Blog
Why Your Company Doesn’t Need to Move to the US
November 24, 2021
If you’re building a tech company outside the US, some people in the startup world will encourage your startup to move to the US. But here at Alariss, we want to tell you that you really don’t have to move your company to the US. You can stay where you are and hire the best remote US business development talent through Alariss.
If most of your core team is in your home country and wants to stay there, you don’t have to uproot your entire company. Plenty of successful tech companies are based outside the US. Just take a look at Hopin, the events platform based in London, which is now worth $7.75 billion. Or Spotify, which is based in Sweden. Or Shopify, which is based in Canada. Or Tencent, Alibaba, Bytedance, and Huawei in China. Or Samsung in South Korea. Or Fujitsu in Japan. The list goes on.
Some will point to the various immigrants who run successful startups in the US. 55 percent of all US startups with a valuation of $1 billion or more have at least one immigrant founder. Patrick and John Collison moved to the US from Ireland and now run Stripe, the most valuable private tech company at a $95 billion valuation. And Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and founder of Tesla and SpaceX, immigrated to the US from South Africa.
But there are also many successful entrepreneurs based outside the US. Check out this list of 50 successful entrepreneurs outside the US, or this list of 30 international entrepreneurs.
Some will say that you should move to the US because it’s a bigger market. It is true that the US is the world’s largest economy. But you can expand into the US without having to move to the US. Alariss can help you expand into the US by matching you with top US sales and business development talent and acting as the Employer of Record (EOR) platform, saving you the hassle of worrying about whether you’re complying with US laws and regulations. You can book a call with us here.
Some will say that you need to move to the US to raise US venture capital funding. It is true that venture capital funding is overwhelmingly concentrated in the US. But many pitch meetings and investment decisions are now being made through Zoom. As long as you have a computer, you can now raise money from US venture capital firms.
US venture capital firms also are now looking more internationally for startups to invest in. Sequoia Capital has offices in Menlo Park, Tel Aviv, Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi, Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai and will soon be opening an office in London. Lightspeed Venture Partners has offices in Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv, Shanghai, Beijing, New Delhi, Bangalore, Mauritius, London, and Singapore.
US venture capital firms increasingly are hiring investors in Europe, according to CNBC.
“Ten years ago most European founders felt the need to move to the US early on to be successful… That’s changed and today founders are building great companies everywhere around the world and staying local,” Alex Ferrara, a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners who recently moved from New York to London, told CNBC.
Startup accelerators also are expanding internationally. The Founder Institute operates across 200+ cities and 6 continents, and they say, “Great companies can be built anywhere.” Techstars has locations in Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Bangalore, Berlin, Dublin, London, Melbourne, Montreal, Oslo, Paris, Riyadh, Singapore, Stockholm, Tel Aviv, Torino, and Toronto, as well as a fully remote accelerator for North America.
Some will also say that you should move to the US because it has a large, skilled workforce. But if you aren’t having any problem hiring talent where you currently are, you don’t have to worry about moving. You can also hire employees who work remotely. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more companies are hiring remote employees. If you hire remotely, you can hire anyone from around the world.
We are living in a new normal where people from around the world collaborate in a remote environment. This new wave of globalization entails cross-border interaction, all from your computer. Tech companies can be based anywhere in the world in this new environment.
You can succeed in the US market without having to uproot and move your entire company to the US. If you work with Alariss, you can stay in your home country and hire top US sales and business development professionals through us; we’ll act as the Employer of Record (EOR) and provide access to local networks and insights. Book a call with Alariss today to find out about how we can help you expand into the US with top US sales and business development talent.