Key Takeaways
- The session: On November 10, 2026, Globalfy co-founder and CEO Diego Sampaio takes the MoneyConf stage at Web Summit Lisbon 2026 for “Thinking global from day one”, alongside Mike Sigal (Founder, Sigal Ventures) and Zdravko Krstanov (Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Czechia).
- The big idea: for modern startups, launching in a single market and “going international later” is no longer the default. Remote work, cloud infrastructure, and global payment rails let companies be born global.
- What it changes: an international mindset from inception shapes three things at once: product architecture, talent strategy and the go-to-market engine.
- The trap to avoid: treating legal, banking and tax structure as a problem for later. It usually resurfaces one or two years in, as fines, frozen accounts or late filings.
- Who should attend: early-stage founders, SaaS and e-commerce operators, creators and service providers who already sell, or plan to sell, beyond their home country.
What is “Thinking global from day one” about?
For most of the last two decades, the startup playbook followed a fixed order: win your home market, raise a bigger round, then expand abroad. The “Thinking global from day one” panel at Web Summit Lisbon 2026 starts from the opposite premise. For a growing number of founders, building for a single market first is a legacy constraint, not a safe bet.
Operating with an international mindset from inception is not only about reaching more customers. It changes how the product is built, who the company hires, and how it sells. That is the conversation Diego Sampaio, Mike Sigal, and Zdravko Krstanov will have on the MoneyConf stage, one of the conference tracks most focused on finance, payments, and fintech.
Why is “local first, global later” becoming outdated?
The tools that once made international operations a privilege of well-funded companies are now available to a two-person team. Remote work removed geography from hiring. Cloud infrastructure removed it from the product. Global payment processors made it possible to charge a customer in another currency from the first invoice.
The numbers point in the same direction. 2026 is a record year for US entrepreneurship: between January and August, the country added 4.73 million new businesses, up 16% from the same period of 2025, according to Registered Agents Inc.’s Business Formation Report. In August, Florida led new formations, followed by Texas and California. Delaware ranked fourth, up 11.7% year to date, and Wyoming placed seventh, with about 3.6% of the national total. These are figures for the overall US market, not a breakdown of foreign founders, but Delaware and Wyoming are the two states most often chosen by founders who set up a business remotely.
The market has a name for this generation of companies: born global. These are startups that treat internationalization as part of the initial business design rather than a later stage.
How does a global mindset shape product architecture?
A product designed for one country tends to carry that country’s assumptions in its code: one currency, one tax logic, one language, one set of privacy rules. Unwinding those assumptions later is expensive. Founders who think globally from day one usually make a few decisions early:
- Multi-currency billing from the start, so pricing and subscriptions are not tied to a single local payment method.
- Compliance by design, with privacy, data and consumer rules from several jurisdictions built into the product instead of patched in country by country.
- Localization as infrastructure, not translation, from date formats to invoicing to customer support channels.
- Costs and revenue in the same currency. Software companies often pay for servers, APIs and tools in US dollars. Billing in dollars removes much of the exchange-rate risk that distorts growth projections.
One example among Globalfy’s clients is AdOpt, a Brazilian cookie-consent and privacy-compliance startup. After incorporating in the United States in June 2021 and switching to recurring card payments via Stripe, it went from 100 paying customers on local bank slips to 400 customers and US$5,000 in monthly recurring revenue by September of that year, fully bootstrapped. Today its technology runs on more than 60,000 websites in 30 countries, and the company was acquired by a French group.
How does it change talent strategy?
A company that is global from inception rarely hires from a single city. Distributed teams give early-stage startups access to specialized talent they could not afford or find locally and let them cover customers in several time zones.
That flexibility comes with operational questions that are easy to underestimate: how to pay contractors in different countries, how to grant equity in a structure foreign hires recognize, and how to keep payroll and tax obligations compliant everywhere the team works. A corporate structure that international investors and employees already understand, such as a US LLC or C Corp, often makes those conversations simpler.
What does a global go-to-market engine look like?
Going global from day one does not mean abandoning the home market. Around 80% of AdOpt’s customers are still Brazilian, while the company also serves clients in the US and Portugal from the same entity. Its founders describe very different buyers: US customers decide, buy, and cancel faster and expect speed, while Brazilian customers value relationships and close support, often over WhatsApp.
A global go-to-market engine is built to serve both profiles. In practice, that often means:
- Trust signals that travel. In sensitive sectors such as compliance, security, or data, a company’s legal home can influence the purchase decision.
- Frictionless payment. Customers abroad expect to pay with a card or a local method, in a currency they recognize, without a wire transfer.
- A structure buyers and investors can read. Companies that validate their product in more than one market, under legal and accounting standards foreign investors already know, are easier to evaluate and to acquire.
The profile of founders following this path has also changed. Alongside venture-backed startups chasing US funds, a growing number of service providers, e-commerce operators, and content creators open a US company to win clients abroad, charge in dollars, or receive payments from international platforms without intermediaries.
The most common mistake: treating structure as a problem for later
In his own writing on the topic, Diego Sampaio points to a mistake he made himself before learning from it: postponing the company’s structure until the business “is worth it”. Founders often open an entity in a rush to close a first contract, without separating personal and business finances, without understanding what a real registered agent does, and without a plan for accounting as the company grows.
The bill tends to arrive one or two years later, as do fines, blocked bank accounts, or late tax filings. For Sampaio, what separates founders who scale smoothly from those who keep putting out fires is not company size. It is the willingness to treat compliance, accounting, and banking as part of the strategy, not as paperwork on the side.
Who is on stage?
Diego Sampaio, Co-founder and CEO, Globalfy. Diego started his first business at 15, in 2001, and sold his web services company in 2010 to one of Brazil’s largest internet companies. In 2012, he opened his first US company without ever having lived in the country and felt firsthand the lack of structure, support, and clarity that Globalfy was later created to solve.
Mike Sigal, Founder, Sigal Ventures. Brings the investor’s perspective on what makes an early-stage company ready to operate and scale across borders.
Zdravko Krstanov, Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Czechia. Brings the view of a journalist who follows founders and companies building from outside the traditional tech hubs.
How to catch the session at Web Summit Lisbon 2026
Web Summit Lisbon 2026 runs from November 9 to 12 at MEO Arena and FIL, and is expected to bring together more than 70,000 attendees from over 160 countries. “Thinking global from day one” takes place on Tuesday, November 10, from 4:00 to 4:20 PM, on Stage 8 – MoneyConf. Attendees can add it to their schedule through the official session page or the Web Summit app.
What founders can take away now
- Decide your structure early. Setting up the right entity at the start avoids complex corporate reorganizations once the company is already large.
- Design the product for more than one market. Currency, compliance and localization are far cheaper to build in than to retrofit.
- Match revenue and costs in the same currency. If your main costs are in dollars, billing in dollars reduces exchange-rate risk.
- Think in trust, not only in reach. In sensitive sectors, where your company is incorporated can weigh on the buying decision.
- Keep your home market close. A global structure lets you serve local customers and international ones from the same company.
Open your US company with Globalfy
Globalfy is a complete platform that helps entrepreneurs open, structure, and manage their companies in the United States. In 11 years, it has supported more than 12,000 founders from over 100 countries, combining technology, compliance, and specialized support from incorporation to day-to-day tax management.
That covers company registration, the EIN, a US bank account, and annual tax obligations. If you are still deciding on the format, it is worth understanding the difference between an LLC and a C Corp and which state makes the most sense for your business.
Talk to a Globalfy specialist and find the right plan for your company.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does “thinking global from day one” mean for a startup?
It means designing the company to operate across borders from inception, instead of treating international expansion as a future phase. In practice, it shapes product decisions (currency, compliance, localization), hiring (distributed teams), and sales (serving customers in several markets from the same structure).
What is a born global startup?
A born global startup is a company that treats internationalization as part of its initial business design. Supported by remote work and cloud infrastructure, it sells, hires, or raises capital in more than one country from its earliest stage.
When and where is the “Thinking global from day one” panel at Web Summit Lisbon 2026?
The panel takes place on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, from 4:00 to 4:20 PM (Lisbon time), on Stage 8 – MoneyConf. Speakers are Diego Sampaio (Globalfy), Mike Sigal (Sigal Ventures) and Zdravko Krstanov (Forbes Czechia).
Do I need to live in the US to open a company there?
No. Non-residents can register an LLC or C Corp, obtain an EIN, and open a US bank account remotely. The whole process can be done from abroad with the support of a specialized platform such as Globalfy.
Can I have a US company and keep selling in my home country?
Yes. A US company does not mean leaving your home market. A single structure can serve local customers and international ones at the same time.
What is the most common mistake founders make when expanding internationally?
Postponing the company’s structure. Opening an entity in a hurry, mixing personal and business finances and having no accounting plan often lead to fines, frozen bank accounts, or late tax filings one or two years later.