Lucio Miranda, Italian economist and entrepreneur living in New York since 1993, is the President and Founder of ExportUSA New York Corp., a consultancy company that has been following the start and development of the Italian presence in the United States for twenty years. With a professional past in Alitalia and JP Morgan, in 1997 he founded one of the first e-commerce startups, marking his pioneering contribution in the digital sector. Graduated from Bocconi and with a master of the NYU Stern School of Business, he is author of three books on export and online marketing. Recently, he was appointed head of the Internationalization of Assoconsult (Confindustria) and became Local Representative of AmCham Italy. We interviewed him for IlNewyorkese.
First a solid experience in J.P. Morgan, then professional take-off in Alitalia with a leading role in sales and international scenario. What motivations have led this change of path?
Work in finance can be very dynamic and stressful: speed and daily pressure force you to quickly understand the functioning of international markets. However, it is also a very limited environment: always live in the same room, with the same people, and this at the long time can be limiting. My guess, on the other hand, has always been oriented to movement, to contact with different realities. So when Alitalia was looking for business, marketing and sales staff to be sent abroad, I decided to apply. After some interviews, I was hired and started the training course in Rome. Then I started my experience abroad: First in France, then in Seoul, Korea, Tokyo, Japan, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to New York, where I followed a master’s degree in finance at the NYU Stern School of Business. In New York I was summarized by Alitalia and, in parallel, I founded my web agency, starting the adventure that continues today with ExportUSA.
For more than 20 years he has founded and led ExportUSA, a reality that has become a reference point for Italian companies that want to expand overseas. What is your true competitive value and what distinguishes you in supporting Italian companies in the United States?
Our work is to help Italian and European companies enter and consolidate on the American market, supporting them throughout the expansion path.
We offer a complete range of services, all aimed at promoting the success of the company’s main business on the US market. We have a headquarters in New York, a headquarters in Miami, a logistics center in Dayton, Ohio, and two European offices — Rimini and Brussels — to be present in the main strategic hubs for internationalization.
Our main competitive advantages are three. The first is the specialization: we deal exclusively with the US market. Many operators deal with internationalization in general, but we focus all our skills on the American market, ensuring a level of knowledge and insight difficult to match.
Secondly, all our staff is internal. This allows us to control processes, procedures and operational modes, ensuring an optimal coordination level. The transfer of information and best practices is direct, continuous and extremely efficient and this increases the quality and speed of the services we offer.
Finally, we are a real “one-stop shop”: a company that addresses us finds everything he needs to settle successfully in the United States. We offer logistics, marketing, accounting, tax statements, research and selection of staff, customs clearance, detection of distributors and sellers, management of pay and contributions, constitution of company, domiciliation, support for visas and FDA compliance. In practice, the company speaks with a single interlocutor and can solve all the needs related to its entry into the American market.
Looking at the current challenges of internationalization, what are the major obstacles that Italian companies encounter when trying to enter the American market?
The real limit of Italian companies is almost never the lack of resources — people, capital or instruments — which in many cases are available. The main difficulty lies in the mentality and the approach facing the American market. Too many times, in fact, we present ourselves overseas thinking of being able to replicate the same methods of management developed in Italy or in Europe, often rooted in old schemes of decades.
To succeed in the United States, instead, it is necessary to get rid of this provincialism. It means adopting a new modus operandi, being ready to look at the market with different perspectives, understanding dynamics, times and logic that do not always coincide with the European ones. It is a process that requires intelligence and humility: to recognize that you have to learn, adapt and, if necessary, review consolidated strategies. Those who manage to make this mentality jump have already completed half the path towards success.
In recent years American consumers have changed in terms of lifestyle, consumption patterns and technology. How did ExportUSA adapt its services to keep up with the times?
The American market is by its very dynamic nature: everything changes rapidly, from consumers to cultural trends and economic references. However, for us this process has never been an obstacle, because we are immersed in the economic-social and cultural reality of America. We didn’t need to “inform” or force adaptation: change is part of our everyday life, because we live within this flow. The difference, you can say, is like watching a river from the shore than swimming in the current. Those on the shore must understand where the current goes and adapt, while those who are already immersed in the river change together with the current itself. Similarly, we move with the change of the American landscape: we evolve together with society, culture and economy, in a natural and spontaneous way. It was not difficult for us to adapt: It was an organic process, almost inevitable, because we live here, because we are part of this context and, precisely through this immersion, the diversity and wealth of the American market become a constant stimulus to grow and innovate.
As a new local representative for the American Chamber of Commerce in Italy what kind of specific contribution does it intend to give to the entrepreneurial fabric?
I am the representative of AmCham for the area of Rimini, an extremely rich territory from the entrepreneurial point of view, characterized by two great poles: on the one hand the food and beverage sector, on the other that of mechanics. It is a dynamic area, with companies that have a great potential for international expansion.
Our contribution is to provide our direct knowledge of the American market, organizing meetings and information events that help local entrepreneurs understand the current changes and the concrete functioning of the economic system in the United States. These are very practical, essential moments of confrontation, designed to provide useful and immediately applicable tools — not abstract theories, but concrete examples of what really serves to succeed overseas.
In line with what I said before, those who want to enter the American market must first understand how this context works. It is a different approach, requiring adaptation, opening and readiness to review their way of working. In our little one, we try to accompany Italian companies on this route: we help you change strategies, products, communication or sales methods, so that they can successfully fit into the US market.
Looking at the future, which new directions or projects have in mind for ExportUSA in the coming years?
We decided to continue along the path undertaken, developing more and more our skills not only theoretical, but also practical, especially in terms of duties and commercial legislation. With changes in the international scenario, it has become essential to help Italian companies reduce the impact of duties when entering the American market. On this front we have already implemented a series of concrete, immediate and effective actions.
Another important direction on which we are investing is to support Concepto, the first Italian creative agency specializing in the American market to strengthen our branding activity. Our goal is to help Italian brands enter and assert themselves in the United States, adopting a new way of presenting and communicating. Concepto represents a strategic frontier for us, with significant growth potential in terms of turnover and job opportunities.
We do not yet know how far we can go, but this is undoubtedly an ambitious goal to achieve in the near future.
L’articolo Lucio Miranda di ExportUSA: 20 years alongside Italian companies in the United States comes from IlNewyorkese.
