Conversations with Loulou Loulou Khazen

Huda Al-Lawati is a veteran private equity professional across emerging markets having had executive roles at companies like Gateway Partners, Savola and Abraaj. Huda has recently launched Aliph Capital, a private equity fund that focuses on the mid market segment. 

I sat down with Huda to get an insider’s view on the private equity industry in the MENA region, what are the opportunites, where to fundraise, how to source deals, how to create value to companies they acquire by building the right teams and much more. Also if you’re interested to work in private equity, Huda shares her tips on what she looks for and what it takes to succeed in this competitive industry.

If you’re looking to gain an understanding of how the industry works then this is a great place to start!

Support for the show comes from Capital.com, a global investment platform. Visit their webiste to start trading today!
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When Hassan Sawaf started working on machine learning in the 90s in Germany, no one thought advancements in AI would bring us to where we are today. Not even Hassan himself! In fact, people thought the AI field was too 'theoretical'.
In this conversation, Hassan talks to us about AI’s evolution and his vision for aiXplain, a company he is building out of California that aims to make AI accessible to builders and innovators and provide them with tools to prototype their ideas with low or no-code. Hassan has been in the driving seat of the AI evolution and has led AI efforts in some of the world’s leading companies; eBay, Amazon AWS and Meta, he is a serial entrepreneur, sits on several boards, has a Ph.D. in machine learning algorithms for speech translation applications and has 60+ patents and publications in the field.

Support for the show comes from Capital.com, a global investment platform. Visit their webiste to start trading today!
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'I have my termination letter framed in my office’ that is the first thing that Jihad said to me when I first met him. Jihad El Eit, is the Founder & Group CEO at Kaykroo, the region’s creator of home grown brands like Manoushe Street, the Good Bowl, Fern el Balad, the Pasta Cup and many more.
Jihad has a fascinating entrepreneurial journey that started after the company he worked at i2 shut down in 2007. Immediately after, Jihad saw an opportunity to become the distributor of Nokia in Pakistan, so he packed his bags and moved from Dubai to Pakistan to pursue it! A few years later, another opportunity arose to open a Lebanse Street Food concept with friends and Manoushe Street was born.
After exiting his business in Pakistan, Jihad went all in on food and beverage and expanded Manoushe Street which becase Kaykroo in 2020, a series of hybrid kitchens serving over 40 brands in the UAE & Saudi Arabia. With $50m in investments to date, Kaykroo is scaling fast. Jihad shares his story, his insights on the food and beverage industry and plenty of advice for entrepreneurs looking to enter the space.

Support for the show comes from Capital.com, a global investment platform. Visit their webiste to start trading today!
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In this special episode shot live from the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival on February 4th 2024, Steven and I discuss the power of personal branding and authenticity. Steven is a celebrity in the world of podcasts, his podcast the Diary of a CEO gets 50million monthly downloads and is the #1 podcast in Europe! Steven is a successful entrepreneur, investor and author. Steven is remarkably humble, his passion is grounded in pragmatism and his story truly inspiring, a self-made, self-taught immigrant from Botswana to the UK who made the best out of his privileges and continues to build and be at the helm of successful ventures.

This episode is supported by Capital.com, an award winning global investment platform. To start trading today, visit: https://capital.com 

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I sat down with Allen Taylor, the Managing Partner at Endeavor Catalyst to learn more about their unique approach to investing across the world. Endeavor Catalyst fund is part of the non-profit Endeavor network, the home of 2500+ entrepreneurs across 42 markets. Over the past 11 years, Endeavor Catalyst, chaired by LinkedIn Co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman, has raised $500m and deployed $2m cheques in 300+ companies. We discuss the importance and return potential of investing in emerging markets, why investors need to stick through the current macro environment, advice for founders on raising down rounds and dealing with the stigma of it and what Allen looks for in entrepreneurs. An inspiring discussion and an open invitation for both governments and the private sector to invest in the growth of the startup ecosystem.

This episode is supported by Capital.com, an award winning global investment platform. To start trading today, visit: https://capital.com 

To read Endeavor catalyst’s latest report click here and to connect with Allen click here.  

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I sat down with Elie Habib, the Co-founder of Anghami, the region’s most loved home grown brand! Anghami is a leading music streaming platform catering for the Arab world. We discuss Anghami’s much hyped listing on the NASDAQ New York on February 4th 2022 and the period that follows including the tumbling of their market cap well below their yearly revenues. We discuss Anghami’s new merger with OSN+ and Elie’s new role as CEO post merger. Elie gave me a carte blanche to ask him anything and I deeply respect that. Always leading by example! 

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