that need our help. But even and even you could think of life 140 00:09:56.860 --> 00:10:01.980 sciences, like pharmaceuticals and and medical devices. But in looking at, for 141 00:10:03.100 --> 00:10:05.700 example, Europe, we had to look at some other vertical markets, right. 142 00:10:05.899 --> 00:10:09.409 We had we had to be pragmatic about it. You know, in 143 00:10:09.529 --> 00:10:13.210 Europe it isn't just as in the US we could live on just financial services, 144 00:10:13.450 --> 00:10:18.610 government and healthcare, but in Europe we really had to we had to 145 00:10:18.809 --> 00:10:22.799 look at manufacturing, transportation and retail, because those are still very, very 146 00:10:22.919 --> 00:10:26.960 strong markets that don't have incumbent vendors that do the things that we do. 147 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:31.320 So so that's one of the things that we did, is we shifted our 148 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:37.070 focus a little bit to add markets that were specific to the geography. And 149 00:10:37.350 --> 00:10:41.710 the other thing we tried to do was to focus down on not covering the 150 00:10:41.830 --> 00:10:45.990 entire continent, you know, multiple continents, right. You know, the 151 00:10:46.149 --> 00:10:50.460 EMA theater that many companies call it is the entire, you know, continent 152 00:10:50.580 --> 00:10:54.899 of Europe, it's the continent of Africa and it's, you know, a 153 00:10:54.019 --> 00:10:58.059 big chunk of the Middle East, you know, and basically the Gulf region 154 00:10:58.179 --> 00:11:01.779 and in northern Africa. So you can't cover all that, especially when you're 155 00:11:01.779 --> 00:11:07.370 just getting started. So you have to have primary markets, the secondary markets 156 00:11:07.610 --> 00:11:11.649 and then those secondary markets you can only be opportunistic, you can't be strategic. 157 00:11:11.049 --> 00:11:15.850 Mean you can't really be proactive about building channels there. You have to 158 00:11:15.929 --> 00:11:18.679 focus on your primary markets first, the ones are going to return on your 159 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:24.240 investment faster or the ones you believe that you will return on your investment faster. 160 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:26.799 So those are some of the those are some of the things that we 161 00:11:26.440 --> 00:11:30.679 we employed or some of the thoughts that we employed when we entered the market 162 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:33.950 and I would say that, you know, I believe we were right on 163 00:11:33.070 --> 00:11:37.710 most of them, but some of them, some of them took longer than 164 00:11:37.750 --> 00:11:39.909 maybe we would. We would have lights for them to so, but that's 165 00:11:39.950 --> 00:11:45.710 what we did. Okay, that's very entorning thing. And out the order 166 00:11:45.789 --> 00:11:48.620 that. which was your biggest change? What is the thing that your phone 167 00:11:48.820 --> 00:11:54.340 the most difficult to have? Welcome, all the most challenging, from doing 168 00:11:54.419 --> 00:11:58.340 business in North America to doing business in Europe. Yeah, there are a 169 00:11:58.379 --> 00:12:01.970 couple things. I don't know which one's the biggest, but I'll tell you 170 00:12:01.090 --> 00:12:05.610 one big one and then maybe I'll tell you another one. So one big 171 00:12:05.690 --> 00:12:11.570 one is finding reseller partners that believe the same way, that high trust us. 172 00:12:11.090 --> 00:12:15.960 And here's what I mean by that. So I believe that a channel 173 00:12:16.039 --> 00:12:20.240 partnership in many ways has nothing to do with the technology itself. I mean, 174 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:24.399 technology is important, but I believe that a successful channel partnership is really 175 00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:30.470 based on kind of a balance sheet approach between you and the partner, and 176 00:12:30.950 --> 00:12:35.350 there are really three things that the partner needs and vendor has to do all 177 00:12:35.389 --> 00:12:39.509 of those things or else you can't have a partnership and the partner has to 178 00:12:39.549 --> 00:12:43.750 do three things and if they don't, then then the vendor can't have a 179 00:12:43.789 --> 00:12:46.019 good partnership with that. And so here's so if you think about things sort 180 00:12:46.059 --> 00:12:50.980 of on in this this balance sheet approach, on one side, what does 181 00:12:50.059 --> 00:12:54.019 the partner need? The partner needs three things. You know, when everything 182 00:12:54.059 --> 00:12:58.220 else fails, the partner needs three things. He needs you to be able 183 00:12:58.259 --> 00:13:03.649 to uphold his margins structure, because all resellers do business on margin and that 184 00:13:03.809 --> 00:13:05.809 at the end of the year that's what the owners pay themselves. On Your 185 00:13:05.889 --> 00:13:11.370 Small Company Yourself, I'm sure that the margins on your business not just the 186 00:13:11.450 --> 00:13:15.159 top line. It's more importantly, it's the margin, right. So in 187 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:16.879 for our company, you run your business on the margin, not on the 188 00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:20.840 top one. So number one, you have to uphold the margin structure of 189 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:24.240 that company. Can't ask them to take less margin than is normal. Second 190 00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:28.509 thing is you have to give them something new and cool to talk to the 191 00:13:28.590 --> 00:13:31.029 customer about. That's where the technology comes in, but it doesn't matter what 192 00:13:31.149 --> 00:13:35.590 that is that you just need to give them something that that holds, holds 193 00:13:35.669 --> 00:13:39.629 water with the customers so that they can walk in and say I've got something 194 00:13:39.710 --> 00:13:41.899 really great and you need to see it. The third thing is you've got 195 00:13:41.980 --> 00:13:48.620 to give them away that they can, that they can actually provide services around 196 00:13:48.740 --> 00:13:52.940 your product. And the reason that this is so important is because they make 197 00:13:52.340 --> 00:13:58.610 two to three times the margin on services then they do on software and hardware. 198 00:13:58.049 --> 00:14:01.529 So if you give them those three things, then you can or if 199 00:14:01.529 --> 00:14:05.809 you if you make those available to them in the partnership, then you've covered 200 00:14:05.850 --> 00:14:09.450 off the things that you have, you know, the foundational things you have 201 00:14:09.570 --> 00:14:11.759 to do. Yeah, that's one thing. The flip side is for company 202 00:14:11.879 --> 00:14:16.720 like contrasts, a company not in the market place yet, just getting into 203 00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:20.159 the market, there are three things we need from our partner. One is 204 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:22.919 we need a wider funnel, and that is we need them to go talk 205 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:26.190 to customers. That would take us a long time to find. mind. 206 00:14:26.350 --> 00:14:30.710 It's one of the reasons why we engage with you are really in and your 207 00:14:30.750 --> 00:14:33.389 organizations, because we need to widen our funnel very, very quickly, which 208 00:14:33.429 --> 00:14:37.350 we were able to do. But the partner can help you do that with 209 00:14:37.509 --> 00:14:41.220 customers that he already knows. So why do the funnel? Number One? 210 00:14:41.220 --> 00:14:45.259 Number two shorten the sale cycle. This is where at the beginning of the 211 00:14:45.299 --> 00:14:48.659 cell cycle the customer doesn't know you, but if a trusted advisor comes in, 212 00:14:50.059 --> 00:14:52.929 you know the partner's trust. The advisor comes in and says, I've 213 00:14:52.970 --> 00:14:56.090 got something really great, you need to see it. I've never steered you 214 00:14:56.210 --> 00:15:00.649 wrong before. That really takes a lot of the education part out of the 215 00:15:00.730 --> 00:15:03.610 front part of the cell cycle. That then I don't have to deal with 216 00:15:03.129 --> 00:15:07.440 because the end customer trust that the reseller. The third thing that we need 217 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:13.799 our feet on the street, right we need people besides my own people talking 218 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:18.440 about the product, you know, talking to customers about it, possibly even 219 00:15:18.519 --> 00:15:22.870 providing services and support or the ability to demonstrate the product. So that's the 220 00:15:24.029 --> 00:15:28.070 leverage that comes from more people right. So if if we get the three 221 00:15:28.070 --> 00:15:31.269 things we need and they get the three things they need, then you you 222 00:15:31.950 --> 00:15:35.980 have the basis for a good partnership. But there's one other thing that's very 223 00:15:35.019 --> 00:15:39.139 important. So those things are great and you can get a customer or partner 224 00:15:39.179 --> 00:15:45.379 to agree to them, but the partner has to believe themselves to be the 225 00:15:45.500 --> 00:15:50.649 type of partner who's responsibility it is to bring the new, innovative technology to 226 00:15:50.690 --> 00:15:54.490 their customers. And these are very seemed like a mind point, but it's 227 00:15:54.529 --> 00:15:58.570 not. Many partners only want to sell the tried in the true right, 228 00:15:58.690 --> 00:16:02.570 you know, the things are easy, the things that are very well known 229 00:16:02.610 --> 00:16:06.159 by their customers and the things that are already being asked for. They don't 230 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:10.679 see themselves as bringing the new things, but some partners do, and those 231 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:14.399 are the ones that you need, especially if you're a new vendor coming into 232 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:17.320 a market place, Uni people that see things the same way that you do. 233 00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:22.590 I kind of call this sort of evangelist partner. So number one hard 234 00:16:22.669 --> 00:16:26.269 thing about entering a market is finding those guys, because you have to look 235 00:16:26.309 --> 00:16:30.590 for them, just like you have to look for salespeople and other partner so 236 00:16:30.710 --> 00:16:33.620 that was that was one of the main things. I would say the second 237 00:16:33.740 --> 00:16:37.740 main thing that was difficult for us as we enter the market was because we 238 00:16:37.899 --> 00:16:41.940 really had no presence at all. We had to establish presence with our strategic 239 00:16:42.059 --> 00:16:48.769 partners, especially intellmvm where where they really didn't know us and they knew us 240 00:16:48.889 --> 00:16:51.889 in the US and they know us from a headquarter basis, but in the 241 00:16:51.970 --> 00:16:55.049 field they did know us at all. So it's taken a long time to, 242 00:16:55.570 --> 00:16:57.009 you know, find the right people that we could talk to you there, 243 00:16:57.090 --> 00:17:00.559 that understood our mission, understood their own mission and how we would fit 244 00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:06.319 into it in an ecosystem. And so I would say that's just been roll 245 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:10.519 up the sleeves kind of spade work, if you will. So those are 246 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:12.839 the two things, I would say, that have been the most difficult as 247 00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:18.309 far as getting getting going at the biggest challenges we found in expanding in Europe. 248 00:17:18.789 --> 00:17:22.349 Okay, so would you it, and but that you see, you 249 00:17:22.470 --> 00:17:26.750 see a difference in the way to US Chinn, or is a parrating the 250 00:17:26.750 --> 00:17:29.630 else? Use the Europe and Chin, or or was it just a question 251 00:17:29.710 --> 00:17:33.460 of building up this relationship at the beginning with the Europe and both knows? 252 00:17:33.900 --> 00:17:36.859 I think it was a matter of first of all finding the partners that that 253 00:17:37.019 --> 00:17:38.859 felt the same way that we did, because you never know, you have 254 00:17:38.940 --> 00:17:42.539 to cast your net very wide and talk to a lot and you talk to 255 00:17:42.579 --> 00:17:45.970 a lot of talk to a lot of people, as the saying goes, 256 00:17:45.970 --> 00:17:48.130 kiss a lot of frogs, and so you have to talk to you know 257 00:17:48.410 --> 00:17:52.089 a lot of partners will approach you, especially if you know they see you 258 00:17:52.170 --> 00:17:55.410 at a show or whatever, but they, a lot of them, will 259 00:17:55.410 --> 00:17:57.410 waste your time, and so you need to you need to find out quickly. 260 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:03.160 Are they the evangelist that will help you spread the word about your product, 261 00:18:03.400 --> 00:18:07.960 or are they really looking for an easy sale? Because no startup company, 262 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:12.109 no young Technology Company, no private company, is going to have something 263 00:18:12.190 --> 00:18:15.190 that is so easy that's just going to fly off the shells. And if 264 00:18:15.230 --> 00:18:18.029 it's that easy, then you don't even need a channel. You can just 265 00:18:18.109 --> 00:18:22.789 sell it through a retailer or, you know, some type of you know 266 00:18:22.910 --> 00:18:27.619 some type of direct marketing or you know something like that. So it's always 267 00:18:27.660 --> 00:18:33.299 going to be some real work rolling up the sleeves and going and finding those 268 00:18:33.339 --> 00:18:36.420 customers that you can help. I sort of think about this in that way, 269 00:18:36.539 --> 00:18:40.299 right, you have to seek out those customers that that need you but 270 00:18:40.380 --> 00:18:42.529 don't even know that they need you. It's almost like this is not a 271 00:18:42.650 --> 00:18:45.890 religious reference, so please don't take it that way, but I think it 272 00:18:47.170 --> 00:18:49.849 it really more like the missionary who has to go out and seek out the 273 00:18:49.930 --> 00:18:56.279 unconverted. But the unconverted are those companies that don't know that there's a technology 274 00:18:56.359 --> 00:19:00.720 they can help them, and so you have to find resellers and partners that 275 00:19:00.839 --> 00:19:03.359 believe the same way, that you do the belief that finding those that the 276 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:07.799 the number one, most important thing is to find customers you can help with 277 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:11.990 your innovative technologies, and those, those partners, are very rare. So 278 00:19:12.150 --> 00:19:15.269 I will just tell you that. You know, that's that's one of the 279 00:19:15.349 --> 00:19:18.829 most difficult things. You can't use models from the US because in the US, 280 00:19:18.910 --> 00:19:22.549 if you already have a business that has has volume, then the resellers 281 00:19:22.630 --> 00:19:26.700 can, they can take orders and they can you know that they don't have 282 00:19:26.819 --> 00:19:30.980 they'll have to work hard to be evangelist for your your technology. But in 283 00:19:30.099 --> 00:19:33.140 a new market like you're apar Asia, you have to find the ones that 284 00:19:33.539 --> 00:19:38.049 believe. Yeah, that's okay. So very interesting. So in the response 285 00:19:38.130 --> 00:19:41.769 that you you gave me a regarding the challenges. You don't mention the direct 286 00:19:41.890 --> 00:19:45.089 sense, Folso, the direct people that you had to recruit. Is that 287 00:19:45.210 --> 00:19:48.890 because he was like a flawless process for you? Is it because you workruited 288 00:19:48.930 --> 00:19:52.769 people that you you walked within the past, of people that you know are 289 00:19:52.849 --> 00:19:55.759 it's it, but you know a reason why you don't mention any challenger. 290 00:19:55.880 --> 00:19:59.200 But actually finding this first, I trust people on the ground in, you 291 00:19:59.240 --> 00:20:00.839 know, new territory. No, it is a challenge and I'll tell you 292 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:04.920 that I didn't mention it only because I felt that, you know, when 293 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:10.109 I took this challenge on, I needed to understand what the market was going 294 00:20:10.150 --> 00:20:12.910 to be like before I went out and found the people that, you know, 295 00:20:12.990 --> 00:20:17.190 we would be able to we'd be able to use to grow the team's 296 00:20:17.589 --> 00:20:21.500 and there's a reason for that. I believe very strongly that you build the 297 00:20:21.619 --> 00:20:25.619 team to support the mission, not the other way around. And a lot 298 00:20:25.700 --> 00:20:29.259 of people in Solicon Valley, a lot of companies see at the different see 299 00:20:29.299 --> 00:20:32.339 at the other way. They basically say, well, let's just assemble a 300 00:20:32.460 --> 00:20:34.579 team and then let them that. Let's figure out what we should point them 301 00:20:34.579 --> 00:20:37.690 at. But I believe that, and I believe this even more and more 302 00:20:37.849 --> 00:20:41.769 after a number of different startup companies that I've been with over the years, 303 00:20:42.210 --> 00:20:47.049 that you the first thing you start with is the fundamental problem that you're solving 304 00:20:47.329 --> 00:20:51.160 with your technology. The second thing that you look at is who is the 305 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:55.000 customer that I'm helping with this? The third thing you look at is who's 306 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:59.039 the person inside that customer who needs you right or it could be did, 307 00:20:59.079 --> 00:21:02.720 it could be several different groups, but you need to identify the person that 308 00:21:02.759 --> 00:21:06.789 you can make a hero out of if your technology works. The fourth thing 309 00:21:06.869 --> 00:21:10.309 you look at is how do they want my technology to be packaged so they 310 00:21:10.349 --> 00:21:12.950 can consume it? The fifth thing that you look at is how do they 311 00:21:14.029 --> 00:21:15.230 want to buy it? Who Do they want to buy it from? What 312 00:21:15.390 --> 00:21:19.500 kind of a channel? Direct via the web service, whatever that is. 313 00:21:21.019 --> 00:21:22.660 And then finally, in not at you know, your channel, in other 314 00:21:22.700 --> 00:21:26.660 words, at last part. And then the last thing is the team. 315 00:21:26.940 --> 00:21:30.299 And it should be the last thing, because you need to have all these 316 00:21:30.380 --> 00:21:33.170 other things sorted out before you build a team. Otherwise you're building a team 317 00:21:33.210 --> 00:21:37.690 that may or may not fit the mission. And you know, I'll say 318 00:21:37.809 --> 00:21:41.170 that I have. I've been a chief revenue officer, I've been this CEO. 319 00:21:41.609 --> 00:21:45.130 You know I've been I've been had of sales, for sales, marketing, 320 00:21:45.210 --> 00:21:48.880 business development for a number of startup companies and even more now, after 321 00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:52.000 all this time. I will leave this to be true, that you build 322 00:21:52.039 --> 00:21:56.279 the team appropriate to the mission, and so that's why, you know, 323 00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:59.880 when it came to hiring, I didn't really worry about it in the early 324 00:21:59.960 --> 00:22:02.869 time. I need to understand the market, I need to understand the mission 325 00:22:03.029 --> 00:22:06.029 and then you go and you find people that you think are good, you 326 00:22:06.109 --> 00:22:08.230 know are a good fit, and even when you feel like you have a 327 00:22:08.269 --> 00:22:11.349 good understanding of that, you could be wrong. I will say that. 328 00:22:11.509 --> 00:22:15.140 You know, I was wrong in the initial hires I made an Asia Pacific. 329 00:22:17.140 --> 00:22:18.779 You know, the people that I hired there were not start up people, 330 00:22:19.099 --> 00:22:22.900 and that's that's a critical thing when bringing somebody into the company that's a 331 00:22:23.420 --> 00:22:27.019 company at stage that high trust is. That is they have to be flexible 332 00:22:27.059 --> 00:22:32.569 enough to deal with the challenges of what I call start up land, because 333 00:22:32.569 --> 00:22:34.650 it's not the same as big companies where you have a lot of support and 334 00:22:36.089 --> 00:22:42.289 you have maybe at different expectations, etc. So that's that's that's very true. 335 00:22:42.369 --> 00:22:45.839 Mean, we've seen that case many time. While individual we have been 336 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:52.720 very successful in the large organization with just them arrived in the smaller organization. 337 00:22:52.920 --> 00:22:56.680 Well, you know, it to in it to of the recruitment touch. 338 00:22:56.759 --> 00:22:59.150 You need to have the channel how to. You need to be a dark 339 00:22:59.190 --> 00:23:03.269 service person. You almost to be a Swiss army knife. You need to 340 00:23:03.349 --> 00:23:06.150 be a ready they will be a new challenge coming every day and some things 341 00:23:06.190 --> 00:23:08.109 that challenge maybe you know, bringing some milk in the office or whatever it 342 00:23:08.190 --> 00:23:11.990 could be. It could be some silly things, but it's about it's about 343 00:23:11.029 --> 00:23:17.420 being ready to work very in autonomy, and I think that's very difficult in 344 00:23:17.460 --> 00:23:21.859 large organization because you've got a lot of support from different places. Okay, 345 00:23:22.019 --> 00:23:25.420 I've seen some people starting in Europe, you know, having to really do 346 00:23:25.740 --> 00:23:30.089 some nitty gritty stuff and it takes a specific character to be able to do 347 00:23:30.170 --> 00:23:34.289 so and definitely having the entrepreneurial or the having some management experience in the past 348 00:23:34.410 --> 00:23:38.690 can can very be very useful. We've also seen some up and coming, 349 00:23:40.130 --> 00:23:44.599 you know, kind of people that may never have proved themselves before in running 350 00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:48.519 an organization in Europe, but particularly in one of the end point company, 351 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:52.279 one of the Big One, we've seen one guy was coming from another startup, 352 00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:56.269 just as one of the top sales guy picking up his first vp em 353 00:23:56.470 --> 00:23:59.869 a role and being very successful. So I think it's a mix of both. 354 00:23:59.950 --> 00:24:02.990 Sometimes you may need to look at someone who's got the potential, D 355 00:24:03.109 --> 00:24:07.309 energy and is angry to hope. She's angry to prove ourself by himself, 356 00:24:07.509 --> 00:24:10.500 and sometimes you need to add someone. You could look at the second profile, 357 00:24:10.539 --> 00:24:12.980 which is that individual that has already done it in the past, but 358 00:24:14.140 --> 00:24:17.460 does the reason why askuld the question because we know that it's a paint point 359 00:24:17.700 --> 00:24:21.980 for most of most of our clients coming into Europe and we've seen people making 360 00:24:22.019 --> 00:24:25.329 making making the mistakes, which I don't think you should be ashamed of, 361 00:24:25.569 --> 00:24:27.569 because it's it happens. At some point you need to make a decision. 362 00:24:27.970 --> 00:24:30.450 The most important is to make sure that if you make the wrong decision, 363 00:24:30.490 --> 00:24:34.049 you can you can rectify it as quick yes, Pussy Point, but look, 364 00:24:34.089 --> 00:24:37.450 but that was very useful. I guess my next question to you is 365 00:24:37.529 --> 00:24:41.440 really around the Oudo or listener. I can get in touch with you if 366 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:45.440 they want to discuss about high trust or they want to discuss some of your 367 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:49.400 experience in Europe a pack and carrying the flag of Fight Dress Indus New territory 368 00:24:49.559 --> 00:24:53.190 in a very successful way. So what is the best way to get in 369 00:24:53.309 --> 00:24:56.789 touch with you? Pets? Yeah, sure, so probably the best way 370 00:24:56.829 --> 00:25:03.269 is for the email me at Pcnte, at High Trustcom pee county, at 371 00:25:03.309 --> 00:25:07.220 high trustcom and you know, if they want to reference this podcast, I 372 00:25:07.339 --> 00:25:11.900 heard you on the podcast, or interested to talk more about this particular subject. 373 00:25:11.940 --> 00:25:15.420 I'm always happy to talk to companies and people that are looking to enter 374 00:25:15.579 --> 00:25:19.180 markets and and and whatnot. I've done a lot of that kind of consulting 375 00:25:19.299 --> 00:25:23.009 and those types of things in my past and the look, it's not easy 376 00:25:23.410 --> 00:25:27.490 and I think that ultimately, if you do one thing right in entering a 377 00:25:27.529 --> 00:25:33.650 new market as a company, it's to hire that first person. Hire the 378 00:25:33.730 --> 00:25:37.400 right first person. And you're right what you said that they may need to 379 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:41.000 be a Swiss army knife. They may not ultimately be the person that grows 380 00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:45.039 and leaves the organization, but they may be. And put the most important 381 00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:49.109 thing is they have to have that that mentality that we were talking about before, 382 00:25:49.190 --> 00:25:55.190 that sort of that missionary and mentality. And because you're going to you 383 00:25:55.269 --> 00:25:56.869 know you're going to hear a lot of nose, you're going to you know 384 00:25:56.990 --> 00:26:00.309 you're going to run into a lot of roadblocks that are just naturally put up 385 00:26:00.309 --> 00:26:03.230 for you, a lot of friction, and but you can't let that stop 386 00:26:03.299 --> 00:26:06.859 you. If you believe in what you're doing, if you believe that you 387 00:26:06.980 --> 00:26:11.420 can help customers with your innovative technology, then then you won't let that stop 388 00:26:11.460 --> 00:26:14.859 you. And then here's my analogy. Right. You know, there's there's 389 00:26:14.940 --> 00:26:18.809 difference. You know, they the missionary has really one thing that makes them 390 00:26:19.329 --> 00:26:22.890 different, and that is they do it for the mission, right. I 391 00:26:22.970 --> 00:26:27.130 mean my Catholic school nuns used to call it missionary zeal. So, and 392 00:26:27.250 --> 00:26:32.049 that's what missionaries do. They go out and because they believe that they're they're 393 00:26:32.089 --> 00:26:36.079 there to help save people. And again, this is it religious. This 394 00:26:36.200 --> 00:26:41.279 is about saving people technologically. But remember, remember, if you're a crappy 395 00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:44.759 missionary, what happens to you? You get killed, the Eaton by the 396 00:26:44.759 --> 00:26:48.269 natives, right. I mean that is oh so. Therefore, missionaries are 397 00:26:48.710 --> 00:26:52.589 fearless because they don't they don't think about the negative consequence, because they're not 398 00:26:52.750 --> 00:26:56.269 there for a plus, they're there for the mission. And so when you 399 00:26:56.430 --> 00:27:00.190 hire people, need to hire people that you believe feel this way. And 400 00:27:00.579 --> 00:27:03.299 I look, lots of people think they do, but I like to test 401 00:27:03.380 --> 00:27:07.019 people before I hire them and say look, you know, think about what 402 00:27:07.140 --> 00:27:08.900 this is going to be like when things are good, you know, and 403 00:27:08.940 --> 00:27:12.660 you're getting good response from customers and things are moving forward and you're all energized. 404 00:27:12.819 --> 00:27:15.650 And think about it when, when things are not as good, you 405 00:27:15.690 --> 00:27:18.250 know, will you will you be able to keep your energy level up. 406 00:27:18.250 --> 00:27:21.809 Will you be able to make that next call? Will you be able to 407 00:27:21.930 --> 00:27:26.769 push through? Because the opportunities are there and Europe in particular is a phenomenal 408 00:27:26.890 --> 00:27:30.640 market, and it is, it's in many ways. In many ways it's 409 00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:33.359 the best job in the company. I have to say I really enjoy being 410 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:37.960 over there. I enjoy talking to customers and prospects in all these different countries. 411 00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:41.480 I enjoy the you know, the challenge, the sort of the puzzle 412 00:27:41.960 --> 00:27:47.750 of finding a way to fit how our innovative technology can help these companies that 413 00:27:47.829 --> 00:27:51.470 may not even know about it, and I like working with world class customers. 414 00:27:51.549 --> 00:27:55.670 So, you know, it's a great opportunity. I'm still excited about 415 00:27:55.670 --> 00:27:57.900 it even after even after the couple of years that have been, you know, 416 00:27:57.980 --> 00:28:02.019 the heavy duty spade work, if you will. But personally I like 417 00:28:02.220 --> 00:28:04.980 building companies and so when you pick somebody, you have to find somebody that 418 00:28:06.099 --> 00:28:10.140 is willing to do the hard work, is willing to do the manual labor 419 00:28:10.259 --> 00:28:11.970 of company built. And so so when a guy said that would be my 420 00:28:12.609 --> 00:28:18.730 last maybe comment and then I'm perfectly happy to talk to anybody who's interesting, 421 00:28:18.849 --> 00:28:22.970 unless you're a direct competitor on which case, if you buy me a drink 422 00:28:22.009 --> 00:28:25.769 on my talk to you, ha ha, I'll say it's more like fall 423 00:28:25.930 --> 00:28:33.240 fife from my own bustling expense. That enough. Well, that's that was 424 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:36.279 one of footbutter coming again. Let's off inside that. I like some of 425 00:28:36.319 --> 00:28:38.599 the energy that your views. I think it don't make sense. And Yeah, 426 00:28:38.839 --> 00:28:42.710 I would encourage really anyone that may want to have a chat with someone 427 00:28:42.869 --> 00:28:48.470 and bound some mayds and but also looking at expending a US organization. or 428 00:28:48.470 --> 00:28:53.349 You could even be an Eastraili vendel, Asian Veno but with vend outside of 429 00:28:53.470 --> 00:28:56.460 Europe trying to come into the market. I know that you are very sorrow 430 00:28:56.700 --> 00:29:02.339 when you looked at the different Rossetta or distribute to what model, vows, 431 00:29:02.380 --> 00:29:06.299 etc. Etc. Because we actually spoke about it in length a few time. 432 00:29:06.539 --> 00:29:08.180 So I think they would really benefit from your expires. I would really 433 00:29:08.180 --> 00:29:11.890 encourage in your party and those two to get in touch with you've down looking 434 00:29:11.890 --> 00:29:17.410 at expending geographicity, but you know as of today. But I really appreciate 435 00:29:17.529 --> 00:29:21.650 your time and insights. So thank you very much for today. And Yeah, 436 00:29:21.809 --> 00:29:23.920 as we discussopre, I would see you soon in London Fall. One 437 00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:27.319 not to drinks. Yeah, looking forward to that and thanks so much for 438 00:29:27.400 --> 00:29:32.440 inviting me. I really enjoyed it and you know, I'll just say goodbye 439 00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:37.480 to all your all your listeners. Thank you. operatics has redefined the meaning 440 00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:44.750 of revenue generation for technology companies worldwide. While the traditional concepts of building and 441 00:29:44.829 --> 00:29:49.349 managing inside sales teams inhouse has existed for many years, companies are struggling with 442 00:29:49.430 --> 00:29:56.019 a lack of focus, agility and scale required in today's fast and complex world 443 00:29:56.299 --> 00:30:02.740 of enterprise technology sales. See How operatics can help your company accelerate pipeline at 444 00:30:02.859 --> 00:30:07.849 operatics dotnet. You've been listening to BEDB revenue acceleration. To ensure that you 445 00:30:07.970 --> 00:30:11.650 never miss an episode, subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast player. 446 00:30:12.250 --> 00:30:15.529 Thank you so much for listening. Until next time.

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