Cracking the U.S. market can be very difficult for small European mobile development firms. However, some are finding some success with a unique marketing approach—tackling major U.S. cities one by one.
The New York Times is spotlighting two EU startups that are trying this strategy—YPlan, which makes a smartphone app for finding events, and Citymapper, which makes public transportation mapping apps. “You have to take things city by city, not country by country,” said YPlan co-founder Rytis Vitkauskas. “To succeed in the U.S., you have to focus on what people want in their local markets.”
“We paid attention to the details that people wanted in each city,” said Citymapper’s Azmat Yusuf. “For New Yorkers and Parisians, we knew we had to impress them.”
