Vinnie Lauria Announces Mind the Gap Book Focused on Culture and Global Expansion

Golden Gate Ventures Founding Partner Explores “Mind the Gap Culture” Framework for Scaling Businesses Across Borders

Singapore, Singapore – Vinnie Lauria, Founding Partner of Golden Gate Ventures and a two-time Silicon Valley entrepreneur, has announced the upcoming release of Mind the Gap: Scaling Businesses Across Cultures, a new business book examining what he calls the “mind the gap culture” challenge facing global companies today. The book is co-authored with international business builder Stefano Pellegrino and will be published by Wiley.

At its core, Mind the Gap introduces the concept of mind the gap culture — the idea that the greatest risk in international expansion is not market size, capital constraints, or competitive dynamics, but the cultural distance between how founders think and how local markets operate.

Drawing on decades of operating and investing across Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the United States, Lauria and Pellegrino argue that most failed expansions are rooted in cultural misalignment. Strategies that succeed domestically often collapse abroad because leaders underestimate how trust is built, how decisions are made, and how communication is interpreted in different environments.

The authors describe mind the gap culture as the invisible space between intention and interpretation — the gap between what founders believe they are signaling and what partners, employees, or regulators actually perceive.

As geopolitical fragmentation increases and tolerance for cultural missteps declines, the timing of Mind the Gap reflects a broader shift in global business. In today’s environment, crossing borders requires more than ambition. It requires cultural intelligence, adaptive leadership, and the ability to operate effectively inside unfamiliar norms.

Throughout the book, Lauria and Pellegrino explore how subtle cultural signals derail negotiations, partnerships, and hiring decisions. Direct communication may be viewed as aggression. Confidence can be mistaken for arrogance. Urgency may signal instability rather than strength. In some markets, polite agreement masks disagreement; in others, enthusiasm hides structural hesitation. These recurring patterns form the foundation of the mind the gap culture framework presented in the book.

Rather than treating expansion as a spreadsheet exercise, Mind the Gap reframes international growth as a human challenge. Founders often appoint the wrong country leaders, misjudge partners, or position products incorrectly because they fail to adapt to local cultural expectations. The authors acknowledge that these insights are not theoretical — they are drawn from their own missteps over decades of cross-border experience.

Lauria’s journey reflects the book’s central thesis. After exiting his second Silicon Valley startup, he spent a year traveling across Asia — an experience that reshaped his understanding of culture in business and ultimately led him to establish Golden Gate Ventures in Singapore in 2011. Since then, he has helped scale the venture platform across three continents, working closely with founders navigating culturally complex markets.

Co-author Stefano Pellegrino brings additional depth shaped by cross-border dealmaking and company building. Beginning as a corporate lawyer in Europe, he later led mergers and acquisitions across Asia before founding multiple companies in Southeast Asia. His operational background informs the practical frameworks behind the mind the gap culture approach.

“It took years of operating across regions to understand how profoundly culture shapes outcomes,” said Lauria. “We wrote Mind the Gap to help leaders recognize the cultural gaps early, build trust faster, and avoid preventable expansion mistakes.”

The official website, https://mindthegap.page, provides previews of the book’s themes and further insight into the mind the gap culture philosophy ahead of its release by Wiley.

About Vinnie Lauria

Vincent Lauria is a two-time Silicon Valley entrepreneur turned venture capitalist. As Founding Partner of Golden Gate Ventures, he has backed more than 100 startups and helped scale businesses across multiple regions. He is a Kauffman Fellow and a frequent lecturer on entrepreneurship and international expansion.

About Stefano Pellegrino

Stefano Pellegrino is a three-time founder and international business builder with experience leading cross-border transactions and scaling companies across Asia and Europe. He has taught International M&A and continues to build companies operating across cultures.

For more information:
https://mindthegap.page

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