Your board wants Europe. Your customers are asking for APAC. Your team has never opened a new market. In 12 weeks, you'll build the market-entry plan, the local GTM motion, the hiring model and the dashboard to know if it's working.
The Reality Check
You're a senior leader being asked to lead an international launch — CEO, COO, Chief International Officer, GM of [Region], VP International. You may have lived in a market, sold into one, or run a global product team — but you've never opened a country from zero.
You've read every "how we expanded to Europe" blog. You've talked to three peers who tried it. You've heard contradictory advice on entity, hiring, pricing, channel and localization — usually from people who only got it right once.
But you can't afford to waste 18 months learning by failure. And you can't afford the board concluding, halfway in, that the wrong person is running it.
You need the playbook. Not another war story.
The Opportunity
Companies that get their first international market right scale to a global footprint at 2–3× the rate of those that wing the first launch. The difference isn't budget or market choice — it's the operating system: ICP validation, entity decision, GTM model, hiring approach, and instrumented metrics from Day 1.
International expansion leaders are now one of the highest-paid roles in the GTM org. And a small group has gone further — building portfolio careers as fractional Heads of International and expansion advisors.
This program teaches the system. You leave with the artifacts, the peer room, and a defensible plan for Market #1 — not someone else's case study.
The Solution
A 12-week peer advisory program for senior leaders running a first-or-second international market entry. One goal per week, five tasks per goal, 12 live sessions, and 5 anchor outputs — plus one live market-entry plan running by Week 11.
Most expansion fails at market selection, not execution. You'll workshop ICP fit, regulatory drag, channel access and competitive density across 3 candidate markets — and pick one with evidence.
Five anchor outputs every successful expansion needs: market thesis, entity & hiring plan, localized GTM, channel map, and KPI dashboard. Demoable, defensible, durable.
Pressure-test your plan in a curated, NDA-protected room of fellow expansion leaders. Peer pairs, weekly check-ins, no vendor pitches.
By Week 11, you'll have first hires drafted, first local customers in pipeline, and a board update written. Demo Day shows the plan running — not slideware.
The Five Anchor Outputs
Who This Is For
CEOs, COOs, Chief International Officers, GMs of [Region], VPs International at Series B+ companies opening Market #1 or #2.
Tired of contradictory expansion advice. Ready to install a real plan — and stop running international from one-off founder calls.
You're going to live in this market for 2+ years, in calendar or in mind. You want a system, not a postcard.
Not for: Pre-Series-A companies, leaders running their fifth market, or anyone whose 'expansion' is just adding multi-currency. This is a Market #1 or #2 room.
Your Guide
Veteran Expansion Leader · GM · Forward Achieve Partner
Your guide has opened four international markets across Europe, APAC and LATAM as a GM or VP International, hired the first 30 in each, and currently advises Series B–D companies on expansion. The curriculum draws on the Forward Achieve expansion library, the Beast Score diagnostic and a library of unlisted GM interviews.
What to Expect
Frequently Asked
No — that's what your local counsel is for. We cover the decision framework (PEO vs. branch vs. subsidiary, when to incorporate, what to outsource). You leave knowing what to ask, not impersonating a lawyer.
Yes. We've designed for Europe, APAC and LATAM entries. Curriculum is region-agnostic; peer pairs are matched by region.
3–4 hours most weeks, ~6 in build weeks. Expansion is full-time. This program just compresses 18 months into 3.
Some, situationally. The program isn't a partner network — it's a system program. Founders who launch use the artifacts. Intros without artifacts don't launch.
Those are decks. This is execution. You leave with a running plan, not a 200-slide artifact no one reads.
Ship Anchor 1 by Week 3 and decide — tell us and we'll refund. [CONFIRM refund terms.]
The Full Syllabus
Three stages. Twelve weeks. Click any stage to expand.
Run the Expansion Beast Score. Diagnose readiness. Draft 12-week target market #1.
Session 1 · 90 min · Orientation.
Score 3 candidate markets across ICP fit, regulatory drag, channel access, competitive density.
Session 2 · 60 min · Market clinic.
Pick one market with evidence. Ship a one-page thesis. Peer-tested live.
Session 3 · 90 min · Thesis clinic.
Claude Code + Notion. Load market research, local sales calls, partner intros. Query your KB.
Session 4 · 60 min · Build session.
PEO / branch / subsidiary decision framework. First 3 hires, comp benchmarks. Draft a Manager-of-One risk plan.
Session 5 · 90 min · Entity lab.
Decision locked + first 3 JDs drafted. Send one offer-letter draft to peer for pressure test.
Session 6 · 60 min · Hiring clinic.
Positioning, pricing, channel, partner motion, content adaptation. Live and QBR-ready.
Session 7 · 90 min · GTM shipped.
Pre-score 3 candidate channel motions (direct / partner / hybrid). Lock your anchor.
Session 8 · 60 min · Channel clinic.
Pipeline by market, ramp, CAC, payback, NDR. Push to board.
Session 9 · 90 min · Dashboard role-play.
Data residency, tax nexus, employment law primer + checklist. Identify your top 3 risks.
Session 10 · 60 min · Risk audit.
First hire JD posted, three local prospects in pipeline, board update drafted. Plan running.
Session 11 · 90 min · Plan running live.
Present 5 anchors + live plan. Sign 90-day launch plan.
Session 12 · 90 min · Demo Day.
Apply
This is the inaugural run of the program. Pricing, access, and the seat at the table all reflect that — and won't repeat in future cohorts.
Seven seats deserve a conversation, not a form — and an international launch deserves a real plan. So there's one step:
Internal: Sales playbook — ICPs, Apollo search & 5-touch sequences ↗
If you're a senior leader running Market #1 or #2 and ready to install the operating system — let's talk.