New markets / 0 to 1
Choose the first country, city, segment, and proof threshold. Shape a wedge people can open, test, and judge.
ADVISORY / MENA + SOUTHEAST ASIA
I build markets, communities, and distribution systems.
I help technology companies turn a difficult MENA or Southeast Asia expansion question into a first-market thesis, local operating plan, and proof sequence.
READING LAYEREN中文
WHO THIS IS FOR
For teams with a market decision to make.
Bring the product, market assumption, and decision that is difficult to reverse. The first conversation is about the next proof, not a generic regional strategy.
WHAT YOU LEAVE WITH
- First-market thesis
- Localized operating plan
- Proof sequence with stop conditions
FIRST CONVERSATION
We start with the customer, country, channel, and evidence that would change the plan.
Start the conversationWHERE I HELP
Make the hard part explicit.
The work is useful when it gives a team a better next decision, not just a more confident regional story.
Growth / revenue systems
Turn distribution memory into a repeatable loop across product, channel, community, and the metrics that matter.
Government / partnerships
Map regulatory, institutional, distributor, and local partner paths with clear ownership and a reason for each relationship.
Creators / events / culture
Build local status and presence through creators, communities, events, language, and cultural signals that make a product feel real.
OPERATING CHAPTERS
Built across markets, not from a distance.
These chapters inform the point of view. They are operating context, not a claim about confidential client outcomes.
- 01Tiki
Southeast Asia / marketplace operating context
- 02BIGO
MENA and Southeast Asia / creator and community systems
- 03OYO
Southeast Asia / local supply and distribution
- 04oBike
APAC / city-level operating constraints
- 05The Lab
Public products, AI systems, and venture proof
THE OPERATING THESIS
Distribution is part of product.
A product can be technically ready and still have no route into a market. Entry becomes more durable when access, local supply, status, and visible presence reinforce one another.
- 01ACCESS+
Reach the people, institutions, partners, and channels that make the first market legible.
- 02SUPPLY+
Create enough local capacity, content, inventory, service, or creator participation to be useful.
- 03STATUS+
Give participants a reason to return, progress, and bring others in.
- 04PRESENCE+
Show up consistently enough for trust, learning, and distribution to compound.
HOW I ENGAGE
Match the operating shape to the decision.
Strategic advisory
A focused decision sprint for market choice, localization, distribution, or an operating plan the team can run.
Deal facilitation
Hands-on help finding, qualifying, and structuring the local relationships that make a market entry more credible.
Equity or hybrid
A deeper build partnership where the operating work, product surface, and long-term upside need to stay connected.
RELATED ROUTES
Start with the question already in front of you.
PUBLIC RESEARCH LAYER
Use the evidence before the engagement.
GrowthDex is Ian's public catalogue of source-backed growth tactics. Start with a route that matches the problem, then bring the product, market, and constraint into the advisory conversation.
CATALOGUE2,012 source-backed growth tactics
Start with the full research layer, then narrow the question before the engagement.
↗AI VISIBILITYBe found in search and answersExplore tactics for citations, answer engines, and machine-readable discovery.
↗CREATOR SYSTEMSBuild supply, status, and communityUse the creator and community playbook behind Ian's platform work.
↗MARKET ENTRYSequence the first market moveBrowse the evidence, then bring the country, product, and constraint to Ian.
↗FROM THE PUBLIC LAB TO THE OPERATING ROOM
Bring the market decision that is difficult to reverse.
The Lab keeps the thinking inspectable. Advisory work applies it to your product, evidence, team, and constraints.
Explore the advisory practice