Next Stage provides services to early stage tech companies allowing them to go to market in the U.S., through a Silicon Valley presence, with less risk, a faster learning curve and lower cost than they could do otherwise. Next Stage is the natural partner for offshore tech companies and their investors looking to enter the US market.

The idea for Next Stage - and the competence behind it - came through my own experience as a tech entrepreneur in Denmark moving a young tech company to Palo Alto, California. Let me share the story with you.

Ten years ago I co-founded an IP Telephony company by the name of TouchWave and with the other members of the founding team “ported” it from Denmark to Silicon Valley. With a lot of hard work and some good old fashioned luck, TouchWave had a successful exit, returning around 7 times total invested capital. We made a lot of mistakes and learned a lot of lessons along the way - things we could have done better and faster if we had had the know-how and the network.

Today, after 2 Silicon Valley start-ups, a 5-year stint as CEO, and having raised $25 million in venture funding, I know how difficult it is setting up a successful tech business here as a Silicon Valley ”outsider”. It took me most of 10 years of hard work to become an “insider”.

One of the lessons I learned is that it is really expensive to build the organization here first and then figure out whether it “works” and how. People just crossing the pond – no matter how talented – have to learn it all from scratch - and will surely burn a lot of cash along the way.

In Summer 2006, Innovation Center Denmark Silicon Valley, under Denmark’s Ministry of Trade, asked me to join their advisory board to help Danish tech startups set up business here.  I found the idea intriguing, and I decided to found Next Stage with the mission of shortening the learning curve and reducing the risk and cost for many of the other young companies who want to develop their market and build a business here.

So Next Stage is really all about enabling young companies get to that next stage through a ready-to-go Silicon Valley presence (Next Stage) - BEFORE they need to think about moving people, recruiting and burning a lot of capital.

As we work with companies, we go through the stages of building the business here. That usually starts with determining product/market fit for the US market, getting some early customers, converting them into US reference accounts, raising Silicon Valley venture money if relevant, preparing go-to-market and ultimately building an organization.

I have been through all of these stages with my own two startups and am happy for the opportunity to share my know-how, network and location with other tech startups that want to enter this market place.