Seibert Media is Coming to America!

Yes, you got it. As the title implies: We’re coming to the United States of America! With humble beginnings that once started with just an idea and a small room with a few chairs in Wiesbaden - we are expanding 7,882 kilometers across the Atlantic Ocean.

In honor of German-American Day, we sat down with Sebastian Martini, to get the insight on Seibert Media’s current and future goals in the United States.

A little history of the holiday

So before we get into our adventure: How did German-American Day come about? Setting out on their own adventure, on October 6, 1683, 13 German Mennonite families from the city of Krefeld arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There, they established the first German settlement and named it Germantown (I know it’s not the most original, but everyone definitely knew their origin). When celebrating the 200th anniversary of Germantown in 1883 the town's folk called it “German Day”. Fast forward another hundred years in 1987, and one more word was added - becoming what is now officially recognized as “German-American Day”.

Nowadays, German-American Day celebrates how German and German-American talents, skills, knowledge, and rich culture have impacted the development of the United States. All fabrics of American society from products, services, technology and culture have been touched by German and German-American ingenuity. From the first Kindergartens to the legend of Santa Claus and Saturday night hotdogs and beer!

At Seibert Media, we see the opportunities that exist - we are set to leave our own mark in the United States! As a certified Atlassian partner, our goal is to bring our extensive knowledge and expertise of Atlassian products and services to the American market.

The American dream

For Seibert Media, entering the American market has always been a long-term goal. The American market is where Atlassian generates most of its profit. As a Platinum status Atlassian partner, we sell and provide support for Atlassian products and services. We also have our own products which we sell and provide support for.

Our short-term goal in the United States is to increase our market share for our draw.io, Linchpin, and Agile Hive products. Not only that, but we also are looking to become a bigger player in providing services, consulting, and licenses for these products.

The first major step in establishing our American journey is having Sebastian Martini, one of Seibert Media’s CEOs, move to the home of the Red Socks - Boston, Massachusetts. In an interview about Seibert Media’s journey, Sebastian comments that it was vital for him to come directly and handle the operation while living in the US. He said certainly, they could hire a CEO abroad to jump-start the initiative, but they wouldn’t know Seibert Media’s culture and how it does things. After all, we don’t operate like a traditional corporate business (that would be a bit boring, right?). So why now? In addition to the market share potential, it actually came down to the right timing for Sebastian and his family. His two daughters already would have had to change schools in Germany so it aligned perfectly with transferring the whole family to America.

Taking the plan into action

So what exactly are we doing in order to reach our 2-year goal to increase Seibert Media’s market share and services?

First, we are examining how we can change the Germanness and Europeanness of our marketing and sales approach to the American market. One approach to this is, for example, to create content about the products with native English speakers. In terms of the technical side, of course, we will still keep the German detail-oriented expertise!

Also, we are expanding our American team. Currently, we are hiring Americans in the U.S. because who knows the market better than those who live there? These colleagues from all over the country will work together remotely. The idea is to have someone in each area first such as sales, marketing, consulting, and licensing, and then grow from there! So far we have employees in Pennsylvania and Colorado - and more colleagues are coming.

Officially Seibert Media is registered in the state of Wyoming and this in itself is a journey to tell. Sebastian shares they faced many roadblocks from first wanting the company to be spearheaded in California, then to Florida, and then finally to Wyoming. And although Wyoming is a tax-friendly place, which on paper sounded amazing - it is not the perfect fit for Seibert media. Unfortunately, with a smaller population compared to other states, many customers do not want to do business there. For now, it is still in the works where exactly the company will be stationed.

Also still being adjusted is none other than the name of the company, Seibert Media. A name has a lot of meaning. It is an identity of what the company stands for, has accomplished, and will do. Therefore, a lot of thought has gone into how Seibert Media will brand itself in the United States. It is not that we do not love being called Seibert Media (we do), but we have to consider the cultural context of the market, such as the English language. For example, in English, Seibert could be often mispronounced as SEE-bert or SIEBERT. So, the company is already working with an American branding company to create a new name with hopes to have it finalized in the first quarter of 2023.

In terms of the next 6 months, Seibert Media is planning to achieve recognition as an Atlassian Gold member in the states and then eventually reach Platinum status, as it currently has in Germany. Statuses alas don’t transfer over from country to country - so we will start from scratch. To reach this status, the company will have to reach a certain threshold of revenue for Atlassian licensing and a number of certified employees (which we will help our employees become). We are confident and excited in achieving this again!

So, as you can see - we have done a lot already, but our journey in America is just the beginning! We are excited to share this progress with you. Are you interested or excited in joining an agile team? A progressive and innovative company? You can apply and join our Seibert Media family today. You can check out our German or English job openings here. You can also send us an open application on our job portal in English or German.

Happy German-American Day!

A little history of the holiday

The American dream

Taking the plan into action

Further Reading

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