Most startups fail at getting a new country off the ground. This is why Unicorns are such a rare breed. Fortunately, a happy few have succeeded at finding this magic formula, like the team at Blablacar and turned it into a competitive weapon. One of their secret: acqui- hiring. One of the most important decisions any company of any size will make is how it will successfully launch operations in a new country (the following applies to launching in new cities or states within an existing country). For early stage companies, the stakes are even higher, and finding a great country manager is the single most important element of a successful launch.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/magic-acqui-hires-europe-learnings-from-blablacar-philippe-botteri