“The US market will not forgive your guesswork. It will reward your precision.”
The simple truth for Irish founders is this: if you want a serious valuation, recurring revenue above 10 million euro, and a credible exit path, you almost always need a US story. The market is bigger, the budgets are higher, and the benchmarks are harsher. Irish companies that crack the US usually see higher ACVs, stronger multiples on revenue, and more competitive term sheets. The ones that misjudge timing, pricing, or category fit burn cash, lose teams, and retreat back to Europe with a scar that investors remember for years.
The US is not just a bigger Ireland. It is a different economic machine. Hiring cycles run on a different rhythm, contracts are structured with a different risk profile, and legal exposure can dwarf your Series A. The decision to scale to the US is less about aspiration and more about math: CAC payback, sales cycle length, net expansion, and the cost of building a real presence rather than a vanity WeWork address in San Francisco or New York.
Irish founders often underestimate two things. First, the speed at which US competitors react when they sense a new entrant winning deals. Second, the level of clarity expected in your category narrative. If your pitch does not fit into an existing budget line in a US prospect’s org chart, you are running uphill. The market does not have time to decode your messaging. It wants to know: “What line item are you replacing, and why will this save or make me money this quarter?”
From a business value angle, the US move is mostly about three levers: raising your average contract value, shortening your path to meaningful scale, and improving your exit optionality. A strong US footprint changes how growth equity funds, late‑stage VCs, and strategic buyers view you. Revenue concentrated in small European markets often caps your valuation multiple. Revenue anchored in US logos does the opposite. The trend is not perfectly linear, but when you talk to investors who did deals in Europe and the US, they will tell you they pay more for companies with proven traction in North America.
The trend is not clear yet, but there is another shift under way. US buyers are more open to remote selling from Europe than they were in 2018 or 2019, especially in software and devtools. That does not remove the need for a physical presence, but it changes the timing. You can reach the first 500k to 1M dollars in US ARR without a large local headcount if your product is clear, your onboarding is tight, and your support is responsive. The second chapter, moving from 1M to 10M, still usually needs boots on the ground: sales, customer success, and often a senior commercial leader based in one of the coastal hubs.
Investors look for a deliberate US plan, not a tourism strategy dressed up as expansion. They ask: What is your first US beachhead segment? Who are the three US competitors that already own mindshare there? Which metrics need to hold for you to keep investing: CAC payback below 18 months, a win rate above 25 percent in qualified deals, and expansion revenue from early US customers within 12 months of landing them? If you cannot answer those questions in one sentence each, you are not ready to scale; you are still exploring.
“US buyers do not care that you are Irish. They care that you solve a costly problem faster than the vendor they already know.”
Why Irish Companies Look West: The Business Case
The logic behind going to the US from Ireland usually starts with arithmetic, not romance. Ireland gives you access to talent, a strong startup support network, and proximity to the UK and EU markets. At some point though, your domestic and nearshore opportunity flattens.
For B2B software or fintech, a single US vertical often has more spend than several European countries combined. The US healthcare IT market, for example, spends more each year than many entire national IT budgets in Europe. Cybersecurity, martech, sales tech, HR tech, and data infrastructure show the same pattern. For each category you can look at the revenue numbers of US public comps to gauge your own ceiling.
Irish founders who raise Seed or Series A money face another factor: investor pressure. Many term sheets from international funds come with a clear expectation that you will target US revenue inside 12 to 24 months. The deal logic is simple. Global funds want large outcomes. Large outcomes tend to come from companies with a US revenue base. If you say no to the US, you are quietly saying no to certain valuations.
“Irish companies that break $10M ARR with 60%+ US revenue often see revenue multiples 1.5x to 2x higher at exit than peers locked into one small region.”
That revenue mix hits not only valuation, but also the type of acquirer you attract. A European corporate buyer usually looks at you as a regional bolt‑on. A US acquirer may see you as a product expansion play across its customer base. That difference pushes deal sizes in opposite directions, especially when your tech plugs directly into an American acquirer’s sales machine.
Still, the US push has a cost profile that many teams misjudge. Office space, US salaries, benefits, and legal infrastructure can burn through a Seed round faster than expected. The business case is strong only when you treat the US move as an investment with measurable milestones, not a branding project.
The Timing Question: When Should You Cross?
Timing is where many Irish teams misstep. They go in either too early with an unproven product, or too late when competitors already grabbed the mid‑market and enterprise logos.
Investors look for three readiness signals before they support a serious US push:
1. You have real pull from US customers, not just inbound sign‑ups.
2. Your unit economics in your home or EU market are stable.
3. You know who you beat and why in at least one clear segment.
Before your first senior US hire, you can run a “test and learn” phase from Ireland. That phase should answer three questions:
* Will US prospects take meetings with you at all?
* Will they pay for the product without heavy discounting?
* Will they renew and expand?
In this early phase, your goal is not volume. Your goal is pattern recognition. Founders often report that the first 10 US deals feel messy. The 11th through 20th show the real signal. If your win rate climbs and your sales cycle starts to shorten during that period, you are nearing the point where a US presence makes sense.
Benchmarks Before You Land
Here are practical metrics many investors use as a mental checklist before they support a US scale‑up:
* At least 20 percent of MRR or ARR from US customers, even if sold remotely.
* A clear ICP definition with 3 to 5 US customer logos that match it.
* CAC payback on those customers that does not spike radically above your European baseline.
* Product support that can handle US hours without constant fire drills.
Once those indicators trend in the right direction, the risk of a US bet shrinks. You are no longer guessing. You have proof that a segment exists for your offer and that your team can serve it.
Where To Land: City Choices And Tradeoffs
Irish companies often lurch toward the same three cities: New York, San Francisco, and Boston. Some go to Austin or Chicago later. The right city depends on your category, your target buyer, and your hiring strategy.
Here is a simple comparison for context:
| City | Main Strength | Typical Focus | Cost Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | Access to enterprise buyers & finance | Fintech, martech, sales tech, media | High |
| San Francisco / Bay Area | Tech ecosystem and partnerships | Devtools, infra, AI, security | Very High |
| Boston | Research, healthcare, deep tech | Health IT, biotech tooling, cybersecurity | High |
| Austin | Growing tech hub and lower costs | B2B SaaS across sectors | Medium |
| Chicago | Access to Midwest enterprises | Logistics, manufacturing, B2B SaaS | Medium |
You do not need a huge office on day one. A flexible workspace with a small footprint works fine. What matters is proximity to your buyers and the talent pool you plan to tap. If your ICP is Wall Street risk teams, New York beats San Francisco. If you sell to engineering leaders in high‑growth tech, the Bay Area still pulls ahead.
Immigration is another quiet factor. Some Irish founders relocate under visas that tie them to specific states or employers. You need an immigration plan that supports your likely hiring pattern over a 3 to 5 year window, not just the first year.
Building Your US GTM: Messaging, Pricing, Segmentation
Your home market messaging rarely lands cleanly in the US. Buyers there expect sharper statements, clearer ROI, and faster proof of value. Copy that feels direct in Dublin can read vague in New York.
Start with three questions:
1. What US job title feels the pain you solve most intensely?
2. What budget line does your product replace or shrink?
3. How fast can a new US customer see a measurable result?
Your entire GTM in the US rests on those answers. If you cannot point to a line in a P&L or a team’s OKRs that you help, your sales motion will drag.
Pricing: Europe vs US
Many Irish teams underprice in the US out of fear. They carry over euro pricing and simply change the symbol. That looks cheap to US buyers and can even reduce trust.
Here is a simple “Then vs Now” style comparison that mirrors how pricing usually shifts when an Irish company matures into US selling. For fun, think of it like the old Nokia vs iPhone hardware gap: same category, very different expectation level.
| Early Ireland / EU Stage (Then) | Mature US Stage (Now) | |
|---|---|---|
| Average Contract | €6k – €12k per year | $25k – $60k per year |
| Pricing Model | Flat license per company | Seat-based or usage-based tiering |
| Discount Levels | 20%+ for small logos | Tight discount policy, value framing |
| Deal Structure | Monthly or annual, some pilots | 12-36 month contracts, paid annual upfront |
| Expansion | Ad hoc upsells | Planned expansion from day one |
The shift is similar to how phone buyers moved from a Nokia 3310 expectation to an iPhone standard. At first, people cared about calls and texts. Now they expect a mini computer in their pocket with constant updates and app ecosystems. In software, early customers accept a simple flat price if the job is modest. US enterprise buyers, like iPhone buyers, expect clear tiers, roadmaps, and support that matches their spend.
Learning From 2005: What Irish Tech Exports Got Wrong And Right
Irish founders who built across the mid‑2000s tried to sell into the US with very different tools. That period still offers useful reference points.
“Back in 2005 we flew to Boston with a product CD in the bag and hoped a bank CIO would give us thirty minutes in a boardroom.”
In 2005, selling into the US involved trade shows, physical demos, and long procurement cycles. Cloud delivery was only starting to form. Many Irish products looked like on‑premise tools with services wrapped around them. Calls meant landlines. Deals moved slowly.
User reviews from that time, where you can still find them, read very differently from today’s G2 or Capterra blurbs.
“Setup took three days on our Windows servers, but once it ran, it did the job and support in Dublin answered emails within 24 hours.”
That line captures the expectations of that period: slower onboarding, manual work, and a basic success bar. The business value came from replacing paper or spreadsheets, not from deep automation or predictive analytics.
Compare that to a modern US buyer reacting to a new Irish SaaS product today:
“We had our first 20 users onboarded the same week, SSO live, and the first dashboard gave us a 15% reduction in failed tickets in month one.”
The expectation level moved from “it runs” to “it proves a number in weeks.” This shift mirrors the jump from Nokia 3310 to iPhone. To hit US scale now, you need to build and sell with the “iPhone” mental model, not the “Nokia” one.
Here is a quick “Then vs Now” comparison connecting that era to the current climate:
| Aspect | Irish Export Software 2005 (Then) | Irish SaaS for US 2026 (Now) |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | On-premise installs, CDs, VPN access | Cloud-native, browser-based, API-first |
| US Sales Motion | Trade shows, cold calling, field sales | PLG, targeted outbound, remote demos |
| User Expectations | Weeks to go live | Days or hours to first result |
| Support | Email within 24-48 hours | In-app chat, near real-time for key accounts |
| Proof of ROI | Yearly review, narrative stories | Monthly or even weekly metrics dashboards |
In 2005, an Irish export tech story into the US survived on persistence, relationships, and a strong services layer. Now, the story survives on product clarity, onboarding speed, and verifiable metrics.
Sales: Hiring Your First US Reps And Leader
Once you see consistent US demand, you face a key choice: hire your first US rep or your first senior US commercial leader. Many Irish founders hire a lone senior VP of Sales in the US and expect them to “build the machine.” That move often fails. One person alone, far from HQ, with no local team, struggles to create pipeline, hire, and hit quota.
A more grounded path looks like this:
1. Founder‑led selling into the US from Ireland to 500k to 1M dollars in ARR.
2. One senior individual contributor in the US (AE or sales‑marketing hybrid) to work inbound and targeted outbound.
3. A second AE and one customer success hire once the first rep hits quota for two or three quarters.
4. Then, once a small pod exists, hire a senior US commercial lead who can manage that group and scale it.
You are building a team, not buying a miracle worker. That difference matters to retention, performance, and culture. US reps expect clear quotas, clear territories, and comp plans that reward success without endless fine print. You need a commission structure that aligns with how your deals actually close: pilot motions, land‑and‑expand, and multi‑year renewals.
Legal, Tax, And HR: Cost Of Being A Real US Company
Scaling into the US means acting like a local entity. That includes:
* Setting up a US subsidiary.
* Handling US payroll, benefits, and compliance in each state where you hire.
* Managing contracts under US law, often New York or Delaware.
Irish teams often underestimate state‑by‑state complexity. Employment rules, tax obligations, and benefits expectations vary. Many growing startups use an employer of record (EOR) service for early hires before they commit to a full HR stack in‑house.
On contracts, US buyers look for certain norms: limitations of liability, indemnity terms, and data processing agreements aligned with both US expectations and your existing GDPR posture. You need legal counsel experienced with cross‑Atlantic SaaS contracts, not just local Irish law.
This legal groundwork does not directly add revenue, but it prevents costly surprises. A poorly structured US contract or misclassified worker can erase the profit margin from a whole cohort of deals.
Marketing: From Irish Brand To US Credibility
Brand recognition that feels strong in Ireland or the UK often counts for very little in the US at first. You build credibility there through three channels:
1. Visible customer logos that US buyers recognize, even if they are your smaller customers.
2. Clear case studies that show numeric gains over a short timeline.
3. Thoughtful presence at one or two conferences that truly matter in your niche.
You do not need a huge PR push. You need proof that people like your target buyer have already trusted you and stayed. That is why renewals and expansions from your first US cohort matter so much. They fuel stories that your sales team can reuse with similar accounts.
From a content angle, think less about broad brand campaigns and more about precise enablement: ROI calculators, benchmark reports for a niche, and webinars with your best US customers speaking in their own words.
Capital Strategy: Funding Your US Expansion
The US move consumes capital: travel, hiring, legal, office costs, and increased marketing. The funding plan around this should not be vague. Investors get nervous when the US thesis reads like a wish list instead of a budget.
A common pattern for Irish SaaS companies:
* Pre‑US: Pre‑seed and Seed round, mostly product and early EU/UK market fit.
* Early US entry: Seed extension or Series A focused on US GTM buildout.
* Scale stage: Series B or growth equity linked to clear US revenue milestones.
Investors will ask: what CAC payback do you expect for US customers vs EU customers? If your payback balloons by 50 percent or more with no sign of better retention or expansion, your US play might weaken, not strengthen, your economic story.
At the same time, strong US performance often pulls in new investor groups that were not active at your Seed. Growth funds that only write checks at 10M+ ARR might start conversations once you hit a certain level of US revenue. That future optionality is part of the ROI logic of scaling stateside.
Product And Support: Serving A Market That Never Sleeps
US customers expect high availability, strong documentation, and responsive support. Your existing team in Ireland can often cover East Coast business hours with some time‑shifted schedules. West Coast coverage is harder without local staff.
You do not need to rush to 24/7 phone support, but you should plan:
* In‑app support that gives a first human response quickly in US business hours.
* Status pages and incident communication that match US norms.
* SLAs that you can actually meet with your current infra and staffing.
From a product perspective, US buyers might ask for integrations or compliance references that never came up in Ireland. Think SOC 2 reports, US‑specific integrations (QuickBooks, NetSuite, US identity providers), and features that match local workflows. You cannot promise these features casually. Every feature commitment has a cost, and your roadmap should weigh that against your core value proposition.
Revisiting The Retro: 2005 User Expectations Vs 2026 US Benchmarks
To close the loop on the retro angle, it helps to visualize how Irish companies selling into the US had to evolve over the past two decades. Imagine you are reading a user review from 2005 next to a modern review on a SaaS marketplace.
In 2005:
“The interface looks dated, but once we trained staff, we saw fewer manual errors. Support is in Ireland so we wait for time zone overlap, but they are friendly and try to help.”
The focus is on basic function: it works, staff can use it, problems get answered eventually.
In 2026:
“We rolled out to 300 US staff in two weeks, SSO and HRIS integration were straightforward, and our internal support tickets for this workflow dropped by 30% in the first quarter.”
The focus is on fast rollout, integrations, and hard percentages. That jump is similar to the difference between a Nokia 3310 user saying, “The battery lasts for days and calls are clear,” and an iPhone 17 user saying, “The camera handles low light well and battery still holds after a full day of video calls and streaming.”
Here is one more “Then vs Now” table tying together that retro lens with the US scale playbook:
| Dimension | Nokia 3310 Era Export SaaS (Then) | iPhone 17 Era US-Scale SaaS (Now) |
|---|---|---|
| US Buyer Focus | Replace paper, basic digitization | Prove ROI, automation, and insight |
| Sales Cycle | Months of on-site visits | Remote discovery, fewer on-site meetings |
| Decision Criteria | Features and vendor relationship | Integration fit, security, measurable outcomes |
| Revenue Mix Goal | Any US deal is a win | Meaningful US share of ARR for valuation |
| Irish Founder Role | Occasional US visits | Active US presence, at least part of the year |
The history lesson here is simple: what worked as a US go‑to‑market from Ireland in 2005 will not carry you today. The mobile phone shift from Nokia 3310 to iPhone 17 mirrors the buyer shift you face across the Atlantic. The US rewards clarity, measurable value, and speed of execution. Irish companies that internalize that, and treat the US as a disciplined investment instead of a dream, give themselves a real shot at returns that justify the journey.