Corporate Strategy Alignment

Early in my legal career, I thought being a great in-house lawyer meant knowing every risk, drafting perfect contracts, and getting deep into the intricacies of law. I was wrong. Because no matter how solid my legal work was, I kept running into the same problems ·      Contract negotiations dragging on forever. ·      Business teams looping in legal way too late. ·      Last-minute fire drills because no one aligned expectations upfront. Then I was fortunate to have started working with fantastic project managers. I understood, that this wasn’t a legal problem. It was a project management problem. Here’s the difference in mindset that every in house counsel should consider: 🔹 Traditional lawyer: “We need to secure ourselves against every risk before moving forward.” 🔹 Legal project manager: “We’ll flag the risks, assess impact and probability, align with stakeholders on how to manage it and keep things moving.” 🔹 Traditional lawyer: “We’ll review the contract and get back to you.” 🔹 Legal project manager: “Here’s what we need from you, our timelines and key stakeholders to involve.” 🔹 Traditional lawyer: "This deadline isn’t realistic." 🔹 Legal project manager: "We’ll prioritize the pieces that are on the critical path, break it down, and hit the most important items first." What I learned (and what I’m still learning): 📌 Define the scope upfront. Without clear scope you will waste a lot of time doing double work. PMs always define scope first. 📌 Stakeholder alignment is everything. Assumptions kill deals. PMs confirm before they act. 📌 Overcommunicate before things go wrong. Check-ins, shared timelines, expectation-setting. It’s not a waste of time. It’s simple, but it saves so much legal chaos. The results? ✅ Contracts move faster. ✅ Fewer legal bottlenecks. ✅ Legal is a partner - not a roadblock. The best in-house lawyers don’t just think like lawyers. They lead like project managers.

In an era of ongoing geopolitical instability, CEOs must rethink their operational models to ensure resilience in the face of supply chain disruptions. The reality is that supply chains will be impacted by conflicts, proxy wars, and external disruptions for the foreseeable future. So, what’s the solution? Build a “war room” that continuously monitors geopolitical risks and supply chain blockages. Track everything from logistics delays to insurance changes and forecast demand fluctuations. Use early warning signals to deploy cash strategically and secure vital supplies when you need them. Scenarios will shift — Demand might drop, prices might plummet, or inflation might soar depending on global events. The key is agility. Your business model should evolve with multiple scenarios in mind. Resilience is no longer a reactive measure. It’s a proactive strategy. This will define the success of companies in this volatile global landscape. #SupplyChain #Geopolitics #Resilience #Leadership #Business

Last week I was in Nepal and came back with one clear takeaway - anyone working on green mobility should study Nepal’s EV transition story. It’s a powerful example of how smart policy can reshape an entire market. Back in 2021, the government drastically slashed import duties for EVs to around 15 percent. By contrast, petrol and diesel vehicles can face import duties of nearly 250 percent. That one move created a massive price gap between electric and fossil-fuel vehicles. As a result, EV imports in Nepal surged from just a few hundred in 2020 to over 13,000 by mid-2024. Today, over 70 percent of four-wheeler passenger vehicle imports are electric. In fact, EV imports now outnumber ICE vehicle imports by a wide margin. The reason this works? Nepal’s electricity is already clean. Most of it comes from domestic hydropower, making charging both cheap and low-emission. That means operating an EV can cost one-tenth of what petrol-based vehicles cost for the same mileage. Banks are also playing their part by offering up to 80 percent financing for EV purchases. What impressed me most was not just the numbers but the ecosystem mindset behind them. This is what early-stage industrial transitions need: decisive policy, supportive financing, and market clarity. The early incentives reduce risk. Infrastructure builds trust. And clean power strengthens the entire value chain. Nepal contniues to work on ecosystem gaps- especially in public EV infrastructure and battery recycling. But the early push shows that when policies align with market logic, change happens quickly. Nepal’s story is a reminder that ambition must be met with action- especially when industries are just taking shape and are in their nascent stages. PS - Views are personal.

We are at a pivotal moment. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴—𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁, 𝘂𝗻𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗳𝘂𝗹.   Nowhere is this more evident than in the Asia-Pacific, which accounts for ~40% of U.S. imports across key sectors. In my recent conversations with CEOs across the region, one thing is clear: amid the uncertainty, leaders are moving decisively and recalibrating. They are responding with quiet intensity and structural action.    In these times of change, CEOs must focus on the following: 𝟭. 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘀 - Assess your product portfolio for tariff exposure. Key sectors such as steel, automotive, and electronics are already feeling the brunt of rising tariffs. Refine your pricing strategies and reconfigure supply chains to better navigate these impacts. 𝟮. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝘁 - Scenario-based planning is essential. Build flexible models that account for both direct and ripple effects of trade shifts—agility is your strategic edge. 𝟯. 𝗙𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 - Shifting production and sourcing to regions with lower tariff exposure presents a unique opportunity to minimize cost impact and maintain competitive advantage. 𝟰. 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱—𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱 - Set up a cross-functional team to track tariff developments and implement rapid responses. A proactive, collaborative approach turns disruption into opportunity, rather than simply weathering the storm.   In a world where change is constant, the ability to adapt quickly is not just an advantage—it’s a non-negotiable for sustained success.    Read more from our Global Advantage team on how we are helping businesses navigate this new reality with precision and foresight: https://lnkd.in/ert8gazK   #TradePolicy #AsiaPacific #Tariffs #GlobalEconomy #BCGInsights

Recently, I had the opportunity to share my learnings and insights from "Launching Products Globally" with an amazing audience at Plug and Play Tech Center with the presence of global audience including entrepreneurs from HKSTP - Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation. Here are a few learnings and insights from the evening: 1) You need to "localize" your product & go-to-market strategy: This doesn't only mean just translating or localizing your product. It's a lot more than that. You need to localize your "go-to-market" motion as well. You may have product-market-fit (PMF) locally, in the first country/region you launched, but that doesn't mean you can take the same product and go-to-market strategy to launch in a new country/region. As an example at Fitbit, we learned how the French think about fitness (they count walking to a restaurant to get a glass of wine as their "fitness") is very different than how Americans define workout and fitness. So all our marketing and go-to-market strategies had to align with the way locals will see benefits in our products. 2) Having boots on the ground is essential for successful global expansion: You need to have boots on the ground who truly understand the nuances of how to go-to-market, how to sell, and how to deliver your value proposition to customers in different regions. There are a lot of nuances of how to do business locally that will take outsiders to any market a long time to learn. At Cleo, where we had global customers like Salesforce, Redbull, Pepsi, and Uber, we had to have local health Guides to deliver our services with an intimate understanding of customers needs and approaches in that region. 3) Understanding local, cultural, and social aspects is critical to a global expansion success: Even though at the surface things may seem similar in each region, there are a lot of nuances that make your go-to-market strategy and the way you deliver your services resonate with the local customers or not. At Teladoc, we've learned that people in different countries think about their mental health and how to get support for that "very differently" than each other. Huge thank you to my hosts Rahim Amidi, Dr. Yahya Tabesh, Amir Amidi, Ahmadreza Masrour, and Akvile Gustaite, and HKSTP leaders, Albert Wong & Pheona Kan, who are interested in continuing these conversations. It was awesome to meet great entrepreneurs and see old friends: Reza Moghtaderi Esfahani, Daniel Lo, Houman Homayoun, Wayne Chang, Golnaz (Naz) Moeini. #product #gotomarket #globallaunch #globalbusiness

If you don't invest in brand, you pay the price in CAC every quarter until you exit. Just think about the greatest software brands out there like ServiceNow and Salesforce… Their brand enters the room way before their sales rep does (even as sales-led companies). The reality is, one or two suppliers like this end up becoming the top choice and grab the biggest chunk of market share. Once you become this top-of-mind choice, so many other things in your business become easier, and you have a moat around your business. Forget all the fluffy, emotional arguments around the brand. This is the logical argument that needs to be made in a CFO-level conversation. At Paddle, both Christian Owens as founder, and now Jimmy Fitzgerald as CEO, believe in brand. We think about it across 4 pillars: 1. Become the most 'helpful' brand in SaaS/Apps/wherever we go next I believe that helpfulness is a great path to a strong brand. We're always jumping on calls, helping out prospects and customers, showing up. Even for people & companies who aren't in the market for us. We have had over 250 entrepreneurs in first few AI Launchpad accelerators where we provide mentorship, funding opportunities and cash prizes, without asking for anything from them. Now I regularly hear from people say they met someone from Paddle and they went above and beyond. 2. Keep raising the bar The most competitive space in any market is mediocrity. So whatever we do on the brand front, the rule is: don't create another 'me too' campaign, ebook, launch. If everyone is aiming for clicks, that gives us a huge opportunity to cut through the noise and be remembered by going against the grain, and continuously raising the quality bar. That's how we ended up producing a documentary about our $200M ProfitWell acquisition, launched Paddle to space, and published original research that the entire SaaS world has seen. 3. Episodic lightning strikes Regular lightning strikes is how you build a brand. Not with one big brand campaign. So beyond showing up everywhere, it's about making sure we keep hammering down on our core messaging, POV, backed by data. Building trust by making our market feel like 'Paddle is here to stay'. 4. The product A lot of our brand investments are actually investments in product. You can do all the right things with your brand marketing, but if there’s a disconnect between what people might perceive initially and what they actually receive, you won’t build a strong brand. Paddle's value proposition is pretty ambitious. Managing all your payments, tax and compliance needs as a merchant of record, so you can focus on growth, is a big promise. We would have never lived up to it if we didn't invest heavily in product.

As Australia accelerates EV adoption through incentives, are we driving right by a critical opportunity? Electric vehicles represent concentrated deposits of valuable materials - from lithium and cobalt to rare earth elements and copper - all assembled in a modular configuration and sitting in our driveways. The opportunity? We spend billions of dollars and an average of 15 years to open new mines for these same materials, while neglecting to develop robust strategies to recover and recirculate what we're already importing through EVs. A comprehensive national strategy for EV material recovery and reuse could: 👉 Create skilled jobs in disassembly, refurbishment, and materials processing 👉 Reduce our dependence on volatile global supply chains 👉 Slash the carbon footprint associated with primary resource extraction 👉 Establish Australia as a leader in circular resource management Our linear economy is grounded in the way things have always been done - digging rocks from the ground to export. The circular economy stretches the horizons of our imaginations, to understand that valuable resources are rolling by us down our streets. Just as roundabouts allow for efficient traffic flows, the circular economy enables vastly more efficient material flows. So let’s unjam our minds as we navigate this opportunity. #CircularEconomy #ElectricVehicles #ResourceRecovery #SustainableMining #EnergyTransition

If I’m the CFO, I don’t need a sustainability report. I need a business case. That means we don’t start with targets or frameworks — we start with real questions. Where can we cut costs with lower-emissions inputs? How does energy use vary by site, and what would it take to reduce it? What’s the cost of inaction if a customer makes emissions part of vendor selection? If sustainability can help me answer those questions — we’re in business. But that only works if the data holds up. I need to know where the numbers come from, what assumptions are baked in, and what we’re doing to improve accuracy quarter over quarter. And I need it structured in a way that speaks the language of finance: capex, opex, margin, payback, risk. Not just “carbon reductions,” but “cost per unit improvement.” Not just “engaged suppliers,” but “procurement risk exposure cut by X%.” If we can get to that level of clarity, sustainability stops being a reporting obligation. It becomes a line of influence in budget decisions, product roadmaps, and investor conversations. But that alignment has to be built — not assumed. So if I’m the CFO, here’s the conversation I want to have with the sustainability lead: • What data do we have today that’s decision-ready? • Where are the gaps? • What’s the first business case we can validate together — and how do we measure it? From there, we build trust. And from trust, we build outcomes. Because when sustainability is framed in business terms — it gets funded. When it’s not — it gets delayed.

𝑩𝑹𝑰𝑪𝑺, 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒔 & 𝑮𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒍 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔: 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑩𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒖𝒑 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 "𝑩𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑨𝒔 𝑼𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍" 𝑪𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒔? Global markets used to follow a script. Now it feels like someone shredded it, lit it on fire, and tossed it into a trade war. 🌎 BRICS is rising. Traditional alliances are throwing shade. Tariffs are having mood swings. Welcome to business in 2025. So how do companies survive this plot twist? 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐯𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐬. 📍 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝟐.𝟎 Don’t just chase GDP. Run models that factor in political risk, infrastructure gaps, and surprise regulations before packing your bags. 🛡️ 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐲 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 Geopolitical dashboards are the new crystal balls. Predict, pivot, protect. 🎭 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 No, translating your homepage isn’t localization. Use behavioral and cultural data to design offers that feel native — not forced. 📈 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫 Forget reaction mode. Data helps you act, not just react. If your business strategy still depends on old-world assumptions, here’s a newsflash: 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒚 — 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔? #BRICS #TradeWars #DataDrivenDecisionMaking #AnalyticsOverAssumptions

Expanding your business globally in 2025? It calls for a fresh mindset. One that values clarity, culture, and long-term thinking. Because global growth today goes beyond speed. It is about building something that can stand strong across different markets and moments. Here is my 5-step approach to scaling with intention: 1. Create value that aligns with each market. Every region has its own rhythm. Understand what your audience truly needs. Design strategies that are local in thinking but global in vision. 2. Prioritise profitability with purpose. Growth makes headlines, but profitability builds legacy. Build a model that is efficient, stable, and generates lasting value. 3. Build diverse teams with global mindsets. Success across borders depends on collaboration. Bring in people who understand cultural dynamics, think across time zones, and co-create innovation. 4. Adapt your offering while staying true to your core. Each market demands its own version of your product or service. Adapt with care, while holding on to the values that define your business. 5. Use technology as your foundation for scale. Digital tools offer the power to automate, communicate, and analyze across continents. Let technology support your ambition with speed and intelligence. In 2025, building a global business means leading with clarity, vision, and flexibility. Short-term results may seem exciting, but long-term impact creates legacy. Ask yourself: What does your business stand for in the next 10, 20, or 50 years? That answer will shape your future. Be Bold. Be Daring. Be Different! #Leadership #GlobalStrategy #SustainableGrowth #Business