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The purpose of this paper is to provide comparative data from a two‐country study; specifically, into the internationalisation strategies of Canadian and UK high‐tech small and medium‐sized enterprises.

The methodology employed involves 24 in‐depth interviews, 12 in each country.

These suggest that the differences between the firms in the two countries were limited; more similarities were identifiable. Specifically, strategy formation is not as systematic as some previous studies, notably those that focus on the “stage” models, suggest. Entrepreneurs and management teams recognise and exploit opportunities in different ways, ranging from planned strategy formation through to opportunistic behaviour; as such, no single theory could fully explain international entrepreneurial decisions.

The implication of the findings is to offer support to the literature that has suggested a more holistic view should be undertaken in international entrepreneurship research.

The main aspect of originality outside of the comparative data involves accounting for the role of serendipity in unplanned overseas market ventures, an issue lacking in much of the earlier literature.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether differences exist between born global (BG) firms and international new ventures (INVs) in respect of their performance in overseas markets. These terms have arguably been used as interchangeable to characterise firms that internationalized rapidly, typically but not exclusively within three years of their business start‐up. The term “global” suggests firms have a presence in at least the world's triad regions and arguably a commitment spread across them. INVs, however, may have internationalized quickly to address opportunities but without necessarily a global presence.

The methodology in this exploratory study employs both quantitative but also primarily a qualitative methodology involving 21 technologically oriented small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) based in the UK. This methodological approach is used to assess the strategies used by the two types of firms after their start‐up phase and the factors that shaped their international trajectory and performance.

The findings provide some initial understanding of the two types of firms' patterns of internationalization and more specifically suggest foreign market strategies can be formulated in various ways, i.e. some planned and others by serendipitous means, but that BG and INVs exhibit different characteristics. BGs focused globally in comparison to the more regional focus of INVs.

The implication of the findings is to suggest that researchers should not use the terms interchangeably to characterise different types of firms and behaviour.

The main aspect of originality is to offer insights into managerial practices of different types of firms that have to date been viewed in some studies as representing the same international marketing behaviour.

In the past decade, research on rapidly internationalizing firms, commonly referred to as “international new ventures” (INVs), has mainly focused on their inception phase and relatively little is known of what becomes of these firms after this period in respect of their international marketing strategies. The purpose of this paper is therefore to gain insights into how management teams within small INVs assess international opportunities and develop appropriate international marketing strategies.

The approach employed involves interviews with key respondents in five small, independently owned firms that have a significant percentage of turnover overseas.

The paper identifies that specific types of knowledge are related to growth strategies as are perceptions of market potential and the management team's vision.

The results of this study provide further understanding of patterns of internationalization and more specifically that foreign market knowledge can be acquired in various ways and allows firms to become more highly committed to some remote markets much earlier than previously anticipated. This understanding could help policy‐makers to provide more targeted and relevant support to INVs.

Both planned and unplanned activities are evident in the research suggesting international marketing growth is not as strategically planned as a good deal of earlier research suggests.