While international markets have more volatility and lower trust, their biggest advantage is inefficiency. Many basic services are underdeveloped, creating enormous 'low-hanging fruit' opportunities. Providing a great, reliable service in a market where few things work well can create immense and durable value.

Beyond providing liquidity and raising a firm's profile, becoming a publicly listed company can give employees a tangible "spring in the step." The ability to see a daily share price and feel part of a growing, visible entity creates a powerful sense of engagement that is often underestimated.

The market capitalization of the world's largest companies is overwhelmingly derived from non-physical assets like brand, intellectual property, and customer goodwill. Selling all of Coca-Cola's factories would yield far less value than retaining ownership of the name alone, proving that intangible meaning is the primary driver of modern enterprise value.

For global expansion, view countries as having unique attributes like players on a sports team. Outsized returns come from matching your business to a country's inherent 'raw material' strengths—such as leveraging the US for its market liquidity, or Australia for its abundant land and sun for solar projects.

A powerful EM strategy involves identifying businesses with proven, powerful models from developed markets, like American Tower. Local EM investor bases may not be familiar with the model's potential, creating an opportunity to buy these companies at a displaced valuation before their predictable results drive multiple expansion.

While media often highlights the costs of being public, the valuation multiple is an overlooked benefit. A consistently growing small business can command a 20x P/E ratio, far exceeding the typical 3x cash flow multiple offered in a private equity buyout.

Many non-US companies are growing as fast as the Magnificent 7, offer significantly higher dividend yields (7-8x), and trade at a 30-50% valuation discount. This represents a rare cost-benefit opportunity that investors, who typically apply such analysis to every other purchase, ignore in the stock market.

Geopolitical shifts mean a company's country of origin heavily influences its market access and tariff burdens. This "corporate nationality" creates an uneven playing field, where a business's location can instantly become a massive advantage or liability compared to competitors.

Spotify's early success stemmed from launching in smaller European countries where record labels had less focus. This allowed them to secure more favorable licensing deals and avoid the costly legal battles and poor margins that strangled their US-based competitors, enabling them to reach critical mass first.