Actionable tips for expanding internationally

Entering a foreign market isn’t a theory—it’s a grind of calls, mistakes, iterations, and small wins. This workshop brings you exactly that: raw, tested know-how from founders and business developers who’ve built outbound sales from scratch, battled cold starts, and shaped monetisation strategy on the fly. We’ll break down real examples from software companies trying to land clients abroad—what worked, what flopped, and how to tell the difference before it costs you 12 months of wasted effort. If you want formulas and LinkedIn fluff, this isn’t for you. If you want scars and insights, pull up a chair.

We’ll tackle how to approach Business Development when it’s just you, the founder, doing Business Development and Sales, and how that evolves when you have one or two people supporting you. How to test if your current product or service even has a place in a foreign market, and how to approach that market with a clear focus, not by “going global,” but by choosing the right 2 cities. We’ll also show how to write internal rules for BizDev—what KPIs matter (hint: it’s not a closed 100k€ deal in 6 months), how to build momentum, and how not to burn out chasing vanity metrics. We’ll put your expectations on a stress test so you can understand what the realistic outcomes are in 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years.

The session is intentionally built more like a fireside chat than a lecture. We’ll come prepared with frameworks, benchmarks, and hard-won lessons—but your context, your questions, and your current obstacles will steer the conversation. Whether you’re testing a new market for a half-monetised product, chasing your first international client, or scaling a small sales team, you’ll leave with specific ideas you can apply the next day.