Dina Elhaddad

🚀 Ready to take the leap into entrepreneurship and investing? 🚀 Join us for an exclusive live Zoom session on May 29th with Iron Key Capital and Ramana Capital to discuss capital raising strategies for founders. This event is designed for individuals eager to dive into the world of startups and venture investing. Our session will cover essential topics such as: - Understanding your options when raising capital as a founder - The inside scoop on what VCs won’t tell you - Techniques for bootstrapping a business - The importance of angel investors and syndicates Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to learn from industry leaders about fundraising best practices and connect with a community of like-minded founders and investors. 📅 Date: May 29th ⏲ Time: 5:00 PM EST 🔗 Registration Link: [https://lu.ma/u7blq5e9] Secure your spot today and take the first step towards becoming a versatile and adaptable founder. #VentureCapital #StartupInvestment #Networking #IronKeyCapital #RamanaCapital #Fundraising #Investment We look forward to seeing you there!

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Seffi Kaminitz, a friend and an awesome startup lawyer, asked me a question about #startup founding teams. I thought the response would come in handy for all founders who are thinking about raising their first round. His question was about the fundability of Pre-Seed teams which are fully “baked” (e.g., clear delineation between founders in terms of titles, roles and equity position) vs. "unbaked" (roles are fluid, equity positions are still fuzzy, etc.). The right answer is that if you are pursuing institutional-grade funding (for example at Recursive Ventures we are an institutional Pre-Seed VC fund) you want to sort out as much as you possible can before you officially start pitching investors. #PreSeed today is like #Seed ten years ago. To increase your odds of getting funded you want to line-up all your ducks in a row before you go out. Ideally, you would have: 1. A team in place with clear roles and responsibilities, covering all the key pillars requires for the business to succeed (e.g. business co-founder, technical co-founder, etc.) 2. A founders agreement in place 3. Introduced reverse vesting to protect the business 4. If possible, get your company registered and sort out any IP/Patent/Licensing related items

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A world of opportunities, divided by Capital. Looking at the global VC landscape, it’s hard to ignore the disparities in funding across regions. The US and Europe are brimming with VC hotspots, where startups have both the market & ecosystem they need to scale and thrive. The Middle East is catching up, while Pakistan—despite its enormous potential and talent—remains underserved. Just like Mark Zuckerberg said: 'Talent is everywhere, opportunities are not'. Image credits: OpenVC

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How Dr Umair Khan PhD and I raised USD$425K in pre seeds for Sahl AI. (2/3 of the funds were raised from angel investors and operators.) If you would have told the Ammar few years back that you'd be able to close $425,000 in investments with only an idea, story and an LOI, I wouldn't have believed you. The following tactics helped with our fund raising: → Tell a simple and clear story → Practice your story → Land the investors together → Don't react to valuations, let the market decide → Keep the frame in your control → Incentivise existing investors for referrals → Don't waste time with people who won't invest → Close quickly Simple checklist that worked for us. (Note: the above won't work if you don't have the fundamentals down: a high quality team, clear strategy, and a solid understanding of the market.) Will this checklist work for future fund raises? We are planning a fund raise in 3-months, so we'll see 😀. If you are interested to learn what we are building at Sahl AI, and how we are simplifying healthcare, let's talk.

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Well said, Dan Wallace! It was such a great event - some very simple, yet profound insights from Salman Elmi and Zack Steven. I loved the simple question Tavolo asked with their early market research: "If we could solve this problem would you pay us?" This was AFTER the realization they had spent too much time focusing on the product and not enough on the customer problem. That takes great humility, resilience, and focus. And it has paid off. What a great pivot story. Tavolo's story is also further evidence that investors and customers want to work with people who get stuff done - everyone who met the Tavolo team could clearly see they were going to solve this problem with or without the funding. Incredible! #pivot #productmarketfit #startup #founder #resilience #productmanagement Also great to meet Colin Hirdman, Ty Domben, Michael Jancik-Kitowski and hear about new ventures and creative solutions to problems in the marketplace.

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Building SaaS in UAE demands a different approach, few notes from my journey. In my journey from founding a fruit subscription startup to leading product at a SaaS company in the UAE, I've learned that success often means challenging conventional wisdom. Today, I'm kicking off a series where I'll share my experiences on building, launching, and reaching Product-Market Fit (PMF) in the UAE's unique SaaS landscape. Let's start with a counter-intuitive strategy that's crucial in our market: 1. Lean, But Premium : Myth: Startups need large teams to succeed. Reality: In the UAE, small, high-impact teams win. Here's why and how to build one. In Dubai's SaaS landscape, the adage "less is more" couldn't be truer. Here's why lean teams excel: Cost Efficiency: Dubai's high cost of living means each hire is a significant investment. A lean team keeps burn rate low, extending your runway. Agility: Smaller teams pivot faster, crucial in Dubai's rapidly evolving market. Decision-making is streamlined, allowing quick responses to customer feedback. Focus: With limited resources, you're forced to prioritize ruthlessly. This laser focus often leads to superior product-market fit. Building Your High-Impact Team: Hire T-shaped professionals: • Look for individuals with deep expertise in one area but broad capabilities. • Example: A full-stack developer with UI/UX skills. Prioritize cultural fit: • In a small team, each personality significantly impacts dynamics. • Seek those who thrive in ambiguity and wear multiple hats. Invest in the best: • It's better to have one exceptional developer than three average ones. • Top talent often delivers 10x the results, justifying higher compensation. Leverage Dubai's diverse talent pool: • Tap into the rich mix of global experiences available in Dubai. • This diversity often leads to innovative problem-solving. Create a culture of ownership: • When each team member feels like a co-founder, productivity soars. • Implement profit-sharing or equity options to align interests. Remember, in Dubai's SaaS scene, it's not about headcount—it's about impact. A lean, premium team can outperform larger competitors, driving innovation and growth in our unique market. This is just the first of five key strategies I've seen drive SaaS success in the UAE. Over the next few days, I'll be diving into: 2. Founders as Sales Champions 3. Strategic Outsourcing 4. Perfecting Local Before Global 5. The High-Polish MVP Bonus: The 2-Step Value Proposition How to retain users by delivering core value almost instantly. Whether you're a founder, a product leader, or just curious about the UAE tech scene, I hope you'll join me on this journey. What's been your experience with team building in the UAE?Does this resonate, or have you found a different approach works better? Let's discuss in the comments. #UAETech #SaaS #StartupStrategy #ProductManagement #Founders

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I spent my last 3 years observing startups in MENA Here are the most common mistakes startups are making 👇 ❌ Focusing on all marketing channels at once As an early-stage startup, you want to make sure that you start using marketing channels that will put you in front of people who are looking to buy products like yours. This is called ROI-focused marketing, but many startups are doing the complete opposite and starting from the top of the funnel, getting traffic but no revenue. ❌ Building a website for investors, not customers Messaging and positioning are very important for your customers to understand what it is that you do. Here, startups are building their messaging and positioning to impress their investors while confusing their customers. If your website is not telling a great story that resonates with your audience, you will not bring the right people into your funnel; hence, you won't make revenue. ❌ Expecting too much from a one-person marketing team This is not specific to the region; this is a trend in early-stage startup games. You can't expect your head of marketing to handle acquisition, retention, monetization, customer support... all by themselves. This is never going to work. ❌ No strategy but just focus on hacks and tactics Most startups are just operating on a "growth hack" mentality. Instead of building growth loops, they are focused on short-term hacks and trying a bunch of tactics at the same time. You need non-scalable marketing activities, but you shouldn't forget about investing in major growth engines. You can't keep doing one-off marketing activities. ❌ Investing in an acquisition before having the fundamentals right Every marketing leader is feeling pressure to bring in leads as soon as possible. I feel like they are pushed to distribute half-baked marketing assets because founders are not giving enough time to build the pillars of marketing. There is no point in spending money on acquisition if your messaging and positioning, website structure, pricing structure, and onboarding are not good enough. I feel like many startups don't value these things enough and just push marketers to bring in leads from day one. ----- There is great potential in this place and I really enjoy working with founders from here and looking forward to doing more 💪 #growth, #startup, #startupgrowth, #contentmarketing, #inboundmarketing #mena

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What's the pertinence of "rent-now-pay-later"? It has to do with landlords asking for a year of rent in advance. Here's how Walid Shihabi, co-founder of Keyper, explains the problem and the solution Keyper is building: " Most of these rent payments happen via written, physical checks. This is a hassle: the landlords have to safely store these checks, physically cash them in… They don’t know if the check will bounce or not, which leads to the second problem: the restrictive nature of these payments. Since the process is so heavy, landlords in Dubai prefer to have rent paid a year in advance. This is a heavy burden for most tenants, who don’t have the cash on hand. Some downgrade the property quality they aspire to and often, take an interest-bearing loan to pay that one-year payment. Most people thought the problem was the financing of tenants: if only tenants could get better loan terms, surely the problem would be solved. Keyper chose to reinvent the process entirely. To fix the antiquated part, we built digital payment rails for rent payments. Tenants can now pay with their credit card or by direct debit, where the central bank directly pulls money from the tenant’s account and deposits it into the landlord’s one. Direct debit is exciting because there are no fees involved (unlike credit cards). This makes it nicely suited for the high ticket transactions that rent payments usually are. As the UAE works on open banking (opening consumers’ banking data to 3rd parties), this payment method will improve. To fix the restrictive part, we’ve built a rent-now-pay-later (RNPL) tool that enables tenants to pay their rent monthly instead of yearly, upfront. " Read Walid's full Realistic Optimist interview here: https://lnkd.in/gPkasR9n

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Highlights from the last few months 1. Recorded a podcast in Dubai 2. Started working on some side projects apart from the podcast Gotten some good feedback on this from a few folks Trying to understand now how to build it and what direction to take 3. Approved to attend an event hosted by some folks in startups and VC’s here Still looking to meet ambitious folks here who talk about side hustles and ideas 4. Focused on releasing episodes from the backlog

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🌟 𝘼𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙥 𝘼𝙣𝙣𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩: 𝘼 𝙂𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝘾𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬! 🌟 I recently had the privilege of attending the 𝙎𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙥 𝘼𝙣𝙣𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩, and it was nothing short of inspiring. The community's energy and the innovative spirit of the startups were truly remarkable. However, what caught my attention the most was the pervasive theme of 𝘼𝙄 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘼𝙄 𝘼𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨—a clear indication that the future of 𝘾𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙉𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙨 𝘼𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙮𝙨𝙞𝙨 is being redefined. 🚀 🅲🅾🅽🆃🆁🅾🆅🅴🆁🆂🅸🅰 🅰🅻🅴🆁🆃! 💥 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘾𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙗𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚? As we delve deeper into the 𝘼𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, the notion of relying solely on human intuition and conventional methods seems increasingly outdated. 𝘼𝙄'𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙫𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙖 𝙞𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡-𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙮𝙨𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝. It's not just about understanding customer needs; it's about predicting and anticipating them before they even arise. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. 🚧 Let's spark a conversation: 𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘼𝙄 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝘾𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙚𝙨? Are we truly harnessing its potential, or are we still scratching the surface? I'd love to hear your thoughts! 💬 A huge shoutout to Sanket Atal and Salesforce team for building such an incredible & thriving community. Here's to many more innovations and discussions ahead! 🎉 #𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 #𝗔𝗜𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 #𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 #𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝗘𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 #𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀 #𝗔𝗜𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 #Startups

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I am happy to announce that Pepsales has closed pre-seed funding led by Chiratae Ventures 🙌 🙌 🙌 As a founder, you’re often told that it’s a lonely road—filled with long days, tough calls, and countless challenges. But with the right people, it doesn’t have to be like that. Throughout my career, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to work with visionary leaders who believed in me before I even believed in myself. Along the way, I’ve been inspired by teammates from around the world who pushed me to do better every day. But when it comes to building a company, that’s a whole different game. It’s about embracing uncertainty and hoping you’ll find the right partners who share your vision. When Abhinandan Sahgal and I started Pepsales just six months ago, in a challenging macroeconomic climate, finding those partners felt like an uphill climb. Then one day, Venkatesh Peddi, Naimil Shah and the team at Chiratae Ventures came along. Their conviction in us was truly a game-changer. Every conversation with them has been insightful, and when they offered to invest in Pepsales, it was one of those “pinch me” moments that founders dream about. But let me be clear—this is Day 0. The road ahead is long, and we’ve barely scratched the surface. We’re laser-focused on continuing our mission to empower sales teams with AI that transforms how they sell. There’s so much more to build, more problems to solve, and more milestones to hit. That said, the right partners make all the difference. Whether it’s brainstorming ideas or navigating the challenges of scaling a company, having that support is invaluable. Here is to everyone who believed in us—thank you. We’re beyond grateful, and even more excited for what’s ahead. This is just the beginning. And now, a shameless plug: if you’re a B2B SaaS company looking to empower your sales team to drive and deliver a world-class experience with every demo—without the hassle of digging through mountains of data to find that one key insight—we’d love to have a conversation. We’re here to help you add real value to your sales funnel. #FounderJourney #SaaS #AI #Pepsales #Gratitude #DayZero #B2BSales Link to our announcement - https://lnkd.in/g5V7j2Nh

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Are you a startup and raising funds ? Let's book a time to talk what we at XIFAQ can do for you. #startup #startups #funding #xifaq

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🚀 We’re LIVE! Meet AiNameIt.com 🚀 From a shared vision to reality—my friend Abdulhafeez Hameed (Founder) and Myself set out to build something that makes a real difference for brands, startups, domain investors and creators. Today, we're excited to introduce AiNameIt: your all-in-one platform for unforgettable names and taglines, complete with matching domains. 🌐 Whether you’re building a brand from scratch or launching a new product, AiNameIt has you covered. We combine the best of AI and creativity to generate names and taglines that aren’t just unique—they’re strategic and ready to make a splash. 💡 It’s more than a tool; it’s an entire experience. With every name and tagline, we’re helping brands build their identity, boost their presence and connect with their audiences—all while keeping it affordable and accessible. This is the beginning of something big, and we’re grateful to everyone who’s been a part of the journey. We can’t wait to see the ideas and brands AiNameIt helps bring to life. 🌟 🔗 See what AiNameIt can do for your brand: AiNameIt.com #AiNameIt #BrandingInnovation #StartupLife #TaglineMagic #AI #EntrepreneurJourney #NewLaunch #Domain #DomainCommunity #StartupName #Branding

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Why did less than 1% of VC funding go to female-founded startups in MENA last year? That’s a stat we can’t ignore. But here’s the thing - AI is starting to change the game. Building software the traditional way is costly and time-consuming. That’s where AI code generation and testing step in. Tools like the Zealous AI Framework are transforming how software products are built and tested. By automating code creation and testing, these tools can enable women founders to move faster, save money, and bring their software products to market without having to wait for that elusive funding round. Now, don’t get me wrong - AI isn’t going to solve everything. You still need talented developers to polish and perfect the code. But the edge AI provides is something we can’t overlook. So the takeaway is: Don’t sit around waiting for perfect conditions. If you’ve got a tech idea, start now. Use AI tools to your advantage, tap into training programs, and learn from people who’ve been through the journey. The future of tech is being built right now, and women can be leading the way. Are you ready to make it happen? PS: I wrote an article on how “AI Code Generation Helps Women Entrepreneurs Break Into Tech”. Check out the article link in the comments.

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I looked at the data of the biggest startup exits (> $100 million) from the Middle East & North Africa to see what their founders went on to do after the sale. The sample size is very small right now, with only 18 such exits, including five IPOs. However, there are still some interesting insights here. ➝ Almost half of the founders are continuing to build the same business. This makes sense because, as I said, five of these are IPOs and some others are recent where founders are likely staying as part of their agreements with the acquirers. ➝ About one-fifth are investing in businesses, mainly in tech. Two through private firms and the other two through VC funds they founded; Talabat's Mohammed Jaffar who started Faith Capital, and Fawry's Mohamed Okasha who founded DisrupTech Ventures. ➝ Another one-fifth are still building stuff. This includes the founders of Careem spinning off the super-app business, Hosam Arab building a fintech unicorn, Talabat's Abdulaziz Loughani building Floward, and Donna Benton building different things. Most of those who continue to run the firms they started or are building new stuff without starting investment firms or VC funds are also investing regularly through angel cheques. But that is not their primary focus. The founders of Careem, for example, have invested in dozens of companies, across the region. These insights lead to another question. How many GPs in MENA have previously built a tech company (or product). I'll discuss this in another post in the next few days.

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Thrilled to share that I have been shortlisted for the The VC Fellowship! This opportunity aligns perfectly with my passion for innovation and supporting visionary entrepreneurs. Excited to contribute to the startup ecosystem and learn from the best in venture capital. #VCFellowship #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #PassionForGrowth 🚀

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𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲 ↳ Steve Blank delves into the crucial topic of failure in the startup world. Discover why failure is an inevitable part of the entrepreneurial journey and how it can be a valuable learning experience. #StartupFailure #SteveBlank #Entrepreneurship #LeanStartup #FailureToSuccess #StartupJourney #BusinessLessons #EmbraceFailure #Innovation #Resilience

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I’ve recently completed an in-depth analysis of Careem MVP, diving into how the company initially launched as a web-based car booking service. This exercise has been an incredible learning experience, allowing me to explore the core aspects of MVP development and its impact on product success. I created this analysis to deepen my understanding of how case studies are developed and to enhance my expertise in the field of Product and Project Management. 🔍 What I Covered: Problem Identification: The key problem Careem aimed to solve. Initial Features: Core features included in their MVP. User Feedback: How Careem gathered and utilized user feedback. Iterations: Changes made based on feedback and market response. Success Factors: Key elements contributing to the MVP’s success. Challenges: Significant challenges faced and how they were overcome. 📈 Reflection: I've also included a reflection on how the MVP process can be applied to my future projects, providing insights into how I would approach product development. I’m eager to hear your thoughts and feedback on this analysis. #MVP #ProductDevelopment  #TechAnalysis #CaseStudy #ProductManagement #Careem #MVPAnalysis #UserFeedback #MarketResearch #ProductManagementSkills #ProductDevelopmentInsights #MVPDevelopment

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The UAE SaaS Playbook: Perfect Your Local Market First (Part 4 of 5) In my journey from launching a fruit subscription service to leading product at a SaaS company in the UAE, I've learned a crucial lesson: master your local market before going global. Why Focus on the UAE Market First: Rapid Feedback Loop - The UAE's compact market allows for quick iterations based on user feedback. You can refine your product faster, setting a solid foundation for future expansion. Cultural Nuances - The UAE's unique business culture requires specific product adaptations. Perfecting these locally gives you insights applicable to other Middle Eastern markets. Strong Government Support - UAE's initiatives like Dubai Future Accelerators offer invaluable resources for local startups. Leveraging these can provide a significant boost before going global. Regional Hub Advantage - Success in the UAE often translates to easier entry into other GCC countries. You're building a launchpad for regional expansion. Cost-Effective Testing Ground • Validating your product locally is more cost-effective than immediate global rollout. It allows you to iron out issues before facing international competition. Strategies for Local Market Success: Deep Customer Understanding • Conduct extensive local market research and customer interviews. Localization Beyond Language - Adapt your product to local business practices, not just Arabic translation. Consider local payment preferences and data regulations. Build a Local Network - Attend industry events, join local startup communities, and engage with business councils. Personal relationships are crucial in the UAE business ecosystem. Leverage Local Talent - Hire team members who understand the local market deeply. Start with a Niche • Focus on dominating a specific sector in the UAE before broadening your scope. Collaborate with Local Enterprises • Seek partnerships or pilot programs with established UAE companies. These relationships can provide credibility and valuable feedback. Align with UAE Vision 2030 - Ensure your product aligns with the UAE's long-term economic goals. This can open doors to government support and enterprise contracts. Remember, in the SaaS world, it's tempting to think global from day one. But in my experience, perfecting your product for the UAE market first can set you up for stronger, more sustainable global growth. What's your take on the local-first approach? Have you seen success focusing on the UAE market, or did you go global immediately? Share your experiences in the comments! #UAETech #SaaS #StartupStrategy #ProductManagement

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