Global Class Podcast

In this episode, we are excited to welcome Xavier Mufraggi, Chief Executive Officer of SVN International Corporation and Partner at Eloquem Consulting. Prior to his role at SVN, Xavier was the CEO at YPO where he achieved a new record of 34,000 members in 150 countries. He was also previously the President and CEO of Club Med Europe, Middle East, and Africa. In this conversation, we talk about why speaking the same language as locals can increase your ability to develop an understanding of the culture that’s required to build a successful expansion strategy in that market, the power of the authentic self as an integral part of personal and professional success, why skills are overrated in building teams (and what is the more valuable metric to look for instead), and the power of stories in better communication and reinforcing organizational vision. This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets at ⁠https://www.zedra.com ⁠ Get your copy of our Wall Street Journal Bestselling book, GLOBAL CLASS, a playbook on how to build a successful global business⁠. ⁠⁠https://www.amazon.com/Global-Class-Fastest-Growing-Companies-Globally/dp/1637742185 === SHOW NOTES: 1:10 - Video starts 2:42 - Xavier’s formative experience that started his interpreneurial career. His father was an executive at a big American company, so Xavier was able to travel around the world at a young age. For example, he lived in Africa as an 11-year old 7:54 - How he learned that understanding culture and people is a very important skill early on 13:54 - They key in turning around Club Med in North America (During his time as the CEO, the company achieved historical records every year from 2011 to 2019) 20:15 - Building trust and ensuring organizational alignment in YPO, the world's most influential global leadership community 21:45 - What Xavier, who was then the CEO of Club Med North America, learned from going undercover as in the CBS Series, “Undercover Boss” 29: 00 - How organizations and business leaders could impact millions of lives in a positive way 40:16 - Why skills are overrated in building teams (and what is the more valuable metric to look for instead) 47:37 - The power of stories in effective communication and reinforcing organizational vision 49:19 - The power of the authentic self as an integral part of personal and professional success

In this episode, we are excited to welcome Omar Zenhom, the Co-Founder and host of the award-winning $100 MBA Show, a top business podcast with over 90 million downloads. He’s also the Co-Founder & CEO of WebinarNinja, named one of the fastest-growing SaaS companies in 2018. Omar is a former educator and university manager-turned-entrepreneur. Today, he applies his passion for teaching and learning to the business world. Here, we talk about Omar’s strategies for entering new markets and reaching customers, tips for giving timely and culturally sensitive feedback, examples of effective localized marketing campaigns, and why there's no such thing as "over-communication" in a remote workplace. For more information, go to: https://globalclasscompany.com/podcast/episode32-omar-zenhom This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets at ⁠https://www.zedra.com ⁠ Get your copy of our Wall Street Journal Bestselling book, GLOBAL CLASS, a playbook on how to build a successful global business⁠. ⁠⁠https://www.amazon.com/Global-Class-Fastest-Growing-Companies-Globally/dp/1637742185

In this episode, we are excited to welcome Freddy Marcos, Founder of Rentbrella, the world’s largest and most successful umbrella-sharing company. Today, Rentbrella has 800 stations with hubs present in the biggest urban centers of the world such as Sao Paolo, New York, and London. Freddy began his career as Finance Director and Consultant, then as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Before he launched Rentbrella in 2018, he lead the operations and developed business strategy as the Chief Operating Officer of Ezconet. Here, we discuss why it’s important to start with a global mindset from day one, how to build feedback loops and two-way innovation across teams, tips for building a successful career in international business, and strategies for localizing the business to fit the local market while staying true to company principles. This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets at https://www.zedra.com Find our entire podcast episode library at https://www.globalclassbook.com/podcast  Get your copy of our Wall Street Journal Bestselling Book, Global Class, a playbook on how to build a successful global business.SHOW NOTES:01:55 - The start of Freddy’s career, beginning with his education 4:21 - How Freddy’s Lebanese father has inspired him to become an entrepreneur 8:45 - Rentbrella’s founding story 24:11 - Why Rentbrella had to hire and hire the New York team several times until they found the right culture and people 32: 46 - How Freddy thinks about localizing for new markets through the lens of government regulation and culture 37:00 - The “people” culture of Rentbrella and why they hire English teachers to make English the main language in their Brazil HQ 47:11 - Building and managing distributed teams 47:44 - Why effective communication and two-way feedback loops between local teams and HQ are important 54:14 - Rentbrella’s approach to hiring and how they find, hire and manage interpreneurial talent 1:00:57 - Freddy’s thoughts on closing the gap between company knowledge and local knowledge which are important in getting traction in new markets 1:03:26 - Freddy’s answer to the “3 pieces of advice” section: Advice to someone interested in building a career around an international business, to an executive expanding a business to new markets, and to his younger self

In this episode, we are excited to welcome Troy Malone, the Co-Founder of Relevant, a company that helps SaaS startup founders successfully enter new markets. In this role, he supports founders in unlocking an unfair competitive advantage in new markets through a uniquely profitable marketing system. Throughout his 15-year career as a growth and scale-up business leader, Troy has helped companies like Evernote, Weebly, All-Turtles, mmhmm and Drata to scale internationally. He loves the challenge of building teams for hyper-growth. Troy also embodies the global mindset and cultural empathy of a true “interpreneur,” as proven by his successful expansion efforts to Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Here, we discuss how to hire the right people who will lead your global growth initiatives, the importance of going on “Localization Discovery Tours” to truly understand a market, and examples of unusual marketing and promotions campaigns Troy came up with that drove results in new markets. Get your copy of our Wall Street Journal Bestselling book, GLOBAL CLASS, a playbook on how to build a successful global business. https://www.amazon.com/Global-Class-Fastest-Growing-Companies-Globally/dp/1637742185 This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets at https://www.zedra.com Find our entire podcast episode library at https://www.globalclassbook.com/podcast

In this episode, we are excited to welcome Jack Mardack, Co-Founder of Oyster. Oyster is a global employment platform that empowers companies to hire, pay, and take care of their employees anywhere in the world. In Jack's career as a data-driven marketing and growth leader, he has helped broaden the global footprint of companies like Vonage, Chartcube, and Prezi. In this discussion, we talked about why embracing diversity is the most important lesson when building a global company, how trust is a lynchpin for distributed organizations, and WHY aligning company strategy with core values enables growth for companies like Oyster. This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets at ⁠https://www.zedra.com ⁠ Get your copy of our Wall Street Journal Bestselling book, GLOBAL CLASS, a playbook on how to build a successful global business⁠. ⁠⁠https://www.amazon.com/Global-Class-Fastest-Growing-Companies-Globally/dp/1637742185

In this episode, we are excited to welcome Sébastien Marotte, the President of Box Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). Box is a Cloud Content Management company that empowers more than 87,000 businesses globally by revolutionizing how they work.      In Sébastien’s 30+ year career, he has held executive roles at high-profile software companies like Google, Hyperion, and Oracle. He led Google Cloud's EMEA Channels as Vice President, having also served as Vice President of Google Cloud EMEA for almost a decade. As an early leader at Google Cloud, Sebastien was responsible for much of the foundational growth and development across EMEA, including the launch of G Suite (now Google Workspace).     In our conversation, Sébastien talks about the importance of diversity in building international teams, strategies in balancing corporate strategy and localization, why customer engagement is everything in business, how digitalization changed the way we innovate, work, and hire and why there are more opportunities for global businesses now more than ever.     This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets at https://www.zedra.com    Get your copy of our Wall Street Journal Bestselling book, GLOBAL CLASS, a playbook on how to build a successful global business. https://www.amazon.com/Global-Class-Fastest-Growing-Companies-Globally/dp/1637742185     Find our entire podcast episode library at https://www.globalclassbook.com/podcast

In this episode, we are excited to welcome Jeffrey Bleich, Chief Legal Officer at Cruise, a self-driving tech company. Jeff is a prominent attorney, and a former partner at both Munger, Tolles & Olson and Dentons. In his remarkable career, he has also served as special counsel to former President Barack Obama and as a U.S. ambassador to Australia. In addition to this, he was a former board chair at PG&E.    In our conversation, Jeffs shares the story of his time serving as U.S. Ambassador to Australia, the importance of trust-building in international relations, why over-indexing on English is a common mistake when expanding to other countries, why thinking long-term is key to a successful global expansion strategy, and considerations to take before hiring local counsel.     Get your copy of our Wall Street Journal Bestselling book, GLOBAL CLASS, a playbook on how to build a successful global business. https://www.amazon.com/Global-Class-Fastest-Growing-Companies-Globally/dp/1637742185     Find our entire podcast episode library at https://www.globalclassbook.com/podcast

In this episode we are excited to welcome Antoine Colaço, Managing Partner of Valor Capital Group, a cross border venture investment firm. Antoine was an early employee at Google and helped build one of the company's early international offices, then going on to global leadership roles overseeing Latin America, Asia and global business development. Prior Antoine had roles at Yahoo! and Goldman Sachs.   In our conversation, Antoine shares the story of Google's early expansion building teams in India, about the importance of relationships and internal alignment in expansion success, how international cannot be a side project but must be core to the whole company, and how the walls are crumbling that prevented company leaders from seeing global opportunity.    Get your copy of our Wall Street Journal Bestselling book, GLOBAL CLASS, a playbook on how to build a successful global business. https://www.amazon.com/Global-Class-Fastest-Growing-Companies-Globally/dp/1637742185 Find our entire podcast episode library at https://www.globalclassbook.com/podcast

For our 25th episode, we are excited to welcome Emil Michael. Emil is the former Chief Business Officer of Uber, and played a huge role in the company's global expansion. Prior, Emil was the Chief Operating Officer of Klout, Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, Senior Vice President at TellMe Networks, and has been a strategic advisor for many companies who have IPO'd or been acquired. In our conversation, Emil shares many key insights around how Uber successfully reached global scale and empowered a distributed team including: the importance of thinking "glocally," why it's crucial to hire locally, how to map out your expansion plans, and much more. Get your copy of our Wall Street Journal Bestselling book, GLOBAL CLASS, a playbook on how to build a successful global business. https://www.amazon.com/Global-Class-Fastest-Growing-Companies-Globally/dp/1637742185    This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets at https://www.zedra.com     Find our entire podcast episode library at https://www.globalclassbook.com/podcast

In this episode we are excited to welcome Masami Takahashi. Masami is the President of Scrum Studio CEO of Japan at Miles, an applications that offers rewards for traveling, allowing anyone with a smartphone to earn miles and rewards whether your commute is by car, rideshare, plane, train, subway, bus, bicycle or on foot. Prior, Masami led expansion for WeWork & Uber and he's a perfect example of an Interpreneur as we have coined in our book.     In our conversation, Masami shares how to become a bridge between HQ and local teams when working on an international market (AND why it's the job of the local team to make HQ fall in love with that local market), how to build trust and strong relationships within a distributed organization, and how he helped scale companies like Uber and WeWork in the Japanese market.   Get your copy of our Wall Street Journal Bestselling book, GLOBAL CLASS, a playbook on how to build a successful global business.  https://www.amazon.com/Global-Class-Fastest-Growing-Companies-Globally/dp/1637742185 This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets at https://www.zedra.com Find our entire podcast episode library at https://www.globalclassbook.com/podcast

In this episode we are excited to welcome Jerry Luk. Jerry is the co-founder and president of Firework, which empowers businesses to better engage with customers through video. Prior, Jerry was one of the Head of Mobile Business Strategy at Edmodo, Co-Founder and CTO of Presdo and was an early LinkedIn employee and creator of LinkedIn Mobile.     In our conversation, Jerry offers insights into LinkedIn's global success, looking back on the growth of mobile technology, explains why in business today the opportunity is outside of the US, why it's best to think of the progression of an expansion on a spectrum for testing new products and expanding instead of making leaps between vastly different markets and the importance of building a diverse team but while fostering common beliefs and universal core values.     Get your copy of our WSJ/National Bestselling book, Global Class, a playbook on how to build a successful global business, along with free pre-order bonuses at https://www.globalclassbook.com Find our entire podcast episode library at https://www.globalclassbook.com/podcast

In this episode we are excited to welcome Marvin Liao. Marvin is a partner at Diaspora Ventures and GAMEGROOVE Capital and previously was a partner at 500 Startups, where in total he has invested in over 400 companies. Prior, Marvin played a major role in the international expansion efforts (in APAC and EMEA) at Yahoo!     In our conversation, Marvin shares why it's crucial to build an internal network and trust to be successful in new markets, the pitfalls of too much localization and autonomy, the importance of 2 way innovation, why bad economic times are great opportunities to expand in international markets and viewpoints on how investing in fast growing companies is getting more global.     Get your copy of our Wall Street Journal Bestselling Book, Global Class, a playbook on how to build a successful global business. This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets at https://www.zedra.com Find our entire podcast episode library at https://www.globalclassbook.com/podcast

In this episode we are excited to welcome Joanna Harries, Senior Vice President of Global Expansion at Endeavor, the world's leading organization working with high impact entrepreneurs. Prior, Joanna held other growth executive roles at the organization and was a brand manager at Unilever.    In our conversation, Joanna offers great insights about taking a decentralized approach to localizing for new markets, but having the playbooks and structures, how to foster an owner's mentality and create a community of trust, how to develop local-to-local knowledge sharing (not always requiring HQ) and building a global mindset within your family.   Get your copy of our #2 Wall Street Journal Bestselling book, Global Class, a playbook on how to build a successful global business at https://www.amazon.com/Global-Class-Fastest-Growing-Companies-Globally/dp/1637742185    This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets at https://www.zedra.com     Find our entire podcast episode library at https://www.globalclassbook.com/podcast

In this episode we are excited to welcome Nick Halla, former Senior Vice President of International for Impossible Foods, a company transforming the global food system through animal free meat and dairy foods. As one of the company’s early employees Nick served in a number of other roles including as Chief Strategy Officer. Prior, Nick worked at Cogenra Solar and as an R&D Engineer for General Mills. In our conversation, Nick shares his story that took him from working on a farm to the boardroom, giving insights into Impossible Foods’ localization journey in different global markets, how to craft systems that can be deployed globally but modified locally with scalability in mind, how to leverage community cultures to gain traction in new markets and why you shouldn't think of the launch of a new market as just a moment in time.

In this episode we are excited to welcome Frédéric Mazzella, Founder, Chairman and Former CEO of BlaBlaCar, the world's largest carpooling platform. Frédéric is also an active investor, startup board member and Co-President Entrepreneur of France Digitale. In our conversation, Frédéric speaks to us about how to think big but act small at the beginning of global expansion initiatives, how to create a business name with global appeal, building a community of trust within an organization, successful strategies like how to "build for 2 markets," and how to hire a talented, internationally-minded local team who connect with your company culture and how to listen to them and leverage their local market expertise. This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets at https://www.zedra.com Find our entire podcast episode library at  https://www.globalclassbook.com/podcast and learn more about our forthcoming book on global business growth at  https://www.globalclassbook.com/ Interested in learning more about our book Global Class? Be the first to get a copy (coming out August 23, 2022), and get a ton of valuable free bonuses for pre-ordering. Learn more here:  https://www.globalclassbook.com/pre-order-book

In this episode we are excited to welcome Bianca Martinelli, Partner at Brazilian venture capital firm Alexia Ventures, Co-Founder of International Mastermind, a global network of professionals focused on international expansion. Previously, Bianca was the Senior Vice President of Global Operations at global entrepreneurial community Endeavor and Vice President of International Expansion for digital marketing and CRM platform company RD Station. In our conversation, Bianca talks about the importance of having strong company values that can be universalized to have global appeal, how HQ can be an enabler of global growth and trust building instead of a command-and-control mechanism, how it is crucial to create internal systems for unifying knowledge and facilitating strong communication, why iterating and embracing failure are key in succeeding with global expansion and how to architect your company to go global when you are ready, among other topics. This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets @ https://www.zedra.com Find our entire podcast episode library at https://www.globalclassbook.com/podcast and learn more about our forthcoming book on global business growth at https://www.globalclassbook.com/ Interested in learning more about our book Global Class? Be the first to get a copy (coming out August 23, 2022), and get a ton of valuable free bonuses for pre-ordering. Learn more here: https://www.globalclassbook.com/pre-order-book

In this episode, we are excited to welcome Alessio Alionco, Founder and CEO of Pipefy, a work management platform that allows companies to streamline and automate business processes. Prior, Alessio was the Founder & CEO of Acessozero, a local commerce marketplace, and CEO of JR Consultoria. In our conversation, Alessio talks about: the importance of thinking global from the beginning instead of just on the initial market, the importance of prioritizing people first and building a diverse team with unique perspectives, the role of agile when localizing a business, and much more.  This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets at https://www.zedra.com Find our entire podcast episode library at https://www.globalclassbook.com/podcast and learn more about our forthcoming book on global business growth at https://www.globalclassbook.com/ Interested in learning more about our book Global Class? Be the first to get a copy (coming out August 23, 2022), and get a ton of valuable free bonuses for pre-ordering. Learn more here: https://www.globalclassbook.com/pre-order-book

In this episode, we are excited to welcome Heini Zachariassen, Founder and Former CEO of Vivino, the world's largest wine app. Prior, Heini was the CEO of BullGuard, and a board member of NORRIQ and Faroese Telecom. He is also the founder and host of Raw Startup. In our conversation, Heini talks about a number of topics including the importance of hiring a strong team and how the roles and expertise of the team need to change as an organization grows in new markets, building a decentralized organization, the tradeoffs of localization in markets and when to make changes to your business model and when not to, the future of global business, as well as the benefits of coming from a small country. This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets at https://www.zedra.com Find our entire podcast episode library at https://www.globalclassbook.com/podcast and learn more about our forthcoming book on global business growth at https://www.globalclassbook.com/ Interested in learning more about our book Global Class? Be the first to get a copy (coming out August 23, 2022), and get a ton of valuable free bonuses for pre-ordering. Learn more here: https://www.globalclassbook.com/pre-order-book

In this episode, we are excited to welcome Claudia Makadristo, Head of Africa Expansion for MetaMap, a fast-growing digital trust and reputation infrastructure layer that enables other service providers. Prior, Claudia was Head of Partnerships and Regional Manager for Seedstars. In our conversation, Claudia talks about the importance of building relationships in emerging markets to understand local dynamics - especially with government regulators, introducing your company the right way, why you don't want to underestimate local competitors who fully understand the local market well, the importance of having a solid local team to navigate local nuances in a market and why it's crucial to understand the sensitivities and differences within a market, leading with empathy so you can effectively interpret your product or service for the new market. This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets at https://www.zedra.com Find our entire podcast episode library at https://www.globalclassbook.com/podcast and learn more about our forthcoming book on global business growth at https://www.globalclassbook.com/ Interested in learning more about our book Global Class? Be the first to get a copy (coming out August 23, 2022), and get a ton of valuable free bonuses for pre-ordering. Learn more here: https://www.globalclassbook.com/pre-order-book

In this episode we are excited to welcome Marcello Schermer, Head of International Expansion at Yoco, a South Africa-based fintech startup helping SMEs accept payments and get data-driven insights. Prior, Marcello was Managing Director of Seedstars and strategy consultant at Detecon Inc.  In our conversation, Marcello talks about the importance of immersing yourself in a new market to understand how trust is built, why it's crucial to build a cross-cultural team from early on within the whole company and not just within the expansion team, as well as the growing opportunities across the continent of Africa with it's fast growing population and how Africa should be thought of as a source of innovation and not just an opportunity for market entry.   This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets at https://www.zedra.com     Find our entire podcast episode library at https://www.globalclassbook.com/podcast and learn more about our forthcoming book on global business growth at https://www.globalclassbook.com/ Interested in learning more about our book Global Class? Be the first to get a copy (coming out August 23, 2022), and get a ton of valuable free bonuses for pre-ordering. Learn more here: https://www.globalclassbook.com/pre-order-book

In this episode we are excited to welcome Jivko Bojinov, Co-Founder of ShipBob, a tech enabled 3PL (third party logistics provider) that offers simple, fast and affordable fulfillment for thousands of brands across 3 continents. Prior, Jivko worked in China at YESSAT, an education consulting and training company and founder of Ivy League Travels.   In our conversation, Jivko talks about why international expansion is both easier and also more difficult than you think it is, what characteristics to look for when building out a team in international markets, knowing what can and cannot change when figuring out what to localize and navigating the gray area in between, and the benefits of getting career experience abroad.   This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets at https://www.zedra.com     Find our entire podcast episode library at https://www.globalclassbook.com/podcast and learn more about our forthcoming book on global business growth at https://www.globalclassbook.com/ Interested in learning more about our book Global Class? Be the first to get a copy (coming out August 23, 2022), and get a ton of valuable free bonuses for pre-ordering. Learn more here: https://www.globalclassbook.com/pre-order-book

In this episode we are excited to welcome Tiffany Stevenson, Chief People Officer of Patreon, a membership platform that supports over 200,000 creators and their 7 million fans, powering the creator economy. Prior, Tiffany was the Chief Talent & Inclusion Officer at Box and held executive roles at Sephora and Charles Schwab. In our conversation, Tiffany talks about the differences between a company being "international" vs. being "global," the importance of curiosity within the team to understand a local market and translate this knowledge back to localizing the business, how culture moves a company forward, how autonomy allows scale to happen and why Hubs could be the right structure for decision-making instead of a centralized HQ when you have a distributed workforce   This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets @ https://www.zedra.com     Find our entire podcast episode library at https://www.globalclassbook.com/podcast and learn more about our forthcoming book on global business growth at https://www.globalclassbook.com/ Interested in learning more about our book Global Class? Be the first to get a copy (coming out August 23, 2022), and get a ton of valuable free bonuses for pre-ordering. Learn more here: https://www.globalclassbook.com/pre-order-book

In this episode we are excited to welcome Elius Hussain, co-founder and former CEO of Pathao, a Bangladeshi super app that offers ride sharing, food delivery, and content streaming, among other services. In our conversation Elius shares more about the Bangladeshi market, the importance of building a solid local team that knows the market better than HQ does and empowering them to make important decisions, and how to think global day one, purposely building the company to work in multiple markets and transcend borders.   This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets @ https://www.zedra.com     Find our entire podcast episode library at https://www.globalclassbook.com/podcast and learn more about our forthcoming book on global business growth at https://www.globalclassbook.com/ Interested in learning more about our book Global Class? Be the first to get a copy (coming out August 23, 2022), and get a ton of valuable free bonuses for pre-ordering. Learn more here: https://www.globalclassbook.com/pre-order-book

In this episode we are excited to welcome Kathryn Hymes, former Head of International Product Expansion for Slack. Prior, Kathryn held product leadership roles at Nextdoor and Facebook and currently runs Thorny Games, a company that builds games at the intersection of language and crytography.  In our conversation, Kathryn offers some awesome insights into a vast number of topics: from how to be successful entering new markets (a hint being not to launch and leave, but to build for sustainability and scalability), the importance of curiosity, energy, passion and understanding a functional cross-section of the business in being an effective product leader;  and the need for leaders to meet both customers and employees where they are at and to ask the right questions in order to be successful localizing your business for new markets.    This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets @ https://www.zedra.com  Find our entire podcast episode library at https://www.globalclassbook.com/podcast and learn more about our forthcoming book on global business growth at https://www.globalclassbook.com/ Interested in learning more about our book Global Class? Be the first to get a copy (coming out August 23, 2022), and get a ton of valuable free bonuses for pre-ordering. Learn more here: https://www.globalclassbook.com/pre-order-book

Join us as we speak with Israel Bimpe, head of Africa Go-To-Market for Zipline, a drone delivery company focused on building the world's fastest and most reliable delivery drone and logistics network to ensure every person on the planet can have instant access to vital medical supplies.  In our conversation, we discuss how emerging markets are leapfrogging mature markets in a number of key areas, the benefits of cultural diversity and valuing the voice of teams in local markets when scaling a business globally and how Zipline is building strong teams in the markets they are expanding into. This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets @ https://www.zedra.com If you are an international business leader looking to connect with others leading global expansion, join the Global Class Community. More info at https://www.globalclassbook.com/community Interested in learning more about our book Global Class? Be the first to get a copy (coming out August 23, 2022), and get a ton of valuable free bonuses for pre-ordering. Learn more here: https://www.globalclassbook.com/pre-order-book

In this episode, we speak with Jenn Cornelius, Chief People Officer at Ritual, an LA-based direct-to-consumer health brand. Prior, Jenn was the Head of Future of Work and Organizational Design at Pinterest, Chief People Officer at Sweetgreen and Head of Organization Design for Apple's Retail division. In our conversation, Jenn discusses a number of important topics including: how virtual work affects organizational design, the role of HQ in creating serendipity and ensuring employee readiness (when it relates to launching teams in new markets), balancing decision-rights to empower local market team, as well as the importance of company culture and facilitating connections to help teams create meaning. This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets @ https://www.zedra.com     If you are an international business leader looking to connect with others leading global expansion, join the Global Class Community. More info at https://www.globalclassbook.com/community Interested in learning more about our book Global Class? Be the first to get a copy (coming out August 23, 2022), and get a ton of valuable free bonuses for pre-ordering. Learn more here: https://www.globalclassbook.com/pre-order-book

In this episode, we speak with Gabriel Engel, CEO and Co-Founder of Rocket.Chat, a fast growing Brazilian enterprise messaging platform born through open source. We cover a number of topics relevant to international expansion: from the benefits of having a distributed team to serve a distributed customer base, the importance of creating a physical working space that represents the values of the company and how common values can help you connect across cultures and geographies.    This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets @ https://www.zedra.com   If you are international business leader looking to connect with others leading global expansion, join the Global Class Community. More info at https://www.globalclassbook.com/community  Interested in learning more about our book Global Class? Be the first to get a copy (coming out August 23, 2022), and get a ton of valuable free bonuses for pre-ordering. Learn more here: https://www.globalclassbook.com/pre-order-book

In this episode we have a conversation with Jan van Casteren, Head of Europe for Flexport, the fast growing next generation freight forwarding company who has raised over $1.3B in funding and has over 10,000 clients in over 100 countries. We will discuss best practices for managing a fast growing organization and why it's important to avoid "arbitrary uniqueness" when localizing a business for a new market.   This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets @ https://www.zedra.com If you are international business leader looking to connect with others leading global expansion, join the Global Class Community. More info at https://www.globalclassbook.com/community Interested in learning more about our book Global Class? Be the first to get a copy (coming out August 23, 2022), and get a ton of valuable free bonuses for pre-ordering. Learn more here: https://www.globalclassbook.com/pre-order-book

In this episode, we welcome Chang Wen Lai, Co-Founder and CEO of Ninja Van, Southeast Asia's largest tech-enabled express delivery service as we discuss how to balance a strong direction from headquarters (like choosing the right mountain to scale) along with proper localization strategies, why it's better to "train the trainers" and the importance of building scalability within your business. This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets @ https://www.zedra.com/ Interested in learning more about our book Global Class? Be the first to get a copy (coming out August 23, 2022), and get a ton of valuable free bonuses for pre-ordering. Learn more here: https://www.globalclassbook.com/pre-order-book

Join us in our discussion with Freddy Vega, Co-Founder and CEO of Platzi, Latin America's largest online education platform, as we discuss a diverse set of topics from: poverty and positivity to Pokemon and Psychology, from Trust and Technology to Soft Skills and the Latin American business ecosystem. Freddy shares his story and the story of how Platzi is improving the careers (and lives) of its over 2 million students. This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets @ https://www.zedra.com/ Interested in learning more about our book Global Class? Be the first to get a copy (coming out August 23, 2022), and get a ton of valuable free bonuses for pre-ordering. Learn more here: https://www.globalclassbook.com/pre-order-book

As our episode's guest says, "Don't treat an international expansion as an extension of your business, treat it as a startup." Get key insights from Imre Hild, Managing Director of startup advisory firm Global Traction. AKA the "Godfather" of the Hungarian startup ecosystem, Imre will share keys to success in expanding your company beyond your borders. This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets @ https://www.zedra.com/ Interested in learning more about our book Global Class? Be the first to get a copy (coming out August 23, 2022), and get a ton of valuable free bonuses for pre-ordering. Learn more here: https://www.globalclassbook.com/pre-order-book

Join us in a conversation with Jennifer Yuen, former Global Marketing Executive & Head of Americas Marketing at Airbnb to talk about the company's global growth story. Hear great insights Jennifer learned as one of the first people to expand the brand into APAC and about some of the best practices in expanding to new markets including: the importance of immersing yourself in other cultures, how diversity can be a company's core strength, how to create balance between HQ and Local Offices and much more. This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets @ https://www.zedra.com/ Interested in learning more about our book Global Class? Be the first to get a copy (coming out August 23, 2022), and get a ton of valuable free bonuses for pre-ordering. Learn more here: https://www.globalclassbook.com/pre-order-book

Learn how Abe Smith, Head of International @ Zoom, went from teaching English in a rural Japanese fishing village, to learning the trade of international business & sales at a bagel company, to leading international at one of the fastest growing companies in the world. Careers aren't linear and formative experiences (as well as serendipitous moments) often takes careers to new heights. With Abe, we'll explore the keys to Zoom's incredible growth and delve into some of the personal pivotal moments as well as how his early experiences have shaped him into the leader he is today. This episode is sponsored by ZEDRA, an international provider of Corporate Services & Global Expansion, Active Wealth and Fund Solutions. Learn more at http://zedra.com/ Interested in learning more about our book Global Class? Be the first to get a copy (coming out August 23, 2022), and get a ton of valuable free bonuses for pre-ordering. Learn more here: https://www.globalclassbook.com/pre-order-book

Calling all those interested in international business... Get the inside stories of how the world’s fastest growing companies scale globally and the unique career journeys of the internationally-minded business leaders who run these Global Class companies. International is the new agile and best-in-class companies are adapting to build products, operational models and company cultures that resonate with a worldwide audience. The Global Class Podcast explores best practices for effective international expansion and offers practical advice for anyone who aspires to build global companies and careers in international business.