Ever tried explaining your construction software to someone who keeps nodding but never signs? Cultural differences in business aren't just interesting anthropology—they're the invisible walls that can derail your international expansion plans.
This Week On Practical Nerds - tl;dr
Trust deficit kills deals in Asia before you realize what happened
Europeans want facts and risk mitigation before grand visions
Middle East surprisingly favors American tech but demands in-person meetings
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Trust deficit kills deals in Asia before you realize what happened
Why does Asian business suddenly go silent?
The American economy allows participants to be transactional with each other—quick exchanges, clear expectations, standardized processes. This works within the US but creates significant friction when expanding eastward.
Why? When an American construction tech founder approaches Asian markets with the same transactional mindset that works at home, they often hit an invisible wall. As Shub explains, "Asian markets are not used to a very fluid, completely frictionless, direct-to-transaction sort of mindset." What seems like efficiency to Americans can feel like dangerous corner-cutting to many Asian business leaders.
The fundamental issue is trust.
We've talked about trust deficit on previous episodes, but in Asian markets, this dynamic reaches another level. Forget about everything else, just focus on bridging the trust deficit because if you try to rush through it, at some point the trust deficit will come in and that will put a halt to your progress.
What's challenging for American founders is that the signs of trouble aren't obvious. There's rarely an explicit "no" or direct rejection. Instead, Asian counterparts might simply go silent, delay responses, or circle around the same questions without providing a clear decision. This passive resistance is easily misinterpreted by Americans as disinterest in the product rather than what it actually represents—a lack of trust in the relationship itself.
The cultural frameworks differ: Western business culture trains us to attribute outcomes to specific instances or individuals—the product isn't good enough, the timing is wrong, or someone said something inappropriate.
Asian business cultures, particularly in East Asia, tend to attach behaviors to the broader context—the relationship, the hierarchy, and the established trust.
When things stall out, the typical American follow-up email saying "Just checking in, let me know if the timing isn't right" adds zero trust to the relationship. Instead, Shub recommends requesting a direct call: "The more appropriate email may be, 'Hey, can we get on a call? I'd just like to hear from you.'" This person-to-person approach acknowledges the relationship rather than just the transaction.
Trust comes before transactions in Asian markets, while transactions build trust in American markets.
Europeans want facts and risk mitigation before grand visions
How do Europeans judge American sales pitches?
European business culture presents another set of distinct challenges for American construction tech founders looking to expand eastward. While Europe isn't one homogeneous market, certain baseline cultural patterns exist across the continent that can affect how American companies are received.
Patric explains, "Europeans will typically gravitate towards substance. They will typically gravitate towards trying to understand the nature of something of your product." This orientation toward substance over style slows down the velocity of sales conversations compared to the US, particularly when founders don't have thoroughly substantiated answers ready.
The reaction to the typical American high-energy, narrative-driven pitch style can be startling. If you do the American style you look like overcompensating to many Europeans. And the Europeans will actually oftentimes have a reaction to it of, 'Hey, maybe this is just a brochure, maybe this is just some superficial story, but there's nothing behind it’.
One of the most important insights for American founders to understand is the European tendency to minimize downside rather than maximize upside. While Americans are often trained to pitch grand opportunities and visionary futures, Europeans typically respond better to risk mitigation framing. Patric advises, "It's sometimes even the most easy sell if you actually take away risk for a European and then you add the upside on top."
The European business mindset has a engineering-oriented approach. Presentations that lead with facts and observations rather than judgments or emotions tend to be received much better. As Patric explains, "If you open the conversation with a lot of facts, observations and you leave judgment outside of it, they will follow suit. They will then also leave the judgment outside of the door."
This doesn't mean Europeans can't be decisive or innovative—quite the contrary.
Once convinced, European organizations can implement decisions with force and consistency. What the metaphor to think about is it's very difficult to get the train on the rail. But once it's on the rail, it will run through walls.
When Europeans have taken substantiated decisions, they will run.
When it comes to expanding across Europe, Patric observed that the EU is actually quite a homogeneous market, but it requires smart localization of teams rather than products. Take the same product, the same channels, but localize the teams. This approach addresses both language barriers and cultural nuances without requiring significant product modifications.
Europeans will scrutinize your claims before deciding, but once convinced, they implement with consistency.
Middle East surprisingly favors American tech but demands in-person meetings
Where do American construction tech founders actually have an advantage?
Despite being geographically part of Asia, the Middle East—specifically GCC countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar—represents a unique opportunity for American construction tech founders that contrasts with both Asian and European markets.
Shub highlights a advantage American companies have in this region. There is a peculiar liking in these regions and in the large companies in these regions for American products and technology. This preference creates a advantage for US-based construction tech companies looking to expand internationally, especially given the scale of construction projects in these regions.
The preference for American products combines with high budgets and massive project scales to create particularly fertile ground for US construction tech. As Shub notes, these markets feature clients with as high a willingness to pay as it gets.
However, this advantage comes with its own set of cultural requirements that differ significantly from Western business norms. While the "bombastic" American selling style that might meet resistance in Europe can actually work well in the Middle East, the relationship-building process follows different rules.
Perhaps most importantly, the business hierarchies that appear on organizational charts don't  reflect the actual pathways to decisions. The way you navigate these organizations is the specific gatekeepers at each stage, and it doesn't always correlate with what you see as the corporate hierarchy.
Physical presence also carries weight in these business cultures.
Virtual meetings barely register in relationship-building terms, regardless of their productivity. If your first meeting is happening over a video conference, it'll almost be regarded as them having not met you at all. It mentally registers as the first meeting when you've showed up in the region and met them.
This requirement for physical presence creates challenges for construction tech founders accustomed to efficient remote selling, but it also explains why many American companies haven't yet fully capitalized on the opportunities in these markets despite the preference for US-based technologies.
For American construction tech founders looking beyond domestic markets, the Middle East represents a uniquely receptive region where American origins are an advantage rather than something to downplay—provided they're willing to adapt to the relationship-building processes required.
Middle Eastern business leaders value American technology but make decisions through personal relationships.
The Global Adaptation Framework
- Understand that trust forms differently across cultures—through transactions in America, through relationships in Asia, through validated claims in Europe, and through personal presence in the Middle East
- Localize your teams rather than your product when expanding—the same construction tech can work globally with the right cultural translators
- Recognize silence as a cultural response, not product rejection—what seems like disinterest might actually be relationship friction
- Present risk mitigation before vision when selling to Europeans—security before opportunity
- Visit Middle Eastern prospects in person—virtual meetings barely register in relationship-building terms
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