Pablo Hesse is co-founder and CEO of Teltoo, a software-only decentralized video delivery technology startup that helps live-streaming providers improve quality and optimize delivery costs.
In 2018, I moved my late-stage, formerly Madrid-based startup to Boulder, Colorado – a new city, country and market over 5,000 miles away. The move was bold – the best business moves usually are – and afforded my growing startup increased visibility, interest and funding, plus a new standing in an optimal market for our technology. This journey into the U.S. market has taught me valuable lessons to keep in mind when leading a budding startup and planning the next steps for scaling to a global audience.
Overcome Market Differences through Relationship Building
For many companies, the risks of uprooting your business and relocating it across the globe are daunting. But building relationships in advance of the big move are vital to maintaining momentum and navigating unforeseen complications.
For example, my company is pioneering decentralized video delivery technology and has established success in Europe. In this market and others like Latin America, high-quality streaming video (like we provide) is available, but the cost to adopt and implement it is still too high for many enterprise businesses and customers. However, for customers in the U.S. market, cost is no longer a top concern so we needed to reevaluate how to emphasize the specific differentiators that will be most compelling for our new audience.
This previously unknown (and pretty significant) difference in how to differentiate ourselves was a challenge, which is why we put effort into securing a relationship with established, native companies in Colorado.
Establish a Support System
An established support system is crucial for the continued success of any startup, but arguably even more so when contemplating a huge change like moving to another country. For us, an industry accelerator helped us make connections not only with industry leaders across the nation, but also in our new backyard.
Since graduation from the UpRamp Fiterator program in late 2017, the UpRamp team has been instrumental in helping us gain traction on this side of the pond. They helped us close an important funding round, grow our employee base and even aided me with letters of recommendation for my American visa. They also coordinated meetings with the right people, which in our case was executives from leading cable companies like Comcast, Cox and Charter, to validate our company in this new market.
Having colleagues and supporters who can connect you with the right people makes that process significantly easier. On your own, securing these connections could take years - but we were lucky enough to be part of a program that helped us sort it in just three months.
Solidify Your Unique Value Proposition
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned throughout this transition has been how to communicate complicated ideas in simple, human-oriented ways. I’m not a native English speaker, so this was something upon which I had to work extra-hard.
No matter to whom you are speaking - investors, the public, potential customers - it is so important to clearly demonstrate your company’s unique value in a way that your audience understands. One of my mentors, Scott Brown, has developed a great framework that helped me to distill my message into one that my audience truly cared about, while still enabling me to stay true to Teltoo’s vision and mission.
Enjoy it!
Colorado is famous for beautiful hiking trails, outdoor adventures and dog-friendly local breweries and taprooms. It is attractive to employees looking to make the most of their time outside of work and the talent pool continues to grow as tech professionals look for locations that foster that elusive work/life balance.
Alongside being a growing mecca for tech startups, Colorado is also the place to be for video companies right now. We are grateful to be in the company of notable industry titans and thought leaders like Wowza and SlingTV, giving us confidence that Colorado innovation will grow with us. With a rich talent pool and industry leaders, Colorado was the right place for Teltoo.
Where will your startup take you?
