Management philosophy
Today I manage multiple products across our companies, and this page explains how the whole system is run together efficiently, without losing focus: ten principles I apply in every company, and against which every significant decision is reviewed.
- 01
Independent companies, one methodology.
Each company is a separate legal and financial entity with its own market, pricing, and financial records. What they share is that I lead them, the same standards, and the same way of working. No company hides another's losses.
Oman and Syria run under different regulatory, commercial, and currency regimes, and nothing about pricing or positioning crosses from one to the other.
- 02
A cash-flow engine, a growth investment, and a stable foundation.
Each company has its own mission and goals, and alongside them a role in the system: a cash-flow engine, a growth investment funded until it stands on its own, or a low-touch recurring line that forms the stable foundation. Profit is reinvested by rule, and outside capital is taken only when bootstrap cannot keep the pace the market demands.
One growth investment is funded at a time. When it stands on its own, the next one begins.
- 03
A compact leadership circle.
I rely on a small circle of people I trust, each assigned to one company and sometimes to one product line, with full responsibility for it. My work across the companies is strategic direction, arbitration, and unblocking. I do not micromanage, and I do not override an owner inside their company.
Every company has one owner responsible for it, and my role in each is defined and written down.
- 04
Close involvement with the product.
I manage my attention across the companies on a weekly rotation: one week centred on WorkLink, another on Levant Host, and so on. Company managers and product-line leads do the daily work, and I move between them to develop the product and make the strategic moves.
A fixed weekly rotation between the companies, with one company at the centre of attention each week.
- 05
Partnerships are the commercial engine.
We have never spent money on marketing. Every client has come through a partner channel or a reference, so partnerships are treated as the primary sales engine.
Zero marketing spend since 2020.
- 06
New ventures must integrate.
A new venture enters the system only if it adds value to what already exists: it sells through channels already built and runs on the attention left over from what is already in flight.
Ibtikar Academy had real numbers, more than 4,500 students and 85 courses, and failed both tests, so I stopped work on it.
- 07
Act fast, test, adjust on the go.
Launch the minimum viable product to test the market's response, then change it every two or three weeks based on what comes back.
WorkLink started as a basic site with a handful of openings and has changed every two or three weeks since.
- 08
Written governance.
Every company has a current-state file, a positioning file, and pricing rules. Every significant decision is logged with its reasoning and superseded explicitly rather than rewritten. A monthly review runs on a handful of numbers, and one annual plan covers the whole network.
The 2027 plan is being prepared now for every active company in the network.
- 09
Tactical withdrawal is part of the strategy.
Every company is reviewed as grow, hold, invest, or close. When a close is decided, on the numbers, it is executed, not postponed.
Faseela Tech closed when it had fulfilled its vision, Bluethroat merged, Ibtikar Academy was stopped.
- 10
High impact, and profitable.
Impact is a core criterion for judging any launch, applied before a venture is chosen. And every free initiative is part of the social responsibility of the company that hosts it.
A free pharmacy app, free Git hosting.