Anuel AA has 35 million Instagram followers. His music videos get 500 million views. He sells out stadiums across Latin America. In Puerto Rico, he needs a motorcade to move through crowds. Yet walk him through Times Square, and nobody would recognize him. Meanwhile, MrBeast – with similar follower numbers – can't leave his house anywhere on Earth without being mobbed. His Feastables chocolate sells from Tokyo to Toronto. The difference? It's not talent or fame levels. It's that MrBeast creates in the world's operating system: English.

At HotStart VC, we see this weekly: International celebrities with massive followings pitch global domination. A French YouTuber with 10 million subscribers. A Brazilian influencer bigger than most American creators. They show engagement rates that destroy US benchmarks. Then reality hits: Fame has borders. Language creates walls. Their celebrity advantage – the very thing that makes these brands valuable – evaporates the moment they leave their home market. 

Today, I'm revealing why geography determines celebrity-founded brand success more than followers ever will, and what international celebrities should actually do about it.

Fame isn't universal; it's hyperlocal. It's built on shared cultural references, language, and media ecosystems. Remove those foundations, and even the biggest star becomes nobody.

Take Monica Geuze, the Netherlands' biggest female influencer with 1.5 million followers. In Amsterdam, she needs security to shop at her local Albert Heijn. She's stopped hundreds of times just walking to get coffee. She's launched Sophia Mae jewelry and co-founded STËLZ ready-to-drink beverages, both massive successes in the Netherlands.

Drive 20 miles into Germany, and she's invisible. Not because Germans don't buy jewelry or beverages. Not because they don't follow influencers. It's because Monica creates content in Dutch. Her jokes reference Dutch culture. Her brand story doesn't translate. The moment she crosses that border, her celebrity advantage vanishes.

Celebrity-founded brands work because fame provides three critical advantages:

1. Free distribution through existing audience

2. Instant trust from parasocial relationships  

3. Cultural relevance that makes products feel necessary

Remove those advantages, and you're competing on product merit alone, which defeats the entire purpose of celebrity involvement.

Here's the unfair advantage American celebrities don't realize they have: their language is global culture's default setting.

When Selena Gomez posts about Rare Beauty, her 417 million Instagram followers from Mumbai to Manchester understand every word. A teenager in Tokyo might not speak perfect English, but they understand enough to feel connected. They already consume American content daily: movies, music, memes. Selena isn't foreign to them. She's part of their media diet.

Now consider the asymmetry: Japanese teenagers consume Japanese content AND American content. German kids watch German YouTubers AND American YouTubers. Brazilian fans follow Brazilian creators AND American creators. But they don't consume French content. Or Portuguese content. Or Korean content.

This creates a one-way street of influence. American celebrities are everyone's second favorite. International celebrities are nobody's second favorite.

Whindersson Nunes - Brazil's largest YouTuber with 44 million subscribers. More than most American celebrities. In Brazil, he sells out stadiums for his comedy shows. Launch a brand in the US? Complete anonymity.

Julien Bam - Germany's biggest YouTuber with 5.8 million subscribers. In Germany, he's royalty. Major brands fight for his endorsements. Try to expand to France or Spain? His influence evaporates at the language barrier.

The math is devastating.

US celebrity launching globally:

Regional celebrity going global:

Bollywood produces 2,000 films annually versus Hollywood's 600. It has more viewers globally. Yet Bollywood celebrities can't build global brands. Why?

India's 1.4 billion people sounds enormous until you analyze purchasing power:

A Bollywood star with 100 million fans might have less addressable market value than an American influencer with 5 million followers. It's not about fame quantity, it's about fame quality and purchasing power.

Europe promises 450 million consumers. In reality, it's 27 countries with 24 languages. A French celebrity can't expand to Germany. An Italian creator can't grow into Spain. Fame stops at every border.

Cyprien Iov, France's biggest YouTuber with 14 million subscribers, tried expanding to neighboring markets. Despite being surrounded by wealthy countries, his expansion failed. His humor didn't translate. His references meant nothing. He retreated to France.

This is why American brands treat Europe as one market while European celebrities can't even expand next door.

This reality shapes our investment thesis. We primarily invest in American celebrities because they operate in a massive home market and maintain global recognition. They can achieve product-market fit domestically, then expand internationally while maintaining their celebrity advantage.

That doesn't mean international celebrities can't succeed. They absolutely can. But their playbook is different.

The smartest international celebrities have stopped chasing global dreams and started building strategic empires. Here are three approaches that actually work, use them individually or combine them:

First, dominate your accessible market completely. If you're Brazilian, own Brazil's 215 million people. Build multiple product lines. Create different price points. Become the undisputed champion of your language market. A Portuguese-speaking empire across Brazil, Portugal, and Angola is still massive.

Second, when expanding beyond your fame's reach, lead with product excellence. When Monica Geuze's Sophia Mae jewelry enters Germany, it's not a "Dutch influencer brand." It's exceptional jewelry that happens to have a famous founder elsewhere. Build products so good they don't need celebrity endorsement. Let quality open doors fame can't.

Third, create strategic partnerships in expansion markets. A French celebrity wanting to enter Italy partners with an Italian influencer, not as a paid endorser, but as an equity partner. They bring local trust, cultural understanding, and distribution knowledge you can't buy. Yes, you're splitting equity. But 90% of a successful Italian expansion beats 100% of a failed one.

These aren't requirements, they're options. Some celebrities succeed with just one approach. Others combine all three. The key is accepting that your fame won't travel and building a strategy that doesn't depend on it.

The fame game has changed, but the rules haven't caught up. International celebrities still chase global dreams with local fame. Investors still get seduced by follower counts that don't translate. Brands still burn millions trying to expand where they have no advantage.

The reality is brutal but liberating: Geography determines destiny in celebrity-founded brands. Language creates unbridgeable moats. Culture defines addressable markets. A Dutch celebrity will never have Selena Gomez's reach. A Brazilian creator will never have MrBeast's market. And that's fine.

Because the international celebrities who accept this reality are building something better than failed global ventures. They're building dominant regional brands that actually make money. They're creating products that serve their actual customers, not their aspirational ones. They're turning geographic constraints into competitive advantages.

In a world where everyone wants to be global, being intentionally local might be the smartest strategy of all.

The latest episode of the HotStart VC Podcast is here. This week, I’m joined by Julia Straus, co-founder of Sincerely Yours, the teen skincare brand she launched with 15-year-old creator Salish Matter and her father Jordan Matter. When they debuted at American Dream Mall, over 80,000 fans showed up, shutting down the shopping center. Julia brought decades of experience scaling consumer brands like Tula and Sweaty Betty, Salish brought her 35 million followers, and together they built a 60,000-person teen community that shaped every product decision before launch.

Julia breaks down how they sold out of Sephora in one hour, why organic celebrity support happened without paid partnerships, how the Teen Advisory Board informs every move, and her advice for founders partnering with creators: "Respect their creative process and trust that they know their audience better than any focus group ever could."

Now available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

About HotStart VC

HotStart VC is launching a new fund to invest in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We’re building the go-to platform for creators and celebrities launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.