Making it in the US with Scott Dommett from Rampersand VC
- Author
- Atlas Digital
- Published
- Mon 28 Oct 2024
- Episode Link
- https://theraise.atlasdigital.nz//
Skim the show notes from our chat with Scott Dommett:
Play up ANZ’s capital efficiency - The US has capital abundance in the venture ecosystem and lots of tech companies being built. ANZ are a little more conservative in the way it deploys cash (less cash + smaller round sizes). This, alongside the like cultural differences between us and the USA is actually means you get these incredible ANZ founders that are able to do so much with a lot less than what the US people are able to do. And the Americans love it because what we’re able ton convert with a small elite team is factors ahead of what US founders can do with each of their million dollars.
US customers are a must have - “Generally, even if you've scaled well in Australia and New Zealand, if you don't have proven ability to go to market in the US, and that's either through revenue traction or user traction, they'll tend to discount your ANZ revenue to zero.That all changes once your revenue is starting to look like 50% from the US or you have a few more customers over there, Then they will no longer have to discount your ANZ revenue because they'll know that that revenue is also proof that there are customers in Asia Pacific region.It starts to accelerate once you have those first US customers, they start to pay attention to you, like, can think of you as “REAL.”
Get comfortable with the hustle - “If you don't pitch a grandiose vision, you kind of sound, weak, not the right word, but like, that's the kind of vibe you get. The other thing is the networking over there is next level. After a ten minute conversation, LinkedIn requests are flying out before you’ve even learned the person’s name. While it might feel surface level, people are forthcoming with friendly introductions e.g. “you have to meet this person, you're building in the same space, you need to sell to this person etc.” And then they would* actually make the connection. You’d be getting instantaneous value adds.”
