Case Description

Founders of the Israeli VPN service approached me with the task of entering the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets. The project was in a state of structural inefficiency: high tax and legal burdens, inflated R&D costs, inefficient and costly technical team, technical instability of VPN protocols under strict DPI filtering, weak UX, and unprofitable acquisition.

I acted as a Senior Product Manager with an extended mandate, responsible not only for the product but also for economics, operational framework, and team transformation. I led the project end-to-end: from jurisdiction selection and business relocation to making decisions about replacing the technical team, establishing development processes, product analytics, UX, acquisition, and product scaling in the GCC region.

My Approach

1) First – economics and legal framework, then – product.

I restructured the ownership structure and operational model: initiated the relocation of the business from Israel to Hong Kong, prepared the corporate and financial framework logic, and oversaw the entire relocation process – from legal structure to the launch of operational activities. This allowed for the removal of scaling barriers and reduction of fixed costs. Outcome in tax burden: –76%.

2) Then – production and R&D.

I made a managerial decision to completely replace the original technical team and moved the development to Pakistan. The region was chosen after comparative analysis (cost, level of expertise, manageability, scalability). The team was rebuilt from scratch, roles were redistributed, and planning, quality control, and release processes were established.

Result: R&D costs reduced by nearly –67%, release speed increased by +40%, predictability of planning and task delivery increased to 87% (compared to ~40–50% previously).

3) Next – technological resilience under GCC.

Conducted competitive and technical analysis of GCC markets: which protocols are stable under DPI filtering, which connection scenarios degrade, and which bypass patterns actually work. Based on this, formulated a technical roadmap and prioritization.

Result: the success rate of connections in GCC increased by +29% through testing and implementing XRay / Hysteria / WG and selecting the correct technical solutions.

4) Concurrently – product growth: UX → funnels → retention.

Re-engineered the UX of the website and application, built a B2C acquisition funnel, implemented product analytics (funnels, cohorts, retention, LTV/CAC), CRM communications, and systematic product management (OKR, North Star Metric, RICE).

Effect: the hypothesis and iteration speed increased by 2.3 times, decision-making speed reduced by –67%, CAC/CPA decreased by –93%, organic traffic grew by +17%.

5) Strategic readiness for scaling

Developed a GTM strategy for GCC: segmentation, positioning, SEO and content funnels, partner channels, logic of creatives and landing pages.

Outcome: organic traffic growth +17%, registration conversion growth +210%, CAC/CPA reduction –93% with steady growth of CR across the entire funnel.

My main priorities were:

1) Convenient and secure jurisdiction

• Independently explored available options and risks for the international model (taxes/compliance/sanctions triggers/banking practicality).

• Accompanied the relocation of the business and company registration in Hong Kong: from structure and logic of frameworks to practical steps in launching operational activities.

• Outcome – tax burden reduction by –76%, plus reduction of overall legal-administrative burden by simplifying the structure and eliminating heavy bottlenecks.

2) Simple and native user experience

• Redesigned user scenarios on the website and in the app so that the value is evident in the first seconds (screen architecture, step sequence, simplification of the purchase path).

• Outcome: conversion site → purchase increased by +950%.

• Critically improved the first session: drop-off decreased by –38%, time-to-value accelerated by –46%, A1/A2 activation increased by +32%.

3) Technical team understanding regional specifics

• Assembled and organized the work of a distributed team (IL → PK → HK), established transparent processes and quality control.

• Outcome: predictability brought to 87%, release speed +40%, while R&D costs –67%.

4) Transparent product logic

• Implemented product analytics (funnels, retention, cohorts, LTV/CAC) and made it the basis of decision-making.

• Outcome: decision speed –67%, cohort analysis helped reduce early churn by –21%.

5) Strategic readiness for scaling

• Built a GTM strategy for GCC: segmentation, positioning, SEO/content funnels, partner channels, creatives, and landing page logic.

• Outcome: organic traffic growth +17%, registration conversion growth +210%, CAC/CPA reduction –93% with steady CR growth across the funnel.

Key Challenges and Solutions

1) Convenient and secure jurisdiction

Independently worked through options and risks for the international model (taxes, compliance, sanctions triggers, banking). Accompanied the relocation of business and company registration in Hong Kong: from the framework structure to practical launch of operational activity.

Outcome – tax burden reduced by –76% and overall legal-administrative expenses reduced by simplifying the structure.

2) Simple and native user experience

Redesigned user scenarios of the website and app so that the product value is understood in the first seconds.

Result: conversion site → purchase increased by +950%. Drop-off of the first session decreased by –38%, time-to-value sped up by –46%, A1/A2 activation grew by +32%.

3) Technical team understanding regional specifics

Replaced the original team and organized the work of the distributed R&D team (IL → PK → HK) with transparent processes and quality control.

Outcome: predictability 87%, release speed +40%, R&D costs –67%.

4) Transparent product logic

Implemented product analytics and made data the basis of all decisions.

Outcome: decision-making speed –67%, cohort analysis reduced early churn by –21%.

5) Strategic readiness for scaling

Developed a GTM strategy for GCC: segmentation, positioning, SEO and content funnels, partner channels, logic of creatives and landing pages.

Outcome: organic traffic growth +17%, registration conversion growth +210%, CAC/CPA reduction –93% with stable CR growth across the funnel.