If you are an entrepreneur working in technology then the chances are that you dream of making it in San Francisco or Silicon Valley. Approximately 25% of all US venture capital investment goes to San Francisco and 15% to Silicon Valley, meaning that 40% of all US venture investment is concentrated in the Bay area. It’s where many of the world’s tech fortunes are made, or more often than not broken with an estimated 90% business failure rate.
I have advised lots of clients looking to break into San Francisco and Silicon Valley, but I also took my former company into the market and learnt some tough lessons myself before successfully acquiring a company to become a top 10 player in the US tech PR market.
Last week I caught up with my network of San Francisco and Silicon Valley PR and comms leaders and I asked them for their top pieces of advice for companies looking to break into the Bay area. Here’s what they said:
Know why you want to launch in San Francisco and the Silicon Valley
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Mary Shank Rockman
Principal and CEO, MSR Communications
“Clients need a regional customer and/or partner to appear relevant in the American landscape. Before you launch in the US, test your messaging with a regional analyst or reporter. You may have a great international customer list, but if you do not have US customers with challenges specific to this geo, then influencers may not care. You need a customer that is prepared to be a poster child for your company. If you don’t have regional customers, then you will need to be prepared to invest more in your own branded content.”
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Conclusion
So there you have it, and here are my top 10 distilled tips for European companies looking to enter San Francisco or Silicon Valley:
- Be clear on why want to enter Silicon Valley and San Francisco, and what you bring that isn’t already there
- Do your research and map the competitive landscape
- Understand the media, influencer and analyst environment and be surgical in targeting the top 5-10 people
- Develop a local approach to positioning yourself and your business
- Consider what groundwork and pre-launch testing you can do
- Investigate, become involved in, and bring something to your target communities
- People will offer help, so be clear with people on what they can do for you and reciprocate
- Don’t play off your European roots
- Evolve to a global and US positioning and then localise it further to make it resonant to a San Franciscan and Silicon Valley audience
- Make sure you have the right people with the right networks on board as employees and/or suppliers