Scaling Stateside

James Sutton founded Avantia Law in London in 2019 to combine AI with legal services, years before ChatGPT. Among its customers 10 to 20, about half were already American. Today, he says, easily 80% of their revenue comes from the US, and Avantia Law is now part of Carta, as Carta Law.

David Rose and Matt Oxley ask him what the first US signals looked like, why a British team was slow to act on them, why there's no substitute for the founder being there, how he raised venture capital when investors said "love the tech, get rid of the services", and how Carta came to acquire Avantia while it was holding two Series B term sheets.

🤝 Thank you to Carta, a Scaling Stateside supporting partner, for making this conversation happen.

What you'll learn:
– The first US signal: about half of customers 10 to 20 were American, and they came through the London network
– Why British founders often sit on that signal, and why James says Avantia acted too slowly
– The first US steps: delivery lawyers on the ground, a Manhattan skyline on the website and a US-based senior sales rep
– Why there's no substitute for the founder being there, and why your top one or two salespeople are the next best option
– Getting on the plane: James flies to the East Coast about three times a month, and once flew to New York for lunch and back the same day
– Raising VC for AI plus services when early investors said "love the tech, get rid of the services"
– How Carta came to acquire Avantia Law, from a relationship of about 18 months to a call in the middle of a Series B
– His parting advice: go sooner than you think, send the founder, and raise capital if that's what's holding you back

CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:14 Meet James Sutton, founder of Avantia Law
01:36 First job: a removal man at 17
03:00 Lehman, Slaughter and May and Och-Ziff
06:34 Building an AI law firm before ChatGPT
10:02 First US signals: half of customers 10 to 20
11:47 Feeling the US pull, and moving too slowly
13:07 First US steps: lawyers, messaging and a US sales hire
14:28 No substitute for the founder being there
17:12 Go two years earlier, and just get on the plane
19:53 Winner-take-all: before a US rival outscales you
20:30 Hustle, the Bay Area and where to base yourself
25:44 Raising VC as an AI-plus-services business
28:43 How Carta came to acquire Avantia Law
31:00 Lessons and parting advice for founders

About the guest:
James Sutton is the founder of Avantia Law and now General Manager of Carta Law. Before Avantia he was General Counsel and a Managing Director at Och-Ziff (now Sculptor) and a corporate lawyer at Slaughter and May.

About Scaling Stateside:
Scaling Stateside is the podcast for founders navigating US expansion. Hosts David Rose, Founder & CEO at USXP, and Matt Oxley, Co-Founder & President at USXP, talk to founders, operators and investors who have made the jump, surfacing the real playbooks, pitfalls and best practices.

🔗 CONNECT WITH James Sutton ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamescsutton/
🔗 Carta Law ⮕ https://carta.com/law
🔗 CONNECT WITH David Rose ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbrose
🔗 CONNECT WITH Matt Oxley ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdoxley

THE SCALING STATESIDE PARTNER NETWORK
Founding Partners: USXP and Wilson Sonsini
Supporting Partners: HSBC Innovation Banking, Frazier & Deeter, Carta, Dealroom and London & Partners

US Expansion Partners ⮕ https://www.usxp.co
Scaling Stateside ⮕ https://www.scaling-stateside.com

🔔 Follow Scaling Stateside for more conversations on scaling to the US the right way.

#USExpansion #LegalTech #AI #Startups #Founders #ScalingStateside

David Clarke joined Onfido as CFO in 2018, when the company had zero revenue and knew the US was the prize, home to around half of its global market. Before that he spent ten years as CFO of PayPal in Europe, growing revenues from almost nothing to $2.5 billion, and was CFO of Skrill through a turnaround and sale.

This is the CFO's side of a US expansion. Once the board says yes, the execution usually lands with the CFO: the plan, the entity, the hires, the state-by-state compliance and the investors. David Rose and Matt Oxley ask him what a board should look for before approving the move, why Onfido's first US sales hires didn't work out, how to choose a location, the compliance traps that surface in due diligence, and what a CFO six months from launch should be doing right now.

📘 FREE: The CFO's Guide to U.S. Expansion ⮕ https://www.usxp.co/cfo-guide/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show-notes&utm_campaign=cfo-guide&utm_content=david-clarke-episode

What you'll learn:
– What a board should see before approving a US launch: a rolling three-year plan, the market size and the assumptions behind it
– Why Onfido's first three US sales hires didn't work out, and why the next move was a global CRO based in New York
– The culture shocks: driving licences instead of passports, and 50 states with their own rules
– The compliance work teams underestimate: sales tax, payroll taxes, privacy and state registrations, and why missed fines surface in investor due diligence
– How to choose your first US location: customers, talent pool and time zone
– Why one of Onfido's first US hires was a corporate lawyer
– The question he learned at PayPal: "What is your constraint to growth?"
– Six months from launch: weekly check-ins, a named owner for every workstream, advisers on board and a home team that stays informed

CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:14 Why US expansion lands on the CFO
01:22 David's path: PwC, Singapore, PayPal, Skrill, Onfido
04:33 Onfido in 2018: zero revenue, no product yet
08:14 Europe first, then the US sales hires that didn't work
12:44 US vs Europe: same language, different market
15:36 What a board should see before saying yes
18:26 Market size, competitors and going on the offensive
23:18 Raised money to go to the US? Don't just go
27:09 Choosing your first US location
29:21 Compliance: sales tax, payroll, registrations and fines
32:32 Who to hire first in the US
36:54 The US vs European CFO mindset
39:57 "What's your constraint to growth?"
41:35 Why a US presence made fundraising easier
44:41 Six months from launch: what a CFO should do now
47:41 Wrap-up

About the guest:
David Clarke was CFO of Onfido (now part of Entrust) and led its US expansion. Before that he was CFO of Skrill and spent ten years as CFO of PayPal in Europe. He qualified as an accountant with Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC), and today he is a non-executive director at Copper.

About Scaling Stateside:
Scaling Stateside is the podcast for founders navigating US expansion. Hosts David Rose, Founder & CEO at USXP, and Matt Oxley, Co-Founder & President at USXP, talk to founders, operators and investors who have made the jump, surfacing the real playbooks, pitfalls and best practices.

🔗 CONNECT WITH David Clarke ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/dgclarke/
🔗 CONNECT WITH David Rose ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbrose
🔗 CONNECT WITH Matt Oxley ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdoxley

THE SCALING STATESIDE PARTNER NETWORK
Founding Partners: USXP and Wilson Sonsini
Supporting Partners: HSBC Innovation Banking, Frazier & Deeter, Carta, Dealroom and London & Partners

US Expansion Partners ⮕ https://www.usxp.co
Scaling Stateside ⮕ https://www.scaling-stateside.com

🔔 Follow Scaling Stateside for more conversations on scaling to the US the right way.

#USExpansion #CFO #Startups #Founders #Fintech #ScalingStateside

Dr. Thomas Fandrich co-founded quantilope in Hamburg and led its US expansion from 2018. Today around 70% of company revenue is American. In this episode: how he tested the US market from Germany before moving, the milestone his board set before approving the move, why their UK expansion underperformed, what he would do differently on pricing and hiring, and the personal cost of the move.

What you'll learn:

– How to test the US market before you relocate: US hours, US outreach, from home
– The milestone his board set before approving the move: 30 opportunities in one quarter
– The three-day trade show sprint that filled the funnel
– Why "German understatement" does not travel, and what to change instead
– Why their UK expansion underperformed their US one (no founder on site)
– What he would do differently: pricing, US HR, onboarding
– Why not to hire too senior in your first US team
– The personal side: eight months apart, visa delays, a spouse who could not work

CHAPTERS 
00:00 Intro 
00:59 Meet Tom and what quantilope does 
03:55 Recording from a van next to a volcano in Ecuador 
04:55 First job: selling keyboards at Toys R Us 
08:05 Why the US, and the Series A behind it 
10:04 The Hamburg task force: running US hours before moving 
13:05 The "30 opportunities" milestone the board set 
13:46 What surprised a German team in America 
17:00 Why New York: the scorecard approach 
18:25 The personal cost nobody talks about 
21:20 Why the UK expansion went worse than the US 
25:57 What he would do differently: pricing, HR, onboarding 
29:21 Leading a US team vs a German team 
31:52 $1M ARR in year one, 70% of revenue today 
32:55 His three rules for US expansion

About the guest: 
Dr. Thomas Fandrich is co-founder of quantilope, a consumer intelligence platform that uses agentic AI to automate end-to-end consumer research. He has served as CEO, US President, Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Customer Officer, and led the company's US expansion from 2018. He is now a board member and strategic advisor. He and his wife are currently driving the Pan American Highway from Alaska to Argentina.

About Scaling Stateside:
Scaling Stateside is the podcast for founders navigating US expansion. Hosts David Rose (CEO, USXP) and Matt Oxley talk to founders and investors who have made the jump, to surface the real playbooks, pitfalls, and best practices.

🔗 CONNECT WITH Dr. Thomas Fandrich
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-thomas-fandrich-00b546165

🔗 CONNECT WITH David Rose 
LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbrose

🔗 CONNECT WITH Matt Oxley 
LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdoxley

🏢 POWERED BY WILSON SONSINI 
This episode is powered by Wilson Sonsini, the leading law firm for technology and growth companies. Wilson Sonsini helps European founders navigate US expansion, from entity formation and regulatory compliance to VC fundraising and M&A. Their deep cross-border expertise ensures you structure it right from day one.

US Expansion Partners ⮕ https://www.usxp.co

Scaling Stateside ⮕ https://www.scaling-stateside.com

🔔 Subscribe for more conversations on scaling to the US the right way.

#USExpansion #Startups #Founders #SaaS #GoToMarket #ScalingStateside #Neolane #Adobe

Marc Cohen built AI systems, traded for banks, and then ran a fund with one thesis: only back UK tech companies going after the US market. In this episode: the speculative trip where he met 38 US funds in 3.5 weeks, the "will you move?" test he applies to founders, why "profitable in two years" kills a US pitch, the 3,000-email outreach mistake, and how to actually pick your US city.

In Part 2 of our conversation, Stephan Dietrich moves to the other side of the table. After building Neolane and selling it to Adobe for around $600 million, he now invests his own money in growth-stage software companies and sits on the boards of six of them.

David Rose and Matt Oxley dig into the investor mindset: why he refused to start a VC fund, how he judges whether a European company is truly ready for the US, the single biggest mistake he made in his own expansion, and the hard truths about talent, capital, and timing that most founders learn too late.

If you missed Part 1 (Stephan's founder journey and the two-mile talent playbook), listen it here: https://share.transistor.fm/s/7cbfe0d4

In this episode:

• Why he invests his own money instead of raising a fund
• "Smart money": why coachability is his top investment criterion
• The readiness test: $10M+ ARR, product-market fit vs go-to-market fit
• Why European products are often too sophisticated for the US
• The red flag: "we'll just hire a local head of US"
• Choosing a US city: why New York can cost 30 to 50% more than Nashville
• His biggest mistake: going to the US too late
• Discipline: $35M raised, $20M burned, ~$600M exit
• The real cost of doing business in the US (and why founders under-commit capital)
• Lessons from the Adobe acquisition and integration
• Founder "expiration dates" and the hardest board conversation

CHAPTERS

00:00 Intro and Part 1 recap 

01:07 From operator to investor: the mindset shift 

03:06 A health scare and a family decision 

03:51 Why he refused to start a VC fund 

05:02 His guiding principles: evergreen, invest forever 

07:06 Investing as "smart money": coachability first 

08:11 Sitting on the bench: the hardest adjustment 

11:24 How he assesses US readiness (PMF vs GTM fit) 

14:11 Organizational readiness: English and anti-Americanism 

16:10 Choosing a US city: why not default to New York 

17:45 You can't crack the US on $5M anymore 

18:46 Don't half-ass the US 

20:58 His biggest mistake: going too late 

23:23 Go big, but stay disciplined 

24:01 The one gap to master: talent 

27:17 The real cost of doing business in the US 

29:43 Lessons from the Adobe acquisition 

35:11 Founder expiration dates and altitude sickness 

39:34 Final advice: don't wait, go big

About the guest:

Stephan Dietrich is a serial founder and now an Operating Partner at Lead Edge Capital, where he helps European enterprise software companies scale in the US. He guest lectures at Harvard Business School. He co-founded and led the US business of Neolane (acquired by Adobe in 2013), which became Adobe Campaign.

About Scaling Stateside:

Scaling Stateside is the podcast for founders navigating US expansion. Hosts David Rose (CEO, USXP) and Matt Oxley talk to founders and investors who have made the jump, to surface the real playbooks, pitfalls, and best practices.

🔗 CONNECT WITH Stephan Dietrich 

LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephandietrich/ 

🔗 CONNECT WITH David Rose 

LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbrose

🔗 CONNECT WITH Matt Oxley 

LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdoxley

🏢 POWERED BY WILSON SONSINI 

This episode is powered by Wilson Sonsini, the leading law firm for technology and growth companies. Wilson Sonsini helps European founders navigate US expansion, from entity formation and regulatory compliance to VC fundraising and M&A. Their deep cross-border expertise ensures you structure it right from day one.

US Expansion Partners ⮕ https://www.usxp.co

Scaling Stateside ⮕ https://www.scaling-stateside.com

🔔 Subscribe for more conversations on scaling to the US the right way.

#USExpansion #Startups #Founders #SaaS #GoToMarket #ScalingStateside #Neolane #Adobe

Stephan Dietrich built Neolane in Paris, entered the US with a $6M round, and sold the company to Adobe for around $600 million. In this episode of Scaling Stateside, he breaks down exactly how a European software founder wins in the most competitive market on earth, without outspending the incumbents.

David Rose and Matt Oxley sit down with Stephan to unpack the operator playbook most founders learn the hard way: how to choose your US city, how to hire when you can't read the culture, and why talent, not product or market, decides whether your expansion works.

This is a masterclass in "outsmart, don't outspend."

What you'll learn:
– Why 50% of the world's enterprise software is bought in the US, and what that means for your go-to-market
– The "two-mile" talent play: setting up next to your biggest competitor on purpose
– How to spot a fake sales record in a single interview (the "call Rick" test)
– Why front-door reference checks are useless, and what to do instead
– The country-brand tax on European software founders (the "Portuguese wine in Burgundy" problem)
– Hiring in a culture you can't calibrate: the C to B to A sequence
– Why the best founders love a downturn

CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
01:00 Meet Stephan Dietrich
01:30 From roofer to tech entrepreneur
05:47 Meeting his co-founders at Ecole Centrale Paris
09:29 Selling his first company to Peregrine Systems
11:00 How three co-founders divide their lanes
14:37 The twice-a-year founders retreat
16:06 Building the toolkit: MBA, big deals, and the US
22:15 Cubic Soft: a Palantir before Palantir
23:23 Why Neolane was an American business from day one
27:54 How Neolane got its name
29:42 Near death in 2003, and why he loves a downturn
33:02 Landing in the US: what he got wrong
34:52 The one number that settles the US question
37:35 The hardest part: finding talent
38:51 The "call Rick" test for fake sales reps
40:32 Front-door vs backdoor reference checks
41:24 Lead gen and the Portuguese wine problem
44:11 Boston and the two-mile talent play
46:32 Wrap and what's coming in Part 2

About the guest:
Stephan Dietrich is a serial founder and now an Operating Partner at Lead Edge Capital, where he helps European enterprise software companies scale in the US. He guest lectures at Harvard Business School. He co-founded and led the US business of Neolane (acquired by Adobe in 2013), which became Adobe Campaign.

About Scaling Stateside:
Scaling Stateside is the podcast for founders navigating US expansion. Hosts David Rose (CEO, USXP) and Matt Oxley talk to founders and investors who have made the jump, to surface the real playbooks, pitfalls, and best practices.

🔗 CONNECT WITH Stephan Dietrich 
LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephandietrich/ 

🔗 CONNECT WITH David Rose 
LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbrose

🔗 CONNECT WITH Matt Oxley 
LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdoxley

🏢 POWERED BY WILSON SONSINI 
This episode is powered by Wilson Sonsini, the leading law firm for technology and growth companies. Wilson Sonsini helps European founders navigate US expansion, from entity formation and regulatory compliance to VC fundraising and M&A. Their deep cross-border expertise ensures you structure it right from day one.

US Expansion Partners ⮕ https://www.usxp.co

Scaling Stateside ⮕ https://www.scaling-stateside.com

🔔 Subscribe for more conversations on scaling to the US the right way.

#USExpansion #Startups #Founders #SaaS #GoToMarket #ScalingStateside #Neolane #Adobe

From psychology to leveraged finance law to scaling a billion-rating startup across continents – Georgina Nelson holds nothing back.

Georgina is the founder of TruRating, the real-time consumer transaction data company behind 1 billion+ verified ratings, built with ~$40M raised through a deliberately unconventional path.

In this episode, David Rose and Matt Oxley sit down with Georgina to unpack the unfiltered reality of taking a UK company into the US: why she chose Atlanta over New York and Silicon Valley, the "euphoria-then-ghosting" cycle that catches every founder off guard, the at-will employment shock, and how she keeps one culture alive across multiple continents.

Plus the origin story you won't forget – including buying the trurating.com domain hours after her C-section.

In this episode:

• Why she left "the safety" to build TruRating
• Using Australia as a "Petri dish" before the US
• Raising ~$40M through angels and family offices – not the traditional VC route
• The neurochemistry of founders and "delusional optimism"
• Why Atlanta: payments, talent, and cost
• Loneliness, culture, and finding your "American character"
• Being a British female founder in the US
• The euphoria → ghosting go-to-market trap
• At-will employment and the pace of US hiring
• The hardest lesson no playbook teaches

🔗 CONNECT WITH Georgina Nelson
LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgina-nelson-11ab0631

TruRating ⮕ https://trurating.com

🔗 CONNECT WITH David Rose
LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbrose

🔗 CONNECT WITH Matt Oxley
LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdoxley

🏢 POWERED BY WILSON SONSINI 
This episode is powered by Wilson Sonsini, the leading law firm for technology and growth companies. Wilson Sonsini helps European founders navigate US expansion, from entity formation and regulatory compliance to VC fundraising and M&A. Their deep cross-border expertise ensures you structure it right from day one.

US Expansion Partners ⮕ https://www.usxp.co

Scaling Stateside ⮕ https://www.scaling-stateside.com

🔔 Subscribe for more conversations on scaling to the US the right way.

#ScalingStateside #DeepTech #VentureCapital #EuropeanFounders #USExpansion #PreSeed #FlyVentures #StartupPodcast

In this episode of the Scaling Stateside podcast, David Rose and Matt Oxley sit down with Matt Wichrowski, Partner at Fly Ventures — a first-check VC built for technical founders that other funds are afraid to back. Matt splits his time between California and London and has spent over a decade at the heart of European deep tech, from Entrepreneur First to co-leading the pre-seed round of WAVE, one of the UK's most ambitious autonomous vehicle companies.
This one is packed with insight for any technical founder thinking about raising or expanding to the US.

What we cover:
- The "animal founder" — what VCs are really looking for and why there are no metrics for it
- Why European founders go to the US too late — and why the staggered approach no longer works
- How Fly Ventures does technical due diligence when there's no product, no revenue and no comps
- Pre-seed valuation explained simply: why it's more like valuing art than running a DCF
- The cultural gap between US and European founders — and why Americans learn to sell in kindergarten
- Why the founder must be first on the ground in the US, every time
- What to prioritise if you're 12 months away from making the move
- Matt's advice for deep tech founders just getting started

👇 Don't forget to subscribe for more insights on scaling your startup in the US!

📍 KEY TOPICS & TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Introduction
01:16 Meet Matt Wichrowski & Fly Ventures
02:00 First paying job
03:21 From Chicago to London: the transatlantic journey
06:55 Why European capital holds founders back
09:24 The animal founder — what great looks like
14:00 Fly Ventures' investment thesis explained
17:15 Deep tech timelines and what you tell LPs
19:29 How to do technical due diligence at pre-seed
21:34 Best sources of deal flow
25:15 What to do 12 months before moving to the US
31:04 US vs European founders: the biggest differences
33:59 Coaching reserved technical founders to sell
36:40 How VCs think about pre-seed valuation
40:40 Advice for deep tech founders just starting out
44:05 Events, sourcing and how to get on Matt's radar

ABOUT OUR GUEST: MATT WICHROWSKI
Matt Wichrowski is a Partner at Fly Ventures, a first-check pre-seed VC built for technical founders that other funds are afraid to back. Originally from Chicago, Matt has been embedded in the European startup ecosystem since 2015 — starting at Entrepreneur First, and now splitting his time between California and London as part of Fly's transatlantic investment approach.
At Fly, Matt focuses primarily on deep tech and frontier technology — backing founders building at the cutting edge of what's possible, from autonomous vehicles to robotics to biotech. He co-led the pre-seed round of WAVE, one of the UK's most ambitious autonomous vehicle companies, and has spent years cultivating one of the strongest deep tech networks across the US and Europe.
Outside of investing, Matt writes the Reshare newsletter, where he shares what he's reading and thinking about across frontier technology.

🔗 CONNECT WITH Matt Wichrowski
LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattwichrowski
Site ⮕ https://www.mattwichrowski.com 
Fly Ventures ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/company/fly-venture

🔗 CONNECT WITH David Rose
LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbrose/

🔗 CONNECT WITH Matt Oxley
LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdoxley/

🏢 POWERED BY WILSON SONSINI
This episode is powered by Wilson Sonsini, the leading law firm for technology and growth companies. Wilson Sonsini helps European founders navigate US expansion — from entity formation and regulatory compliance to VC fundraising and M&A. Their deep cross-border expertise ensures you structure it right from day one.

US Expansion Partners ⮕ https://www.usxp.co
Scaling Stateside ⮕ https://www.scaling-stateside.com 

🔔 Subscribe for more conversations on scaling to the US the right way.

#ScalingStateside #DeepTech #VentureCapital #EuropeanFounders #USExpansion #PreSeed #FlyVentures #StartupPodcast

David and Matt sit down to reflect on Season 1 of Scaling Stateside — 10 episodes of real conversations with founders who've expanded to the US and VCs who are funding that journey. 
In this episode, they talk about what they've learned, what surprised them, and the patterns they keep seeing across every conversation. They also share some big news: Scaling Stateside is evolving from a podcast into a full platform — with live events, workshops, a US Readiness Assessment tool, and partners including Wilson Sonsini, HSBC Innovation Banking, and Frazier Deeter. 
If you're a European founder thinking about US expansion or raising from US VCs, this is the episode that lays out where we've been and where we're going.

🗓 First live event: US VC Fundraising Workshop — April 21st, London 
🔗 Register at scaling-stateside.com

🔗 CONNECT WITH David Rose 
LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbrose/

🔗 CONNECT WITH Matt Oxley 
LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdoxley/

🏢 POWERED BY WILSON SONSINI 
This episode is powered by Wilson Sonsini, the leading law firm for technology and growth companies. Wilson Sonsini helps European founders navigate US expansion—from entity formation and regulatory compliance to VC fundraising and M&A. Their deep cross-border expertise ensures you structure it right from day one.

US Expansion Partners ⮕ https://www.usxp.co/

🔔 Subscribe for more conversations on scaling to the US the right way.

#VentureCapital #StartupFunding #SeriesA #SiliconValley #TechFounders #ScalingStateSide #DelawareFlip

Are you a UK or EU founder trying to raise venture capital in the US? You might be pitching the wrong numbers.

In this episode of Scaling State Side, David Rose and Matt Oxley sit down with Daniel Glazer, Head of the London Office and US Expansion Team at Wilson Sonsini. Dan breaks down the exact math Silicon Valley VCs use to evaluate startups, the critical differences between US and European term sheets, and whether or not you *actually* need to do a Delaware Flip to secure funding in 2026.

If you are planning to cross the pond to raise your Series A, this episode is your ultimate playbook for navigating American VC culture, dilution norms, and founder revesting clauses.

ABOUT OUR GUEST: DANIEL GLAZER
Daniel Glazer is the Founding Partner of Wilson Sonsini’s London office and Head of the firm's U.S. Expansion Group. As a leading American technology lawyer, Dan specializes in helping high-growth UK and European startups successfully navigate their U.S. life cycle, from initial expansion and securing Silicon Valley venture capital, to navigating U.S. exits (M&A/IPO). With decades of experience, he is the ultimate bridge for international founders looking to decode American VC norms and scale stateside.

🔗 CONNECT WITH Daniel Glazer
LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielcglazer/
Wilson Sonsini ⮕ https://www.wsgr.com/en/

🔗 CONNECT WITH David Rose
LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbrose/

🔗 CONNECT WITH Matt Oxley
LinkedIn ⮕ https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdoxley/ 

🏢 POWERED BY WILSON SONSINI
This episode is powered by Wilson Sonsini, the leading law firm for technology and growth companies. Wilson Sonsini helps European founders navigate US expansion — from entity formation and regulatory compliance to VC fundraising and M&A. Their deep cross-border expertise ensures you structure it right from day one.

US Expansion Partners ⮕ https://www.usxp.co/ 

🔔 Subscribe for more conversations on scaling to the US the right way.

#VentureCapital #StartupFunding #SeriesA #SiliconValley #TechFounders #ScalingStateSide #DelawareFlip