This guest post is written by Eyal Bino, founder of the Worldwide Investor Network, a NYC-based ecosystem focused on helping early stage, non-US-based technology startups shorten the path to funding and acceleration in the US market.

Over the past two years I’ve come across hundreds of international tech startups interested in expanding to the U.S. market and raising funds from New York- or Silicon Valley-based investors.

Many of these startups focus their ventures on consumer-oriented apps or web technology. Some offer new ways to order food online, for example, while others give users yet another way to share photos. The entrepreneurs behind these products are convinced that their solutions are exactly what users have been searching for.

Meanwhile Apple announced in December 2012 that its developer community has created over 775,000 apps for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users worldwide. Look on that number for a moment and then ask yourself: How many of these app makers are getting the market traction and revenue stream they need to survive? Moreover, are any of them attracting any meaningful funding? Some of them are. The vast majority are not.

As RTP Ventures senior managing director Kirill Sheynkman said at a recent conference: “We do not need another music discovery application.” And he’s right. Investors typically look for opportunities in markets where there are no established winners and high potential for growth. Yet many international startups try to recreate the wheel and develop solutions targeted at saturated markets rather than ones with high growth potential and greater opportunity for differentiation.

While there are some noteworthy international startup success stories in the consumer web and mobile apps space – think Waze (Israel), Hootsuite (Canada), Spotify (Sweden), Club Penguin (Canada) – most big success stories coming from outside of the U.S. have focused primarily on enterprise-class solutions.

Here are a few reasons why international startups should keep this focus rather than develop consumer apps.

The evidence speaks for itself – international companies are thriving in the enterprise tech market. From the more prominent success stories like Skype (Estonia), ICQ (Israel), MySQL (Sweden) to recent examples like Anobit (Israel, acquired by Apple for around $400M), startups that develop robust, enterprise-class technologies are well-positioned to produce revenue and in many cases get acquired.

Developing a company around core enterprise technology typically takes more time and effort than what’s required to develop a consumer app, but the return can be significant.  As engineering resources and talent grow increasingly expensive and hard to obtain in NY and Silicon Valley, the value of having great engineers developing strong technologies overseas at reasonable cost becomes very attractive for US and international startups looking to expand their lineup of solutions and grow their talent base.

It’s easier to get meaningful traction in the enterprise market. That’s a big one. With so many consumer applications already available in every conceivable product category, the competition for user adoption is daunting — to say the least. Also, where a year or two ago investors looked for a benchmark of 100,000 downloads to confirm proof of concept at the “A Round” level, today that download number is closer to a million.

In contrast, when an enterprise software startup signs 5-10 key customers, they immediately become more attractive to investors. Typically this also translates into recurring revenue rather than a one-time fee on a download. It makes a big difference.

Make the app the extension of your product, not the core of it. Being focused on the enterprise doesn’t mean you can’t still be creative and mobile-minded. As our world grows increasingly “always on,” enterprise customers expect a level of mobile-optimization that allows them to administer IT systems remotely. This is especially important in the new era of cloud-enabled IT, where virtually every customer-administrated function is performed remotely, and often via a mobile interface.

It’s all about the ecosystem. Ask the teams at Instagram, Evernote, Twitter, and Zynga, and they’re likely to agree that it’s easier to achieve consumer app success in Silicon Valley. Doing so in other parts of the world is much harder. The list of challenges is long, ranging from being geographically removed from target markets to differences in business cultures and ineffective business development.

So if you’re an international tech startup looking to build a consumer app, you might want to increase your odds for success by moving to the Valley and competing with the best. Or you can stay right where you are and focus your efforts on the enterprise market. While not easy, the payoff could be quite rewarding.

This is a guest post by IDA Ireland’s Barry O’Dowd

Modern apartments rise above cobblestone streets. Irish brogues belonging to a young, tech-savvy crowd clamber in lively pubs. Data centers and Georgian mansions are only miles apart.

Dublin appears to be a city of contradictions, and yet it blends these discordant notes into a distinctly modern rhythm that pulses throughout the Irish capital.

From its fine dining to bustling nightlife, Ireland’s capital has evolved into an energetic, cosmopolitan hub that spurs innovation, particularly among the young people of Ireland.

“The city is small, but the tech vibe is big. You immediately sense that there’s a vibrant community of likeminded, multicultural tech enthusiasts eager to innovate,” said David Rudick, Vice President of International Markets, at Indeed.com, a Stamford Conn.-based company with an EMEA headquarters in Dublin.

Youth is not wasted on the young in Ireland

Ireland has one of the youngest populations in Europe, with 34 percent of its workforce under the age of 25; not to mention one of the highest educational attainment rates in the European Union.

The benefit of such a young, highly educated workforce is the inherent desire of its members to learn and adopt new ways of thinking. Embracing change is at the heart of the Irish heritage, but now its people are applying this adaptability to transform Ireland into a dynamic, knowledge-based economy.

Startups seeking skilled, motivated employees need to look no further than Dublin for evidence of this ongoing transformation.

“We have a vibrant, connected and passionate community of developers, designers and entrepreneurs in Dublin,” said Irish entrepreneur, Eamon Leonard. “There is an open sense of achievement in the air, a belief that we’re striving for greatness,” said Leonard, Vice President of Engineering at Engine Yard, a San Francisco-based cloud computing startup.

Welcome to “Silicon Docks”

While Silicon Valley sprawls across the Bay area in California and Silicon Alley nestles among the streets of New York City, a thriving startup ecosystem exists in Dublin, aptly called Silicon Docks.

Near the Grand Canal docks area, surrounding an enclosed harbor, tech giants such as Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and Zynga mingle with their startup counterparts. For this reason, Fortune recently named Dublin as one of the best international cities for startups. Venture capitalists looking to fund global companies  are quickly taking notice.

“Ireland has all the key ingredients for tech innovation success: world-class universities, lots of young entrepreneurs willing to take the leap and global tech giants to serve as role models and training grounds for new talent,” said Don Wood, a managing director at Draper Fisher Jurvetson, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm.

The springboard to Europe

Startups are increasingly embracing a global vision in their business plans; however, scaling and internationalizing operations requires a strategic base.

What makes Ireland particularly attractive for venture capitalists and startups alike is its track record of helping some of the most recognizable tech companies in the world reach Europe. Beyond established players, including eight of the top 10 global tech enterprises, more than fifty high-growth companies leverage the country as a global launch pad.

Marketo, a marketing software company currently backed by Interwest Partners, Storm Ventures and Maryfield Fund, is one of many U.S.-based tech startups that have established their EMEA headquarters in Dublin.

“We chose Ireland as our springboard into the European market mainly because of its talent pool and the takeoff of cloud computing in the country,” says Fergus Gloster, EMEA managing director of Silicon Valley-based Marketo. Gloster speaks from a background of having previously established Salesforce.com’s European corporate sales center in Dublin. “Marketo operates a cloud computing business model and Ireland is rapidly becoming Europe’s center of excellence in this growing sector,” he added.

Ireland’s elite conference scene

The potential for rich networking, nurturing talent and impacting international markets is attracting the next generation of tech companies to Ireland.

A microcosm of this productive, collaborative environment can be observed every year at the F.ounders conference in Dublin, where 200 international industry and technology players convene. Previous speakers include Twitter’s cofounder, Jack Dorsey and Netflix founder, Reed Hastings. Dubbed “Davos for Geeks”, the invitation-only event brings together a who’s who list of tech to discuss issues such as innovation, economic growth and entrepreneurship.

A catalyst for business momentum, F.ounders typically results in a flurry of activity as executives exchange ideas, engage in deal-making and plan their next move.

The question is: Who will be the next to join the tech in-crowd in Ireland?

Barry O’Dowd is Senior Vice President of Emerging Businesses Division of IDA Ireland, the leading inward investment agency in Ireland.

Prior to his current position, Barry headed IDA’s Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Division, where he led a team that had nine of the world’s top 10 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies as customers.

 He completed his master’s program in strategic management at Trinity College Dublin, and is a barrister of law.

Follow him on Twitter @BarryODowd_IDA

 Top image via Shutterstock