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Ask HN: Finding Remote Enterprise SW Consulting Leads: Non-US Resident Edition

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Re: Ask HN: Finding Remote Enterprise SW Consulting Leads: Non-US Resident Edition

#21

Post by talkingtab »

farbklang wrote: post #18
talkingtab wrote: post #10

My unfounded belief is that the environment is changing dramatically, and will continue to change. And not because of AI. The reason is that the current internet business model if depleted. Users are weary of the lack of reasonable stuff on the internet. Personally, I use my browser less and less each day. It has become, in my opinion, pretty much a wasteland. Given that situation, what can you do? One could just cha…

PLM, which OP has expertise in, is usually tied to the IT infrastructure in the digital engineering in the manufacturing industry. That's not going away anywhere soon. We are still far away from a full automation / digitalization in these areas.

Absolutely. There are many areas where SW is focused on function and does well. It is unclear to me how AI will impact those areas. Question mark for those who have thoughts?

My point was that there is massive opportunity in areas that have not and will not be explored with the "track user" business model. Or have been abandoned. Good reads, good movies, or Groups.

Re: Ask HN: Finding Remote Enterprise SW Consulting Leads: Non-US Resident Edition

#22

Post by mecHacker »

farbklang wrote: post #15

I run a small consulting shop in Germany, also specialising on PLM (and IoT) - I never landed a gig in the US. The problem with PLM is that more often than not you operate in high tech / defense and because of export control regulations you need residency. For getting projects in Europe, what worked for me is cold outreach on linkedin. However not directly for the end client (that really never worked) - but there are…

thanks for sharing your rich insights, and the networking opportunity - I've dropped you a line on your email!

Re: Ask HN: Finding Remote Enterprise SW Consulting Leads: Non-US Resident Edition

#23

Post by mecHacker »

ac2u wrote: post #16

I am not a lawyer, so this is just personal experience, not advice. Networking is everything, most of my gigs have come from trusted contacts I worked with as an employee in a subsidiary (opened by a US company) in my own country. Startups help here because people tend to move around with a trusted group of people. Every gig expands your network and builds more trust, so cracking those first few opportunities are imp…

how do you approach your network - if you don't mind me asking, what language do you use when reaching out to your network. I'm seeing my network mostly turn cold shoulder.

Re: Ask HN: Finding Remote Enterprise SW Consulting Leads: Non-US Resident Edition

#24

Post by conductr »

mecHacker wrote: post #20
conductr wrote: post #14

A lot of other comments have touched on things well. My experience as a corporate is that I often find the 'US local' is a thin shell of sales/leadership, someone I feel I can hold accountable when I'm not getting results during the engagement, and the hands-on tactical folks on their team are typically globally dispersed. This has never been a hard sell for me internally to get approved. It's quite silly on our part…

What you say, makes sense! But I'm not even finding myself that much further in the sales funnel yet. I'm at the top end at the moment. Let's say you have US presence, how do you go about customer acquisition? (I do have a couple of friends in US, whom I can hire - these people are not core-tech, more of analyst profiles, but I will help with boots on ground, if needed.)

Oh well, That’s a different problem and I’d guess one that general marketing could help you start with. Such a broad topic. Since you’re remote you probably want to try to get leads on your website, but there’s a billion ways to approach that of course

Re: Ask HN: Finding Remote Enterprise SW Consulting Leads: Non-US Resident Edition

#25

Post by ac2u »

mecHacker wrote: post #23
ac2u wrote: post #16

I am not a lawyer, so this is just personal experience, not advice. Networking is everything, most of my gigs have come from trusted contacts I worked with as an employee in a subsidiary (opened by a US company) in my own country. Startups help here because people tend to move around with a trusted group of people. Every gig expands your network and builds more trust, so cracking those first few opportunities are imp…

how do you approach your network - if you don't mind me asking, what language do you use when reaching out to your network. I'm seeing my network mostly turn cold shoulder.

When I say "network" think less LinkedIn and more people you've built up enough trust with to swap phone numbers and keep each other informed of opportunities, provide references etc.

Re: Ask HN: Finding Remote Enterprise SW Consulting Leads: Non-US Resident Edition

#26

Post by mecHacker »

ajb wrote: post #19
mecHacker wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

thanks! but it has been even harder to engage such consultant/contractor/company - precisely, zero. Any ideas on how to find these?

Sorry, other than the one I mentioned, I don't know - I was on the client side. Maybe there's a way for you to set up a US company?

yes, setting up a US company is pretty doable. But how does that impact the bane of customer acquisition is not obvious to me.

Re: Ask HN: Finding Remote Enterprise SW Consulting Leads: Non-US Resident Edition

#27

Post by mecHacker »

ac2u wrote: post #25
mecHacker wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how do you approach your network - if you don't mind me asking, what language do you use when reaching out to your network. I'm seeing my network mostly turn cold shoulder.

When I say "network" think less LinkedIn and more people you've built up enough trust with to swap phone numbers and keep each other informed of opportunities, provide references etc.

yeah, so the people who would make time to grab a beer with me when I was visiting their town, would not respond to my texts. And that's why I asked for the specific language you'd use. I'm using something like:

"Hi XYZ... I've started consulting, and I'm looking for new business opportunities. I'd love to talk to you about this... could we catch up over a call sometime next week"

may be there is a better way to do that. I've limited 1st degree network, and I don't want to burn it all, so I stopped sending these messages after all the first 4-5 didn't seem to go as planned!

Re: Ask HN: Finding Remote Enterprise SW Consulting Leads: Non-US Resident Edition

#28

Post by mecHacker »

conductr wrote: post #24
mecHacker wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you say, makes sense! But I'm not even finding myself that much further in the sales funnel yet. I'm at the top end at the moment. Let's say you have US presence, how do you go about customer acquisition? (I do have a couple of friends in US, whom I can hire - these people are not core-tech, more of analyst profiles, but I will help with boots on ground, if needed.)

Oh well, That’s a different problem and I’d guess one that general marketing could help you start with. Such a broad topic. Since you’re remote you probably want to try to get leads on your website, but there’s a billion ways to approach that of course

Do you have pointers to any good resources on the top few ways for lead generation? I’m a noob in marketing, coming from tech, so I can use qualified recommendations!
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