Galyna is a lawyer by her background and advanced project manager keen on social entrepreneurship, sustainable development and innovations. She has broad international experience obtained in Europe and North America working with startups and other innovative projects. Galyna also taught a few courses in Business School at British Columbia Institute of Technology (Vancouver, Canada). After almost 5 years spent overseas, she came back to Ukraine developing startup ecosystem here. In her capacity as Head of Partnerships in Sector X Acceleration Platform she helps local startups grow and connect to the right opportunities globally.

1. Go global strategy
for your startup
IT Arena, Lviv
29 September 2019

2. Hell0 :)
● Galyna Paliychuk, Head of Partnerships at Sector X
● Taught in Business School at British
Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT)
● 10-month Fellowship at the Office of the Minister of
Foreign Affairs of Canada
● Went through accelerator with my startup in Canada,
failed but learned a lot
● Collision, FWD50, Angel Forum, TechDay, Globe
Conference, Vancouver Startup Week, UN STI Forum

3. Sector X -
Unit.city-based Ukrainian acceleration hub that helps
local startups launch pilots with market leaders from
different industries and go global. Three successful
programs done, including one in New York.
Leader - Andrei Komarovski (CEO, Co-Founder), serial
entrepreneur (owns startups in the USA and Europe),
partner of famous corporate accelerator
YellowRockets, ex-director of Founder Institute.

4. Who’s in the room?
How many founders at
● Ideation stage
● MVP stage
● Growth/Sales
?

5. Meetup structure
1. I talk (“theory” + 3 cases from practice)
2. You work (a group task OR your story)

6. Why should startup explore new markets
Home market lacks these:
1. No clients
2. No investors
3. No exit opportunities

7. My startup for immigrants in Canada:
a story of failure
1. Preamble
2. Key Reasons:
● Focus on non-priority issues
● Hypothesis about clients was not validated
● Inability to fundraise money after 6 months of work

8. What are global markets
In general:
● Europe - the USA - China - South East Asia
Ideally:
● Few countries in Europe (Germany, France, UK/Ireland)
● The USA

9. Why the USA is the best choice
● Traction
● Investors
● Big market
Example: Cupli

10. Cupli -
● Unique technology that quickly finds quality
respondents from many geos for online surveys
● Clients: global survey companies - Nielsen, Ipsos,
TNS/Kantar, GFK
● Operates in Eastern Europe and the US

11. Cupli: lessons learned
● In the new market verify all hypotheses again
● Founders should make first sales ($100K) by
themselves

12. Challenges while entering the US market
● Communication (native speakers in your team,
small talk and networking culture, LinkedIn)
● Legal (e.g, FDA, IP, CCPA, certification and other
approvals and compliance, especially in med, food
and fintech industries)

13. Go to the USA if you have
● Competitive product (market research - IBIS World,
Passport GMID, Crunchbase)
● Ability to move to the US for the next 2-3 years

14. Case: AssayMe
● Sector X’s acceleration program in New York:
lessons learned
● Enrollment to MedTech accelerator in Kentucky

15. Try go global staying at home if
● B2C (there is no need for direct interaction with your
customers)
● B2B with partners abroad (such partners cover your
reputational and cultural difference risks)
Examples: Pipedrive (CRM from Estonia), Hexlet (online
coding courses)

16. Success factors if ready to move
● Time spent efficiently in the new market
● Strong local accelerator as a partner (helps out with
traction, investors and reputation)

17. Algorithm for going global
1. Enrollment to the accelerator that is specifically
focused on your industry in the country of your
choice
2. Leave at home all R&D, engineering and everything
else EXCEPT OF sales and marketing

18. 3. After acceleration you can come back home with
some contracts and agreements trying to launch pilots
and sell remotely
4. After you got traction in the form of sales and pilots -
fundraise
Algorithm for going global

19. Other benefits of going global
● Cultural assimilation (better understanding of your
customers)
● Networking (numerous community events)
● Marketing (participation in exhibitions and
showcases)

20. Task for a group work
I. Choose one of the following startup ideas to work
with:
1. An app that connects people with disabilities (or
students) to available jobs in the market
2. Solution for live stream video content during events
and distribution of this content through different
platforms (Youtube, Facebook, Instagram etc)
3. Your own idea/startup (if any)

21. Task for a group work
II. Answer the following questions:
1. Who are my direct competitors in the US/Europe?
2. What is the market size in the USA/Europe?
3. How do I find clients (key channels) in the USA/Europe? If
you’re B2B, make a list of companies and decision-makers
that you will contact using LinkedIn
4. Potential investors (VC, angels) in my industry in the USA
5. Key “selling” massage (elevator pitch)
6. Presentations

22. Alternatively
If you have a startup that operates or failed in a
different market - please share your story with the
audience!

23. Thanks!
Apply to the hub: www.sectorx.city
Galyna Paliychuk
gp@sectorx.city