Ask any founder or marketing lead what they’re planning for a U.S. launch and you’ll hear about polished pitch decks, ambitious revenue goals, and carefully crafted go-to-market playbooks.
But here’s the hard truth: in 2025, the perfect playbook doesn’t exist.
AI is reshaping discovery. The U.S. economy is unpredictable. And the gap between launching and actually winning has never been wider.
As Forbes put it earlier this year, “The go-to-market playbook you’ve been planning is dead… AI is now at the forefront of discovery. Voice assistants, OS integrations, and AI search redefine how customers find your product” (Forbes, Drew Chapin, Dec 2024).
So what does it really take to break into, and thrive in, the U.S. market today?
Five years ago, expanding to the U.S. meant one thing: get listed on Amazon, launch a Shopify store, run ads, and watch growth unfold. Today? That approach is a recipe for invisibility.
Search behavior has shifted dramatically. Customers are asking questions to ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity instead of typing keywords into Google. Apple and Microsoft are integrating AI discovery into their operating systems. And product searches are increasingly happening via voice assistants or embedded AI recommendations.
In this landscape, it doesn’t matter if your SEO is flawless or if you’ve built the “perfect” funnel. If AI doesn’t recognize your brand, you don’t exist to millions of U.S. shoppers.
Winning launches today require AI-first visibility strategies, not just SEO or paid media. It’s about influencing the data, context, and trust signals AI tools rely on to recommend products.
Even if discovery shifts, visibility alone won’t guarantee survival. The current U.S. economy makes launching harder than ever.
The U.S. economy shrank 0.3% in Q1 2025, and uncertainty is the new norm (Forbes, Cynthia Pong, May 2025). Consumers are cautious. Pricing pressure is real. And supply chain shocks keep teams on edge.
For brands entering the U.S., this means two things:
The brands that win don’t chase hypergrowth at all costs, they build flexibility into their launch.
Here’s the mistake most teams make: they confuse a launch with an event. In reality, launching in the U.S. is a process of validation, planning, and scale.
Forbes’ “20-Step Guide to Starting a Business Today” reminds us, “Starting a business requires careful planning, strategic execution, and the flexibility to evolve as markets shift” (Forbes, Jul 2025).
That evolution matters. In my work with LATAM brands entering the U.S., the ones who succeed share three habits:
1. Validate before you scale
Don’t assume what works in your home market will work in the U.S. Test messaging with small campaigns. Run pilots in specific states. Use Amazon Global Selling or limited DTC drops to gauge traction.
2. Plan for mobile-first discovery
U.S. shoppers browse, research, and buy on their phones. That means optimizing PDPs, ad creative, and checkout experiences for speed and clarity.
3. Scale in stages, not leaps
The most successful brands don’t launch “big.” They launch smart. First they validate demand, then they scale through channels like Amazon FBA Export or Shopify integrations, only later layering in retail partnerships or paid media.
And most importantly, they don’t wait until everything is perfect. As one Forbes feature put it: “Take that first step... action breeds clarity, and momentum beats perfection” (Forbes, May 2025).
Here’s a tough pill: U.S. consumers are saturated with choice. Launch hype fades fast. What sustains growth is resilience.
The Forbes Coaches Council summarized it well: “In an unpredictable economic landscape, strategic adaptability is key” (Forbes, Jul 2025).
That adaptability looks like:
Resilience is what turns a launch into a foothold, and a foothold into long-term growth.
For Latin American brands, the U.S. market is both the hardest and most rewarding expansion. On one hand, tariffs, logistics, and competition raise the bar. On the other, no other market offers the same scale, consumer spending power, and global credibility.
The good news: you don’t have to do it all at once. Tools like Amazon Global Selling allow LATAM sellers to test U.S. demand without managing their own warehouses. Shopify enables direct-to-consumer launches with leaner overhead. And strategic partners can help navigate data-driven discovery in the AI era.
The key isn’t just entering the U.S., it’s building a launch system that balances discovery, resilience, and iteration.
So what does it really take to launch, and win, in the U.S. today?
Global expansion is never simple, and the U.S. is no exception. But the biggest mistake brands make isn’t tariffs or competition, it’s chasing the “perfect launch.”
In 2025, a winning launch isn’t about perfection. It’s about bold starting, smart adapting, and relentless refinement.
The question for founders and marketers isn’t whether you can launch in the U.S. The question is: will you launch with a system built to adapt, or will you gamble on a playbook that no longer works?
Because in this market, adaptability isn’t optional, it’s survival.