We launched MAGIC AI in the US just after Christmas. It wasn’t a massive international expansion, with glossy new offices in New York and a huge advertising campaign to introduce ourselves to the US market. It was the same tight-knit team manning our operations entirely from the UK, all mucking in and deciding to go for it.
Funnily enough, I’ve begun to feel like being a British founder trying to crack the American market is a lot like being a first-time parent. You’ve done all the research you possibly can, readied yourself for the impending challenge, leaving no stone unturned, and then it’s not at all like you expected. And I mean that in the most wonderful way.
Just four months after launching, our US customer base accounts for more than 20% of our overall revenue. I think we’ve managed to sell into almost every state, which is really encouraging, and we actually completely sold out of stock at one point. I certainly wasn’t expecting that, this early on, I can tell you.
This might not be news to you, but we’ve found that Americans do tend to spend more. And I don’t mean they spend recklessly; rather, they spend confidently. There’s a decisiveness to the American buyer that feels a little different to the UK, and when they decide something is worth it, they really commit to it.
Perhaps even more surprisingly, though, they’re prepared to wait. Delivery timelines that would prompt a politely-worded nudge from a British customer (I’d know – I’ve sent a few in my time), we’re not finding so common since we ventured across the pond. I guess a country the size of the US probably recalibrates your sense of how long things take to travel.
Whatever the reason, the patience has been a welcome surprise and has given us the breathing room to do things properly rather than frantically, which we’ve really appreciated.
I still don’t fully know what we’ve built over there yet. 20% of revenue in four months is a number that feels exciting and slightly unreal at the same time, the way a lot of startup milestones do.
You spend so long grinding towards something that when it happens, you’re scanning for what could go wrong next, rather than patting yourself on the back. But maybe that’s the British in me, and in MAGIC AI. The Americans have already decided we’re worth it, but I still need that extra second to believe it myself.
I’ve come to think that’s the real lesson, not just about cracking a new market, but about what it means to back yourself as a founder. We kept it lean, stayed in our lane, and trusted that the product would do the talking. And so far, it seems like it has.
Varun Bhanot is Co-founder and CEO of MAGIC AI, the cutting-edge AI mirror that makes high-quality fitness coaching more accessible. Under his leadership, MAGIC AI has raised $5 million in venture funding and earned multiple industry accolades — including being named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2024. As a new father as well as founder, Varun shares candid insights on balancing parenting and entrepreneurship in his bi-monthly guest column, Startup Daddy.
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