The Story So Far: a Built for MENA special

Five episodes in, and five people who build, sell and spend money in this region have answered exactly the same seven questions. No guest this time. This is what actually came out of those conversations: where they agreed, where they flatly contradicted each other, and the one answer that surprised me most. What's in it: • The only thing all five said without being prompted and without hearing each other: what works everywhere else does not work here. Then five completely different reasons why • Four of five said relationships matter more than technology. The one who said technology is the most interesting answer of the season, and it isn't the odd one out • The real argument running under season one: everyone agrees the region moves fast, nobody agrees on what the speed is costing us • Terry Kane's hardest number of the season, 80% of the money in a place where people spend 30% of their time, and the same imbalance reached from the agency side by Trevor d'Souza • Oliver Klander giving the identical answer to "most overrated buzzword" and "most underrated opportunity", about four seconds apart • Kelly-Marie Fernandes on skipping the Frankenstack that Europe and the US built, and the condition she puts on it that I haven't been able to stop thinking about • Why Sunil Modha and Trevor d'Souza both reject "emerging", and the case that this market is early rather than behind • Three of five, asked what skill the industry needs next, said a version of listening. Not a technology. Listening With clips from Terry Kane (The Trade Desk), Oliver Klander (LiveRamp), Sunil Modha (Smartly), Trevor d'Souza (Radix Media) and Kelly-Marie Fernandes. Season one isn't finished, it's halfway through. I'm taking a break for the summer and I'll be back later in the year with the second half: more guests, the same seven questions, and we'll see whether the patterns hold or whether the next five people tear all of this up. If you've got someone I should be talking to, or you think I've read these five conversations wrong, tell me. I'd genuinely like to hear it. Listen at builtformena.com. Every guest faces the same seven questions, so you can compare how the region's operators really think.