WeGrow co-founders Florent Coudyser and Gernot Schwendtner
Crossing a border in Europe can be a complicated business. As a person, it’s just a matter of putting one foot for the other. But, as a scaling business, there’s a lot more to think about. The international growth hub weGrow guides that process and helps founders expand all over Europe. Tonight, they are hosting an event in their hometown of Amsterdam to talk about international growth.
Event theme: the magic of resilience.
For the first time in 18 months, their Founders Community kicks back into action. And the theme they chose for their meetup is fitting: the magic of resilience. After two years of a global disruption of basically any market, it’s time to take stock of which businesses have faired well, say Gernot Schwendtner, co-founder and CEO of weGrow.
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“There has been lots of market disruption”, Schwendtner says over the phone. “Since we’re looking into international expansion, we wanted to see what creates resilience during these times.” The key is, they found, adaptability. “It’s not the strongest that survives; it is the most adaptable to change”, Schwendtner says, inspired by Darwin.
International expansion spreads risk
“During COVID, that meant looking at creating a new value proposition for products, how quickly you could move work online, how quickly you could change and evaluate your spending in hiring or creating new products.” Schwendtner and weGrow surveyed around 100 European scaleups on the topic, results of which are available in their report on scaleup resilience strategies.
One important reason for businesses to keep thriving, or at least keep going, during the pandemic was international expansion, sees Schwendtner. Over 80 per cent of the companies surveyed said that being active in different countries was a big advantage. “We asked this as an open question, too”, adds Schwendtner.
Different countries, different opportunities
Provided it is done right, being internationally active means spreading the risk of having your business fail. According to the report, critical success factors are international teams, a local marketing and communication strategy, and a market prioritisation strategy.
The pandemic hit everywhere, yet operating in different countries could still make a difference. “Many countries had different regulations and different ways of approaching lockdowns. We saw how all these differences helped spread the risk for businesses. Besides spreading the risk, it also helps to be remote-ready. It allows businesses to access a bigger talent pool and grab market share before their competitors.”
Helping 100,000 founders
weGrow is founded by Schwendtner and Florent Coudyser and boasts a network of over 100 experts in 15 European countries. It has the audacious goal of helping more than 100,000 founders with their international growth. So far, they’ve helped scaleups like Wetransfer, Ticketswap and Zenjob towards international success. During the meetup tonight in Amsterdam, Zenjob founder Frederik Fahning will come from Germany to talk about his experiences.
Zenjob did a remarkable job of scaling up during the pandemic. In May 2020, when the world was in dissaray, they landed a €27 million Series C. They expanded their business from Germany a year later and entered the Dutch market. Earlier this year, they announced another growth financing round of €45 million.
Zenjob as an example
According to Schwendtner, weGrow prepared the international expansion for Zenjob, doing the research and validation before entering the new market. “They executed it themselves”, adds Schwendtner. It makes Zenjob an excellent example of what he thinks a scaleup should do when times seem harsh. “It brings us back to the nature of startups and scaleups. They are pretty adaptable, and they can make bold moves fast. So if you want to make moves in times of crisis, make it fast. Just make sure you have the team and investors on board. This is the role of every founder, to lead in that process, be a driving force.”
Alongside Zenjob’s Fahning, the stage of the weGrow event will also be occupied by Patrick Flesner. he is a growth capital investor and a general partner at LeadX Capital Partners, and he has literally written the book on fast scaling.
Schwendtner is excited for the event season to kick off again. “We’re planning to have three of these meetings a year in Amsterdam. But we can also host one in Berlin or in Paris in the future, together with our partners.” The events are meant for founders, investors and CEOs interested in international growth and building business opportunities.
More info on the first meeting in Amsterdam can be found here
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