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How should Australian founders choose their first international market? (Spoiler: It’s not always the US)
Rachael Neumann is Co-Founder and Partner of Flying Fox Ventures (60+ portfolio companies). Former Head of Startups ANZ at AWS and Managing Director of Eventbrite ANZ. She’s also a Growth Advisor and Operator for Think & Grow – conducting GTM Workshops for scale-ups looking to expand internationally.
For many Australian founders that won't be the US, which Rachael Neumann calls "a much more diverse and expensive market to enter than most people consider".
TL;DR: Start with your customer, not the map. Work out who your customers are and where, what the competition looks like, and whether your product has the features those users need, then choose the market where you can win with the resources you have.
Here’s her advice for Australian founders looking to their first international market, supported by anonymised data from our 2026 GTM and Growth Alignment Workshops.
The US is the default, from Australia and around the world
"Everyone immediately thinks, 'We're launching in the US,' but there are lots of other very attractive markets." Head of Delivery at Think & Grow, Will McCahey, offers similar advice from his article about the five criteria you need to effectively score your next market.
What we’re seeing in our GTM & Growth Alignment Workshops: the US was the most-named expansion target, ahead of the UK, APAC, and DACH.
The US is many markets, and none of them is cheap
"If you’re going to the US, have a very niche launch plan. America is a very large, very diverse territory. Its regions, industries and verticals all behave very differently – it isn't one big homogeneous country. You don't 'enter the US'; you enter a region, in an industry, with a target ICP, and a budget that's commensurate with that launch. People underestimate the resources it takes."
What we’re seeing in our GTM & Growth Alignment Workshops: resourcing is where expansion plans most often fall short. Over 50% of companies out of our workshops in 2026 were told by our operators that their sales and marketing resourcing couldn’t yet support their growth targets.
US entry is the one time to slow down
"So many of our workshops end with a recommendation to pause. We always tell startups to go fast, fail fast and break things, but when you're entering the US, pause. Invest the time and money in really in-depth market research to understand where and how you're going to launch, make sure you have the right resources and launch plan, and then proceed. That's the only time I tell people to slow down."
What we’re seeing in our GTM & Growth Alignment Workshops: Narrowing comes up as often as accelerating. Almost half of the operator recommendations logged out of workshops was to prioritise and narrow their geographic or market focus.
The right market starts with your customer
"You need to understand who your potential customers are and where, what the competition looks like, whether the industry is fragmented or consolidated, whether you need to be a first mover, whether it's winner-takes-all, and whether your product has the features those users need. If you're not doing that work, you will fail, because someone else will have that intel before you or at the same time, and they'll beat you.
If you're not thinking in that structured way, you'll be throwing spaghetti at the wall – burning a lot of cash, burning through team members and damaging potential customer relationships by having the wrong product in the wrong country, with the wrong team, offering and messaging. There's no such thing as the right country to enter. There's only the right country for your product, your problem, your customer and your organisation."
The research no longer costs consultant fees
"It's never been easier to do the research to deeply understand your ICP and where they are. With tools like Claude or ChatGPT, you can run desktop research that you used to have to pay a management consultant tens of thousands of dollars for."
What we found when we tested it: We ran an AI research tool against a market-entry project we’d already delivered. It picked North America and Europe, put the market size anywhere from US $860m to $7.5bn, and rated its own competitor analysis as low confidence. Our operators found the real opening in Asia-Pacific software, which cut time to first revenue by up to eight months. Use AI for the scan, not the launch decision.
Every market has its own quirks
"When we launched Eventbrite internationally, we didn't realise how different banking and transactions were in each country. We assumed the processes we had in the US were universal, but the way people buy things in Germany is very different to the UK or Australia. Back then – and this ages me – some markets used chip and PIN, some still swiped cards and others were tapping. Without the right payment processing, you can't enter those markets.
"So understand the regional differences in behaviours and consumer preferences, and know where you need boots on the ground versus where you can serve customers from overseas teams. And if you are putting boots on the ground, know how to fire before you hire – because you are going to make some hiring mistakes. Make sure you understand the local laws. I've learned that one the hard way."
What we’re seeing in our GTM & Growth Alignment Workshops: Commercial leadership is one of the most common gaps that operators flag. Where the CRO, CMO or product marketing lead seat was empty, operators recommended the CEO or CTO absorbing go-to-market decisions.
Planning your first international market?
Think & Grow operators like Rachael work with scale-up leadership teams on where to grow next. Our Growth Diagnostic is a half-day, operator-led workshop. It shows what's holding your growth back and what to fix first, then gives you a prioritised plan.
Find out about the Growth Diagnostic →
Frequently asked questions
Should Australian startups expand to the US first?
Not by default. Rachael's view is that the US is "a much more diverse and expensive market to enter than most people consider", and that there are "lots of other very attractive markets". The right first market depends on your product, your customer and your resources.
How do I choose which international market to expand into?
Start with your customer. Rachael's checklist: who your potential customers are and where, what the competition looks like, whether the industry is fragmented or consolidated, whether you need to be a first mover, whether it's winner-takes-all, and whether your product has the features those users need.
Why is the US so hard to enter?
Its regions, industries and verticals all behave differently, so a US launch needs a specific region, industry and ICP, with a budget to match. Rachael says founders often underestimate the resources it takes.
Can you serve Asia from Australia?
Rachael thinks so. She calls Australia "a great base for English-speaking companies that want to open up the Asian corridor", thanks to time-zone alignment and proximity.
