[bertil]

I would have to disagree: it’s probably different in the US, but I worked for a start-up that decided to go through international expansion (12 countries at once) after Series B: that the CFO knew about nuances of VAT in each country was key to lower the burn rate.

I’m seen many people from the companies that I listed, some who joined very early, some who joined after they had more than 100M raised, have the right experience to start a company, or join early.

My point is not that those people are essential, or even that their are a majority at big companies; my point is that, with people who can justify several significant failures and success, especially public ones like accelerators and major companies, you have stronger signal, more trust and one could interpret larger rounds as a sign of institutional progress.

[user5994461]

US companies don't need to care about this, that's why their startups are so much more successful. They have a single market with 300 million customers.

Don't get me wrong, there are nuances between states and a few subtleties, but it's negligible compared to expanding across European countries or Asia.