EPISODE · Dec 16, 2025 · 48 MIN
SCALING STATESIDE - Episode #6 with Onfido Founder Husayn Kassai
from Scaling Stateside · host USXP
From £12K seed round in the UK to 520-person company and successful US exit. Husayn Kassai, founder of Onfido, shares his complete journey of building an identity verification company, expanding to the US, and now building Quench AI.✨ Powered by Wilson Sonsini📍 KEY TOPICS & TIMESTAMPS2:03 - The Origin Story: Why identity verification matters (personal experience moving from Iran to UK) 6:45 - The "Two Miracles" Problem: Raising early funding when investors didn't believe 8:18 - Building product-market fit in Europe before US expansion 10:15 - UK to US fundraising strategy (Series A → UK, Series C/D → US investors) 15:30 - Timing your US market entry: Three critical factors 20:45 - The Dual-HQ Model: Tech in Europe, Go-to-Market in US 25:20 - US hiring mistakes & lessons (title inflation, hiring operators vs managers) 28:40 - Navigating US regulatory complexity (state-by-state variation) 32:15 - UK vs US investor dynamics 35:20 - Managing culture across 520 people in multiple countries 38:45 - The exit journey 42:06 - Quench AI: Building privacy-first workplace search 47:03 - Advice for European founders expanding to US👤 ABOUT HUSAYN KASSAIFounder of Onfido (2010-2024), scaled from £12K seed to successful exit. Built identity verification into industry standard with 520 employees across London and San Francisco. Raised from M12 (Microsoft), Salesforce Ventures, SoftBank, and others.Now founder of Quench AI, a privacy-first workplace search platform helping mid-market companies find information across tools and deploy AI agents. First job: Selling music on eBay at age 12 (learned about margin protection when competitors undercut him!)🎯 KEY TAKEAWAYS✓ Wait for product-market fit in your home market before US expansion ✓ The dual-HQ model works: Tech in Europe, Go-to-Market in US East Coast ✓ Structure legal, compliance, and operations BEFORE scaling ✓ US title inflation is real—hire operators who execute, not just managers ✓ Each US state has different regulations; get expert legal help early ✓ UK investors for validation, US investors for scaling ✓ Research thoroughly before committing to US expansion ✓ Founder-problem fit matters more than market trends 🔗 CONNECT & RESOURCESHusayn Kassai: linkedin.com/in/husaynkassaiQuench AI: quench.ai Onfido: onfido.com🏢 POWERED BY WILSON SONSINIThis episode is powered by Wilson Sonsini, the leading law firm for technology and growth companies. Wilson Sonsini helps European founders navigate US expansion—from entity formation and regulatory compliance to VC fundraising and M&A. Their deep cross-border expertise ensures you structure it right from day one.📢 ABOUT SCALING STATESIDEHelping European founders understand the US expansion journey. Hosted by David Rose and Matt Oxley of US Expansion Partners (USXP).Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube Follow: #ScalingStateside━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Episode length: 48 minutes Hosts: David Rose & Matt Oxley Guest: Husayn Kassai, Founder of Onfido & Quench AI
What this episode covers
From £12K seed round in the UK to 520-person company and successful US exit. Husayn Kassai, founder of Onfido, shares his complete journey of building an identity verification company, expanding to the US, and now building Quench AI.✨ Powered by Wilson Sonsini📍 KEY TOPICS & TIMESTAMPS2:03 - The Origin Story: Why identity verification matters (personal experience moving from Iran to UK) 6:45 - The "Two Miracles" Problem: Raising early funding when investors didn't believe 8:18 - Building product-market fit in Europe before US expansion 10:15 - UK to US fundraising strategy (Series A → UK, Series C/D → US investors) 15:30 - Timing your US market entry: Three critical factors 20:45 - The Dual-HQ Model: Tech in Europe, Go-to-Market in US 25:20 - US hiring mistakes & lessons (title inflation, hiring operators vs managers) 28:40 - Navigating US regulatory complexity (state-by-state variation) 32:15 - UK vs US investor dynamics 35:20 - Managing culture across 520 people in multiple countries 38:45 - The exit journey 42:06 - Quench AI: Building privacy-first workplace search 47:03 - Advice for European founders expanding to US👤 ABOUT HUSAYN KASSAIFounder of Onfido (2010-2024), scaled from £12K seed to successful exit. Built identity verification into industry standard with 520 employees across London and San Francisco. Raised from M12 (Microsoft), Salesforce Ventures, SoftBank, and others.Now founder of Quench AI, a privacy-first workplace search platform helping mid-market companies find information across tools and deploy AI agents. First job: Selling music on eBay at age 12 (learned about margin protection when competitors undercut him!)🎯 KEY TAKEAWAYS✓ Wait for product-market fit in your home market before US expansion ✓ The dual-HQ model works: Tech in Europe, Go-to-Market in US East Coast ✓ Structure legal, compliance, and operations BEFORE scaling ✓ US title inflation is real—hire operators who execute, not just managers ✓ Each US state has different regulations; get expert legal help early ✓ UK investors for validation, US investors for scaling ✓ Research thoroughly before committing to US expansion ✓ Founder-problem fit matters more than market trends 🔗 CONNECT & RESOURCESHusayn Kassai: linkedin.com/in/husaynkassaiQuench AI: quench.ai Onfido: onfido.com🏢 POWERED BY WILSON SONSINIThis episode is powered by Wilson Sonsini, the leading law firm for technology and growth companies. Wilson Sonsini helps European founders navigate US expansion—from entity formation and regulatory compliance to VC fundraising and M&A. Their deep cross-border expertise ensures you structure it right from day one.📢 ABOUT SCALING STATESIDEHelping European founders understand the US expansion journey. Hosted by David Rose and Matt Oxley of US Expansion Partners (USXP).Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube Follow: #ScalingStateside━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Episode length: 48 minutes Hosts: David Rose & Matt Oxley Guest: Husayn Kassai, Founder of Onfido & Quench AI
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SCALING STATESIDE - Episode #6 with Onfido Founder Husayn Kassai
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