Cross-Border GTM
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What Cross-Border GTM Actually Requires

A European software company entering the US market needs a GTM leader who can do something genuinely difficult: build an American go-to-market function effectively from scratch, often with a CEO who is still based in Europe, with limited institutional knowledge of how US enterprise buyers evaluate and procure software, and with a product that was built for a European market context and needs to be positioned for a different one.

That is not the same mandate as hiring a VP Sales at a US-native company. The cross-border candidate needs startup DNA — genuine comfort operating in ambiguity without the support structures of a mature organization. They need an existing US enterprise network in the relevant industry vertical. They need the judgment to know when to localize and when to preserve what is distinctive about the European product. And they need to be able to operate as a one-person beachhead before the team gets built.

We've distilled how we approach this into our US Expansion Guide for PE-backed companies — a practical playbook for building US GTM leadership from the first hire.

The GTM Leader Profile for US Expansion

M Search has placed GTM leaders for US expansion mandates across fintech, treasury software, expense management, cybersecurity, AI, and enterprise SaaS. The profile that succeeds in these searches shares specific characteristics:

• US-native enterprise network

  Has closed deals with US enterprise buyers in the relevant vertical. Relationships with US decision-makers that were built before the job, not from the job.

• Startup operator instinct

  Has built a GTM function from scratch — defined the ICP, stood up the sales process, made early hires. Has not only managed a mature team.

• Founder relationship skills

  Can work effectively with a European CEO who has strong product conviction but limited US market intuition. The relationship requires patience and credibility in both directions.

• Cross-cultural commercial fluency

  Understands the differences between European and American enterprise sales cultures without being dismissive of either. Can navigate both when the deal requires it.

• Tolerance for slow starts

  US enterprise sales cycles are long. The first 6 months are often pipeline-building. The leader who needs early wins to stay motivated is the wrong fit for a US expansion mandate.

Live Proof Points

German fintech, backed by a private equity sponsor — the company had been in the US market for roughly five years, but growth had lagged expectations. The mandate was to re-architect the US go-to-market team and motion and jumpstart growth. M Search placed an exceptional hire with the specific attributes to execute against that mandate — the kind of step-change in US performance that positions the business for a more favorable exit.

French fintech, backed by a private equity sponsor — a true US market-entry story. When the company came to M Search, it had just hired its second rep in the States: a very nascent team. It needed a leader who had seen this stage of growth before and could execute against the mandate as it stood, while growing into a far larger role as the slope of US growth reshaped the job over a compressed timeline. The trick was finding someone who could be a hands-on player-coach in month one — managing two reps and carrying a bag personally — yet scale the team past 20 sellers and manage through a second line by year two. A very narrow search. M Search placed a leader who had been fast-tracked through exactly that lifecycle at a competitor in the recent past.

UK-based health tech, backed by a private equity sponsor— the business had just been acquired by its sponsor and was at the earliest stage in the US, with one or two reps. It needed someone gritty and hands-on, but the sponsor was aggressively targeting US M&A that would dramatically expand the role's scope in the coming months. M Search placed an exceptional executive who came from a direct competitor and brought two similar successful PE-backed exits in the sector — a rare fit for a mandate built to scale fast.

Netherlands-based business process automation software, VC-backed— the company was hiring its first VP of Sales in the States. M Search placed a leader from the sector who had managed a team and was ready to carry a bag while building out the company's US go-to-market footprint from the ground up. An exceptional outcome.

These searches required an understanding of what cross-border GTM actually demands — not just finding a strong sales leader, but finding the right person for a mandate that is categorically different from a standard US-native hiring search.

The Retained Model for Cross-Border Search

Cross-border searches require full commitment. The candidate profile is specific enough that a contingency firm — running multiple mandates simultaneously and presenting whoever responds to outreach — will not find the right person. M Search runs every cross-border search as a retained engagement: one mandate at a time, full commitment from our founder personally, sourcing through the specific network that produces cross-border GTM candidates.

For a deeper breakdown of the US-expansion hiring motion — comp calibration, ICP translation, and the first-hire profile — read our US Expansion Guide for PE-backed companies.

Expanding to the US — or internationally?

Graham Locklear

Founder & CEO, M Search

Graham has placed GTM leaders for European and other international software companies entering the US market across fintech, SaaS, AI, and enterprise software. He works every search personally.

Book a 30-minute discovery call with our CEO, Graham. He'll cover the mandate, the candidate profile, and whether M Search is the right fit for this search.

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