Strategy

Europe or Asia First? How a US Tech Company Should Sequence International Expansion

By Paolo Petrolini · Updated 5 Oct 2026 · 4 min read

Why Europe usually comes first

• Familiar buyers. B2B buying in the UK and much of northern Europe is close to the US, with longer cycles.
• English is widely used in business, at least for a first market.
• Time zones overlap with the US East Coast for part of the day.
• Legal systems are predictable, and contracts work in ways US companies recognise.
• One regulatory framework covers the EU for data, AI and digital services, even though markets differ.

Europe is still harder than it looks. It is many markets, not one, and it punishes companies that treat it as a single launch.

When East Asia should come first

• Your customers are there. Hardware, electronics and semiconductor businesses often depend on Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.
• A major customer or partner is pulling you into a specific Asian market.
• Your founders or early team have deep roots in one Asian country.

East Asia is several different regions

"Asia" covers markets that have little in common with each other.

• Taiwan. A centre of the world's hardware and semiconductor industry, with strong engineering talent. A good base for companies whose customers or partners are in that supply chain.
• Japan. Very large, with loyal customers once you are in. Entry is slow, relationships and local partners are essential, and almost everything must be in Japanese.
• South Korea. Technically advanced and fast-moving, with strong local competitors and its own platforms.
• Hong Kong. An international financial centre with a common law system and widely used English.

A regional hub gives you a base. It does not give you customers in Japan or South Korea.

A view from both regions

I spent most of my career building in Europe, at Google and as the founder of compensIT. Through The Product State, my advisory firm, I worked with Hong Kong companies taking their services international and with European companies entering the Asian market. I have since relocated to Taipei. From here I see US companies make the same mistake they make in Europe. They plan for a region when they should be planning for a country.

The second thing I notice is how much presence matters. In much of Asia, business moves through relationships built in person over time. A quarterly visit from headquarters is not enough.

How to decide

1. Follow your customers. Where are your existing international leads and users?
2. Check what the product needs. Language, payments, integrations and hosting for each candidate country.
3. Look at the competition. Some Asian markets have strong local players that Europe does not.
4. Count what you can afford. A first market typically takes 12 to 18 months to prove. Most companies can fund one at a time.
5. Choose a country, not a region. Then set the test for success before you start.

Can you do both at once?

Larger companies do. For a company expanding for the first time, running Europe and Asia together splits leadership attention across time zones that never overlap. Do one, learn from it, then use what you learned for the second.

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