On building from Lahore for the world
What I've learned shipping international SaaS products from Pakistan: trust, timezones, and the long game.
I've shipped international SaaS from Lahore for a decade. The lessons are not what people on Twitter say they are.
\nThe first myth is timezone. People assume Pakistan-to-Australia is the easy match. It is. But timezone is a tax on attention, not on output. The output question is trust.
\nTrust is the long compounding bet
\nEvery contract I have today is downstream of work I did two years ago for a client who is no longer with me. The Pakistani engineer's problem isn't skill - it's the cold-start penalty on trust. You can either pay that off in years, or you can buy your way out with a referral network. There is no third option.
\nWhat I'd tell my younger self
\nPick fewer clients. Charge more. Write publicly. Be unfashionably honest about deadlines. The market for credibility from a city like Lahore is thin enough that any signal travels far.