Going Global through Silicon Valley Andrus Viirg Enterprise Estonia Silicon Valley
ENTERPRISE ESTONIA State foundation for Business Support & Development: implementing agency of the EU structural funds in Estonia ca 270+ employees financing agency (grants) for enterprises, R&D and non-profit institutions budget 784 mln EUR during budget 750 mln EUR for Investment, Trade, Tourism & Innovation Promotion –assisting international companies to estonianize –assisting Estonian companies to internationalize –Foreign Representative Offices (FDI, Export): China (Shanghai); Denmark (Copenhagen); Finland (Helsinki); France (Paris); Germany (Hamburg, Munich); India (New Delhi); Japan (Tokyo); Norway (Oslo); Russia (St. Petersburg); Sweden (Stockholm); UK (London); USA (Silicon Valley)
California – the 8th economy in the World (GDP ca 2,3trillionUSD, 38mln people) - 13% of US GDP Silicon Valley 3% of USA GDP; 18% of California GDP, ca 5 mln people: 37% of residents foreign born ca 400,000+ high tech jobs (20+% of all the world´s tech companies based here) most millionaires and billionaires in US per capita Average annual earnings USD San Francisco - major driver of the regions economic prosperity innovation: 14.2% of all USA reg.patents Universities, R&D institutions –Stanford, UC Berkeley, San Jose State… –SRI International,… 15+% of the World´s venture capital, 48+% of USA
Venture Capital deals (USD billion) PWC: MoneyTree Report 2014 NVCA 2014 Silicon Valley: 48% of all US deals in USD (23,4 bln USD of 48,3 bln USD) 32% of deals in numbers (1409 deals of 4356 of all USA)
US Venture Capital VC investments by State (2013)
Investments Per Year 750 First Meetings Review Every Plan 150 Follow-on Meetings Due diligence process 30K DFJ Annual Deal Funnel
Building a global tech company US market – ‘the gold standard’ for success in the technology industry –Largest revenue opportunity –Best location for raising growth capital –Largest number of potential acquirers –Strongest appetite for tech stocks –Best place to realize your liquid wealth
Enterprise Estonia Silicon Valley CONNECTING PEOPLE -Helping to create valuable connections between Estonian and US companies and institutions, -Organizing meetings, seminars and networking with key players. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT -Supporting the development of your business model to fit into the US market and helping to establish in US (virtual office or incorporating) -Office space for meetings and events. RAISING CAPITAL -Helping to find funding and scaling opportunities in US for Estonian companies. -Promoting Estonia as a place to do business (FDI) for US companies
Silicon Valley / California East Coast (Boston & NYC area) Central US (Utah) Acquisitions: FusionOne (acquired by Synchronoss in 2010, Silicon Valley) Modesat (acquired by Xilinx in 2012, Silicon Valley) GrabCAD (acquired by Stratasys in 2014, Boston) Companies with`Eesti` roots in USA
USA in Estonia
Entering US market Understand the target customer’s challenges, need and pain points –Talk to customers and prospects first before finalizing your product/service Develop a clear value proposition –KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid Marketing –Build credibility with marketing materials that are professionally written and adapted for the new market References –A company in US vs (unknown) company from Europe (Estonia) Team –presence of the core team crucial –marketing team could be local
Andrus Viirg Enterprise Estonia Silicon Valley