Two engagements. What each one costs, what each one decides, and what you have at the end.
Flying Blind
The size of the US market pulls NZ companies in before they know whether their model can survive it.
They hire before defining the first buyer. They carry NZ pricing into a different cost structure. They choose channels that worked at home without asking whether those channels carry similar margins in the US. The result is expensive activity that moves the company nowhere.
This work exists to solve the decisions underneath that risk: Does the current model survive US customer acquisition costs? Who is the first US buyer? What is the right first channel? What has to change in pricing to preserve margins? What should the first hire actually do? Does any of this justify serious capital now, or is the right answer not yet?
Every client starts with the US Market Entry Diagnostic. It names the single biggest commercial problem in your current US thinking. If we both want to continue, the $10,000 comes off the price of the 6-week engagement.
Duration: 1 week
For New Zealand founders & CEOs who need to test whether their US expansion thinking holds up before committing to a full engagement.
You'll have a direct answer on whether to go, delay, or redesign.
Diagnostic fee credited in full if you decide to proceed to the US Market Entry Engagement.
Duration: 6 weeks
A comprehensive plan: first buyer, first channel, pricing logic, unit economics, operating structure, first-hire sequence, and the go / no-go decision.
A 6-week, founder-led engagement priced at NZD $75,000.
I lead the work directly. No junior team. No analyst layer. No handoff after the sale.
The engagement decides the commercial questions that matter most before you spend into the US. It determines whether the first year produces traction or just expensive activity.
By the end: you know whether the model survives US economics, who the first buyer is, which channel to enter, how pricing has to change, what the first hire does, and whether the move justifies capital and resources now.
You will also know what to delay. That is often where the real value sits.
Model audit
Deconstruct the current business model, revenue structure, and growth assumptions. Identify what translates to the US and what does not.
First buyer and first channel
Define the first US buyer with specificity. Test which channels can reach that buyer at an economic cost the model can support.
Pricing and unit economics
Test NZ pricing assumptions against US acquisition costs, competitive dynamics, and margin requirements.
Operating structure and first-hire logic
Determine what the US operating footprint needs to look like and what the first hire should actually do.
Risk mapping and go / no-go framework
Identify the assumptions that carry the most downside risk. Build the decision framework for go, delay, or redesign.
Plan delivery and decision session
Deliver the complete Decision Pack and walk through the findings, sequencing logic, and first-move recommendation live.
The engagement produces the Decision Pack. Every decision in it is tested before resources are committed to US expansion.
Who does the work?
Me. One senior operator on the problem, not a team of analysts producing a report you then have to decode. I lead every session, do the research and the model analysis, and produce every deliverable. When specialist depth is needed I bring it in and integrate it.
What if we are too early for this?
If you have not found product-market fit, or the US move is still speculative rather than a serious capital decision, the full engagement is probably premature. That is one reason the paid Diagnostic exists. It tells you whether the timing is right and what is most likely to cost you.
Why not start with NZTE or hire someone in the US?
NZTE can help with access, introductions, and programme support. A US hire gives you in-market presence. Neither answers whether the commercial model survives US economics before either move is made. This work sits upstream of both.
What is the difference between the Diagnostic and the Engagement?
The US Market Entry Diagnostic is a paid session (NZD $10,000) that finds the single thing in your current US thinking most likely to cost you. You leave with a named finding you can act on. The US Market Entry Engagement is a 6-week project (NZD $75,000) that decides everything that has to be settled before capital is committed. The Diagnostic fee comes off the price of the Engagement if you proceed.
How much time does this require from me?
Roughly 2 to 3.5 hours per week across the six weeks. That includes one two-hour working session per week and no more than 1.5 hours preparation time between sessions. You do not need to produce research, build decks, or do homework. I handle all research, model analysis, competitive framing, pricing tests, and deliverable production.
What if the answer is no?
Then you get that in writing, with the numbers behind it. A no, or a not yet, is a legitimate outcome and often the most valuable one. You will know which assumption fails, what would have to change for the answer to become yes, and what the move would cost if you made it anyway. Knowing that for $10,000 is cheaper than finding out over twelve months.
The first step is a US Market Entry Diagnostic, a session that finds what is most likely to cost you in your current US expansion plan. NZD $10,000, credited in full if you decide to proceed to the US Market Entry Engagement.
Auckland-based. Available in person. Founder-led from first conversation to finished plan.