Three Key Learnings From Our US Expansion

Sometimes I pinch myself at how far Connectd has come.

December marked a significant milestone for us as we officially expanded into the US (and celebrated our 3 year anniversary!) and boy has it been a whirlwind journey of growth, challenges and invaluable lessons learned along the way.

From navigating new markets to understanding cultural nuances, each day brings fresh revelations - here are some key learnings from our early days in Miami????

1. Relationships

If you’re not a personable individual, forget about trying to do business in the States. Relationships are the make or break.

The ability to speak to people and let our ethics and mission be known to them face to face is SUPER important, and this has often been the accelerator in getting things over the line.

Even though we’ve only had a few events, we’ve always received really strong reception and the turnout has been amazing since day one.?

From our launch event at Mana Tech’s Miami headquarters to our monthly pitch competitions with Startup Grind Miami, the American market relies heavily on a lot of face time and building those relationships in the flesh.

I’ve met potential investors at our events and following a great conversation, we’ve met up for lunch or a coffee literally the next day. Things move super fast over on this side!

2. Providing value

You need to provide immediate value to the US startup ecosystem as it’s much more mature than the UK, simply in the fact that venture building has been more prominent in the US for a longer period of time.

We hit the ground running when we launched and have acquired nearly 150 customers. This gives us so much strength when going into meetings with potential investors and partners simply down to the fact that it proves there’s an appetite for Connectd - what more do we need?

3. Risk appetite and speed of execution

There’s a bigger risk appetite also in the States. Investors within the US startup community understand that you need to take big bets and risks in order to make big returns.

This ties in to the broader understanding that speed of execution is SUPER important; the Miami ecosystem understands that it's all about moving swiftly. They see something and like it, they want to act quickly and get the ball rolling.

I’ve always quoted speed of execution as one of the most important traits your startup needs, but this doubles down even more once you’re on the other side of the pond.

Next Steps?

So where do we go from here?

As I mentioned above, the focus will be on building our relationships including nurturing our current ones through team expansion, seeking more partnerships but also in-person events, which will begin to pick back up in early June.?

We’re also now running monthly pitch events together with Startup Grind Miami to make even more meaningful connections between founders and investors within the city.

I think what really excites me though is that we’ve started to see pockets of activity in Boston and New York - don’t be surprised if you see the Connectd logo in Times Square at some point ??

Conclusion

As we keep on with our venture into the US market, I'm feeling super grateful for all the growth we’ve witnessed so far. I look forward to even more growth as well as exploring new potential horizons in Boston, New York, and beyond.?

Huge shoutout to all of you for sticking with us through it all - here's to the next big chapter, filled with even more excitement, growth, and maybe even a few surprises along the way!

We’re only just getting started..