Where Startups Should Test to Scale | Columbia Business School
This website uses cookies as well as similar tools and technologies to understand visitors' experiences. By continuing to use this website, you consent to Columbia University's usage of cookies and similar technologies, in accordance with the Columbia University Website Cookie Notice.
Students
- Visit Students
- Degree Programs
- AI and Student Life at CBS
- Admissions
- Tuition & Financial Aid
- Campus Life
- Career Management
Faculty & Research
- Visit Faculty & Research
- Academic Divisions
- MBA Transformed
- Search the Directory
- Research
- Research Resources
- Teaching Excellence
Executive Education
- Visit Executive Education
- For Organizations
- For Individuals
- Program Finder
- Online Programs
- Certificates
About Us
- Visit About Us
- CBS Directory
- Events Calendar
- Leadership
- Our History
- The CBS Experience
- Newsroom
Alumni
- Visit Alumni
- Update Your Information
- Lifetime Network
- Alumni Benefits
- Alumni Career Management
- Women's Circle
- Alumni Clubs
Insights
- Visit Insights
- AI & Transformative Tech
- Climate
- Business & Society
- Entrepreneurship
- Finance & Investing
- Magazine
More
Where Startups Should Test to Scale
3 Minute Read
Should companies test products in their familiar, local pond or in the new market where they want to scale? Based on Research by Nataliya Wright.
Published: October 2, 2026 Publication: Research In Brief
Focus On: Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Jump to main content
Article Author(s):
- Andrew Palmer
Affiliated Author:
- Startups from smaller markets often face pressure to go global, but early testing at home can eventually lead to stronger growth overseas.
Image by Amal Baidas/Columbia Business School.
Category: Thought Leadership
Topic(s): Entrepreneurship and Innovation
About the Researcher(s):
- Nataliya L. Wright Assistant Professor of Business Management Division
[View the Research](link to original study)
When local learning scales: Entrepreneurs' initial users and market expansion
0%
Startups that want to scale their operations abroad must contend with an important question: Should they start by learning from customers locally or go straight to the new target market? While common wisdom might persuade them to research their new product in the market they want to enter, new research from Columbia Business School Professor Nataliya L. Wright offers a different perspective. When she investigated the impact of learning from a product’s early users, she found that digital entrepreneurs who develop their product locally do better once they venture abroad.
“Even if your target market is ready for the product, you might not actually understand users’ feedback enough to develop a good product for them,” Wright says. “That suggests that it may be better to test in a different place than the one you scale.”
Testing local, scaling global
Wright collected data for her study from a popular global product launch platform. Startups post their early-stage digital products on the platform and invite potential users to visit their website. Drawing on a sample of 1,106 startups, Wright studied foreign user growth over time by counting page visitors outside the startups’ home countries. She found that companies with a larger share of early local users end up achieving stronger growth in their target market overseas.