July 29, 2022 | By Frederic Plais, Founder and CEO Platform.sh
For original podcast, listen here.
When I moved to the United States seven years ago from my native France to establish a foothold for my company Platform.sh, my first hire was an engineer.
It was an unorthodox choice. Most startups probably would have hired a sales or customer success professional, but he was someone we knew and trusted. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
But now, after spending a few years in Los Angeles, were I to make the same decision today, I would not make my first hire an engineer, a salesman, or a customer success representative. I would recruit a marketer, and then a human resources professional. Let me explain why.
Culture, culture, culture
France and America are both Western countries and share a number of values. Both countries respect democracy, the rule of law, and a free market system. But I did not appreciate seven years ago the vast cultural differences between Europe and the United States.
That’s why my first hire would be a marketer. Any foreign company doing business in the United States must have a clear value proposition. In my view, it’s the first ingredient to success. Your sales team won’t be winning deals or engaging clients if he or she can’t clearly articulate what your organization brings to the market. Without an innate sense of the market, and the culture, that articulation is impossible.
An HR professional is essential because non-US companies lack deep professional networks. If you’ve been doing business in Germany all your life and come to New York City with a great idea and lots of energy, terrific. But how will you recruit anybody? Whom do you trust? What your company needs is A Team players, the kind of people who can perform on the same level as your competition. Hiring an experienced HR person with a deep pool of professional contacts is the easiest way to buy yourself into the talent market.
There’s something else I should also mention regarding HR, and it’s crucial to understand as an outsider doing business in the US. Europeans and Americans have different ways of expressing professional competence. In the US, it’s not uncommon for job seekers to be overly confident and self-assured, especially in the sales industry.
That’s in contrast to Europe, where people express their accomplishments more modestly. My first hires in the sales department thought very highly of their skills and accomplishments, but when it came time to make quota, they failed. Having an HR professional on staff who can see through the braggadocio and recognize true talent rather than bluster is extremely important.
The new tech professional
In today’s labor market, creating a strong brand, and an appealing company culture is critical. Inflation in the US has now hit 9.1 percent, and the labor market is tight. Potential employees expect to be compensated well, but they also want to join a company that respects a life-work balance.
This new emphasis on company culture is a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic. As we all know, many people have chosen not to return to work at all, and those still in the market, especially in the tech world, have reconsidered the role of work in their lives. For many people, work is no longer the prime motivator it once was, so the total compensation package has to respect this new shift in perspective.
All in all, any European company hoping to expand internationally must come to the United States. It’s the biggest market in the world and the opportunities are plentiful. As a first step, however, it’s imperative to understand the culture, create a great marketing plan, and recruit a human resources manager with a wide professional network.
