What is Soft Land Partners and where did the idea come from?
Soft Land Partners (SLP) is a global consortium of professionals and organizations that specialize in helping international companies successfully enter and scale in new countries and markets. Our total focus is to create connections that maximize the success of the market-entry company.
The idea came from two experiences. First, we have a company, MEET, that helps international B2B companies exhibit at U.S. trade shows. Nearly 100% of MEET’s clients have come to us as “damaged children.” In other words, before we met them, they had horrific market-entry experiences. In some cases, they made bad decisions and in others, they got connected to bad actors who took advantage of them. SLP passionately wants to protect market-entry companies from these experiences.
Second, most market-entry includes the crossing of an ocean or large body of water. As a lifelong sailor, it has been my experience that good charts are critical for safe and efficient navigation. The most valuable charts not only show the open blue water but also highlight the hazards. It is a big part of SLP’s mission and roadmap to provide the most reliable market-entry charts available.
Put simply, we believe in, and our community members commit to, competent, ethical, and professional service for market-entry companies.
What’s it like fostering an ecosystem that’s all about building connections during the COVID-19 pandemic?
That’s a really interesting question. Life on Zoom or GoToMeeting is certainly different but it’s amazing how quickly our community has adapted. Prior to most countries going into lockdown, we had two in-person monthly Meetups scheduled at venues in New York and Boston. COVID-19 forced us to go virtual. We’ve now had 6 virtual meetups (New York x 2, Boston x 2, Connecticut, and Los Angeles). The exchange and connections have been really impressive. At each meeting, several “needs and opportunities” have been shared. From this, many great matches have been made.
Being virtual has also allowed us to go global much faster than we expected. The need to connect and support one another’s growth and resilience feels more urgent than ever.
How quickly is Soft Land Partners growing?
Incredibly fast. Beyond our wildest dreams. In March we launched with two Meetups in New York and Boston. For the month of May, we have monthly Meetups scheduled in eight cities worldwide—from New York to Los Angeles, Sao Paulo to Mumbai. Participation rates have also grown. In April we had 50 market-entry service providers and international trade & investment partners join the New York Meetup. May’s Meetup is likely to be larger. Three additional cities are already slated to start monthly meetups in June bringing us to 11 cities and counting.
The real heroes of the process are the Chapter Leaders who are creating a super welcoming environment for all participants as they facilitate connections between community members in each region. We’re targeting having monthly meetups going in at least 20 cities around the world by year-end. Each meetup helps us build dense local resource pools for market-entry companies. Having strong Chapter Leaders also help us build bridges between those communities. These are super collaborative humans.
What’s been the reaction from those who attend?
That’s really the best part. Participants are sharing wonderful stories during the meetups and privately about the connections that they are making and the problems that are being solved for their clients.
Our number one priority is certainly to reduce and eliminate the friction for market-entry companies to find success. A really good byproduct of this, however, is the well of resources that each trade & investment professional and market-entry service provider is getting connected to through the process. Ultimately, helping each participant build a strong bullpen of solution providers who can be called in to support their market entry clients as needed will better assure the strength of our impact.
Where do you see Soft Land Partners in 6-12 months as economies around the world begin to reopen and growth and scaling resumes?
Again, we have a fantastic group of Chapter Leaders in each city. Our goal is to support them in sustaining the monthly meetups as a way to facilitate a consistent exchange of knowledge, resources, and connections within the internationalization and market-entry community globally. As economies around the world begin to reopen and growth resumes, this should only accelerate the progress and impact that we are having now.
Finally, can you share a moment from the last few months when you realized Soft Land Partners was on the right track?
This pretty much happens every day with every conversation. In fact, I just got off the phone with a market-entry service provider who was looking for more information about SLP. As I was about 30-seconds into describing what we’re doing, he stopped me to say “This is amazing. How did I not know about you? How do I get involved?” Like many in our tribe, he is painfully aware of the challenges that market-entry companies have in connecting to competent, ethical, and professional service providers. He also wants to continue to improve the strength of the people and resources that he can bring to bear to help his clients solve their problems.