Building for the EMEA Market: 10 Things I Learned as a Product Leader
What shipping across 20+ EMEA markets taught me about culture, complexity, and execution
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Now, let’s dive into today’s insights…
Before we dive in, let me briefly share with you a quick snapshot of the product and service climate in Africa and the Middle East between 2008 and 2016. Back then, about 80% of products launched were backed by telecom companies — they had the cash, the users, and the leverage. Global players leaned into revenue share models with telcos because it opened up more monetization paths and made distribution easier for users.
These offerings were known as Value Added Services. Telcos weren’t just selling voice and text — they were also delivering SMS-based, audio, and lightweight digital services across education, entertainment, and more. Over time, content providers started using this telco bridge to reach consumers directly, offering a mix of free and paid content.
I spent the bulk of my career at one of the world’s largest telecom vendors, leading teams that launched dozens of products across EMEA — from fintech and e-learning to music streaming, ringback tones, mapping tools, and more. We built and rolled out online payments, shipping features, and content services in over 20 markets.
I’ve decided to share the lessons and insights I picked up while building products across EMEA and I also hope it gives aspiring product managers a clearer view of the path ahead and a few pointers on how to navigate it.
1. Marketplace product management is special
When we make changes to the product, we have to think about how it impacts both the content provider and the consumer, and sometimes even more personas. Because consumption is largely driven by content, every innovation must be carefully curated to make both parties happy and maintain a healthy balance. Think about pricing strategies, marketing, promotions, price flexibility, and how services are delivered across different channels.
2. Product management is a game of two halves
You have to build the right product first, then keep iterating based on what users show you.
In our first few months post-launch, we noticed a high order cancellation rate. The data pointed to one clear pattern: sellers were canceling last minute because they couldn’t ship items within the 7-day delivery window. When COVID-19 hit, the problem intensified as most sellers couldn’t import goods on time. After digging into the issue, we introduced an “extend delivery” option that gave sellers up to 9 days to fulfill orders. Within two months, cancellations dropped by 30%.
3. The PM is the central midfielder
I think a Product Manager’s role is a lot like that of a central midfielder. Midfielders link defense and attack. They keep the game flowing, strengthen the team at its core, and make the smart passes that lead to goals. They are involved not just in the defensive tasks, but also lead the offensive gameplay after receiving the ball.
As a Product Manager, you are the link between Engineering and Business, and you only succeed by bringing the whole team together and working together towards a common goal.
For example, to make sure everyone was aligned and working towards the same goal, I organized weekly sync between all the key stakeholders where we discussed any blockers, progress, and updates from everyone around the piece they owned. In addition to this, I used to send regular updates to the leadership team about the progress and a post-launch update on team/product performance.
Over communication helps not only in bringing alignment but also adds transparency across the team. For the last two months before our payments product launch in Malaysia, I worked closely with the Marketing team to design our go-to-market strategy and host community meetups and events. This is where I shifted my gear from defense(engineering) to attack(selling).
4. Localization helps, so better do it
Localization matters because one size doesn’t fit all. If you want to grow across markets, you have to build with local context in mind.
For a company like Facebook, localization can be as simple as translating pages and tweaking the UX before launching in a new market. But for Carousell, especially when it came to payments and shipping, the process was much more complex. We had to adapt to country-specific requirements while navigating local laws and regulations around financial transactions and user verification. We localized our product across different markets while still maintaining a consistent, unified experience.
In Malaysia, for example, we made sure FPX — the most common local payment method — was available from Day 1. We also customized the sell-form flow to reflect the geographical differences between East and West Malaysia, making it easier for sellers to list items.
In Taiwan, we leaned into local habits by offering a cash-on-delivery option in partnership with 7-Eleven, one of the most widely-used shipping providers in the region. You’ll find a 7-Eleven store every 500 meters — so we met users where they already were.
While the backend infrastructure for payments and orders remains consistent across markets, we handle local nuances on the client side to deliver a localized experience that feels native to each user.
5. Beta launch is a smarter way to launch
Always run a beta launch for big projects. A beta launch gives you a chance to release features to a smaller group of users and test how things perform in real conditions. It’s not just about product feedback — it also helps you stress-test your infrastructure. Think about server load, downtime, speed, payment failure rates, and whether your systems can handle concurrency at scale.
When we beta-launched escrow payments in Malaysia with a small group of users, we ran into a high payment failure rate in the third week. Users were stuck at checkout, and a few orders were affected. We worked quickly with our payment provider to fix the issue, but if the launch had been public, it could have done real damage to user trust.
In payments, users trust you with their money and a single bug in the flow doesn’t just cost revenue — it costs credibility. And once that trust is broken, it’s difficult to earn back.
6. Diverse peers sharpen product thinking
Having teammates from different backgrounds, countries, and cultures brings real value to product work. At Carousell, we had employees from nearly 20 countries, and each person brought a unique perspective that shaped how we solved problems and built better experiences. It also made me grow as an individual.
Before building out our product in Malaysia, we went on a user research trip and we made sure to include a diverse group. We had folks from design, customer support, business, marketing, sales, engineering, and even HR join the trip.
Having local team members on the ground made a big difference. I remember during a few interviews, users opened up more easily when speaking with someone from their own community. It helped us get to the heart of the problem faster, and ultimately build a better product.
7. Product Management in Fintech: More stakeholders, more complexity, but a lot more learning
When you're building a payment product — whether it’s an API or a third-party integration in a marketplace — the number of stakeholders you work with easily doubles or triples compared to something like a growth or search feature.
It’s not just Engineering, Business, Data, and Design. You also need to bring in Legal, Finance, Compliance, Accounting, Partnerships, Ops, Customer Support, Marketing, and external payment providers.
This adds to the complexity, especially when it comes to alignment and clearing dependencies. But it also gives you the chance to understand how different functions operate and how to bring them together to ship something that works end to end.
8. Implicit needs > Explicit needs
The hard part of product management is uncovering and solving implicit, unmet user needs. Few PMs or companies truly succeed here. It's much easier to chase the obvious — the needs your users, Sales, Business, or Support teams are already vocal about. But the real breakthroughs come from addressing what users haven’t said out loud. When you get it right, it can completely shift the trajectory of your product.
From my experience, the best way to uncover these hidden needs is by speaking directly with users in your target segment and asking non-leading, open-ended questions.
When we launched our shipping solution in Malaysia, we assumed price would be the key differentiator. But after talking to users, we realized convenience mattered far more. They were willing to pay a premium price if it meant a smoother experience.
Always remember building features is easy, but solving the real problem and finding product-market fit is where the real work begins.
9. Working remotely forces better communication
My Engineering team was based in Taipei, while the Business team was spread across Southeast Asia, depending on the market I was working on. Hence strong written communication became essential, especially after the shift to remote work post-Covid.
I no longer had the option to walk over to someone’s desk for a quick chat or alignment. Every update, decision, or clarification had to be clearly documented to keep everyone on the same page.
10. Care Deeply
Care deeply is one of Carousell’s core values, and it has had a lasting impact on me. Having strong empathy towards your users and peers is one of the most important skills I have developed.
Before relocating to Singapore, I had spent most of my career in India. When I moved to Singapore, it took me 3–6 months to adjust to the new culture, learn how to give feedback to colleagues, practice active listening (getting used to different accents), and become more mindful of my nonverbal communication cues and tone. Most importantly, I had to understand when not to counter or be too direct. A lot of credit for this goes to my mentors, peers, and managers at Carousell, who gave me actionable feedback at every step.
Summary
In the end, the journey of building across EMEA markets taught me more than any single product ever could.
From navigating local regulations and payment flows to adapting to cultural nuances and user behaviors, each market came with its own set of challenges — and opportunities to learn. It pushed me to become more collaborative, more empathetic, and much sharper in execution.
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