Read the full script of Module 8, Episode 3 of the Global Growth Master Class below. Want to get certified on global expansion? Simply click here to access the complete course today.

As discussed in earlier modules, getting internal alignment and support around global expansion is difficult. This challenge also extends to agreement around the best strategy to penetrate and grow in a new market. So, How can we get alignment around strategy for each market? 

It first starts with adding structure to the conversation. Normally team members focused on evaluating new markets will conduct localization discovery, where this focused effort uncovers great insights. But, when it comes to strategy development, that’s when things often splinter. Each function has its own idea of how to address the nuances of the market and retreat to their silos to build and implement a plan.

Developing structure around the strategy creation process helps teams not only align on growth efforts but also creates a common language amongst the team to create a strategy together. Moreover, it can create continuity between market launches, so that markets can be compared to uncover linkages and best practices and be implemented to improve the process. Transparent conversations need to happen and clear language must be applied to avoid confusion, and misunderstandings that lead to eroding trust in the team, ultimately leading to suboptimal market launches and operations.

👉 Click to Get Certified on Global Expansion 👈

Within organizations, teams are constantly battling against other company priorities and fighting for resources to meet their own goals. Having a deliverable that brings together the concepts from this course, explaining them in a clear manner so that key stakeholders can question, understand, and align is CRUCIAL.

A Global Growth Pitch Deck is a concise and straightforward summary of a company's international growth strategy and localization efforts aimed at achieving company-market fit in each market, similar to a classic start-up investor pitch deck. It should be built during the Market Entry Strategy Creation step of the Global Agile Model which is part of the Market ACCESSIBILITY & Strategy Development stage. 

This comes right AFTER the Market Discovery, Hypothesis Development, Complexity Mapping, and Market Selection steps where you use the Localization Discovery process, Business Model Localization Canvas exercise, Localization Premium Analysis to select the right markets to target.

Once the target market is chosen, you need to create a structured plan and get buy-in for that plan. The Global Growth Pitch Deck can help.

Here is a  pitch deck outline you can use to better communicate your expansion strategy, the Global Growth Pitch Deck

A separate pitch deck should be created for each target country:

• (Slide 1) Why This Market?—Introduce the country you plan to expand to, including background information about the market, key economic indicators, trends, and details on the local market dynamics.

• This slide is important because it explains the rationale behind why this market is worth investing in. Remember to highlight not just the typical population, economic and local industry rationale, but also the cultural rationale and other non-intuitive reasons to enter the market

• (Slide 2) Localization Discovery Findings—Share what you uncovered during in-market localization discovery. Highlight insights about the country’s culture, the overall market opportunity, and likely localizations needed to be successful in the market. - The BMLC will be an effective tool to help summarize learnings and WHAT questions you had going into discovery, WHO you identified to speak to validate them, and finally how your questions were affected by cultural and regulatory factors. Recall our case study of the Evernote team’s localization discovery in the Indian market with Auntie Stories and Dabbawals.

• This slide is important because it juxtaposes the research done from afar with what is happening in the market, based on your experience with boots-on-the-ground research

• (Slide 3) The Customer—Outline customer archetypes, the type of value proposition that will resonate with them, and their buying power. Personify your target customer. Incorporate elements of the local market culture highlighting customer behavior patterns and decision-making criteria. Recall the story about LinkedIn and how they adapted their value proposition to NOT be about hiring but getting better at your current job in the German market.

• This slide is important because it highlights the target market and what makes them different from target customers in current markets

• (Slide 4) Localization Premium Analysis—Plot how much the anticipated local model will deviate from the current go-to-market and operating models to find company-market fit in the new market through the Localization Premium Analysis (LPA) framework. Include details on how you plan to minimize and monitor complexity, as well as its impact on the organization. This slide serves as an overview for the next two slides that detail what is in the LPA and is often based on the hypotheses you have for how your business will need to operate in the new market, based on the exercise of filling out the Business Model Localization Canvas (BMLC)

• This slide is important because it provides a full view into how you will need to localize your business to fit in a new market

• (Slide 5) Pathway to Company-Market Fit: Go-to-Market Strategy— Outline your planned distribution channel and marketing strategies, and product changes. Where do your customers “hang out” (aka, get information)? What outlets influence them? What are the demand generators? How will you get marketing messages in front of customers? How will you get your product in the hands of your customers? This maps to the top half of the LPA (Sales Premium, Product Premium, and Marketing Premium). Outline the relevant hypotheses derived from the BMLC.

• This slide is important because it outlines the strategy you will be implementing in the new market

• (Slide 6) Pathway to Company-Market Fit: Operational Model—Outline the legal and regulatory considerations in addition to how operations will work, from payroll and taxes to infrastructure. Include possible public policy threats, risks, and complexities caused by regulations that differ from those in your home market. This maps to the bottom half of the LPA (Admin. Premium, Infrastructure Premium, and Org. Premium). Outline the relevant hypotheses derived from the BMLC that will be tested and iterated on here as well.

• This slide is important because it outlines how you need to adapt your operations to get traction, and ultimately reach Company-Market Fit in the new market, after achieving Product-Market Fit - Recall how Apple had to change its operations in Brazil, and don’t forget about the iceberg analogy - necessary operational localizations tend to be more overlooked

• (Slide 7) Team-Building Strategy—Explain what local team resources needs to be hired in the market, the amount of resources required at headquarters, and the organizational structure (describing functional reporting and what is centralized/localized).

• This slide is important because you need to get alignment around the (potentially unique) human resources strategy for the market, discussing the key roles to hire for and how to go about ensuring an overlap of Local Knowledge and Company Knowledge

• (Slide 8) Momentum Builders—Outline the existing structures and processes that this new market entry will utilize and highlight new ones that need to be built to secure support and required resources. This is where the Localization Resource Team and Global Growth Playbook (both discussed in upcoming videos in this module) and other Momentum Builders are discussed.

• This slide is important because it formalizes how the global growth playbook will be developed and implemented, as well as how the localization process is managed

• (Slide 9) Total Cost of Entry—Use the Total Cost of Entry (TOE) Formula to calculate the funds and resources needed to support this initiative. This can be categorized by level of importance or implementation stage. Highlight the plan’s timeline and include when each localization will be created, based on the level of priority and/or implementation stage.

• This slide is important because it offers up an estimate of the financial resources required to enter the new market, highlighting the cost and timeline associated with each localization, also mapping out implementation stages and the prioritization for necessary localizations

• (Slide 10) Four Commitments for Successful Global Growth—Highlight the Four Commitments for Successful Global Growth, how each of the commitments applies to this specific country, and plans to ensure executive buy-in for each.

• This slide is important because it aligns (and reminds) the appropriate decision-makers about the importance of Resource Commitment, Communication and Clarity, Autonomy and Trust, and the Global Agile Methodology, ensuring alignment around each and reminding key stakeholders of the importance of each

While the primary goal of creating a Global Growth Pitch Deck is to secure support within the organization, the process itself can also provide valuable benefits. By formalizing your thoughts and building a coherent narrative, you may discover gaps in your analysis or areas for improvement. Additionally, the pitch deck can serve as a useful reference point as you launch into new international markets, and it can be updated and adapted as you gain experience and learn from each market entry. Together with the Localization Premium Analysis, the pitch deck forms the foundation for the development of a Global Growth Playbook, which is an essential tool for scaling your business.

How to implement within your own organization

- Prepare a Global Growth Pitch Deck for each of the international markets you have selected to expand into, making its creation a collaborative exercise with members from multiple functions. 

- Use the template to create structure around global growth strategy conversations. Feel free to add slides as you see fit. 

- Transform the deck into an ongoing status reporting readout template. 

- The Pathway to Company Market Fit slides can become status slides where progress around each localization is discussed, You can compare the anticipated Localization Premium Analysis spider chart to what has actually been implemented as iterations continue to occur. 

- The Team Building Framework can be a characteristic checklist where team members can be mapped out and discussed. 

- The Total Cost of Entry Formula can be used to track the budget to actual resources used. 

- The Momentum Builders slide can be used to discuss processes that have been utilized, need to be adapted, or need to be created to support growth in the area.

Now, let’s dive into each of these in more detail in the videos that follow.
NOTE: Don't miss out on the next episode! If you want to continue learning about global expansion strategies and dive deeper into the course material, simply click here to access Module 8, Episode 4 of the Global Growth Master Class.