What happens when a product that works perfectly in one market meets a completely different version of reality? In the first episode of Software vs Real Life, we sit down with Florence Heyworth, Senior Product Manager, Assets at Wise, to talk about what it really takes to scale financial products internationally. Drawing on her experience at Wise and Visa, Florence shares why expanding into a new market is about far more than translation and localisation – from regulation, tax and banking infrastructure to operational realities and stakeholder management. We also discuss why trust doesn’t automatically travel across borders, when to adapt versus rebuild, and why some of the hardest things to internationalise have very little to do with the software.