\nAbdulaziz Saja is general manager of Tabby, Saudi-based buy-now-pay-later platform operating in the kingdom and UAE. Last year, the application recorded 26 million clicks, its highest user engagement to date. Partnered with over 3,000 retailers, including IKEA, Shein, Adidas, Level Shoes, H&M and Bloomingdale’s, Tabby is ranked among the top 10 shopping applications in the UAE and Saudi Arabia on Apple’s AppStore, with 500,000 users installing it every month. An eager and continuous student of fintech, Saja shares his perfect morning.<\/p>\n
What is the best way to start your day? <\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m sure it\u2019s different for each person depending on when your productive peak is during the day. For me, that\u2019s early in the morning and I start with a good 45- to 60-minute workout that gets my dopamine flowing and carries me well into the afternoon. To further optimise that, I jot down my to-do list the night before (so I\u2019m hitting the ground running and not stuck planning my day) and block my calendar to avoid any meetings. I focus on the most complex tasks or the ones that require extra attention, focus or creativity (e.g. working on pitches, reading up new tech or developments in the eco-system, etc\u2026). It\u2019s really that simple and I\u2019ve gotten my best work done in those times.<\/p>\n If you could be any character from a movie, who would you be? <\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s easy. Dr. Manhattan from the movie Watchmen. Omnipotent and omniscient mutant. For me, that means every choice is a two-way street and I\u2019m finally free from FOMO.<\/p>\n What is your greatest achievement? <\/strong><\/p>\n On a personal level, it\u2019s really taking back control of my career back when I was in banking and realising that it wasn’t where I wanted to be and finding the determination to switch through a gradual trial-and-error process (which wasn\u2019t easy).<\/p>\n Professionally, it\u2019s got to be the last 3 years I\u2019ve spent with Tabby. Looking back at what we\u2019ve achieved as a team, it\u2019s nothing short of miraculous. Growing at the pace we were and having to constantly revisit our assumptions, adjusting for scale and ensuring that our people succeed has been probably the most challenging period of my career but also the most fulfilling so far. Very lucky and proud to have participated in that.<\/p>\n What advice would you give your 13-year-old self? <\/strong><\/p>\n Don\u2019t worry about what other people think. Do what you think is right and trust your gut. Take chances, make mistakes and always try something different. Hang out with people you respect and stop complaining\u2026 wouldn\u2019t hurt if I had picked up coding too.<\/p>\n If you had 24 hours left on Earth, what would you do? <\/strong><\/p>\n See my family, call them and tell them I love them. For the rest of it, I\u2019d take my better half out on a surprise date.<\/p>\n Who or what is your biggest inspiration? <\/strong><\/p>\n Hard to say. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s one person but a multitude of people I met over my life whether it\u2019s colleagues, friends or other celebrities that have done something different and gutsy in their life. I take a lot of inspiration from people that have managed to completely transform themselves and reshape their reality no matter how small. It makes the impossible seem possible and keeps me going.<\/p>\n What would you like to achieve in the next 10 years? <\/strong><\/p>\n I don\u2019t make 10-year plans anymore. I just hope to continue charting a path for myself that is exciting and fulfilling, whether it\u2019s deepening my understanding of the fintech ecosystem, building a stellar team or picking up a new hobby in my personal life (recently picked up calisthenics as a new workout regimen, let\u2019s see how it goes!).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" General manager of Tabby, Saudi Arabian buy-now-pay-later platform shares the advice he would give his teenage self. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":17960,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3937,3936],"tags":[4237,2683,4166],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17959"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17959"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17962,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17959\/revisions\/17962"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meretailnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}