The first Security Marketing Leaders dinner in 2018 took place in Palo Alto and brought together 15 marketing leaders from the IT security Industry to network and discuss about the Challenges of Selling in Europe. Aurelien Mottier, CEO and Co-founder of Operatix spoke about the challenges US companies face selling cybersecurity solutions in Europe, strategies for accelerating revenue and scaling their presence, and how selling in Europe will be impacted by the upcoming EU GDPR.

Mottier mentioned that “ For early stage tech companies, establishing a basic sales presence in Europe is fairly straightforward. The real challenge is building a demand gen engine and consistently growing sales pipeline in markets where there’s little to no brand awareness, no reference customers, and a 5-8 hour time difference with the HQ. While companies today have more options for outsourcing pieces of or even the entire sales development process, the fundamental challenges of growing a company’s presence in Europe remain.”

Security Marketing Leaders is a Silicon Valley-based networking group for security industry CMOs, VPs, and heads of marketing, who want to network, share ideas and keep up with the latest trends in B2B marketing in a casual fun environment. The group is by invitation only and has grown organically from member referrals since its inception in June 2016.