The Familiarity Trap: Your biggest transatlantic danger

Why does doing business across the Atlantic feel so easy, and why does that feeling cost companies more than expanding into markets they recognize as foreign? In this episode, I break down what I call The Familiarity Trap: the false sense of alignment created by a shared language, shared tools, and shared conference circuits that leads companies on both sides of the Atlantic to skip the cultural preparation they'd do for any other market. I share two stories of transatlantic deals derailed by invisible cultural assumptions, introduce the Cultural Operating System diagnostic and explain why the companies that succeed aren't smarter or richer, but the ones who start by questioning what they think they know.In This Episode  •  Why companies entering Japan prepare for culture shock but companies crossing the Atlantic don't, and why that costs more  •  The French CEO whose "hot pipeline" went silent after enthusiastic American meetings  •  The American team that walked away from German prospects who were actively trying to buy  •  The Cultural Operating System diagnostic: five questions to ask before you spend six figures  •  What "yes," "no," "fast," and "direct" actually mean on each side of the AtlanticSources & Links MentionedStudies & Data:  •  70% of international business ventures fail due to cultural misunderstandings Academic research on cross-border M&A failures (GRIN)  •  Cross-border M&A failure rates of 70–90% Harvard Business Review: A Better Approach to Mergers and Acquisitions  •  EACC Transatlantic Expansion Barometer (survey of 200 US & European mid-size businesses) EACC France / OCO Global  •  US-EU trade totaled $1.5 trillion in goods and services in 2024 — Office of the United States Trade Representative  •  The Transatlantic Economy 2026 report — U.S. Chamber of CommerceAbout Crossing the AtlanticCrossing the Atlantic is a biweekly podcast for business leaders expanding across the ocean. Your host is Christina Rebuffet-Broadus, an American advisory consultant in transatlantic deals with 20+ years in France and founder of TransAtlantia. Each episode tackles the cultural blind spots, strategic mistakes, and hidden dynamics that make transatlantic business harder than it looks.New episodes every two weeks.Connect with Christina  •  Website: transatlantia.com  •  LinkedIn: Christina Rebuffet-Broadus  •  Book a conversation: Schedule here