The Program

See who spoke at the event

Welcome & Introduction

Ellen Weber, Executive Director, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute, Fox School of Business, Temple University

Councilman David Oh, Chairman of the Committee on Global Opportunities and the Creative/Innovative Economy

Panel: Philadelphia Startups Going Global

Anurag Jain, Co-Founder and CEO, Prepay Nation

Nigel Satenstein, Head of Business Development, Pinpointer

Blandine Chantepie-Kari, Vice President, University & Entrepreneurship, European American Enterprise Council

Special Remarks: The Value of Global Connectivity

Ram Mudambi, Professor of Strategic Management, Fox School of Business, Temple University

Panel 2: Tools and Strategies to Grow Internationally

Usman Ahmed, Head of Global Public Policy, PayPal Inc.

Kersy Azocar, Vice President of Microlending, Finanta

Marvin Weinberger, Inventor-in-Chief, Innovation Factory

Claire Pillsbury, Deputy Director, Global Innovation Forum

Panel 3: Legal Considerations for Global Startups

Vincent Duconge, Trade Lane Manager for France, Geodis USA

Thomas Goldman, Senior Partner, Thomas F. Goldman & Associates

Benjamin Hardman, Attorney/Advisor, U.S. Department of Commerce

Jonathan Grode, U.S. Practice Director, Green and Spiegel LLC

Panel 4: Government Partners and Community Resources

Darlene Atta, International Business Consultant, Temple Small Business Development Center

Lori Cooper, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the European Union, U.S. Department of Commerce

Peter Gonzalez, President and CEO, Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians

Dino Ramos, Chief Operating Officer, World Trade Center Philadelphia

Antonio Ceballos, Director, Philadelphia U.S. Export Assistance Center, U.S. Department of Commerce

Takeaways

Jeffrey Conradi, Associate Director for International Programs, Fox School of Business, Temple University

Tricia Van Orden, Deputy Director, Trade Promotion Coordinating Secretariat, U.S. Department of Commerce

What We Learned

Takeaways from the discussion.

Start with what you know

“It all started one day late last summer when I got a call from one of my best childhood friends. He started telling me about his roommate, Sam, who was born and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal and to this day still does not have a home address” – Nigel Satenstein, Co-Founder of Pinpointer, which connects e-commerce sellers with consumers in hard to reach areas of the world. Nigel went on to explain how it was only natural to implement their technology in a region that they knew well – Kathmandu.

Inspired through his involvement in two other online startups, Anurag Jain co-founded Prepay Nation. Now one of the fastest-growing companies in Philadelphia, Prepay Nation has customers in the U.S., Canada, France and the U.K.

Web-based tools allow startups to effectively participate globally

“Focus on what you do really well, and find platforms to help you do the rest.” – Usman Ahmed, Head of Global Public Policy at PayPal Inc.

“Skype, WhatsApp and Google Voice have been really big for us, especially when we try to talk to people internationally without charges. We have also been using a couple of really helpful APIs that have helped our product go live, which are basically mapping tools that are more robust and better suited to our needs in those regions.” – Nigel Satenstein, Co-Founder of Pinpointer

“Two years ago I embarked on a plan to bring to market one of my products. At the time I launched a Kickstarter campaign – it was very successful in capturing interest. In fact over 25% of the people that signed up for the product were from other countries and much of our success internationally is a direct result of success of that campaign.” – Marvin Weinberger, Inventor-in-Chief at Innovation Factory

“Shopify is a great website that will help you design a website for e-commerce, but the challenge is that it is all in english. [PayPal’s] Global Sellars Program is a plugin to any of those platforms (like Bigcommerce or Shopify) and in 15 minutes what it will do is create digitally a language translated version of your site. We spend 48 hours after those 15 minutes working to create a real localized version of your website…in 2 days you are available in 60 markets and usually see your sales increase as a result.” – Usman Ahmed, Head of Global Public Policy at PayPal Inc.

Be sure to protect your ideas & engage professionals to help

“If you need an attorney in a foreign market Foreign Commercial Service representatives can help you identify people. For many things – especially intellectual property – having a local attorney can be absolutely critical.” – Benjamin Hardman, Attorney and Advisor, U.S. Department of Commerce

“The patent is only as valuable as the money you have to defend it when push comes to shove.” – Thomas Goldman, Senior Partner, Thomas F. Goldman & Associates

“You have to protect your idea before you go anywhere. For instance, you have to register [your trademark] in the country you are going to go to.” – Benjamin Hardman, Attorney and Advisor, U.S. Department of Commerce Patent and Trademark Office

Take advantage of public & private sector resources

“I encourage new companies and startups to look at our resources, like export.gov. The Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration manages a really good website to help companies find out what they need to know about exporting. It can be for market intelligence, videos on different topics and information to self educate.” – Lori Cooper, Senior Adivsor and Director of Transatlantic SME Program, Office of the European Union, U.S. Department of Commerce

“The US Department of Commerce just announced a very exciting new grant for the the Welcoming Center that we are going to be partnering with the University City Science Center, which will allow us to work together over the next several years. Essentially the Science Center will provide space for startups and we will provide connections and access to the international entrepreneurs that are already living here in this region. It’s an exciting new platform that we are developing that will also include a database that people will be able to access in the future.” – Peter Gonzalez, President and CEO, the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians

“Part of our Pennsylvania International Trade Guide consists of numerous modules that startups can do on their own. It includes an export readiness assessment, so it gives you a good idea as to whether you are so called ‘export ready’.” – Dino Ramos, Chief Operating Officer, World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia