Egypt for Finance Talent

Nick Huber and Shaan Puri share their perspectives on building lean, effective teams using global talent and maintaining focus on what actually drives business growth.

Global Talent Strategy:

• Dramatic Shift in Team Composition:

  • Nick has only 6 Americans out of 160 employees at one company
  • Another portfolio company has 7 Americans out of 130 employees
  • A third has 6 Americans out of 60 employees
  • Americans are primarily kept in sales and account management roles because they excel at closing high-ticket deals

• Geographic Hotspots for Specific Roles:

  • Egypt (Cairo): Cheapest city globally for Microsoft Excel and Power BI talent for finance/data analyst roles
  • Colombia & Brazil: Unbelievable for operations, same time zone, perfect for non-sales roles
  • South Africa: Sales and finance hub - 30,000 South Africans work for Big Four consulting firms annually, then return home where you can hire them as controllers for $3k/month
  • Sri Lanka: Strong for almost all roles
  • Philippines: 30 million Filipinos already working for American companies, deeply ingrained in their culture
  • Eastern Europe: Engineers

• Evolution in Thinking:

  • Used to think: outsource only repeatable tasks to international talent
  • Now realizes: the people who can run the entire company can do it better and cheaper internationally
  • Examples: COO in Johannesburg, Head of Performance Marketing in Bogota, Head of Finance in Cape Town

Practical Hiring Process:

• Sourcing Candidates:

  • Get 60,000 applicants monthly - half from LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster promoted postings
  • Other half from referrals and ads targeting people who already have jobs
  • Post jobs on LinkedIn targeting Colombia, Brazil, South Africa, Philippines
  • Promote with $100/day for 5 days (~$500 total) to get ~1,000 applicants

• Filtering Strategy:

  • First Filter - Typing Speed: 85% of 60,000 monthly applicants can't type 35 words per minute
  • This applies to ALL roles: engineering, marketing, graphic design, admin, sales, executive leadership
  • Gets applicant pool down to 5,000 people immediately
  • Second Filter - English Test: Another immediate heuristic

• Task-Based Testing Over Interviews:

  • Shaan emphasizes giving 60-90 minute tests that simulate actual work
  • Forces clarity on what you're actually looking for (most people don't know when interviewing)
  • Provides objective comparison: "here's what one person produced vs. another"
  • Start with production because that's what you want in the end
  • Often pays candidates for the test time - saves money vs. false hires from "nice chats"

Business Focus Philosophy:

• Shaan's E-commerce Lesson:

  • Started at $100k/month revenue from Facebook ads
  • Wanted to add influencers and Google
  • Mentor (Sully) told him: "Don't say the word influencers until you're at $300k/month just off Facebook"
  • Logic: If Facebook can't get you to $300k, influencers won't save you
  • Successful ecom brands should spend $1M+/month on Facebook ads alone
  • Result: Kept scaling Facebook to $500k, then $1M/month
  • Five years later, still doesn't do influencers - didn't need it

• The Core Principle:

  • Focus isn't about what you say yes to
  • It's about saying no to otherwise great ideas
  • Don't distract yourself with what sounds good

• Real Example of Cutting Waste:

  • One company spending $150k/month on paid ads
  • ROAS barely breaking even
  • Calculated down to profit: only making $15-20k/month in actual profit from that spend

Market Context (Somewhere Acquisition):

• Customer Base Reality:

  • Not well-funded AI companies sloshing money around
  • Real businesses: small business owners, agency owners who own 100% and care about cash flow
  • E-commerce businesses on tight margins (why they use global talent)
  • More responsible tech companies, not VC-subsidized with $50M rounds

• Economic Headwinds Impact:

  • E-com, home service, construction, real estate all facing headwinds
  • These businesses might shrink workforce, stop hiring altogether
  • Tariffs uncertainty causing caution
  • Cost-sensitive customers living in the real world

• Somewhere Performance Post-Acquisition:

  • Up 60% in revenue vs. the 4 months before acquisition
  • Up 28% vs. last year
  • Still behind original pro forma projections
  • Made bold executive changes: expanded beyond 95% Philippines focus to Latin America, South Africa, Egypt
  • Built executive teams internationally with high-skilled talent who know how to structure and build companies