CES 2026 AI Demo Day: Should Founders Be the First Employee in AI Global Expansion?

NewTimeSpace reports that at CES 2026 AI Demo Day, Benny Liao, an investor from Acorn Pacific Ventures, sent a clear signal to early-stage projects. According to meeting minutes compiled byUnique Research, whether founders personally relocate to target markets has become a core hard metric for institutional due diligence in the 2026 AI overseas expansion track. This roundtable discussion, composed of investors, entrepreneurs, and growth experts, systematically deconstructed capital perspective screening criteria for AI globalization projects.

Benny Liao delivered the sternest judgment from the outset: "If you haven't achieved PMF (Product-Market Fit), sales model, and ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) in your local market, going overseas will be extremely difficult. The essence of 2025-2026 hasn't changed—globalization remains 'heavy lifting' that requires founders to do the dirty work themselves." He repeatedly emphasized, "As a founder, you must move to your target market. Live there, learn their language, study competitors, and talk to customers personally. Sending employees or remote control won't work."

Regarding prioritization of localization needs, Benny Liao proposed a clear criterion: signal strength. "If multiple different customers raise the same requirement, it's a must-do. If it's a single customer's customized demand, be cautious." Aimee Yang added two dimensions: first, whether it aligns with the headquarters' product roadmap; second, whether it's an edge case—the latter can be solved by third-party suppliers without in-house development. Robin Wang stressed that compliance is an absolute veto item: "If the product is non-compliant (e.g., data security), contracts cannot be signed. This is the number one priority 'must-do.'"

On early-stage team building, Benny Liao's view diverged from conventional wisdom: "The first employee should ideally be the founder themselves. If hiring externally, don't obsess over 'big tech executives' or super senior people. Prefer young, hungry generalists who understand both technology and GTM, and can comprehend local culture and competitive landscape." Aimee Yang defined this role as a "Market Translator"—not just language translation, but someone who helps you understand the entire country, government relations, and what's actually happening.

For measurement metrics, Net Revenue Retention (NRR) was identified by Benny Liao as the single most important indicator for judging long-term health of global expansion. Robin Wang emphasized customer-defined ROI—whether customers achieve their expected success metrics after one year of product usage, which directly determines renewal rates. Aimee Yang added a softer dimension: brand philosophy alignment. Whether customers genuinely identify with your values and product philosophy determines long-term lifetime value.

In customer sincerity validation, Benny Liao shared a nuanced metaphor for judging PMF: "If customers pay while complaining the product is lousy, it indicates you're a must-have (with PMF). If customers pay but barely use it and say nothing, that might not be real PMF." This aligns closely with Robin Wang's paid POC principle—if customers aren't willing to pay for proof of concept, the demand isn't genuine.

For scaling from 1 to 10, Benny Liao warned of a fatal misconception among most founders: "Many mistakenly think they've found PMF and start hiring frantically, only to discover it's an illusion and have to lay off staff and start over. From 1 to 10" Robin Wang argued the key adjustment is functional division—hiring local sales teams only for "hunting" (Sales), while establishing Customer Success teams for subsequent delivery and service, allowing sales to focus on new customer acquisition.

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