How to Eat An Elephant?-Launch Your Products in US Market

Guest：Peter Henry, Managing Partner, Act 5 Ventures LLC

De-risking the early-stage ecosystem – a new model for capital and mentorship combined

丁丁电视品牌秀《硅谷看世界》为大家邀请到的 Peter Henry 彼得亨利， 他拥有多年技术、市场、投资等领域经验， 是美国聚合投资的引领者Act 5 Ventures 的首席执行官兼执行合伙人

Peter说美国的市场是非常巨大的，犹如一头大象BUT, WHERE TO START? 节目中他为大家分析了进入庞大的美国市场 这个大象要从哪开始吃？ 在中国，当新的商业模式出现时，会引来大批模仿者激烈的竞争让企业无钱可赚因为新产品已经拥有较为成熟的技术含量所以将其复制到海外，例如美国减少相对竞争程度会让产品拥有更好的市场而消费者的反馈也可以更好地改善产品让其更有前景，这是近些年产品出海倍受关注的原因

误区：只要产品上了亚马逊就=拿下美国市场？ Peter对丁丁电视观众说这是个误区因为亚马逊只是一个平台上了亚马逊只是让大家知道你的产品不等同于产品的信任度有些中国企业进入美国市场后尝试投放不同平台可是却没有达到效果。原因在于不同地区人群的消费习惯及购买人群细分不同

• 如何设定产品的知名度和品牌效应才能吸引目标人群？
• 在吸引目标人群后，又如何促成销售？
• 销量达成后是否能赚钱？

如果利润太低可能会造成，销多亏多的问题 如何把产品的信任度转化为销量？那谁，你最近是不是“越卖越亏”？对于许多初创小公司，资金有限，不能大量投放广告及推广，如果只拼价格只会 “卖越多亏越多” 而目前产品迭代速度非常快，被新产品取代也是分分钟的事儿 。Peter举栗子，有些企业出海美国，每个销售渠道都要先支付费用销售代理也要拿到代理费后开始做交易，这种事先投资会给企业带来非常大的风险。Peter认为对企业来讲，能够找到相信你产品并愿意和你一同冒险的人，才是销售渠道的正确打开方式

通常技术出海时，一涌而上说可以帮你卖产品，且先问你要钱的这些人可要谨慎咯。产品及高新技术出海，往往具有一定价值而品牌文化决定出海带来的利润，文化从强势向弱势输出影响力和认同感。好的商品加上好的渠道=成功。Peter强调产品出海需要在国外建立运营团队，那么问题来啦：在哪建立，和谁合作，寻找什么人才？

而对于那些非常创新的产品，亚马逊也许不是一个最适合的平台因为大多数的消费者不认为自己有需要，在这个时候，教育消费者显得尤为重要。就像乔布斯曾经如何改变消费者使用Smart phone的习惯。这就是强势的品牌文化建立。当丁丁电视主持人问在跨境电商行业什么是创新时，Peter说：创新就是能够辨认新的机会！结合新需求去创造更大价值。

Peter is CEO and Managing Partner of Act 5 Ventures LLC. He has been a serial entrepreneur for over 30 years, launching 14+ startups in SaaS, Fintech, professional services, mobility/LBS, and consumer products, and experiencing exits in both the public and private equity markets, Peter has been an active angel investor for 17+ years, and is affiliated with several well-known angel groups (e.g., Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs, Keiretsu Forum, US Angels, Bay Angels, Cannabis Investment Network). He has also mentored dozens of early-stage companies and their founders over the last 20 years. Peter was a founding principal of several venture- and angel-backed startups, among them: Perspectrum LLC (founder, managing partner); The EARN Group (co-founder, managing principal); Lexica Software (founder & CEO; acquired by Buena Venture Associates); InsureZone (co-founder and CTO; privately held); Alysis Technologies (MBO participant; IPO 1995; acquired by Pitney-Bowes). He has extensive experience in business strategy, operations, finance, due diligence, technology, software product development, marketing, and governance.

Peter has served on over 10 for-profit and nonprofit Executive and Advisory boards, and has been a consultant to senior management at Fortune-500 firms including Charles Schwab, Wells Fargo, Policy Management Systems (now CSC), Argo Insurance Group, Bank of America, Mellon Capital, American Express and Microsoft. He has created business-leading development and growth strategies for early-stage firms in the financial services, insurance, mobility, software, consumer durables, food and beverage, personal security, and other industries.

In the technology sphere, he has defined and developed groundbreaking systems ranging from the world’s largest document imaging system, to distributed, high-volume new business and customer management systems, institutional portfolio management platforms, and the insurance industry’s first Internet e-commerce platform. He architected an early location-based, telematics-integrated mobile personal assistant platform at the dawn of the smartphone era. In R&D in the 1980s, he was the second member of the speech research lab in Apple’s Advanced Technology Group, and earlier co-designed the first high-speed networks at HP Labs.

Peter lives in Marin County, California, with his Daughters Caroline and Claire, and Ginger, their wildly overindulged miniature Goldendoodle. When not enjoying global travel or hiking the Marin foothills with his girls, Peter can often be found taking and editing photographs, exercising, reading, writing, looking for yet another audiophile experience, cooking gourmet meals, or mixing serious martinis for friends.