Picture this: It’s 2018, and I’m sitting in a cramped coffee shop in Shanghai, nursing a jet-lagged espresso, while advising a mid-sized tech firm from Seattle on their first big leap into Asia. They’d poured millions into product tweaks and marketing blitzes, only to watch their app flop because they ignored local data privacy norms and WeChat integration. I remember the CEO’s face paling as we dissected the mess—it was a classic case of enthusiasm outpacing homework. That experience, among many others from my years consulting for startups and Fortune 500s, hammered home the raw truth: international expansion isn’t just…