Scaling an EU Business Internationally with Marketing
Small European markets have a hard ceiling. The companies that break through it into the US don’t have a better strategy than the ones that stall, they just refuse to move slowly and are more aggressive in their marketing.
I run growth for B2B software (SaaS) out of Europe, and most of my work has nothing to do with the local market.
It’s with European companies selling into the US, or companies trying to leave a home market that’s too small to scale in.
I’ve watched this play out as both an internal employee, fractional, and a consultant. The main challenge of local businesses is being less bold than their US counterparts.
Based on an Interview
This newsletter is based on an interview I recently gave for a Cyprus-based news organization in Greek.
As a good portion of people reading this newsletter comes from Greece & Cyprus, I thought to share the full interview as well.
I would appreciate a like, comment, and maybe a hype on the video 🙏
How Much Can You Grow Locally?
A profitable company in a small market can make a significant profit. Local businesses can be locally big.
But, do you want to be a big fish in a small lake, or a small fish in a big lake? It depends!
I tend to monitor some high-performing businesses in Greece, our closest market in terms of culture. The ~1 million people in Cyprus with higher buying power, versus the ~11 million people in Greece with lower buying power. Eshops, chains, software, everything tends to get bigger in Greece due to the critical mass that allows them to utilize markets of scale.
Italy, Germany, Spain, all around the ~70 million and up marks, are quite self-sufficient with companies performing most kind of services and software coming from inside the country and speaking their language.
But, still the ~300 million unified market of the U.S. provides both scale and capital to outperform most. The bigger lake has advantages.
Think of it like that (Greece vs Cyprus example):
Sell at €100 per seat in a small market, win 400 customers, and you’ve built a €40k/m business, that’s a half million ARR.
Take the same product into a market ten times the size, cut the price to €70 to win on a more competitive field. With 2000 clients you get to €280k/m, €3 million in ARR.
Lower price, bigger volume, more total revenue.
The small market loses on the only number that matters: the total.
For B2B software specifically, the home market is almost never enough.
The economics need volume the local market simply cannot supply.
The Multi-Country vs International Expansion Challenge
It feels easier to expand in another market in the EU or adjacent.
Every country is an island. The One Europe, One Market roadmap is still far, and too little to cover the differences.
Every European country is its own market. Own language, own systems, own incumbents, own buying culture.
Each country defaults to either local solutions or global ones, and “global” in most categories means American.
Crossing a European border means re-entering from scratch:
A new language and a localized funnel
A new set of entrenched local competitors
A buying culture that quietly prefers its own
And the bigger the country, the harder the entry
Possibly you need local speakers to get each market.
The US is more open to external competition, even when it prefers it’s local solutions, still. One large, English-speaking market that is more willing to try a vendor it has never heard of.
Americans are faster, take more chances, and churn more easily. It’s still better than the long decision cycles and legal blocks of EU.
One little secret: when you say “international” or “global,” it means U.S.-first with Tier 1 and English-speakers.+
Primary: the Tier 1, English-speaking markets. The US first, then the UK, Canada, Australia, and Ireland. This is what we mean when we talk about targeting international markets.
Secondary: the larger economies that speak English as a strong second language. The Netherlands, the Nordics, Germany, and similar. You can often sell here in English with light localization, which makes them the natural step after the Anglosphere.
Everything else is a long tail. Real markets, but later, and usually only once the first two tiers are working.
So going straight at the US, then widening into the rest of the Anglosphere, is often a shorter path than grinding across fragmented European borders.
Build the Base First. Feet on the Ground Soon After
You do not need a US office on day one.
That is the expensive move.
Leading with it means betting the company before you have any proof the market wants you.
Do it in two stages.
First, build the base remotely.
Land your first customers from where you already are.
Work with digital marketing, outreach, a few short trips for B2B & conferences.
Prove the market!
Feet on the Ground
If you are working through B2B sales motions, feet on the ground, local people in events, conferences, dinners, meet-ups are a must-have.
For lighter touch services, you might need a good, clear accent and remote employees. But, a small presence in the U.S. while you grow helps.
A Story
Two years ago, I was working with a healthtech startup. Great, strong team.
On one of our general conversations, I told them one thing “your audience is in conferences, they need you to be there, you need to consider feet on the ground or travelling often to achieve your goals.”
Their answer surprised me:
“It’s already planned. In a couple of months, I (the CEO) am going for at least 3 months to join industry conferences and talk with investors. I will stay as long as I need to”.
He spent almost 6 months, and brought business & investment back.
If you want an international expansion, but not willing to pay the price, you are not going to see a strong return.
Slow & Weak Kills Your Marketing Motions
Entering a new market takes months.
It takes money.
It takes persistence.
Running one campaign and concluding “the US doesn’t work for us,” is a half-measured approach.
You have to commit. Truly try, test, pivot, talk with potential clients, and repeat.
This is the same argument I keep coming back to in The New Competitive Moat: Effort.
The bold move works because almost nobody makes it.
Effort is expensive.
That is exactly why it is a moat.
Now is the Time!
Speed is the other half.
Spot an opening, decide to move on it in three years, and the opening is gone. Someone else walks in and locks it.
Your product is not ready.
Your team is not ready.
Your budget is not ready.
What you are building might not be a moat in 2-3 years.
The market waits no-one.
A Word on MarTech Stacks
I still like Spreadsheets for reporting, sometimes simpler, less complex solutions work at the beginning.
Tech bloat is killing growth.
Complex system need expensive maintenance.
Don’t be a Sniper
Most tech founders think having the TOP tool for every job is great.
But, one tool for each job might be more expensive in the long-term.
What I advocate is one of the following:
a) Use an all-in-one tool like HubSpot and a couple others for where it really falls short. But, keep in mind they work well with HubSpot.
b) Choose your CRM or most important central tool first. EVERYTHING else has to play well (integrate) seemlessly with it - no dev requirements.
Simplify, Consolidate
Avoid adding extra tech headaches.
Keep your stack simple, workable, easy for new employees, the same across departments.
This allows you for a birds’ eye view and quick work.
What you lose in visibility, tracking, niched-down metrics, you gain in speed and ease of use.
Where Europe Loses on its U.S. Counterparts
The thing that separates American go-to-market from European go-to-market often isn’t capability. It’s boldness.
American tech sells with enormous conviction.
The biggest AI companies are the clearest example we have right now.
Their leaders, from Sam Altman to Dario Amodei, and even the more serious Demis Hassabis, project outsized confidence and inflate expectations to a degree that would make most European founders wince.
Discount what they say by 90% and you’d still want to buy.
That confidence isn’t an accident or a personality quirk.
It’s how you win attention in a crowded market, and it works.
European founders tend to do the reverse.
They discount themselves. “We’re not ready.” “We’re too small.” “Let’s wait and see.”
(especially in my home-country, Cyprus)
That caution reads as humility in the boardroom and as weakness in the market.
I’m not telling you to lie about your product.
Forget what you know about the EU way:
Slow
Compliant
Bureaucratic
Long sales cycles
Now is the Time!
If you’re scaling B2B software out of a small European market, the constraint is mindset, not capability.
It’s how fast and how hard you’re willing to move on a market that will not sit still and wait for you to feel ready.
Are you building a Software targeting the international market? If yes, I would love to hear more in the comments 👇