When Doug Robertson leads a discussion on international sales on April 15, he’ll be dealing with a subject close to his heart.

Robertson, the CEO of Venn Innovation in Moncton, has been preparing companies lately for entering overseas markets. So he’s looking forward to hearing other people’s views on how to improve Atlantic Canadian startups’ ability to sell in foreign locales.

Robertson will moderate a discussion on international sales at the Entrevestor Luncheon, sponsored by BDO, to be held at the Future Inns Moncton, starting at 11 am on April 15. The second discussion, to be led by Planet Hatch CEO Sally Ng, will examine how to get more women into the startup game.

Entrevestor Luncheons are not events that feature a keynote speaker. They are forums for discussion at which everyone present is encouraged to join in. We ask two community leaders to each lead a discussion, and after they introduce their topic, we throw it open to the house for a lively debate.

Moncton-based Venn Innovation works with young companies in New Brunswick and prepares them for accelerators, investment and the marketplace. And one thing that keeps coming up in Robertson’s work is that companies need to prepare better to meet customers in the U.S. and other foreign markets.

“A lot of the challenges -- and we hear this time and time again from the trade commissioners and others -- is that our companies need to be better prepped to do business in those markets,” said Robertson on Monday. “So we’re working with companies, especially in ITC, to prepare for international markets.”

Robertson said that most ITC companies sell to clients outside the country. And given the wave of ITC companies forming around the region, it is becoming all the more necessary to improve their marketing and salesmanship in foreign markets.

The discussion at the Entrevestor Luncheon will look at such issues as identifying jurisdictions that could be good markets, and understanding the culture of these jurisdictions. Robertson wants to discuss positioning products for new markets and making the right connection in those markets.

“The policy rationale for all this is that growing exports is a priority among  both federal and provincial governments,” said Robertson. “With ITC growing at a pace that is double the rest of the economy, we have to ensure these companies are able to grow in export markets.”

Robertson, Entrevestor and BDO all hope that the audience will include some young companies that can benefit from this discussion. But we also hope some experienced companies that have hard-earned lessons from the marketplace will also come and share their experiences.

BDO, the accountancy and tax advisory consultancy, has agreed to sponsor four Entrevestor Luncheons this year. The luncheons are an opportunity for members of the startup community can come together to discuss ways to improve the regional ecosystem. Tickets for the luncheon are available here.