Conquer USA and How can we help you in that Veijo Komulainen, New York/East Aki Luukkainen, Los Angeles/West 1
Big country, lots of possibilities; where to start? 2
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Majority of the population is concentrated on a few areas Half of GDP (i.e. that of China) is created in ca. 20 concentrations of population 4
Leading clusters by region Each cluster has clear focus areas 5
U.S. CLEANTECH MARKET ACTIVITY LOCALLY DRIVEN Subnational U.S. Entities Aligning with Paris Climate Agreement Goals 25/September/2017 350 Mayors Top 10 U.S. Cities See: https://www.climateinteractive.org/programs/us-subnational-climate-action/cities-statesuniversities-and-businesses-are-committing-to-the-goals-of-the-paris-agreement/ 6
LAMetro 7
LAMetro, cntd 8
The Wonderful Company Privately held $4 billion company committed to offering high-quality, healthy brands and helping consumers make better choices, every day. Committed to sustainable operations 9
San Diego Smart City Smart water Water recycling Water desalination (Poseidon Inc.) Technology Qualcomm etc. Medical tech Ship Yard/ Naval Base 10
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USA vs. Sweden 6 Differences When Doing Business in the US vs Sweden Hierarchy Fake it until you make it Save yourself Smaller Me in a Bigger Pond Go Big or Go Home Swedes are Dark https://medium.com/@kinglui/6-differences-when-doing-business-in-the-us-vs-sweden-fd2b2cb914e0 12
USA; easy to reach, easy to enter Market size: 2x China The market is there, its competitive: find your niche Information and free support for business abundantly available both in Finland and in USA (EDC:s, CC:s, Team Finland, ) Language spoken by 90 % of Finns under 30; no need for interpretation Culture is known, at least on the surface Supportive business environments to start with; accelerators also available Nordics are valued high; people willing to listen Success through planned and prepared entry 13
Entering USA Start with homework! Find your customers, competitors Prepare your content, value Take benefit of free information & services Consider where and how to start Soft landing / incubators Regular traveling,.. Ensure home office support Make sure you have the finances needed: 150 k. 1M, and the time : 1 3 years Be prepared to scale up Part of regular business is legal, be prepared Costs are higher, but so are the prices Take care of your IPR Do the homework, it is cheap and easy! 14
On the markets Finland ahead of USA in many areas; competitive edge is likely in tech. BUT: The market is there, its competitive: find your niche. Do not try to sell the same or same way as back home First meetings easy to arrange, do not sell, listen. You need to give first to get something later Testing of your product and creation of customer understanding is crucial: meet 100 customers, then you may know Value sells, but you need to understand what s value Fair business practices, trust creates trust: communicate Be present! By being present you will find your niche 15
Finnish companies in USA Big stock listed comp.: Kemira Kone Finlandia Cheese (Valio) Valmet Wärtsilä New entries: Reaktor Verto Analytics Avant Naava Bittium Over 400 Finnish companies in USA 16
2017-2018 TEAM FINLAND USA KEY OPERATION AREAS Cleantech Cleantech ICT Cleantech Health ICT Creative Mediatech Manufacturing Cleantech Cleantech Health ICT Creative 17
Accelerators What is the benefit Does it provide access to customers Will you be able to finetune your solution Do you have enough time and commitment 18
Services for companies Our main focus is to help you sell and deliver Honest feedback to your plans and execution of it Access to potential customers Connections to investors and partners Events to meet the above Networks are everything! Hands on training and coaching Support in actual sales (sales process, message, meetings) veijo.komulainen@formin.fi Cell +1-646-468-2665 19
Other Support available Soft landing platforms, incubators, accelerators: Nordic Innovation House / NY, Palo Alto; LACI Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, Urban Future Lab NY, etc. Grow to USA, LandInChicago, Nordic Scalers etc. programs from Finland Select USA (federal government) City / state level ECD:s, Economic Development Corporation, California Energy Commission Independent consultants in USA and Finland (e.g. Braid Theory, GoToMarket USA) NREL National Renewable Energy Lab, etc 20
Join Cleantech Sales Week November 13-17 2 days of customer workshops in Los Angeles LAMetro, LADWP, LA Olympics 2028, Culver City 2 days of customer workshops in San Diego SD Gas and Electricity, Water District etc. 21