East Lake Partners is a Boston based consulting firm focusing on the needs of growing companies with international aspirations. We work mainly with startups and to some extent venture capital funds, focusing on the internationalization issues that surround small companies.
We are experts on what it takes to move a business into a new geographical area, and especially how European companies expand across the Atlantic in a successful way (and avoid the many typical pitfalls). We are also operations and finance specialist, and will help you figure out how to get your business funded by top notch VCs, and we'll help you make it happen! We have an extensive network of VCs that you will benefit from.
Occasionally, we also help you post financing, and take active roles as part time startup CFO, until you are ready to hire someone full time. We also act as a sounding board, and take active advisory roles.
So, why place on foot (or both) in the US? Isn't China or India where you would want to go these days? Yes, perhaps when it comes to outsourcing, and saving cost, but when it comes to raising venture capital, reaching the world's largest customers, recruit world class talent, or make successful exits, the US still rules.
It is hard to recruit the best people if you are doing it from afar. Being in the US, you will be able to recruit top notch talent not available in your local market.
Exits made in the US consistently yield higher returns than those made in Europe or other parts of the world. By having operations in the US, you are better positioned for a US exit.
Based out of the US, you will be better situated to reach the worlds largest coherent market (in every vertical!).
Raising US venture capital from abroad is hard. US VCs want to keep their companies close by. Don't give them an easy reason to say "no".
As a venture capitalist and technologist, Åsa Aulin Ahlberg, the Managing Director of East Lake Partners, leverages her experience with startups, Fortune 100 companies, and venture capital firms in advising companies on both sides of the Atlantic. Åsa has lived and worked in the Boston area for the past 14 years, prior to that she lived and worked in Sweden.
Before founding East Lake Partners, Åsa was a Principal with IDG Ventures (re-named Flybridge Capital Partners in 2008) in Boston, MA, and prior to that she was with Masthead Venture Partners in Cambridge, MA. Both firms are early stage venture capital firms focusing on information technology and biotechnology investments in the United States. She also spent time with SoundView Technology Group, a specialized technology investment bank (now part of W.R. Hambrecht.) Early in her career, Åsa did real estate investments for the construction company Skanska, in Sweden, the US, and in Bermuda.
Åsa holds an M.B.A. from MIT's Sloan School of Management in Cambridge, MA, and a M.Sc. C.E. from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. She served on the Board of Directors of the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce of New England, USA for 8 years, between 2001 and 2009.
East Lake Partners help small companies navigate their way to success in the US and in Europe. Most frequently we help European startups expand into the US in a successful way. What we do can be roughly divided up into three buckets - read more at the bottom of this page
We have worked with numerous startups, in various roles, directly, or indirectly through an investor. Some of those companies are listed to the right.
- Fundraising strategy and tactics
- Positioning before talking to VCs
- Presentations and business plans
- Financial models
- Coaching on fundraising and cultural differences
- Door opener
- Interim CFO/HR role
- Build financial models and forecasts
- Help with cap table structuring
- Collaborate with attorneys (incorporation, RSPA, option plans, IP-rights, etc)
- Coordinate and set you up with banks, payroll companies, landlords, accountants, health insurance companies, PR-firms, headhunters, insurance agents, etc
- Fundraising US LPs
- Reporting on the US VC market
- US due diligence
- US market intelligence
- Investment recommendations
The legal checklist every startup should reference
http://venturebeat.com/2011/10/25/the-legal-checklist-every-startup-should-read/
Taking your startup to a foreign market
http://www.startupnation.com/pages/articles/startup-foreign-market.asp
How to raise venture capital (without losing your soul)
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2010/12/05/how-to-raise-venture-capital-without-losing-your-soul/
Checklist for newly formed entities
http://www.mfa-cpa.com/blog/index.php/checklist-for-newly-formed-entities
See the Future with a Search
http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/26452/page1/
PayPal to use Axiomatics intelligent access management solution
http://www.axiomatics.com/latest-news/180-paypal-to-use-axiomatics-intelligent-access-management-solution.html
Why to move to a startup hub
http://www.paulgraham.com/startuphubs.html
Immigrant Entrepreneurs Shape a New Economy
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/06/nyregion/06entrepreneurs.html
Startup moving from India to the US to save money! (no, this is not a typo)
http://advice.cio.com/asengupta/startup_moving_from_india_to_the_us_to_save_money_no_this_is_not_a_typo
Immigrant entrepreneurs spur renaissance
http://money.cnn.com/2006/11/15/smbusiness/immigrant_entrepreneur/index.htm
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