Checklist
Europe Expansion Checklist for SaaS Companies
A practical checklist for founders and operators opening Europe: demand proof, first market, first hire, legal setup, pipeline design, and first 90 days.
Proof
€12M ARR
Scaled SaaS revenue across UK, DACH, Nordics & Southern Europe as VP International Sales
€1M ARR
Founded Allcolibri from zero, secured €1M financing (€500k equity, €500k debt)
15+
Built and led a team of 15+ across UK, DACH, Nordics and Southern Europe
€1M+
Personally drove strategic deals including a €1M+ contract with Schibsted
Operator perspective
Who this is for
US and European B2B SaaS companies building repeatable revenue in Europe.
Common mistake
Treating Europe like one market instead of a sequence of different markets, buying patterns and hiring constraints.
What I would do
Pick the wedge market, define the first commercial hire, tighten the ICP, and build a six-month operating cadence before scaling breadth.
Who should talk to Adrien now
Recruiters
Best fit for searches around VP Sales Europe, CRO Europe SaaS, GM Europe, and operator-led commercial buildout roles.
Founders
Best fit for US and European SaaS founders opening Europe, fixing a weak first-market motion, or hiring the first senior revenue leader.
Investors
Useful when a portfolio company needs a Europe GTM operator, a market-entry plan, or a senior commercial hire with real execution history.
Checklist
What to confirm before you spend heavily
The practical checklist starts with five questions. Do you have real demand evidence from Europe? Can you name the first market and explain why it comes first? Do you know the first senior commercial hire and what success looks like? Is the legal and data setup ready for enterprise procurement? Does the company know what the first 90 days should accomplish?
If even one of those answers is vague, Europe expansion is probably still at the hope stage rather than the execution stage.
Sequence
The order matters more than most founders think
The sequence should usually be: validate demand, pick the first market, design the first hire, fix legal and procurement blockers, then push pipeline hard. Teams that reverse this order often spend money before they have decision quality.
A checklist is valuable because it forces sequencing discipline.
Use
How to use this checklist well
Use it before approval of headcount, before opening the legal entity, and before signing the first local commercial leader. It is a decision tool, not a document to ignore after kickoff.
The value is in surfacing weak assumptions early enough to change them.
Related
FAQ
Who should use this checklist?
Founders, operators, and investors preparing a first European expansion or resetting a weak one.
What is the biggest checklist failure?
Treating legal setup or headcount approval as the first step instead of demand proof and market choice.
Should investors use this with portfolio companies?
Yes. It is an efficient pressure-test before Europe expansion spend accelerates.
Best fit
Recruiters
Use this site if you are hiring a VP Sales Europe, CRO, GM Europe or interim revenue operator for a B2B SaaS company.
Founders
Use this site if you are opening Europe, hiring your first senior sales leader, or need a sharper GTM motion by country.
Investors
Use this site if a portfolio company needs Europe market entry, sales leadership, or a faster path from €1M to €10M ARR.
Work with Adrien
Need someone who has actually built this before?
Talk to Adrien about your Europe GTM plan, VP Sales Europe hire, CRO search, or market-entry mandate.