When a tech company is in global growth mode, having the right teams externally and internally is one of the most important parts of achieving your business goals. As general counsel, it’s crucial to build alignment internally within existing teams, as well as ensure that the people you bring on to help you expand are right for the job.
We recently heard from tThree GCs from tech companies that have undergone global expansion — David Lancelot, Chief Legal Officer and EVP Advocacy of LawVu, Celaena Powder, General Counsel of Seismic and Navine Karim, General Counsel of, Guayakí Yerba Mate to gather their insights, tips, and war stories.
Read on for their advice for preparing your team for global expansion, along with what to look for when bringing on new internal and external counsel:
Featuring Insights From:
David Lancelot
Chief Legal Officer and EVP Advocacy of LawVu
Celaena Powder
General Counsel of Seismic
Navine Karim
Key Takeaways:
- Expanding globally is a massive investment that is often underestimated — first consider whether it’s really necessary to reach your business’ goals at this time.
- If you decide to expand internationally, lLook for internal and external team members who have proven they can build trust across cultural lines.
- In-house lLawyers in other jurisdictions may not be used to startup culture, so look for those who have operated in non-traditional legal environments.
- For external counsel, smaller firms may be more agile and culturally aligned.
Insights derived from members of the TechGC Community
Don’t Underestimate the Investment Required
Business leaders often get excited about planting their flag in other territories without thinking through all the complexities that come with it. While it’s never fun to be the one who gives everyone else a reality check, you need to ensure that your team is aligned on the amount of investment — both now and in perpetuity — that will be needed across teams to make your expansion plans a reality. It’s important to consider “the unknown unknowns of operating in an environment where you have very little experience or connections,” says Lancelot.
One important strategic decision is whether it makes sense to maximize your company’s local market impact before attempting any expansion plans. For example, many companies have expanded into multiple markets only to find out later that the USA was their most important market. Karim noted that he’s had to look at some of the countries the business expanded in potentially prematurely and assess whether it’s worth transitioning resources away from those markets back into the more profitable local market.
In terms of resource deployment, leadership is often much more eager to dedicate resources to sales, marketing, and other departments than it is to legal. Additionally, businesses will often operate with a stop-start motion or jump around jurisdictions frequently during expansion efforts. This can be extremely challenging for legal professionals, who are often only licensed to work in certain jurisdictions, so be sure to get buy-in early on resource allocation so that you’re able to scale your team as needed.
TechGC members regularly tap into the community to get trusted recommendations for local counsel in dozens of jurisdictions and practice areas across the globe. For access to the database of recommendations and the peer network, apply for membership today.
When you’ve brought on an external team, make sure to onboard them just like you would a full-time employee with product demos and an overview of your company culture and values.
Miscommunication is easy across cultural lives, so always communicate clearly and ask lots of follow-up questions. Be upfront by telling external teams exactly what you’re looking for — and if things aren’t working, provide direct feedback in real-time so you can course correct.
Want to learn more from fellow GCs and legal experts about building global teams? Apply to become a member of TechGC today.
Look for Team Members Who Can Build Trust Across Cultures
When you venture into new geography, you may think that your major challenge will be learning how to operate within a different context. But that’s only half the battle. The real work is in building trust with customers, partners, and team members across cultures.
Whether you’re hiring people in your jurisdiction who will work across the globe or those based in foreign countries focus on seeking out individuals who have the soft skills that are necessary to respect different cultures and build trust.
When interviewing potential hires in your current jurisdiction, dive deep into their curiosity about the world. Do they speak another language? Outside of work, what are their hobbies? Ideally, you want someone who has proven that they’re comfortable and excited about engaging with cultures other than their own.
If you’re hiring someone who lives in the area you’re expanding to (as a foreigner), ask them about how they’ve engaged with the culture around them. Have they invested time in learning the language and meeting people outside of expat circles? Or are they culturally isolated? “These are all intangibles, and obviously it’s a given that this substantive knowledge is there, but these intangibles help give a sense as to what that person’s orientation is when you put them into a foreign environment,” says Karim.
Look for Internal Hires Who Understand Your Culture
While you might be used to partnering with other teams and leadership, don’t assume that foreign candidates will have the same understanding of how in-house legal operates within your business. In US-based tech companies, notes Lancelot, it’s best practice to hire business-minded people with a legal background, but “that is absolutely not the case in the vast majority of markets I’ve operated in,” he said. More typically, lawyers might be accustomed to being buried in the org, siloed away from other departments.
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- Candidates who have unconventional legal experience or who are willing to learn how to operate within a non “traditional” environment.
- Long-term lived experience outside of their home country, along with an understanding of how to partner with people across cultures.
- People who have the confidence or experience level to challenge leadership when necessary.
Additionally, you should have a process in place for quick offboarding if you hire someone and they’re the wrong fit, but keep in mind that this may not be possible in certain jurisdictions with minimum trial periods or other safeguards in place for workers.
Once you have the infrastructure set up, it makes sense to send people to other jurisdictions for knowledge sharing and team building. “You really have to get intentional, especially internationally, especially across cultures, with team building, trust, engagement, and interaction time without an agenda,” says Lancelot. To do so, Powder set up a program called “Lunch on Legal” which encourages lawyers to take people from other teams out for a meal so they can meet and engage with different parts of the business.
Opt for Agile Firms Over Big Names
When hiring foreign external counsel, you’re not looking for an ivory tower law firm — you’re looking for a business partner who understands the dynamics and nuances of your company, industry, and the countries in which you operate. Here are a few tips for getting what you need when engaging with external teams:
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- Smaller firms are often more agile and may be a better fit. “If you’re going to do very multijurisdictional M&A, you can find a great big American or British law firm to do that. But if you’re going into a country for the long term, the best local firm in your business sector is what you want,” says Lancelot.
- During your initial engagement with a firm, take note of how formal their interactions are with you. If getting simple answers takes multiple steps and requires that you get through layers of formality, move on.
- Ask for recommendations from firms you’ve worked with since they already understand how your business operates.
- Consider working with alternative legal service providers (ALSPs) for certain needs. Powder notes that Seismic has used ALSPs for HR and corporate consulting in Asia and found them to be fairly low-cost and pragmatic. “It’s a lot of, ‘we know 30 other companies who are doing the same thing as you, and this is how they handle it,’” she says.
TechGC members regularly tap into the community to get trusted recommendations for local counsel in dozens of jurisdictions and practice areas across the globe. For access to the database of recommendations and the peer network, apply for membership today.
When you’ve brought on an external team, make sure to onboard them just like you would a full-time employee with product demos and an overview of your company culture and values.
Miscommunication is easy across cultural lives, so always communicate clearly and ask lots of follow-up questions. Be upfront by telling external teams exactly what you’re looking for — and if things aren’t working, provide direct feedback in real-time so you can course correct.
Want to learn more from fellow GCs and legal experts about building global teams? Apply to become a member of TechGC today.
Featuring Insights From:
David Lancelot
Chief Legal Officer and EVP Advocacy of LawVu
Celaena Powder
General Counsel of Seismic
Navine Karim
Key Takeaways:
- Expanding globally is a massive investment that is often underestimated — first consider whether it’s really necessary to reach your business’ goals at this time.
- If you decide to expand internationally, lLook for internal and external team members who have proven they can build trust across cultural lines.
- In-house lLawyers in other jurisdictions may not be used to startup culture, so look for those who have operated in non-traditional legal environments.
- For external counsel, smaller firms may be more agile and culturally aligned.
Insights derived from members of the TechGC Community
About TechGC
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