US Expansion and Talent Acquisition - Strategy Call

Early-Stage (0–10 employees): Planning or executing initial market entry; every hire is currently mission-critical.

Growth Phase (10–50 employees): Established presence; looking to build systematic infrastructure and local teams.

Scale Phase (50+ employees): Established US entity; focused on senior leadership searches or geographic expansion into new US regions.

Research Phase: Assessing the US opportunity with no immediate hiring plans (12+ months out).

0 roles: (Strategy session may be premature).

1–3 roles: Focusing on high-impact founding executives or "Market Credibility" hires.

4–10 roles: Building core functional capacity (Sales, Customer Success, etc.).

10+ roles: Rapid scaling requiring significant talent acquisition infrastructure.

Leadership Credibility Gap: Struggling to attract top-tier US executives to an unknown brand.

The Speed Penalty: Losing elite candidates due to slow European consensus-driven hiring processes.

Compensation Misalignment: Unsure how to structure competitive US packages (equity, benefits, variable pay).

Cultural Integration: Friction or high turnover between European HQ and the US team.

Compliance Complexity: Overwhelmed by 50-state employment laws or legal entity setup.

Other

Yes: We have a defined budget and are ready to secure the best talent.

In Progress: We are currently defining our budget and seeking specific US benchmarks.

No: We are in the early budgeting phase and need to understand the true cost of US hiring.