The first 90 days — what actually matters
You've decided to enter the US. Here's what to focus on in the first three months — and what to skip.
The first 90 days of a US market entry set the trajectory for everything that follows. Get them right, you build momentum. Get them wrong, you spend the next year recovering. Here’s what actually matters.
Days 1–30: Listen, don’t sell.
Your first month should be almost entirely about learning. Talk to 20–30 people in your target market — potential customers, competitors’ customers, partners, industry analysts. Your goal isn’t to pitch. It’s to validate (or invalidate) your assumptions about the US market.
Questions to answer: Does the problem you solve exist here? How do people describe it? Who are the incumbents? What’s the buying process? What price would they expect to pay?
Days 30–60: Position and package.
Based on what you learned, rewrite your positioning for the US market. This means your website, your pitch deck, your one-liner, your pricing page. Everything. Don’t just translate — rebuild.
At this stage, you should also be setting up operational basics: US entity (if needed), banking, a US phone number, and a physical address (even if it’s a registered agent). American companies want to buy from American companies.
Be patient with the timeline. Be impatient with the learning.
Days 60–90: Test with real conversations.
Start having sales conversations with real prospects. Not demos — conversations. Use the positioning you built in month two and see what sticks. Track every objection, every question, every moment of confusion. This is your live market research.
By day 90 you should have validated positioning, a few warm prospects, and a clear read on your sales cycle.
What to ignore in the first 90 days.
- Hiring a US team — too early
- Attending every conference — pick one, max
- Building US-specific product features — wait for real demand signals
- PR and media — you need customers first, press second
The companies that rush to “scale” in the US before they’ve validated the basics are the ones that burn cash fastest. Be patient with the timeline. Be impatient with the learning.
Want to talk it through?
No agenda. Just a conversation about what you're working on.
Book a 30-min intro call