Events

Expansion to the US, with Wilson Sonsini

30 November 2020

Time to set your sights on growing beyond the UK – what better place to expand or raise funds than the United States?

Why the US? With the promise of huge commercial opportunities, buoyant ventures, and a growth capital environment, the US has been the key to success for many companies.

That said, you’ll find that doing business and raising money across the pond can be unfamiliar and highly competitive. If you’re looking to expand to the US, you will need careful planning, sound advice and be armed with the best practices to navigate launching and operating a UK business in the United States.

On this year’s Thanksgiving, we hosted a Q&A session where our Associate Director and Head of Scaleups Sam Ross interviewed Tech Nation Fellow Daniel Glazer, the US Expansion group lead at Silicon Valley-headquartered Wilson Sonsini. The Topic? How to conquer the US market!

In addition to industry leading advice, this was a Q&A event, with viewers invited to ask a host of questions. In this event, Sam Ross and Daniel Glazer covered:

– Do I need a US company in order to raise oney from US VCs? 4:59

– From a legal point of view, what are the key things you need to get sorted before you start selling into the US? 10.10

– Have you seen increasingly that US companies are asking for data to be stored in the US? Are some US customers only comfortable dealing with a US service team? 12:30

– What are the tax consequences for US investors investing in a UK company? 17.34

– Why is Delaware so popular to set up in, and if you don’t set up in Delaware, where else should you consider? 23:06

– What about the discoverability of your company? How do you compare that with delaware? 25:26

– What are the challenges and advantages of having people hired in the US? 28.16

– What is the biggest surprise on hiring and retention of staff in the US for a business that’s only operated in the UK? How we we incentivize employees? 36.00

– Are there schemes for US angel investors in the US where they can offset some of their investments against income tax if they invest in early stage businesses 42.14

– Is Brexit a material concern to American investors? 44.00

– Does everyone really sue each other all the time in the US? 45.49

– Is a concern with data protection in the US spreading beyond California? And is there a specific strategy for overall compliance that should be used? 52.46

Find Sam on LinkedIn
Find Daniel on LinkedIn

The above event took place on Thursday 26 November at 12:30pm GMT. If you have any questions please contact hello@stephenson.law.