Two types of engagements, pricing, and what gets resolved before you commit capital to US expansion. This is what I call US Entry Architecture. Here is how it works.
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 chose channels that worked at home without asking whether those channels have similar margins in the US. The result is costly activity that isn't moving the company forward.
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 — the Identify phase. It surfaces the most important commercial issue in your current thinking. If both sides decide to proceed, I credit the fee in full toward the six-week US Market Entry Architecture Engagement, where Design and Commit are resolved.
Duration: 1 week
For New Zealand founders & CEOs who need to pressure-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 Architecture 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 resolves 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.
Buyer and channel architecture
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
Pressure-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.
Architecture delivery and decision session
Deliver the complete US Market Entry Architecture Decision Pack and walk through the findings, sequencing logic, and first-move recommendation live.
The engagement produces a US Market Entry Architecture Decision Pack. Every structural decision is pressure-tested before resources are committed to US expansion.
Is this just strategy consulting?
No. Traditional strategy consulting often produces research, market sizing, or broad recommendations. This engagement resolves commercial decisions for one company: pricing, channels, first hire, unit economics, and go / no-go. The output is a decision pack you can act on, not a deck you still need to interpret.
Does the typical US growth story transfer to my industry?
Commercial decisions — how to price for a new market, which channel can carry the economics, what to build first, and what to delay — recur across industries. I can identify which building block is the weakest in your foundation for US market entry.
Can one person handle something this important?
One senior operator working directly on the problem is often more useful than a team of analysts producing a vague high-level report you then need to decode.
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 the most important commercial issue is.
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 resolves whether the commercial model survives US economics before either move is made. This work sits upstream of both.
What does the 6-week engagement actually produce?
A US Entry Architecture Decision Pack containing: a first-buyer definition with specificity; a pricing architecture tested against US acquisition costs; a unit economics model showing whether the first move produces viable returns; a first-channel recommendation with the economics behind it; a first-hire brief; an operating structure outline; and a go / no-go decision framework. Every structural decision is locked before capital and resources are committed.
Who will I actually work with?
You work directly with me throughout. Not a junior analyst, not a project manager, not a handoff after the first session. I lead every session, do all the research and model analysis, and produce every deliverable. When specialist depth is needed, it is brought in precisely and integrated into the work. You are never dealing with a layer between you and the person doing the thinking.
What is the difference between the US Market Entry Diagnostic and the Architecture Engagement?
The US Market Entry Diagnostic is a paid session (NZD $10,000) that identifies the single most important commercial issue in your current US expansion thinking. You leave with a named finding you can act on. The Architecture Engagement is a 6-week project (NZD $75,000) that resolves all the commercial decisions required before capital is committed. The Diagnostic fee is credited in full toward the engagement if you proceed to the Architecture Engagement.
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 pressure-testing, and deliverable production.
What is the first step?
Book the US Market Entry Diagnostic. It is a paid session priced at NZD $10,000. You leave with named structural findings you can act on immediately. If both sides decide the full engagement is the right move, the Diagnostic fee is credited in full toward the Architecture Engagement.
How do New Zealand companies typically enter the US market?
Most NZ companies attempt US entry by hiring a US-based employee, attending trade events, or leaning on NZTE introductions. These are execution moves. The problem is that execution without a tested commercial model — pricing, channel, customer acquisition economics, first buyer — is how most NZ companies burn cash and lose a year. The right sequence is to resolve the architecture first: does the model survive US economics, what is the first channel, who is the first buyer, and what has to change before capital is committed.
What does a US market consultant do, and how is this different?
A conventional market consultant produces research: market sizing, competitor mapping, and sector overviews. That work answers the question “Is there a market?” This engagement answers a different question: “Does our specific model have a real chance of working in that market, and if so, how?” The output is a decision pack covering first buyer, first channel, pricing architecture, unit economics, and a go / no-go recommendation — not a research report.
The first step is a US Market Entry Diagnostic, a session that identifies the most important commercial issues in your current US expansion plan. NZD $10,000 — credited in full if you decide to proceed to the US Market Entry Architecture Engagement.
Auckland-based. Available in person. Founder-led from first conversation to finished plan.