Startups Arabia

Ali Zewail
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Startups Arabia

The Arab startups scene is one of the hottest globally. The Startups Arabia podcast is the place to learn all about it. With a 420 million strong population that is young and tech-savvy, the Arab world is proving to be a great market to create a startup. This podcast interviews the best founders, investors and operators of the region. Listening to deep conversations with them, you will learn deep insights about the ecosystem. You will also be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see.

  1. Mohammed Alzubi, Treasuring Entrepreneurial Scars and Bringing Back Silicon Valley Insights to the MENA region - Ep.9, Season 2

    17 NOV

    Mohammed Alzubi, Treasuring Entrepreneurial Scars and Bringing Back Silicon Valley Insights to the MENA region - Ep.9, Season 2

    Mohammed is the Managing Partner at Nama Ventures, a pre-seed / seed stage fund fueling tech innovation in the MENA region, especially in Saudi. Previously, he was the managing director of Tharwa Capital, a Dubai based financial investment and advisory firm focusing on the technology equity markets. He’s also led the Venture Capital practice at Global Investment House, a Kuwait based investment company. Prior to that, he was the Director of Technology Investments at Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA). and the Founder and CEO of Sulaf Solutions, a tech solutions provider based in Silicon Valley. Mohammed has worked and consulted for many blue chip technology companies as well as been an active Angel investor. He’s a member of Sand Hill Angels (SHA), on the Advisory Board of LinkSV, an Advisory Board member of kyube.com, and a founding board member of Techwadi. Mohammed is a mentor to many regional technology companies and an advisor with In5 incubator in Dubai and Oasis 500 incubator in Jordan. He holds an MBA from London Business School and has a BS in Electrical Engineering from Brigham Young University. —----------------------------------------------------------- The Startups Arabia Podcast connects you to the most prominent founders, investors, and operators of the Arab region. You will be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see. Follow us on our social media platforms to stay updated and get in touch: LinkedIn: Startups Arabia Podcast Twitter: @ArabiaStartups Facebook: @startupsarabia Youtube: Startups Arabia Podcast —--- Resources—--------: Mohammed’s LinkedIn account: @Mohammed Alzubi Nama Ventures’ Website: https://www.namaventures.com/ —----------------------------------------------------------- SHOW NOTES: 00:00 Introduction of Mohammed Alzubi 03:14 The Decision to Return to the MENA Region after years in Silicon Valley 07:40 The Entrepreneurial Experience and Its Impact on Investing 17:03 The Founding and Vision of Nama Ventures 20:49 Investment Philosophy: The Importance of Team 25:22 Decision-Making Process at Nama Ventures 32:01 Brev.dev's Journey to Acquisition by NVIDIA 40:42 The Power of a Complementary Team 42:06 From Founder to Investor 44:30 Launching a New Podcast 45:22 The Story of Salla 46:29 Localizing Business Models for MENA 54:08 Navigating the Saudi Startup Ecosystem 01:01:01 Investing in Funds as an LP and the Value of Trust 01:06:56 The Importance of Effective Boards 01:13:39 Concluding Remarks and Quickfire Questions

    1h 20m
  2. Ameer Sherif, From Bootstrapping During Turmoil to Building a Regional Employment Powerhouse - Ep.8, Season 2

    3 NOV

    Ameer Sherif, From Bootstrapping During Turmoil to Building a Regional Employment Powerhouse - Ep.8, Season 2

    Ameer Sherif is the founder and chairman of Basharsoft, the company behind Wuzzuf and Forasna, Egypt's leading online employment platforms for both white collar and blue collar workers, respectively. Collectively, both platforms impacted the lives of over seven million job seekers in Egypt and helped 70,000+ companies hire more than one million people over the past years. They've had significant growth and impact on the local online employment market, and they have been one of Egypt's fastest growing local tech companies. He's raised a total of 12 million in VC funding along the way, and he's built a team of over 300 employees. And many of his investors, as we will tell the story, were investing in the region for the first time when they invested in Basharsoft. Today, he leads the company's expansion into Saudi Arabia, the GCC, and Africa.  In 2019, he was selected as an endeavor entrepreneur and named a young global leader by the World Economic Forum. He also sits on the board of Egytrans, a publicly listed logistics company, and ITIDA, the executive arm of the Egyptian Ministry of ICT. Helping set strategies for Egypt on digitization, innovation, entrepreneurship. Ameer is also a venture partner with Khwarizmi Ventures, a 70 million dollar MENA focused VC fund based in KSA, where he spent two years as a partner and continues to advise portfolio founders. He holds a master's degree in computer engineering, and a bachelor's in electrical and communications engineering from Cairo University. He's also completed a master's in Executive programs on public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and business leadership executive programs at MIT, Stanford, INSEAD, and HBS. —----------------------------------------------------------- The Startups Arabia Podcast connects you to the most prominent founders, investors, and operators of the Arab region. You will be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see. Follow us on our social media platforms to stay updated and get in touch: LinkedIn: Startups Arabia Podcast Twitter: @ArabiaStartups Facebook: @startupsarabia Youtube: Startups Arabia Podcast —--- Resources—--------: Hasan’s LinkedIn account: @Ameer Sherif Wuzzuf’s Website: https://wuzzuf.net/jobs/egypt Forasna’s Website: https://forasna.com/ —----------------------------------------------------------- SHOW NOTES: 00:00 Introduction to Ameer Sherif and Basharsoft 03:26 Ameer’s Journey into Entrepreneurship 06:58 Overcoming Early Challenges 10:06 Innovative Solutions and Growth 17:56 Securing Funding and Expansion 26:32 Impact and Future Plans 42:18 Insights from the VC World 50:16 Insights on Founder Management and Success 50:59 Expanding to New Markets and Company Vision 52:53 Experience in Public Policy and Board Certification 53:50 Introduction to Khwarizmi Ventures 54:49 Investment Decision-Making Process 56:18 Promising Verticals and Team Focus 58:11 Co-Founder Relationships and Best Practices 01:01:16 Mental Health and Burnout in Founders 01:04:27 Balancing Work and Life as a Founder 01:06:31 Joining the Board of ITIDA 01:10:58 Advice to Younger Self and Definition of Success 01:15:58 Second-Time Founders and Market Maturity 01:19:07 Exit Options for Startups in the Region 01:22:08 Characteristics of Effective Board Directors 01:24:21 Choosing the Right Investors 01:25:56 Investing in the HR Space 01:29:16 Future Vision for Basharsoft 01:29:51 Concluding Remarks and Quickfire Questions

    1h 41m
  3. Hasan Haider, Embracing Non-Obvious Outliers, and his Early Stage Investment Thesis - Ep.7, Season 2

    20 OCT

    Hasan Haider, Embracing Non-Obvious Outliers, and his Early Stage Investment Thesis - Ep.7, Season 2

    Hasan Haider has over 13 years of experience investing in MENA startups. Hasan is the Founder and Managing Partner of +VC, one of the most active early stage venture capital firms focused on the MENA region. Hasan was previously Managing Partner, MENA at 500 Startups and led the firms growth in the MENA Region, turning 500 Startups into the most active VC fund in the MENA region, raising and deploying the 500 Falcons fund, building partnerships and running programs in the region to help build the regional ecosystem. Hasan has invested in more than 250 startups in the region over the course of the last 5 years.  Prior to 500, Hasan was the co-founder and CEO of Tenmou, the first business angel’s organization in Bahrain and one of the first in the MENA region. Hasan’s work in developing angel investment in emerging markets through Tenmou has been picked up as a case study by the World Bank and was taught to Entrepreneurship Policy makers at Babson College. Previously, Hasan’s career was in finance and investment banking at Sico where he spent a number of years. —----------------------------------------------------------- The Startups Arabia Podcast connects you to the most prominent founders, investors, and operators of the Arab region. You will be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see. Follow us on our social media platforms to stay updated and get in touch: LinkedIn: Startups Arabia Podcast Twitter: @ArabiaStartups Facebook: @startupsarabia Youtube: Startups Arabia Podcast —--- Resources—--------: Hasan’s LinkedIn account: @Hasan Haider +VC’s Website: https://plus.vc/

    1h 18m
  4. Ahmad Takatkah, Leveraging Data Science in Venture Capital, Experiencing Silicon Valley Hypergrowth and Processing Failure in Startups - Ep.6, Season 2

    22 SEPT

    Ahmad Takatkah, Leveraging Data Science in Venture Capital, Experiencing Silicon Valley Hypergrowth and Processing Failure in Startups - Ep.6, Season 2

    VCpreneur, at The Intersection Of VC & Data Ahmad Takatkah is a technical founder turned VC, with a background in computer engineering, data science (AI and ML), and product management.  Over the past 15 years, Ahmad has helped set up and operate three VC firms. For which he created new deal sourcing, startup evaluation, and exit prediction tools.  Ahmad utilized a new AI model he customized to summarize startup pitch decks and prepare investment memos and DD reports. He utilized a new data model he designed to collect 300+ data points on startups, and then used ML to score companies based on price, market, team, differentiation, and performance, and to predict exit timelines, valuations, and fund returns.  He's also created internal products to automate the collection of portfolio companies’ performance data, and encourage knowledge sharing among portfolio companies’ founders and teams.  Ahmad comes with technical, entrepreneurial, and active VC investing experience, he managed small and large teams of both business and engineering talents. He is an Engineer with an MBA, and a Kauffman Fellow since 2012. —----------------------------------------------------------- The Startups Arabia Podcast connects you to the most prominent founders, investors, and operators of the Arab region. You will be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see. Follow us on our social media platforms to stay updated and get in touch: LinkedIn: Startups Arabia Podcast Twitter: @ArabiaStartups Facebook: @startupsarabia Youtube: Startups Arabia Podcast —--- Resources—--------: Ahmad’s LinkedIn account: @Ahmad Takatkah (أحمد طقاطقه) Ahmad’s Website: https://www.vcpreneur.com/ VC Evolve book: Navigating the Art, Science, and Future of Venture Capital, in an Ever-Evolving Startup Frontier

    1h 48m
  5. Rama Kayyali, Building a mission-driven company, adopting cutting-edge technology to improve Arabic language literacy and pivoting several times - Ep.5, Season 2

    11 FEB

    Rama Kayyali, Building a mission-driven company, adopting cutting-edge technology to improve Arabic language literacy and pivoting several times - Ep.5, Season 2

    Rama Kayyali is CEO and co-founder of Little Thinking Minds, an award-winning edtech company with a mission to close Arabic language literacy gaps, creating digital learning platforms to improve targeting over 100 million children in MENA and over 100 million globally. Currently Little Thinking Minds platforms are used by half a million students in 800 schools in 10 countries in the MENA region in private and public schools as well as schools that cater to refugee communities. Little Thinking Minds is a multiple globally recognized and award winning company: 2023 winner of the Innovation Award from the Saudi eLearning Center 2022 MIT SOLVE global competition 2021 Innovation Award of Abdel Hamid Shoman Foundation 2020 and 2021 Elite 200 (GSVCup Competition) representing the top “Pre-K to Gray” EdTech startups across the globe with a mission to ensure that children have access to a better future through education 2019 Selected as one of the top 100 start-ups shaping the fourth industrial revolution 2019 Queen Rania Award for Education in Entrepreneurship Rama is an Eisenhower Fellow, an Endeavor Entrepreneur and winner of the Arab Women's Award. —----------------------------------------------------------- The Startups Arabia Podcast connects you to the most prominent founders, investors, and operators of the Arab region. You will be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see. Follow us on our social media platforms to stay updated and get in touch: LinkedIn: Startups Arabia Podcast Twitter: @ArabiaStartups Facebook: @startupsarabia Youtube: Startups Arabia Podcast —--- Resources—--------: Rama’s LinkedIn account: @Rama Kayyali Little Thinking Minds’ Website: https://www.littlethinkingminds.com/en/

    1h 7m
  6. Wael Nafee, Transitioning from operator to investor, YC’s secret sauce and building Careem in its growth phase - Ep.4, Season 2

    28 JAN

    Wael Nafee, Transitioning from operator to investor, YC’s secret sauce and building Careem in its growth phase - Ep.4, Season 2

    Wael is a Computer Engineer, serial entrepreneur, and YC alumnus who has co-founded various startups in the Silicon Valley and the Middle East. He was one of the early employees of Careem and held roles including VP of Product Management and VP of Platform Superapp Business Unit until Uber's acquisition for $3.1bn. Wael is a techie at heart and has built technology products used by tens of millions of users worldwide. He is currently a General Partner at Raed Ventures​, a VC firm ​investing in early stage startups in the region​,​ and is passionate about building tech capacity and fostering entrepreneurship in the MENA region. —----------------------------------------------------------- The Startups Arabia Podcast connects you to the most prominent founders, investors, and operators of the Arab region. You will be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see. Follow us on our social media platforms to stay updated and get in touch: LinkedIn: Startups Arabia Podcast Twitter: @ArabiaStartups Facebook: @startupsarabia Youtube: Startups Arabia Podcast —--- Resources—--------: Wael’s LinkedIn account: @Wael Nafee Raed Ventures’ Website: https://raed.vc/

    1h 21m
  7. Waleed Kadous, Decoding LLM-based approaches and startup versus big tech culture - Ep.3, Season 2

    8 JAN

    Waleed Kadous, Decoding LLM-based approaches and startup versus big tech culture - Ep.3, Season 2

    Dr. Waleed Kadous is Chief Scientist at Anyscale, the company behind the popular open source distributed computing platform Ray. He leads the company’s LLM efforts. Prior to Anyscale, Waleed worked at Uber, where he led overall system architecture, evangelized machine learning, and led the Location and Maps teams. He previously worked at Google, where he founded the Android Location and Sensing team, responsible for the “blue dot” as well as ML algorithms underlying products like Google Fit. He also holds more than 40 patents.  —----------------------------------------------------------- The Startups Arabia Podcast connects you to the most prominent founders, investors, and operators of the Arab region. You will be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see. Follow us on our social media platforms to stay updated and get in touch: LinkedIn: Startups Arabia Podcast Twitter: @ArabiaStartups Facebook: @startupsarabia Youtube: Startups Arabia Podcast —--- Resources—--------: Waleed’s LinkedIn account: @M Waleed Kadous Anyscale’s Website: https://www.anyscale.com/ Ray: https://docs.ray.io/en/latest/

    1h 37m
  8. Asher Siddiqui, VC fundraising, GP/LP dynamics, and advising Robert Downey Jr's fund - Ep.2 Part 2, Season 2

    24/12/2023

    Asher Siddiqui, VC fundraising, GP/LP dynamics, and advising Robert Downey Jr's fund - Ep.2 Part 2, Season 2

    Asher Siddiqui is a tech investor with a global career spanning 25+ years, having made 100+ investments valued at $15bn+. Asher is a General Partner at Sukna Ventures, a MENA focused early-stage VC Fund that backs exceptional teams building the software & data infrastructure layer enabling the digital transformation of industries across the MENA region. Asher started out in the late 90’s as an entrepreneur and software engineer building J2EE B2B SaaS products (1998-2006), followed by 10 years (2006-2016) in corporate M&A, as Head of M&A and CVC at Etisalat Group (now e& Group - c.$65bn market cap) where he led $15bn of M&A and CVC (founding board member and chair of the IC at iMENA Group) deals and then switched to VC when he joined the global leadership team at 500 Startups (now 500 Global) in San Francisco (2016-2019). Since then, Asher was involved with the development of several VC firms including Sukna Ventures in the MENA region, Lumikai Fund in India, Zayn Capital in Pakistan, Race Capital in Silicon Valley, etc.. Asher Siddiqui is also a GP coach and advisor to several VC fund managers (GP’s) and sits on the advisory board of several VC firms, including: FootPrint Coalition Ventures (led by Robert Downey Jr. - USA), Merus Capital (led by the former Head of Corp Dev at Google - USA), The Treasury (led by the cofounders of Betterment and Acorns - USA), among others.  —----------------------------------------------------------- The Startups Arabia Podcast connects you to the most prominent founders, investors, and operators of the Arab region. You will be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see. Follow us on our social media platforms to stay updated and get in touch: LinkedIn: Startups Arabia Podcast Twitter: @ArabiaStartups Facebook: @startupsarabia Youtube: Startups Arabia Podcast —--- Resources—--------: Asher's LinkedIn account: @Asher Siddiqui Sukna Ventures’ Website: https://suknaventures.com/

    1h 43m
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About

The Arab startups scene is one of the hottest globally. The Startups Arabia podcast is the place to learn all about it. With a 420 million strong population that is young and tech-savvy, the Arab world is proving to be a great market to create a startup. This podcast interviews the best founders, investors and operators of the region. Listening to deep conversations with them, you will learn deep insights about the ecosystem. You will also be inspired by their success, the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they see.

Information

  • Creator
    Ali Zewail
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2024
  • Episodes
    24
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Startups Arabia

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