Rahman also pursued international growth by targeting Saudi Arabia, recognizing it was the largest online market in the region, historically generating about 60% of revenue for online businesses like Souq. He acquired a loss-making jobs platform there and rebuilt it. Saudi Arabia, however, was a tough market to crack, requiring long sales cycles, relationship building, and even specific Arabic accents to establish credibility. Productivity from the labor market was low, and labor laws were difficult for entrepreneurs. When COVID-19 hit, operations in Saudi Arabia were put into “hibernation” to focus on making Pakistan profitable again.The Silicon Valley Roots and the ReturnThe Birth of Rozee.pk and the Payment ProblemPaving the Road – The Venture into Fintech with SimsimThe High Cost of Innovation and Unexpected HeadwindsMarket – Reality Check & Expansion LessonsThe AI-First Transformation and HR-Fintech ConvergenceDukan – The Licensed-Light Fintech EnablerWhat is in it for MENA Entrepreneurs ? The journey of entrepreneur Monis Rahman offers a compelling blueprint for founders navigating the complexities of emerging markets, specifically Pakistan, demonstrating how HR technology (Rozee.pk) and financial technology (Fintech) are intrinsically linked in paving the way for a digital economy. From our discussion with Monis at Wasssl Podcast …His story spans the rise and crash of the US dot-com era, the slow build of fundamental infrastructure in Pakistan, and the ultimate convergence of AI and finance. The Silicon Valley Roots and the Return Monis Rahman began his career in the US after graduating with a degree in electrical and computer engineering landing a dream job at Intel. Intel, at the time, was at the forefront of computer engineering, making microprocessors and memory chips. Working with highly intelligent people, Monis secured nine patents, primarily related to computer architecture, specializing in algorithms to make chips work faster. Feeling restless, Monis observed that many smart people worked at Intel their entire lives, yet he believed they could produce far more value outside of being an employee. This period coincided with the first “dot wave,” marked by the creation of companies like Hotmail, Yahoo, and Google. Over a billion dollars was being invested every month into this small area, leading to a euphoric time where consultants quit their jobs and startups launched. He witnessed both the exciting rise and the eventual crash, learning valuable lessons about which models the market supports and which ideas, though interesting, ultimately fail when played out. In 2003, he moved back to Pakistan. A major factor was the cost of developers in the US, which forced startups to continuously raise more funding—a cycle where salaries were the biggest expense. He recognized that Pakistan had good engineering labor talent. At that time, only about 1.8 million people were using the internet in Pakistan, predominantly from their offices, with traffic dropping almost to zero on weekends. ( Feels like the stone age :D) The Birth of Rozee.pk and the Payment Problem Monis first launched Nasim.com, a social networking site targeting the diaspora in North America, the UK, Australia, and Canada, which grew into a cash cow. However, the inspiration for his primary business, Rozee.pk, came from the internal need to hire staff. Having experience hiring online in the US, he started Rozee.pk, which grew very quickly to become the largest jobs platform in the country. Today, Rozee.pk serves about 65,000 employers and 10 million professionals who have uploaded their CVs, facilitating job applications both within Pakistan and internationally. Despite its success as a major HR tech platform, Rozee.pk quickly encountered a fundamental challenge common in emerging markets: the payments problem. The company was selling paid job listings for small sums, starting around 800 rupees per job. The sales team had to drive motorcycles to clients to collect cash, feels wild 😀 …leading to heavy logistical burdens and reconciliation issues, and creating suspicion about whether the cash had vanished. Rahman likened the process to running a “rent collection” service. Monis noted that in emerging markets, “you have to build a little road” before you can move forward, meaning entrepreneurs must build infrastructure to solve their own operational problems. Paving the Road – The Venture into Fintech with Simsim To solve the inherent payments problem, He turned to fintech, leveraging a “revolutionary step taken by the State Bank”: the launch of a branchless banking framework. This meant that a bank account could be opened without the customer having to visit a physical bank branch. Monis partnered with FINA Micro Finance Bank to create FINA and the first telco-agnostic mobile wallet in Pakistan, named Simsim (after the Arabic phrase “open sesame”). The venture, in the early days before an EMI lic