US market entry, from someone who made the move
I help international founders enter the US market: positioning, first customers, and a story American investors recognize. I moved my own companies from Kazakhstan and Ukraine to Silicon Valley, built VisaNow.AI here, and sold it to JustiGuide in 2026. The first session is free and takes 30 minutes.
Who this session is for
International founders with a working product or traction at home who need to decide where to start in the US. Bring your current offer, evidence from customers, and the US accounts or meetings you are considering. If you are planning a Silicon Valley trip, bring the dates and the decisions the trip must help you make.
What we will work through
- Choose one buyer segment and the reason that buyer would switch now.
- Separate evidence you can reuse from your home market from assumptions that need a US customer conversation.
- Review a target account, the person who can approve a pilot, and the next request you can make.
- For a Valley visit, decide which conversations justify being in the room and which can happen remotely.
What to leave the first call with
The aim of the free 30-minute session is a clear next test: a target buyer, the evidence still missing, and an action you can take after the call. A full market-entry plan or ongoing outreach is separate work whose scope we agree together.
Planning around YC?
We can pressure-test the problem, customer evidence and explanation of your business for an accelerator application or interview. Mentorship does not provide YC affiliation, admission, or a promised introduction. The experience described on this site distinguishes Startup School from a YC accelerator batch.
01What does a US market entry advisor do?
Three things, in order. First, we translate your traction. What impressed investors and customers at home usually means nothing here until it is reframed in terms a US buyer cares about. Second, we pick the entry wedge: one segment, one use case, one repeatable sale, instead of "the US market" as a whole. Third, we prepare your business story and supporting evidence for US investor conversations: what your existing traction demonstrates, what remains untested in the US, and which customer evidence you need next.
What I do not do: visas and legal paperwork. I built an AI immigration platform and know that world well, but on our calls we work on the business, and for legal questions I will tell you honestly when you need a lawyer.
02My own path to the US market
In Kazakhstan, I took a fuel station network from six loss-making stations to more than 500. In Kyiv I built and sold best.ua, then created the one-hour delivery category with Delfast Delivery. Then the e-bikes: we took a Ukrainian hardware company to $8.5M in sales across 40+ countries, put the bikes into the hands of police forces in Mexico and the US, set a Guinness World Record for range, and got named Forbes Fastest Electric Bike two years running. I moved to the US, went through 500 Global batch 33, built VisaNow.AI, and sold it to a US buyer in 2026.
So when a founder tells me "we are strong at home but invisible here," I have gone through it myself, and I know which moves actually changed it.
03The mistakes international founders make
Selling to "the US" instead of one niche. Keeping the home-market pitch and just translating it into English. Pricing like at home. Treating US investors as a lottery instead of a network you enter through warm intros. Waiting until the product is "ready for America" instead of getting five American customers to tell you what ready means. Every one of these is fixable, and fixing them is most of what we do together.
04Frequently asked questions
Do I need to be in the US to work with you?
No. Sessions are remote and founders join from anywhere. We work in English, Russian, or Ukrainian.
Can you help me raise from US investors?
Yes, that is usually half the work. See the fundraising mentorship page: close to $6M raised across 15 raises, including in the Valley.
What does it cost?
The first 30-minute session is free, no obligations. Paid work is a monthly retainer or a scoped US-entry sprint; we agree the format on the call.
30 minutes. No pitch, no obligations. English, Russian, or Ukrainian.