Topic
Product Management in Emerging Markets
Emerging markets don't need watered-down Silicon Valley products — they need sharper wedges. Offline-first ordering when connectivity fails. POS built for busy restaurant lines, not desk workers. Inventory truth when manual counts take two days and are wrong by the time they finish. I've shipped Gloria Jean's apps across BD and AU, Neoshift in 1,000+ restaurants, and Toyota systems at distributor scale. The lesson: design for the operator on the floor, and global defaults often lose.
Impact
Key stats
- 65%
- Digital-order adoption (Gloria Jean's)
- 1,000+
- Restaurants on Neoshift
- $40M
- Saved at Toyota scale
Frameworks
How I think about this
Writing
Related reading
FAQ
Common questions
- Why does emerging-markets context matter for product?
- Real constraints force sharper wedges — offline flows, high-touch ops, cost sensitivity. Products that win in Dhaka often outperform global defaults.
- How do you design for flaky connectivity?
- Offline-first core flows, sync when possible, and optimize for the operator's actual environment — not demo-day WiFi.
- What's different about POS in emerging markets?
- Seconds matter on a busy line. Neoshift scaled to 1,000+ restaurants by optimizing for floor adoption, not feature count.
- Can you speak on this topic?
- Yes — visit /speaking for the emerging markets talk and invite details.