Episode description

Oliver "OJ" Jay joined us in the studio this week to chat about the difficult topic of selling SaaS overseas. We've talked a bit here about selling SaaS not from HQ in ourCrittercismpodcast but never touched on selling SaaS overseas. As a result we thought it would be great to bring OJ on to chat about the topic! OJ started atDropbox3 years ago first to build out the SMBhigh velocity saleseffort before leading the charge on setting up much of the international sales efforts for the company. He now runs the APAC and LATAM sales efforts and has been through his fair share of ups and downs as it relates to selling SaaS overseas. Many founders think about selling SaaS overseas as they grow and usually start with a European expansion. OJ came onto the podcast to weave a narrative around first building out the framework for launching any international region, second starting small and growing in a specific region, and third figuring out how to "rinse and repeat" using that example to launch into other regions. We had a number of listeners contribute questions to this podcast and got some great ones into the mix. Things like when it is appropriate to launch an international sales effort and what to base that on, who to send overseas, who not to send overseas, and who to hire overseas, how to think about executive buy in versus going at it with a small team and not telling the broader company before you have success points, and finally how to report back and ensure success selling SaaS overseas all were topics that came up. OJ also gives the listeners a bit of a scorecard and thought process around how to manage through the cultural differences and specific local customs. All in, the podcast was a great playbook for any SaaS founder that starts to get some overseas business and begins to think about selling SaaS overseas in a more repeatable and structured manner. Give a listen below and we hope you enjoy it!