Building and Scaling a New Market: Lessons from Launching DACH for a Global AdTech - with David von Hilchen

Entering a new market looks exciting from the outside. Inside, it's credibility gaps, unknown brands, and hiring battles where no one's heard of you yet. David von Hilchen, Director of Sales and Country Lead DACH at StackAdapt, joins Michael Jäger to share what it actually takes to build a regional organisation from scratch — for the sixth time. StackAdapt is one of the most advanced AI-driven programmatic advertising platforms globally, and David is the person tasked with making it matter in Germany. In this episode: ✌️ Win #1 — Vertical sales from day one: why David ignored the global playbook and built a verticalized sales team across five priority industries before StackAdapt had any brand recognition in market. ✌️ Win #2 — Leadership-led hiring: how David personally pitched and recruited senior talent in a market where no one knew the company and why 3 out of 4 key hires came directly from his own outreach. 🌱 Fail — The vertical that didn't perform: healthcare was a priority on paper. In practice, finance and insurance pulled ahead. How David spotted it, adapted fast, and avoided letting one underperforming vertical drag the whole team down. If you're in sales leadership, market expansion, or scaling a regional team from zero , this episode is the honest, operational breakdown you won't find in a market entry playbook. Connect with David: 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dvhilchen/ 🔗 StackAdapt: https://www.stackadapt.com/ 🎙️ Beyond Revenue is hosted by Michael Jäger, Managing Partner at Cremanski & Company. New episodes every Friday. ⏱️ Episode timestamps 00:00 — Intro & David's background 01:14 — What day-to-day looks like when you're building from scratch 02:33 — First hire in DACH and why 04:03 — What's harder: convincing German clients or convincing HQ to invest? 05:23 — One word to describe launching a new market 05:47 — Win #1: Vertical sales from day one 09:07 — How the team covered verticals operationally with a small headcount 10:19 — Win #2: Founder-led hiring when no one knows your brand 12:30 — The fail: the vertical that didn't take off 14:31 — Key takeaways: agility as the core market entry skill 16:50 — Where to find David