Taking Advantage Of A Weak US Dollar

I'm here in London for a few days and I held my annual MAZ Margarita Mixer on Thursday (Thanksgiving) evening; 50+ clients, entrepreneurs, investment bankers and VCs all gathered, networked, and drank. (not necessarily in that order!) Topic of conversation soon turned to the current US tech business climate and general trends for US tech companies expanding abroad, specifically into Europe and the UK. Clearly, the UK has historically been a leading beachhead for early stage US tech companies expanding into Europe. One recruiter indicated that pay packages for VP's of Europe for early stage US companies are in the £200k to £220k range (USD $411k to $452k), at the current £/$ 2.056 exchange rate. Note, these figures are a combination of base salary and expected base bonus.

The good news is that now a great time for US tech exports! The strong purchasing power of Sterling and Euro's simply buys more in dollar terms and that is terrific news for any US based company looking to expand into Europe at the moment. Yes, the costs of doing business will be higher, but we strongly believe the benefits of top line revenue growth - if managed well - will more than compensate.

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Author: Mark Zawacki