A Saudi fintech generates $2M annually but only $200K comes from outside Saudi Arabia. Their HAR (Home vs Away Revenue) ratio is 0.1—a signal that despite local success, they haven’t proven global market appeal. Meanwhile, a Lebanese startup with $800K total revenue but $600K from other countries shows an HAR of 0.75, indicating stronger international traction despite smaller absolute numbers. The Home vs Away Revenue metric measures how much of your revenue comes from outside your home country compared to domestic revenue. For MENA startups building global products, this metric reveals whether you’re truly building something with international appeal or just succeeding in your familiar local market.

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Why HAR Matters for some MENA Startups

MENA markets are fragmented by design. Unlike US startups that can scale within a massive unified market, MENA companies must prove cross-border appeal early. Success in Dubai doesn’t automatically translate to success in Cairo or Riyadh. International revenue indicates product-market fit beyond cultural familiarity. It’s easier to succeed in your home market where you understand cultural nuances, regulatory environment, and business practices. Revenue from unfamiliar markets suggests your product solves universal problems. HAR predicts scalability potential. Companies with high home vs away ratios often struggle when they try to expand because their success depends on local advantages rather than product superiority. Global investors understand HAR intuitively. When evaluating MENA startups, international investors implicitly look for evidence that the business works beyond its home market. HAR quantifies this evidence.

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Calculating Your HAR

Formula: Away Revenue ÷ Home Revenue = HAR Ratio Example calculation:
  • Home country (UAE): $1M revenue
  • Away countries (Saudi, Egypt, Jordan): $500K revenue
  • HAR = $500K ÷ $1M = 0.5
What the numbers mean:
  • HAR < 0.25: Heavy dependence on home market
  • HAR 0.25-0.75: Moderate international traction
  • HAR > 1.0: Strong global appeal (away revenue exceeds home revenue)
  • HAR > 2.0: Truly global business model

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Why Traditional Metrics Miss This

Total revenue doesn’t show geographic distribution. A company with $5M revenue might have $4.8M from home market and $200K internationally—impressive total, weak international signal. User counts don’t reflect paying behavior across cultures. Having users in 20 countries means nothing if only your home country users actually pay. Growth rates can be misleading without geographic context. 100% growth might just mean deeper penetration in your home market, not broader market validation.

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The MENA Context

Government and family networks create home market advantages. Success in your home country might reflect relationships and regulatory familiarity rather than product excellence. Away revenue indicates success despite lacking these advantages. Cultural and language barriers test product universality. If your product only works in Arabic-speaking markets or requires extensive cultural customization, it might not scale globally. Payment and regulatory systems vary dramatically. Successfully generating revenue across different MENA payment systems and regulatory environments indicates operational sophistication. Economic development levels differ significantly. Success across markets with different GDP per capita levels suggests flexible pricing and value proposition strategies.

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Building for Better HAR

Start with one international market early. Don’t wait until you’ve maximized your home market. Test international appeal while you can still pivot your product approach. Choose your first away market strategically. Pick a market similar enough to validate your approach but different enough to test universality. If you’re UAE-based, Saudi Arabia might be too similar—try Egypt or Jordan. Track conversion rates by geography. Don’t just measure revenue—measure how effectively you convert visitors to customers in different markets. This reveals where your product messaging and value proposition work. Build operational capabilities for multiple markets. Payment processing, customer support, and regulatory compliance capabilities that work across markets become competitive advantages.

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Common HAR Mistakes

Counting partner revenue as international revenue. If a local partner sells your product internationally but you only deal with the partner domestically, that’s not true away revenue. Geographic arbitrage instead of market validation. Selling in cheaper markets to increase volume doesn’t indicate global appeal if you’re not proving value in competitive markets. Conflating presence with performance. Having offices or partnerships in multiple countries doesn’t matter if revenue concentration remains heavily domestic. Optimizing for HAR instead of total business health. HAR is a diagnostic metric, not a target. Don’t sacrifice profitable home market revenue to artificially improve your ratio.

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HAR as Investment Signal

International investors use HAR implicitly. When evaluating MENA startups, global VCs look for evidence that the business model works beyond the founder’s cultural and geographic comfort zone. HAR indicates founder capabilities. Successfully generating revenue in unfamiliar markets suggests founders can adapt, learn new business environments, and build scalable operations. HAR predicts IPO readiness. Public market investors expect geographic diversification. High HAR companies are better positioned for eventual public offerings. HAR reveals true competitive advantages. Products that succeed only in their home markets might depend on local advantages rather than fundamental product superiority.

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Tracking HAR Over Time

Early stage (0-2 years): Focus on achieving HAR > 0.1. Any international revenue indicates you’re thinking beyond your local market. Growth stage (2-5 years): Target HAR > 0.5. This indicates meaningful international traction and operational capabilities. Scale stage (5+ years): Aim for HAR > 1.0. This suggests your business model is truly global rather than regionally constrained. Monitor HAR trends, not just absolute numbers. A consistently improving HAR indicates growing international appeal. Declining HAR might signal over-dependence on home market growth.

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Implementation Strategy

Set up geographic revenue tracking from day one. Most accounting systems can track revenue by customer location. Start measuring HAR as soon as you have any international customers. Report HAR in investor updates. Include HAR alongside traditional metrics like MRR and customer acquisition costs. This shows investors you’re thinking globally. Use HAR for internal decision-making. If your HAR is declining, investigate whether you’re becoming too dependent on home market advantages. Benchmark against comparable companies. While HAR benchmarks are still developing, compare your ratio to similar-stage companies in your sector. The goal isn’t to maximize HAR at the expense of total revenue—it’s to build businesses that can succeed anywhere. For MENA startups with global ambitions, HAR provides a simple way to measure whether you’re actually building something with universal appeal or just succeeding in your comfort zone.

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Further Reading

This concept builds on Paul Graham’s ideas about ambitious startups and the importance of building businesses that can scale beyond their geographic origins. The principle of proving market appeal in unfamiliar territory applies whether you’re expanding across countries or across customer segments.