Kevin Foley, CFA’s Post

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Director of Product Management at Optimal Blue

📚I recently finished reading Marty Cagan’s book Transformed, which I found to provide some practical insights on product development. While I don’t believe that there is only one way for companies to innovate, I think it’s great for product leaders to grapple with the larger ideas and perspectives that are out there. 💡One story from the book stuck with me. File this under “you can find innovation anywhere” - quick summary below: 1️⃣Almosafer is a travel and tourism company based in Saudia Arabia. They serve the wider Middle East and saw an opportunity to incorporate local needs, preferences and cultures for travel - also supporting religious travel. They grew to a billion dollar business BUT then the pandemic hit. 2️⃣While many tourism companies struggled during the pandemic, Almosafer turned this into an opportunity by leveraging their top-notch infrastructure for user feedback. They realized there was an unmet need for families to gather together safely. 3️⃣Most often, families were looking to gather in large outdoor courtyards called “istirahas”, so Almosafer began to incorporate finding and reserving istirahas into their product offering - quickly becoming the “Airbnb” of istirahas, successfully educating the population on this new offering, and growing to over 70% market share. 🔔Punchline: True innovation isn’t just about perfecting the present. It’s about planning for the surprises of tomorrow.

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