International expansion
Control Signal helps boards, CEOs and CTOs decide where to expand, make a defensible location choice and build the new site into a core part of the company—not a satellite at its edge.
The decision before the decision
Companies often begin with salary data, incentives and talent-pool estimates. Those numbers matter, but they cannot give a new location a mission.
What will the new site own?
Why should it exist beyond adding capacity?
Which decisions will be made there?
How will it connect to the rest of the company?
What should it become capable of over time?
Three ways to work together
The location assessment is the clearest first engagement. Control Signal can then remain as an independent advisor or lead the complete site build.
A structured evaluation of candidate countries and cities, ideally before a location has been selected.
The assessment considers talent, cost, leadership, competition, government support, ecosystem strength, operating complexity and strategic fit. It concludes with a clear recommendation, including risks, trade-offs and actionable next steps.
Independent advice for CEOs, CTOs and the internal leaders responsible for the expansion.
Control Signal helps the leadership team challenge its assumptions, agree what the new site will own and resolve the decisions that cut across product, engineering, finance, people and operations.
Leadership of the complete process—from location strategy and market entry through operating setup, recruitment, launch and scale.
This can include coordinating government and ecosystem relationships, incentives, legal and tax specialists, real estate, recruiting partners and internal functions across the company.
From location decision to operating capability
Define the site’s mission, mandate and ownership.
Evaluate candidate locations and available skill sets.
Build government, university and industry relationships.
Coordinate legal, tax, entity and real-estate setup.
Design the operating relationship with existing locations.
Recruit the first local leaders.
Build software, product, design, customer support and operations teams.
Establish local recruiting and people capabilities.
Define launch, growth and organizational success metrics.
What you leave with
Built from direct operating experience
Operating experience includes building teams across EA, Amazon, Twitch, Kabam, Playfish and Discord, spanning software engineering, product, design, customer support, operations, recruiting and HR.
London · Lisbon · Berlin · Vancouver · Kitchener · Prince Edward Island · Beijing · Shanghai · San Francisco · Salt Lake City
The real expansion opportunity
A successful new location does more than add people. It helps the company clarify ownership, improve how context travels and operate well across distance. Done properly, the new site becomes a company-level upgrade.
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