By Fernando Berrocal

Since so many businesses are being founded by overseas entrepreneurs (around 35%), a typical question for international founders is: How do you raise funding in the USA? Several startups began as overseas businesses and then relocated or incorporated in the US to raise funds. The procedure for overseas entrepreneurs seeking finance in the US is explained in this article.

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Step 1: Why are you doing this? Why do you wish to raise money from US investors or move to the USA? Asking yourself that question is the main step. Typically, international founders have many reasons:

• Access to Capital: This is typically the main reason. One of the top complaints from international founders is: “There are no investors in my home country.” That’s changed in certain markets, like Asia for instance, but for most countries, it is still true that more investors are willing to invest a higher valuation in Silicon Valley than anywhere else. It's common to see founders come here because they want access to those investors.

• Help Building your Business: Many overseas entrepreneurs desire to benefit from Silicon Valley's collective wisdom on how to develop a successful technological business. Many of the world's largest online organizations are headquartered there. In the rest of the globe, that knowledge isn't as easily available. Coming here and talking to specialists who have done it before, learning from them, and enlisting their help through a financial investment is a wonderful approach to get ahead faster.

• Aspirations to be a Unicorn: With the growth of mobile in other parts of the world, there are more and more international opportunities. People are increasingly purchasing products and services online. The opportunity has switched from people thinking the United States is "the whole globe" in terms of the market to investors looking for possible unicorns everywhere.

It's partly a matter of time. More investors have learned that there are actual profits to be gained in foreign technology markets, therefore now is as good a moment as ever to enlist the help of US investors and entrepreneurs in your international business.

Step 2: Establish a legal structure based in the USA: How do you get started on this route if you want to?

• To Help your Business Develop, "Flip" it: What exactly is a flip? It's when you form a Delaware C corporation and transfer your foreign entity's shares to it. You've created a US business that may be invested in both domestically and internationally. Many funds and investors are unwilling to participate in international business due to the rigorous tax reporting requirements. It's frequently spelled out in their limited partnership agreement. It may seem insignificant, but flipping is critical if you want to attract investment from American investors.

• Consider tax, Intellectual Property (IP), and Commercial Agreements:  When flipping, there are a few things to think about, such as:

• There are Tax Implications.
• Which Entity is in charge of the IP?
• How Commercial Agreements between the entities are structured.

• Do it right now:  If you've ever wanted to sell your business, now is the time. As your business and workforce grow, the difficulty of flipping increases. I advise you to do it as soon as feasible. You'll save a lot of money on legal bills and a lot of suffering.

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Step 3: Achieve Your Objectives:

• Become a Rocket Ship: What should you do when you've flipped? The first phase is to transform into a spaceship. Everyone is always trying to figure out how to raise money through a hack, but the true hack is to create something that has "product-market fit" and is "genuinely expanding".

• Product-Market Fit: Spend most of your time talking to your clients instead of trying to find out the fundraising hack. Determine what customers want, how to manufacture it, present it to them, and receive feedback. If you accomplish that, you should be able to iterate into something that thrives. That is how product-market fit is achieved. By communicating with your consumers and iterating them, you can attain success. That's where you should spend the majority of your time.

• Take on a Big Market:  It's exceedingly difficult to get financing if investors don't believe you're going after a big market. It's also more difficult to grow into a big business. Foreign entrepreneurs need to target a broad market and think about how to depict that market as big. Investors based in the US will be persuaded to assume that your chance is limited. As a result, while pitching your business, you should give the broadest vision possible. This might include aggregating an entire region or focusing on verticals that are expected to grow in importance, such as transportation or food delivery.

Step 4: Tell a Great Narrative: Once you’ve established product-market fit, your organization’s expanding, and you want to attract funding, the next step is working out a narrative. Every story in human history is divided into three parts:

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• The world works in a specific way.
• Something occurs.
• The world is no longer the same.

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What does this mean in terms of fundraising? You should always construct your narrative and your conversations with investors around these three acts:

• Tell them about the market - Where it is, What the problem is, and Why it is such a major issue.
• There's a turning point here - Perhaps everyone now owns a cellphone. Perhaps everyone now has a credit card. Perhaps people now buy items online.
• There's a new way of looking at the world now - Showcase your product, how it addresses a problem, how much traction you have, and proof that you're going to change the world.

You'll need a well-practiced and rehearsed narrative that leads people through a story arc and convinces them that you're going to be big. Iterate and practice a lot. Try different narratives until you discover one that truly connects. You may practice with a variety of people, not only investors. You may test your skills on other entrepreneurs and professionals in the business. When they're enthusiastic about the story, you know it's working.

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