How to Build a US Sales Team When You're Expanding From Europe with James Isilay
- S1E5
- 34:37
- May 26th 2026
Most European founders expanding to the US make the same hiring mistake. This episode breaks down what actually works when building a commercial team across the Atlantic.
Tired of watching US expansion burn through cash with nothing to show for it? Wondering whether to hire senior or junior first, which city to land in, or how to stop your new US team from churning out within a year?
James Isilay founded Cognism and scaled it from zero to $80M+ ARR, navigating the move from the UK to the US firsthand, including an early pivot from New York to Boston that changed the trajectory of the business. He's since advised multiple high-growth B2B software companies on strategic expansion and go-to-market.
You'll walk away with a clear framework for sequencing your US expansion: when to transplant your own people, when to start hiring locally, and the positioning work most founders skip that determines whether the whole thing sticks. This isn't theory, it's a playbook built from real decisions and real mistakes.
This one is for European and UK-based SaaS founders and GTM leaders who are planning or actively navigating US expansion. If you're deciding on your first US hire, choosing a city, or trying to figure out why your US pipeline isn't converting, this is the episode.
Key Takeaways
>> Hiring a senior US sales leader before you've built a working system on the ground is the most common and most expensive way European founders fail at US expansion.
>> Transplanting early employees from your home base creates a bridge between your existing playbooks and the new market, giving your US team access to the knowledge network that remote hires simply can't replicate.
>> Choosing a city based on where your specific industry talent lives, not prestige or personal preference, dramatically affects hiring quality, retention, and cost.
>> Founders need to find a tight ICP with high win rates in the US market before putting their foot on the pedal with sales hiring; without that foundation, you're accelerating from nothing.
Chapter Markers
00:00 - Why hiring senior in the US usually fails
02:59 - The pattern behind failed European expansions
05:17 - Starting junior vs. transplanting your own team
06:32 - How often founders need to be on the ground
07:50 - New York to Boston: why geography matters
10:01 - Choosing a city based on talent, not prestige
12:27 - The competitor that burned through a Series A in San Francisco
14:04 - Time zone overlap and the East Coast advantage
15:09 - US vs. UK sales talent: cost, churn, and calibration
17:44 - Adapting your hiring process for the US market
20:33 - Building culture across a satellite office
22:33 - Why your UK brand doesn't transfer to the US
24:44 - Reducing churn: comp, culture, and in-office presence
26:46 - Working with specialist recruiters in the US
28:55 - The one thing James would tell every founder before expanding
30:17 - Honest signals that you're ready and false ones that trick you
33:08 - Quickfire round
Useful Links & Resources
James Isilay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-isilay/
Captivate Talent: https://www.captivatetalent.com/
Danielle Parker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellemessler/
Chris Gannon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gannonchristopher/
Connect With the Show
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/captivate-talent/
What's been your biggest surprise expanding a team into the US? Or if you're planning it right now, what's the question keeping you up at night? Drop it in the comments, we read every one and it helps shape future episodes.
If this episode gave you a clearer picture of what US expansion actually takes, subscribe and share it with a founder who's about to make the move. New episodes drop every fortnight.
Human-First: The GTM Hiring Show
AI is rewriting what "great" looks like across sales, marketing, customer success, and RevOps. Old playbooks have stopped working. And most founders are hiring in the dark.
Human-First: The GTM Hiring Show cuts through the noise with high-signal conversations for B2B Tech founders, revenue leaders, and the VCs who back them - from the team at Captivate Talent.
Unlike other shows about hiring, we pull back the curtain on what a search actually looks like: real funnel data, real candidate feedback, and the kind of market intelligence that helps you make decisions based on reality, not guesswork.
Every episode is built around three questions every leader asks before making a GTM hire:
- Am I ready to hire? (And what to do when the honest answer is "not yet")
- How do I hire? (How to run a tight process and spot "great" when you've never seen it before)
- Did I hire the right person? (How to diagnose whether it's the role, the comp, the process, or the person)
Each episode features founders, revenue leaders, VCs, and operators who've made the hard calls firsthand - sharing what worked, what didn't, and what they'd do differently. We also tackle the AI fluency question head-on: not the hype, not the fear, just what's actually changing in GTM hiring and how to evaluate it in candidates.
Human-First is produced by Captivate Talent, a boutique recruiting firm specializing in go-to-market hires for seed through Series B B2B Tech companies.
If you're building a GTM team and want to hire with more clarity and less chaos, this show is for you.
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