On December 11th The Vollman Group was asked by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York, in partnership with B. Building Business and The Next Web, to teach a workshop on expanding to the US to a group of select Dutch startups. Participating companies included 5miles, Veneficus, Tosti Creative, Innovation Booster and Fuga.
We discussed how to determine if your team is ready to go global, techniques for making initial sales in the US and differences between hiring in the Netherlands and in New York City. There was also a lot of sharing among teams as they were at different stages in the expansion process.
As I've continued to meet with more teams and understand US expansion pain points over the past two years, it's clear that selling and hiring are top of mind. The cost of hiring a US employee (particularly a New Yorker) continues to surprise non-US founders.
It was a wonderful evening as I was also able to see the finished B. New York space. I toured the raw space back in April so it was exciting to see how far they've come. It will be such a great hub of resources for not only Dutch companies, but all European startups as they launch in the US.
I'll be joining the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York again for their Dutch Edtech program at the end of next month. If you're an edtech startup and interested in participating, you can view more information here.