Why targeting US markets first is actually naive for fintech startups

Less interesting are the European markets and the local stuff, so I'm not gonna focus on that.

25:37 / 26:13

So why is that? Lucas for a while to figure out, but the trick is that I think a lot of people start to build in a bit naive view, naive view in a way that they think about like most of investments go to The US, so I'd build The US product. Less interesting are the European markets and the local stuff, so I'm not gonna focus on that. The answer is that if you want to capture the actual long term investors who have like a bulk of this assets what are already invested you have to build local stuff, local instruments, local taxation, local language, currencies

About this clip

Martin Sokk challenges the common startup assumption that focusing on US markets first is the best strategy. He argues that to capture serious long-term investors with substantial assets, fintech companies must prioritize building local features like local instruments, taxation, language, and currency support rather than chasing the largest market first.

Why this clip

This directly contradicts conventional wisdom about market prioritization and offers a counterintuitive insight about building for local markets to attract global capital.

25:37 - 26:1336scontrarian take

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