I'm seeing more and more people starting up in countries outside of the US. These are people that were from, or were previously working in the US.
I've spent 8 years recruiting in the US, Europe, and Asia. I have seen companies fail because they failed to understand culture, business practices, align with government, and a host of other reasons.
Want to start a computer vision company in the UK? You can, but that's a relatively low talent pool.
Want to hire 200 people in Germany? You better be good at long-term planning, because 3-month notice periods are common.
China. Don't believe the media, China can be great, but you will need to know a hell of a lot if you want to build your business there. Getting people to move companies can be pretty tricky.
Japan is cool, but typically you need a co-founder that is a legal resident to start a company there. Competition for talent is huge. There is a massive shortfall of software engineers vs the need. Japan is the 3rd largest economy on the planet, but this means a very strong cultural identity. Yes, it is fairly open to foreigners, but your staff will struggle if they don't have any Japanese language skills.
Singapore is a great option, but some struggle to live in a country that is over 2.5x smaller than London. Language isn't a barrier, but consider this - it is always 25-32 degrees C. Great if you're used to it, but I have struggled to recruit because of this.
A big factor for a lot of owners is cost.
People imagine that they can start up in Germany, and that it will be easy to get people to relocate from lower GDP Euro countries. It isn't.
Start up in Singapore and India is your oyster for talent. It isn't. Work permits and residencies are much more difficult to come by than pre-pandemic times. Indian companies have been steadily increasing overall compensation for their most talented people in order to retain them.
If you are going to start up in a country that is foreign to you, it would be a very good idea to talk to an international recruiter, an international lawyer, an international startup advisor... I think you can see the pattern.
The thing with relying on people within that country is that they only know the problem from one side.
Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
People Function Builder
2wIt was so much fun to meet you! I’m so glad you enjoyed last night. Looking forward to staying in touch.