Entrepreneur Qatar November 2015 | Harnessing Heritage

For entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs

What astroLabs Dubai means for the mena startup ecosystem

“Our alums have raised Over us$50 milliOn in capital Over the last twO years”

Partnering for entrePreneurial

achievement Digital anD

BeyonD OOredOO

and QBIC tO launCh

teCh-fOCused startup

InCuBatOr

The Chairman and managing direCTor of darwish holding leverages legaCy and learning Curvesfor a broad porTfolio ThaT isrounding off a CenTury of enTerprise agiliTy

Bader aBdullah al-darwish

Harnessing Heritage

November 2015 | www.eNtrepreNeur.com/me | QAr15

9 7 7 2 3 1 2 5 9 5 0 0 0 >

EY KSA’S EntrEprEnEur of thE YEAr YAtooq foundEr And GEnErAl MAnAGEr lAtEEfA AlwAAlAn

The QaTari sTarTup

ecosysTemCollaborations are key to your

business suCCessGet to know a few fresh Doha-baseD

enterprises

EntrEprEnEur novEmbEr 20152

Q70 Qatar Today English FP 20.5X27.indd 1 8/19/15 3:37 PM

CONTENTSnovember 2015

20Image from the private Al-Darwish family archives.

30EY KSA’S EntrEprEnEur of thE YEAr Yatooq founder and General Manager Lateefa Alwaalan

34‘trEponoMICS: proHot spots for budding entrepreneursThe top cities in the Middle East for your business, according to Bayt.com’s Suhail Al-Masri. 38 SKILLSEtThinking ahead 10 things managers should factor into an innovation process.

70SKILLSEtWarren Buffet’s two list strategyHow to maximize your focus and master your priorities, according to Olympian and entrepreneur, James Clear.

46MArKEtInGIt’s time to get visual The low-down on Instagram advertising in the MENA region.

74StArt It up:ECoSYStEMFor entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs A look into what the new Google for Entrepreneurs-partnered AstroLabs Tech Hub in Dubai means for the MENA startup ecosystem.

24SpECIAL SECtIonThe Qatari startup ecosystemCollaborations are key to your business success, and it’s time to get to know a few fresh Doha-based enterprises. Plus: Ooredoo and QBIC partner to launch Digital and Beyond!

16InnoVAtorShArnESSInG hErItAGEBader Abdullah Al-Darwish The Chairman and Managing Director of Darwish Holding leverages legacy and learning curves for a broad portfolio that is rounding off a century of enterprise agility.

Bader Abdullah Al-Darwish, Chairman and Managing Director of Darwish Holding, in an exclusive interview ahead of the 2015 Qatar Enterprise Agility Awards

16

CONTENTS noVEMbEr 2015

92 Jan Nigel Bladen coaches you through surviving the investor process

The Qatari startup ecosystem:Get to know a few fresh Doha-based enterprises

24

50 #TamTalksTech: Lenovo PHAB Plus

92MonEY:ASK thE MonEY GuYSurviving the investor selection process A diamond is just a piece of charcoal that handled stress exceptionally well- bluntness, honesty and transparency are founder virtues.

52tECh:thE fIXApple music strikes a chordCould it be a music biz trendsetter? After Apple acquired Beats Electronics during the summer of 2014, it took just a few months for people to speculate about the companies motives were.

50ShInY#TamTalksTechGadgets and doodads that you might’ve missed out on, sourced by a tech aficionado. Yes, it’s okay to want them all… and no, it’s not our fault.

14EDItor’S notEBy Fida Z. Chaaban

81StArt It up:Q + A Shipping made easyFetchr circumvents logistical challenges with GPS-equipped app.

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w.a

pple

.com



CONTENTS noVEMbEr 2015

88 StArt It up: fInAnCECash crunch Three hurdles Arab entrepreneurs face when gaining access to capital (and how to get past them).

54CuLturE: trAppInGS‘Trep gear The executive selection for the entrepreneur on your list that has everything. Okay, maybe for a little self-reward as well.

52 Apple Music strikes a chord

55 The Range Rover Sport SVR

The Conrad Dubai

41

59LIfETeam building time Then opt for clues, cryptology, and crime scenes at either Escape Quest or Hint Hunt. It beats a day of golf!

64LIfEFive energy wastersMark Sephton says that you need to get these habits in check… and stop sputtering at the finish line.

56trAVELMeeting the needs of smart travellers The Conrad Dubai’s General Manager, Andreas Jersabeck, invests time in the business guest.

QTR_8326_BMW_7_Series_Entrepreneur_40.6x27.3cm_Eng_DPS_Front.indd 1 11/01/2015 3:01 PM


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Entrepreneur Middle East every issueEDITOR IN CHIEF Fida Z. Chaaban [email protected]

MANAGING DIRECTOR Walid Zok [email protected]

DIRECTOR Rabih Najm [email protected]

DIRECTOR Wissam Younane [email protected]

PUBLISHER Nehme AbouzeidMANAGING EDITOR Aby Sam ThomasCREATIVE LEAD Odette Kahwagi ONLINE LIAISON Kareem ChehayebCOLUMNIST Pamella de LeonCOLUMNIST Tamara Clarke COLUMNIST Shoug Al Nafisi

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Images used in Entrepreneur Middle East are credited when necessary. Attributed use of copyrighted images with permission. All images not credited otherwise Shutterstock.

Amal ChaabanJan Nigel BladenJames ClearLovrenc KesslerLoulou Khazen-BazEma LinakerSuhail Al-Masri

Ross McCammonPhabiola MenonSoukaina RachidiMay RostomMark SephtonChristian TurnerErika Widen

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

In addition to our print edition, we’re bringing you all sorts of industry news on our web mediums. Joining us online means getting relevant business and startup content in real-time, so you’re hearing about the latest developments as soon as we do. We’re looking forward to interacting with our readers on all of our social media and web platforms- like any thriving business, we’re looking to give and take. #TrepTalkME is already happening on all of our digi platforms, and all good conversations go both ways. See you on the web!

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I often find myself acting as a fixer. For those unfamiliar with media-speak, the fixer is the person that connects you to someone else that might

otherwise be out of your reach. I introduce people all of the time, and I help them do business together and get the ball rolling. I do this because I find it worth my time, and also good in a karmic sense. If I can help two entities or two people develop a mutually beneficial, fruitful relationship, I consider it terrific for everyone involved. I’ve been offered paid commissions for this, and I have declined every single time (mainly for two reasons: because I don’t feel that favors deserve financial recompense, and also because I believe in helping people out as much as I can). Now, I have been very fortunate as most of these favors have all come back to me in spades when I most needed them. I’m one of the lucky ones who seems to get back what I give… but that’s not always the case.

Recently, I noticed someone who did a great favor for someone else and then got completely excluded after the fact. The backstory was that Person A very much wanted an intro-duction to Person C. Person B, a close and personal friend of mine, was hap-py to make this advantageous intro-

duction between Person A and Person C, and agreed to act as the fixer. Person B arranged the meet and greet at no personal gain to themselves, and Person A continued to leverage this meeting for a long time afterward conveniently forgetting who made the introduction. The karmic payback here? Person C reminded Person A (publicly) of who set this relationship up to begin with. What this whole trivial matter indicated to me about Person A was the following:

1. You LACK A MorAL AnD EthICAL CoMpASS, AnD You ArE Short on GooDwILL If you conveniently forget the people who put you where you are now, you are both ungrateful and unethical. “Forgetting” favors makes you a very undesirable business acquaintance. This time you “forgot” who facilitated an introduction. Next time you’ll maybe “forget” an owed sum.

2. You SuffEr froM An InfLAtED EGo, AnD You hAVE A MYopIC worLDVIEw If you think that you’ve gotten so big now that you don’t need to thank people, then perhaps the public reminder from Person C put you in check. This behavior is indica-tive of your shortsighted vision, and a lack of any actual strategy. Self-

promotion is a double-edged sword, and you probably need to have some humility when you decide to go that route- and that includes remember-ing favors.

3. You ArE wILLInG to StEp on Your EArLY SupportS to (SoCIALLY) CLIMb hIGhEr You are where you are now because your good-intentioned early supporters helped you get there. Be careful who you decide to step on- there’s always someone like me there to remind Per-son A that you were only using them as a gateway to what you see as big-ger and better things. Oh, and those bigger and better things? They don’t come without Person A- as Person C saw fit to remind you.

For those of you out there who have helped me out (you know who you are), I very much appreciate you. I will always be there when you need a hand, and I hope I’ve done all of your support justice by showing you respect and loyalty.

Fida Z. Chaaban Editor in Chief @fida | @[email protected]

EDITOR’S NOTE

Post your suggestions with the hashtag on Twitter or Instagram @EntMagazineME

Do you know a MENA region entrepreneur, startup, or SME that we should be watching?

#EntMETreps

It puts your whole ethical compass (or lack thereof) into perspective for me

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IN THE LOOP

With much talk about develop-ing and strength-ening

SMEs in the MENA region, we often forget that countries across the globe have put that on the top of their priority list as well. That’s why it comes as no surprise that Sweden and the UAE have signed a memorandum of understand-

ing (MoU) that will lead to cooperation in R&D endeavors targeting empowering SMEs over a three-year period. The MoU was signed by the UAE Minister of Economy, H.E. Sul-tan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, and Sweden’s Minister of Enterprise and Innovation, H.E. Mikael Damberg during GITEX 2015. The agreement will see SMEs from both countries gain access to funding prospects, as well as discovering new international market opportunities. We can also expect UAE government departments such as the SMEs Council, the SME Fund, and

the Chamber of Commerce and Industry to collaborate with counterparts in Sweden, in-cluding the Swedish Trade and Invest Council and Sweden’s “innovation agency,” known as Vinnova. Sharing knowledge and expertise in two very differ-ent markets will be a huge boost for both countries trying to nurture their respective entre-preneurial ecosystems, and will help in the removal of obstacles to SME growth. The two-nation cooperation also hopes to draw academic institutions and the private sector into the core of the effort to bolster SMEs.

When looking back at the period of time that we refer to as the Arab Spring, we often focus on its problematic aspects, notably power vacuums and potential war. However, when it comes to Tunisia, it’s safe to say that they seemed to have handled things pretty well during the transition period. Five years after 27-year-old Mohamed Bouazizi immo-lated himself, Tunisia’s National Dialogue Quartet, a coalition consisting of lawyers, human rights activists, businesspeople, and leaders of labor unions, was awarded the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize for playing a pivotal role in the country’s transition to a plu-ralistic democracy. While many speculated the possibility of a Tunisian civil war after Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was overthrown after two decades in power, the quartet has managed to defy all odds. While Tunisia still has its fair share of struggles, winning the Nobel Peace Prize is only an additional morale boost to its citizens- and a reminder of the perks of national unity.

sweden and Uae partner Up for sMes

Tunisia National Dialogue Quartet

awarded 2015 Nobel Peace Prize

Kellogg Company continues to scoop up international brands to widen its global market pres-ence, most notably its acquisi-tion ofPringles in February 2012 for US$2.7 billion. This time, it acquired Egypt’s Mass Food Group in $50 million deal. According to its website, Mass Food Group, a family business run by the El Bahays, was founded 18 years ago. The company has since expanded to other markets in the MENA region, Asia, and Australia with its Temmy brand, exporting to “over 45 markets.” With such a large market share, Kellogg claims that the buyout won’t have an impact on its annual profit and net earn-ings this year.

Kellogg Company aCquires egypt’s mass Food group

Under the auspices of The Prime Minister and Interior Minister, H.E. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Qatar

International Boat Show (QIBS) in its third edition will take place from November 10-14 at the Mourjan Marinas in Lusail City.

This edition of QIBS will be significantly larger than previ-ous ones, with over 120 brands from 15 different countries making their way to showcase their boats, including Sea Ray, Princess, Silver Yachts, Sunreef, Ferreti, and Azimut. Qatari brands will be there too, indi-cating Qatar’s growth in their maritime industry, including Al Udeid Boats, Balhambar Boats, Halul Boats, and Nakilat Damen Shipyards Qatar. Registration is now open.

Left: Rashid Hamad Al Marri, Nakilat Damen Shipyards Qatar, Abdulaziz Al Zeyara, Lusail Director of Strategic and Organization Planning and Development, and Essa Al Mannai, Chairman of QIBS Board of Directors

The MoU was signed by H.E. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy and H.E. Mikael Damberg, Sweden’s Minister of Enterprise and Innovation

QataR IntERnatIonal Boat Show 2015


“For my business trading is not a major share, but it’s the part that I enjoy the most. Most my business is real estate and the stock market. We’re not only in retail, we’re also in wholesale. We have the biggest market share for Rolex brand in the Middle East. The same applies to most of the luxury brands we represent. We’ve got Bosch, Bang & Olufsen… Even if any large scale retail-ers open, we have the product lines to supply every type of business.” And they do. The

list is long and varied, and while the silos of the Holding work synergistically in ways, the revenue streams are very different and demonstrate sus-tained increases. “From 2003 to 2008, we made 40% annual growth. In 2008, when the market dropped, we did 20% growth. Now on average, we’re making 25% annual growth.” Some of these relationships are more than a half-century old, meaning they outdate Bader Al-Darwish himself. Darwish Holding signed with cosmetics

and beauty staple L’Oréal in 1956, and with technology giant Sony a few years later in 1964 (Bader Al-Darwish was only five years old at the time)- it now holds the biggest market share for the household name. In his expansive office, you can time travel back to the founding of what is now one of the GCC’s most diversified portfolios, a who’s who list of some of the world’s best recognized brands and most prestigious fashion Houses. “We are the second oldest agent of CHANEL in

INNOvaTOR

THE CHAIRMAN AND MANAGING DIRECToR oF DARWISH HoLDING LEvERAGES LEGACY AND LEARNING CURvES FoR A BRoAD PoRTFoLIo THAT IS RoUNDING oFF A CENTURY oF ENTERPRISE AGILITY By Fida Chaaban

If you see pictures of Bader Al-Darwish, you might get the impression that this Qatari leader of enterprise is a jovial fellow. You might also assume that he’s laidback, and young at heart. He is, in fact, all of those things. The many images of Al-Darwish do capture those aspects of his personality well, but what they don’t tell you is that he’s got an eagle-eye on his many businesses (“Every morning at 7:30 a.m. I examine my updated figures,” a tally of the sales of the many-tiered conglomerate), he’s hyperactive

in his maintenance of strong corporate relationships (“They are the most important thing in doing business!”), and that he’s got a frighteningly sharp memory (off the top of his head, he can tell you what milestones the company reached and when- in minute detail). There’s another thing that Al-Darwish’s pictures don’t tell you- he is fiercely for the free market, welcoming competition with relish. After all, Darwish Holding was there first, and, as he rightfully points out, it isn’t just a one-sided operation.

Bader aBdullah al-darwish

Harnessing Heritage

>>>

november 2015 entrepreneur 17

“my father earned his respect acrOss the Gcc

by keepinG his wOrd, and wOrkinG hard.

when i tOOk Over the business, i didn’t just

live On that leGacy that my father built as

a base.”


wOrk-life balance is

impOrtant- i try tO spend the weekends

with my family, and

i dedicate vacatiOns

tO buildinG bOnds with

them. it’s all abOut time

manaGement.”

innovator


“


the world whom we signed with in 1954, and the oldest agent of Rolex in the Middle East- we signed with them in 1951.” A current example of company influence and strength? Despite the country’s small population, Darwish Holding’s relationship with fashion designer Carolina Herrera is relevant enough to warrant personal visits by the elegant designer (together with her daughter), and just one month ago, the Herrera House’s CEO, François Kress, was welcomed by Al-Darwish in Doha as well. Another show of relationship strength? CHANEL’s co-owner, Gerard Wertheimer and Rolex’s CEO, Jean-Frederic Dufour, were hosted by Al-Darwish recently

in his residence in Doha. To really understand how deep

Al-Darwish’s enterprise roots go, you’ll need to know how it all started. Think about Qatar back in the 20s –I admired the family’s present-day achieve-ments even more after seeing historic images from that pe-riod in the Al-Darwish private archive- and then think what it was like launching a busi-ness for Abdullah Al-Darwish Fakhroo, Bader Al-Darwish’s late father. As a young man, Al-Darwish senior, together with his brothers Jassim and Abdul-rahman, set out across what is currently known as the GCC to trade and stake their claims. These forays into present-day Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, and

other nations (first with wares like pearls) eventually led to expanding into contracting, au-tomobiles, airlines, real estate, financial trading, and oil and gas… and along the way nurtur-ing rich relationships that the junior Al-Darwish brothers cultivated into the next genera-tion, and he assures me that their children after them will be following suit. “We’re more than 100 years old,” explains Al-Darwish with a measure of familiar pride tinged with sadness, gesturing to carefully preserved images. “Here is my father, God rest his soul, with Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim [bin Mohammad Al-Thani], and President Anwar Sadat [of

Egypt]. That’s my father here with King Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al-Thani in Qatar.” These are just a few examples of the Al-Darwish legacy that built the foundations of the business that today includes MENA, Eu-ropean and North American real estate, stocks and investments, and a consumer facing side of retail, in addition to interests in banking and finance.

Some of these long-term, close relationships extend into Eu-rope and Asia, and Al-Darwish’s memories cross decades of vis-its to Japan. These images also reflect the degree of importance and the personal attention that these global conglomerates

Abdullah Al-Darwish with King Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al-Thani in Qatar

Fifty One East campaign image

Lagoona Mall in Doha, Qatar

>>>


shower on Darwish Holding; in all of the pictures, it’s always the brand founders or group CEOs next to the perpetually pleasant Al-Darwish. To put this into perspective for you, it’s not often that the founder of a company like Sony sets aside time to entertain a guest, and back in the 60s and 70s they almost never made journeys to places as far-flung as Qatar. “Here in this picture, it’s worth mentioning that we signed the biggest broadcast deal in the

history of Sony with the global multimedia conglomerate, Al Jazeera Media Network,” he says, pointing at a fairly recent image. Nowadays, it’s a simple thing to get in and out of Qatar in the span of 24 hours from pretty much anywhere, but back when a young Al-Darwish was welcoming these leaders of industry, it was a rare and difficult thing to journey to the middle of the desert to a coun-try that the global community really didn’t know of. He’s also

hobnobbed with heads of state across too many countries to list here, and his de facto ambassadorial role is perhaps one reason that Al-Darwish was honored by the likes of Qatar’s H.H. Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani “the Father Emir”, UAE’s H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and even by former Lebanese Presi-dent Emile Lahoud. In a profes-sional capacity, Al-Darwish is officially the Chairman and Managing Director of Darwish Holding, but he also sits on the board of Qatar National Bank, and he acts as an official Mem-ber of the Executive Committee.

In addition to serv-ing in the afore-mentioned official roles, Al-Darwish has given of his time for national and regional interests. In some of his most notable roles, he acted as the Chair-man of the Committee of the International Fund for Higher Education in Iraq, formed by H.H. Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Misnad and a Board Member of the Supreme Educa-tion Council. But all of these achievements -businesswise, in the spirit of patriotism, and

his devotion to philanthropic interests- haven’t sent Al-Darwish into complacency. In fact, it’s just the opposite, and spending two hours with him is more than enough to convince you. “My challenge is to always maintain this double digit growth now, and in the future. The drop in price of oil will not affect negatively because of the surplus that governments of the GCC took into considera-tion. It will not stop projects but it may cause some delay and enforce wiser spending. This phase might shake some traders whom i unfortunately refer to

as cowboys who took advantage and wanted to grow for the sake of growing. Expanding for the sake of expanding doesn’t appeal to us- before we take on a new brand, we execute due diligence.” He says that this filtering process acted as the great equalizer; in Al-Darwish’s opinion, it restored the natural order of things- and the result was that serious and dedicated businesses stayed the course, while fly by night endeavors in Qatar went out the window. And regarding the current GCC conversation of a luxury over-supply, Al-Darwish says that like anything, measured growth, due diligence, and a realistic evaluation of the respective market potentials. “The sky is the limit, and the opportunity is there- but for those that have creativity. Do execute feasibil-ity studies- is there room in the market for your business?” There is, he says- and his con-sistent upward growth is proof positive for those that need to see it.

INNOvaTOR

“my challenGe is tO always maintain this dOuble-diGit GrOwth nOw, and in the future.”

Bader Abdullah Al-Darwish, Khaled Suleiman Saleh Al-Olayan, H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, and Abdulaziz Al-Babtain taken at Sheikh Mohammed’s majlis

Image from the private Al-Darwish family archives

“As part of our organizational culture, Dar-wish Holding has placed a major emphasis on contributing to society, and engaging with the local community. It’s an ethos that was instilled by the founder, my late father, Abdul-lah Al-Darwish. Every division of [the com-

pany] invests time, effort, and resources to make meaningful contributions across sports, academic, healthcare and social initiatives.”

As part of Darwish Holding’s core value system, the group consistently strives to back activities that positively impact environment, society, and the nation. Participation in sports and wellness is key, including the support of the Qatar Exxon Mobil open, the Emir Cup, and the Qatar Total open. In terms of academic-centric initiatives, they provide educational avenues to worthy candidates via the Abdullah Al Darwish

Scholarships for Weill Cornell Medical College, and the Abdullah Al Darwish Prize for Young Researches in Islamic Studies. Working particularly with children and elderly, Darwish Holding also donates to local and international orphanages and nursing homes including ones in Lebanon and France. In addition, the company actively supports community-oriented programs such as Lagoona Mall’s backing of Autism awareness in collaboration with IFC, and Shaffalah, the Sony brand’s work with the Qatar Foundation for Elderly People Care, amongst others.

Darwish holDing invests in Csr

DoIng busInEss rEsPonsIbly MEans gIvIng back To your coMMunITy

“I love what I do. I have a great team, and they’re like my family. I think with time and experience you learn to trust people who are qualified to run the business. Give people time, and then you will see if they deliver or not. Seeing is believing, and when I see someone that I’ve designated a job to delivering on his work, then bigger responsibilities are given.”

1. GAIN EvERYTHING YoU CAN FRoM MENToRSHIP “Frankly, when I was very, very young, I hated touring with my father doing business. He used to force me to go- I wanted to be out playing football. It taught me discipline, patience, and respect. Sometimes, I would sit for hours with my father during when he was doing business, all over the Gulf! I was a young adult when my father passed away in 1986, and he was 70. That taught me responsibility early on, I was de-termined to grow the business and make it successful- he planted the seed and all the business needed at that time was someone to ferti-lize it and grow it. Through daring but calculated moves, thank God we managed to do it.”

2. PRoTECT PERSoNAL AND PRoFESSIoNAL RELATIoNSHIPS “My father and his brothers cre-ated this business empire. The secret of success of my father and both of my uncles rests in relationships; there is almost

nothing more important than this for you to succeed. My father had very strong relationships with ruling families inside and outside of Qatar and he earned his respect across the GCC by keeping his word, and working hard. When I took over the business, I didn’t just live on that legacy that my father built as a base. My father said, ‘Son, it’s very hard to build a name and a reputation, but it’s very easy to ruin it.’ What I inherit-ed from his wise experience stayed with me through everything. This is why I took over those relation-ships, and I hope that I could further strengthen them leading to excellent relationships with our partners, our distributors, and our customers.”

3. CoNTINUoUSLY REEvALUATE THE STATUS QUo “My grandfather started humbly over 100 years ago, and now, where we are, we continue to modernize and develop on pace with globalization. I hate to say we’ve reached the peak- no. Instead, we need to see any mistakes, learn from them, and assess the future of what we’re facing. It’s very easy to say, ‘We reached the peak- we have excel-lent market share and history,’ but to continue upwards, you must always do better. We will continue to innovate internal processes, and bring operations up to more suc-cessful reaches. Even in corporate governance we have strong proce-

dures, but something can always be improved.”

4. MASTER TIME MANAGEMENT “To succeed, you must know how to control time, and make up your mind quickly so you can take the next step. If I want to finish busi-ness, I would give it to someone who is busy, and who knows with experience that time is very important for them. If you give it to someone who is semi-retired, it will take him ages to make up his mind. Busy people who master time are productive.”

5. TAKING ovER THE FAMILY BIZ “Try your best to follow your forefathers’ footsteps, take the business and grow it- don’t just

be satisfied. To the young GCC youth: be pragmatic, be realistic, and forget your ego. Put it aside, and keep learning. If you make a mistake, think positive, and learn what can be done different and better. Set goals for your business, but within reason so that you can achieve. You have to believe in what you’re doing.”

6. Do YoUR oWN RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS “Rely on capable people but at the same time, you need to do your own follow up. You need to delegate, yes, but the responsibil-ity of follow up is solely on you. Never completely depend on anyone but yourself if you want to succeed.”

BaDer al-Darwish walks the walk

run your busInEss lIkE a lEaDEr, noT a ManagEr

the eXeCUtive sUMMarY

Fifty One East campaign image


STaRT IT uP ECoSYStEM | who’S Got VC | Q&A | StArtup fInAnCE

The lucky startups that benefit from this incubator start with seed funding from Ooredoo. QBIC is also willing to splash cash, allowing the startups to connect with partners and affiliates, notably the Social Development Center and Qatar Development Bank (QDB). Setting money aside, the startups will receive all sorts of mentoring support from industry specialists. As for the workspaces? Top notch. The 251 sq. m. space will be within

QBIC, and be managed by Ooredoo. Digital and Beyond will have three zones, designed specifically for startups. The first zone will be a collabora-tion zone that allows startups to network, share ideas, and work together; the second zone comprises of private spaces for meetings; and lastly, a community zone: ‘treps need a break too!

Could this incubator be the “Silicon Valley” that takes Qa-tar’s entrepreneurial ecosys-

ooredoo and QBIC to launch tech-focused startup incubator By Kareem Chehayeb

SMEs in Qatar will be happy to hear about this: Qatari telecom giant Ooredoo has signed an agreement with the Qatar Business Incubation Center (QBIC) to launch an incubator catering to startups in the booming GCC state, especially in the tech sector. After announcing the incubator, called Digital and Beyond, they

also announced a contest, calling on entrepreneurs across the country to pitch their ideas, with Ooredoo to pick the most “disruptive” ideas from the submissions.

partnering For entrepreneurial aChievement

www.qbic.qa

eMpowering entrepreneUrsaysha al mudahKa, Ceo, qBiC

program, which provides real world, hands-on, learning ex-perience on how to successfully start a business. The 10-week program is based on a business model rather than a business plan, and encourages entrepre-neurs to develop a prototype, which needs to be constantly improved, as opposed to going big with the final product at the very beginning. Once the business idea and prototype is refined and developed, entre-preneurs pitch for a chance to be incubated and supported financially by QBIC. Once the startups become incubated, they receive smart financing, coaching and mentoring, office space, and networking oppor-tunities from within QBIC.

“Qatar Business Incubation Centre (QBIC) sees Qatar’s entrepreneurs today as the fu-ture of Qatari business success and economic growth,” says Al Mudahka. “QBIC is here to help new startups and SMEs in Qa-tar to achieve solid success. In an attempt to develop the local private sector, QBIC is paving the way for aspiring entrepre-neurs to realize their ideas and see them grow.”

As the CEO of Qatar Business Incubation Center (QBIC), Aysha Al Mudahka is emphatic on the importance of homegrown entrepreneurs in the overall de-velopment of Qatar as a nation. “Entrepreneurship underpins the country’s National Vision 2030, and by supporting SMEs to grow and achieve solid success, QBIC is creating the next generation of Qatari business leaders,” she says. “It’s important for Qatar to support entrepreneurs as per the National Vision; having a notable and strong private sector will play a role in the local, regional and international market, and thus it is vital to support entrepreneurs to successfully kick off with the facilities at hand.”

QBIC’s flagship Lean Startup Program is an entrepreneurial

tem to a new level? Looks like it. With Digital and Beyond, many young Qatari entrepre-neurs are going to be keen to take advantage of the oppor-tunity it presents. Not only that, it will also provide more opportunities for Ooredoo to expand its ventures as well. Qatar is already working hard on improving its entrepreneur-ial ecosystem, whether it’s by improving its tech infrastruc-ture or setting up stronger educational facilities. One thing is for sure: we should ex-pect to see an impressive ROI in Qatar in the future.

Waleed Al Sayed, Chief Operating Officer, Ooredoo Qatar, Sheikh Saud bin Nasser Al Thani, CEO, Ooredoo Qatar, Abdulaziz Bin Nasser Al Khalifa, QDB CEO and QBIC Chairman, and Aysha Al Mudahka, QBIC, CEO

QUBiCle www.qubicle.me

Qubicle is a web and mobile design agency that also offers e-commerce solutions and digital marketing- and it was

founded by the same team as that of Evently. “Qubicle was born when our first app, Evently, was about to be incubated at ictQatar,” says Mufeed Ahmed. “It

was difficult to find a local company at affordable rates. Outsourcing development of a tech startup didn’t make sense, as we needed to be involved with each aspect


eventlY www.evently.qa “Evently was launched in March 2014 on an Android platform,” says Fawaz Mo-hammed, who founded the app with Mufeed Ahmed, Nasser Al Naama and Aisha Al Naama. “Today, we are available on Android, iOS, and Blackberry 10, with more than 12,000 downloads. We have covered more than 600 events. and done more than two dozen event partner-ships.”

When asked how Evently was conceived, Nasser Al Naama explains how Qatar hosts a large number of global events, and a great number of those events lack publicity. In fact, various companies in Doha bring prominent speak-ers and organize free work-shops every year, which are often sponsored by the host

company, and the community isn’t aware of a public event taking place. “Evently lists all these events,” Al Naama says. “What makes Evently unique is the category of event infor-mation it offers. While other websites lists the nightlife and food events, Evently lists events in arts and culture, technology, sports and fit-ness, conferences, workshops, entertainment, and more.” Aisha Al Naama, who is Nasser’s sibling, highlights that Evently does not adver-tise on its app, since they believe in a smooth user experience. “We generate money by listing events on the featured header in the app,” she says. “We list events for free, but to get a space in the featured header for their events, the event companies, their PR companies or the or-ganizer pay us… As a startup, we heavily rely on social media for our marketing as well as other organizations, which support events as well as entrepreneurship.”

By Erika Widen & Kareem Chehayeb

ECoSYStEM | who’S Got VC | Q&A | StArtup fInAnCESTaRT IT uP

If the recent spate of agreements signed between the Qatar Business Incubation Center (QBIC) and major Qatari and global business entities such as Ooredoo, Microsoft, Al Jazeera Media Network, etc. are any indication, then it’s safe to say that the country is making a concerted attempt at boosting the entrepreneurial ecosystem within its borders. And the results of these efforts

are already starting to show- Qatari startups are sprouting by the dozen, and given QBIC’s mission to develop Qatari companies valued at QAR100 million, the Middle East business arena is sitting up and taking note of them as well. Here’s a selection of the new wave of Qatari enterprises that have caught our eye.

GET To KNoW A FEW FRESH DoHA-BASED ENTERPRISES

CollaBorations are keY to YoUr BUsiness sUCCessThe QaTari sTarTup ecosysTem

Nasser Al Naama, co-founder of Qubicle,

Evently, Catlogram

Aisha Al Naama



QUBiCle www.qubicle.me

Qubicle is a web and mobile design agency that also offers e-commerce solutions and digital marketing- and it was founded by the same team as that of Evently. “Qubicle was born when our first app, Evently, was about to be incubated at ictQatar,” says Mufeed Ahmed. “It was dif-ficult to find a local company at affordable rates. Outsourc-ing development of a tech startup didn’t make sense, as we needed to be involved with each aspect of the product. So, we registered Qubicle under our incuba-tion at ictQatar, as to develop a system with a vision to help future startups in Qatar to get development done lo-cally at affordable rates.”

Nasser Al Naama, co-founder of Qubicle, adds, “Like every fast developing economy, Qatar’s businesses are going online. This means there are startups estab-

lished for a couple of years in various sectors who want to take their businesses online, but do not have the technical skills to develop the prod-uct.” Al Naama describes how they are working with Qatari entrepreneurs in expanding their fashion and trading businesses online. “Since we have the support and facilities provided by the Digital Incubation Centre, we are able to do it at an afford-able rate, but one that is still profitable for us.”

In Qatar, there is a vast divide between idea to execu-tion when it comes to es-tablishing a proper website. “This is because most of the business ideas young people come up with today have a huge side of technology involvement, and to execute it, you need a team of devel-opers and designers, which is hard to find in Doha.” Qubicle is thus largely filling the gap by working closely with young Qatari entrepre-

neurs who have an idea and want to take it to the next level. Qubicle was officially launched at the beginning of this year at the ictQatar Digital Incubation Centre. “Qubicle was bootstrapped

and self-funded; ictQatar provided us with all the facilities in terms of space and mentoring required. We are on a two-year incubation term with ictQatar,” says Al Naama. >>>

Mufeed Ahmed, co-founder of Evently, Qubicle, Catlogram, Doha Tweetups, and Washnow


CatlograM www.catlogram.com

Catlogram, a startup that is aiming for a November launch, is an online platform devoted to designing market-ing collateral such as flyers, brochures, catalogs and posters for businesses. The motto of Catlogram is “Do it yourself”- meaning it is easy to use and industry-specific. Readers will also find the team behind Catlogram famil-iar- they are the same faces behind Evently and Qubicle.“Catlogram was selected to the second wave of QBIC’s Lean Startup program,” says Aisha Al Naama. “In December 2014, Catlogram was incubated on QBIC’s famous Demo Day. We also were given the Public Choice Award on the same day. We started with QBIC officially in April 2015, and have access to office, mentors, mentor-ship program and funding. QBIC is like a big family.”

With regards to the thought process behind Catlogram, Mufeed Ahmed says that hav-ing been a part of the design industry since 2007, he saw that people wanted to have the power to design with-out having to depend on a particular design software. “I came across various entrepre-neurs, small organizations, product managers and small retail owners, depending heavily on a design or design agency every time they have to design a marketing collat-eral,” he remembers. “Catlo-gram was born out of this.” Catlogram’s main design templates fall under five specific industries, which include home-based busi-nesses, artists, restaurants/cafés, university student life, and health coach coordinator. “Catlogram helps those [five categories] with our beautiful templates and super-friendly user experience to achieve their marketing and designing needs in less time without compromising the quality and creativity,” Ahmed explains. “If you take a look at our startups, it’s all more about using technology to make lives and business easy, and

save time. We believe time is to be spent with friends and family, and every other pro-cess related to work or busi-ness should have an easy way and can done in less time.”

Doha tweetUps www.dohatweetups.com

Doha Tweetups is an online community that regularly hosts offline events with the basic purpose of networking and bringing people together. During such events, which are hosted at least once every month, members of the com-munity hold three themed presentations, which have become known as a showcase

of local talent in the region. Since its launch in 2010,

more than 300 people have attended Doha Tweetups events. “We started as a community of social media users, but have grown to a strong presence in Qatar where brands, organizations and even diplomats use us to connect to the social media users of the country,” says Mufeed Ahmed, who, in 2010, joined the Doha Tweetups team, founded by Hani Arif and Bilal Randeree. “My part was mainly to bring strategic partners on board and mon-etize this as a social enter-prise, which we successfully are now.”


Catlogram design templates

Mufeed Ahmed


Last year, Mufeed Ahmed received a recognition award for the best mentor by Shell and Qatar Development Bank, Chief Executive Officers. He is heavily involved with the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Qatar; mentoring technology startups and speaking about entrepreneurship and tech startups.

washnow www.washnow.me

Washnow came out of an idea conceived by Ameer K. V., a young Indian entrepre-neur who has been in the dry-cleaning and laundry business in Doha for nearly eight years. Mufeed Ahmed and Rahid Kader are the mentors and investors in the Washnow application. What is Washnow? “An on-demand laundry app,” replies Ameer, founder and Head of Operations. “It requires a good technology company behind it, as well as a strong dry-cleaning infrastructure to deliver on time and with good quality– the three of us came as a perfect combination.”

Washnow was launched in August, and it currently has more than 200 customers. In the weeks since its launch, the founding team have been able to enhance their delivery time from 72 hours to less than 48 hours. “Customer interactions happen everyday, different versions of Wash-now are released on the user

app as well as the business app to make the interactions and process automated,” Ameer says. “This wouldn’t have been possible without the support of these two tech entrepreneurs. It’s a build, measure, learn process.” Interesting aside though: Ahmed and Kader –who are graduates of the 10-week Lean Startup Program by QBIC- helped develop the

Washnow app in just 10 days.At present, Washnow is the only on-demand laundry ser-vice in Qatar. “This means big for expats, because it’s about saving them the traffic and parking trouble,” says Ameer.

egraB www.egrab.qa

Shopping for groceries is a chore that most of us would like to avoid as much as we can. But if you happen to be in Doha, there is an alterna-tive approach to getting this task done: by logging on to egrab.qa. The main mission of eGrab is to provide the best delivery experience by using the available hypermarkets and limo drivers. “The gro-ceries come from reputable hypermarkets in town,” says eGrab’s founder, Rahid Kader. “Some of the hypermarkets are affiliated with eGrab and with some others we just do delivery from the hypermar-ket for an extra fee. At most times, customers get store prices, and the majority of our clients are expatriates.”

Kader was inspired to start the web platform after noticing “the pain that both customers and retailers have” while working with the retail industry. Before his experi-ence in this industry, this

Doha-based ‘trep from India spent his college years gearing up to be a physical therapist. Having said that, eGrab isn’t Kader’s first venture- he had previously started a venture dealing with “retail loss pre-vention systems integration” right after moving to Doha in 2008.

At this point, eGrab, de-veloped with Kader’s Qatari partner Ali Al Malki, has already partnered up with “some A-class hypermarkets,” meaning that customers can already enjoy its ser-vices to deliver groceries to their homes. It’s an efficient system, which means that eGrab’s full-time workforce is minimal, and they don’t need to manage inventories. So with that said, what was eGrab’s development process like? “Technically, we had some challenges in finding resources at first,” says Kader, who also notes that eGrab was mentored by the Qatar Business Incubation Center (QBIC). He admits it was hard to find people who he thought would be right for the busi-ness- he needed staff that had the “startup mindset.” In ad-dition, most professionals in Qatar were there on existing work visas, which made it all the more difficult to find indi-viduals ready to work at >>>

Ameer KV, Founder and Head of Operations of Washnow


ECoSYStEM | who’S Got VC | Q&A | StArtup fInAnCESTaRT IT uP ECoSYStEM | who’S Got VC | Q&A | StArtup fInAnCESTaRT IT uP

his enterprise. Having said that, Kader gives credit to the Internet for helping him learn new skills, as he had to multitask his way through a few hurdles.

Things did eventually improve after Kader and his team developed a minimum viable product, and had people test it. After receiving feedback, they tweaked their product, and now, here they are! While eGrab has competi-tion, Rahid Kader is confident that his service stands out with its “robust backend en-gine,” which has been devel-oped using what he describes as “the best of algorithms.” Another sign of better things to come is that while eGrab enjoys funding from QBIC, the founder claims that he is also “in talks with some great angel investors.” Marketing is always important, especially for a startup, and Kader has

indeed kept that in mind for his venture. “We have a mar-keting strategy in place until our next round of funding using referral programs, social media marketing, and in-store promotions with affiliated hypermarkets,” he explains, elaborating the importance of social media. His favorite among social media plat-forms? He prefers Facebook and Twitter, given their large user bases.

So what’s next? First of all, eGrab is going to be kicked up a notch. The founder is very excited to announce that the platform’s users can now keep “track of their deliveries in real-time.” With respect to medium- and long-term plans, Kader already has his eyes set on expansion. In fact, creating a simple platform that can easily adapt to other locations is something he prioritized with eGrab’s development from the start. “We can scale across GCC in less than four weeks,” Kader claims, adding that it would take about two months to settle outside of the GCC. That said, he reiterates that expansion is currently only in the preliminary stages, and it will not probably happen in the near future.

I decided to take a small step back from eGrab, and ask Ra-hid Kader about Doha and its startup ecosystem. After all, he’s not a stranger to Qatar’s capital, and has been part of the city for almost a decade. He credits Qatar’s growth in this space to the rise of “in-

cubation centers, startup accelera-tors” and the like, with Kader giving a special mention to QBIC. With that optimistic outlook on Doha’s entre-preneurial eco-system, I wasn’t surprised when he shared with me his plans to start

a new venture that he claims will serve retailer needs. As for Qatar’s e-commerce and m-commerce industries, Kader thinks that the latter will be adopted faster than the former. With respect to e-commerce, he believes that while it has been a slow adop-tion process for Qatar’s popu-lation to begin using debit and credit cards in online transac-tions, the trend has been increasing. That said, even though m-commerce is still laying its foundation, many ‘treps and microbusinesses

are now using platforms like Instagram to sell products. Kader claims that “Instagram sales are booming,” and that “the future is mobile.” He too believes that mobile is “Web 3.0,” as once described at ArabNet Beirut 2015.

And Kader’s advice to young and aspiring entrepreneurs? “If you have an idea, validate that idea and never wait to make it perfect. If it’s perfect, it’s too late.” Any other busi-ness advice? “Build your product according to what a customer needs.”

Rahid Kader, Founder, eGrab


Mufeed Ahmed, a Qatar-based tech entrepreneur, and co-founder of Evently, an events application startup incubated by the Ministry of Incuba-tion and Communication Technology (ictQatar), also has a second startup. Catlogram, dedicated to design and develop brochures and catalogs, is in-cubated and funded by Qatar Business Incubation Centre (QBIC). Apart from startups, Ahmed handles strategic

partnerships at Doha Tweetups, a social enterprise and a powerful media that is used by organizations, brands (and recently diplomats) to connect to the online community within Qatar. In addition, he also heads Qubicle, a web and mobile app development company at the Digital Incubation Centre, MICT Qatar. Given his many entrepreneurial endeavors, it should come as no sur-prise that his passion for technology and mobile won him and his team top positions twice at the Startup Weekend Doha. His team also earned third place for the Technology Most

Beneficial to Users Award at the QSTP MIT Medicine Hackathon.

Ahmed advices inspiring entrepre-neurs to execute and launch an idea, as he believes an idea without execution is useless. “Identify and admit the flaws in your own ability or skills, and surround yourself with people who can support your company in those areas where you lack skills. Don’t try to run a one-man show in fear of losing some percentage of your company to a co-founder. It’s good to have 5% of a billion dollar company than to have 100% of a company that fails.”

Mufeed AhMedEntrEprEnEur in thE spotlight

Mufeed Ahmed, co-founder of Evently,

Qubicle, Catlogram, Doha Tweetups, and

Washnow


innovator

If you have not heard of Lateefa Alwaalan yet, rest assured that you’ll be hearing a lot more about her soon- especially since she was recently awarded

the title of Saudi Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2015 EY KSA Awards in Riyadh. As the founder and General Manager of Yatooq, a startup focused on Arabic coffee and the products associated with it, Alwaalan’s successes help to set the stage in the Kingdom for women looking to advance in entrepreneur-ship, as well as leaps forward in e-commerce. “It has been such a humbling experience,” says Alwaalan, when asked about her distinction. “It also raises the bar for me and my team to reach

greater goals. [Being a part of] the awards ceremony has been such a rewarding experience; I met world-renowned entrepre-neurs that I used to read about and [about] their companies as a young girl, like the founders of Infosys and Aramex. It’s like being among celebrities- I was truly humbled to be among such an inspiring group of achievers.” The EY Award was presented to her by Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabee’a, the Saudi Arabian Minister of Commerce and In-dustry, known to be a champion of the entrepreneurial ecosys-tem and often mentioned by the Kingdom’s influential youth as a trailblazer.

Enterprising youth, seeing Alwaalan’s success, might be inspired to try their hand at en-

trepreneurship, especially since Yatooq was a self-funded ven-ture, with Alwaalan using both her own resources and bank loans to get the company off the ground. Ideation phase began in 2009, and Yatooq was officially founded two years later. “We had a long period of research and development with soft sales

in the beginning,” she remem-bers. “We launched our first coffee machine in 2013, and that is when the real action started, igniting business growth.” Her business, focused on the coffee sector, currently employs 75 people between the local team and company partners, with locations mainly in Saudi Arabia and China. As Yatooq scaled, Al-waalan was able to increase the size of her staff, allowing her to delegate, enhance the startup’s structure, and subsequently focus on ensuring work-life bal-ance, which, she admits, >>>

lAteefA AlwAAlAn YATOOQ FOUNDER AND GENERAL MANAGER

EY KSA’s Entrepreneur of the Year

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Q&a whAt ArE SoME StErEotYpES thAt You hAVE DEALt wIth AS A woMAn In buSInESS? “Well, mostly, women are not usually seen in trade related roles. Generally women are brought up protected and shelled from the outside world -men especially- [and are] not used to taking part in trade related tasks such as bargaining, networking, cold-calling, sales, negotiations with suppliers, customers and employees, holding professional meetings, traveling, etc. These things that an entrepreneur needs to do on daily basis are not part of the skillset a women is used to having. Partaking in such situations can also be frowned upon by society; break-ing this stereotype is a personal development activity. A woman must believe in herself, build up

the confidence needed to acquire these skills and feel comfortable doing them. Self-confidence is also important to overcome resistance from the surrounding environment.”

whAt CAn thE MEDIA Do to furthEr thE Growth of SMALL buSInESSES In thE rEGIon?“In general, regional media supports a good positive story. Highlighting local success stories is key to getting people to say, ‘If they can do it, so can I.’ I think publications should dedicate sections for special coverage of what’s happening in the market, like the society photo pages. Coverage should highlight both the personal and the business story. The image of an entre-preneur should be one that is fathomable and approachable. Not all businesses become billion dollar global success; those who are making multiple millions yearly are more common. They create jobs and add value as well, [so] let’s highlight them.”

TIPS FoR ‘TREPS 1. Learn from your decisions “Take calculated risks, but make mistakes. When you do, embrace it as a learning experience.”2. opt for a sector that you are genuinely interested in “Love what you do. Passion breeds creativity.”3. Establish beneficial relationships “Network with high achievers.” 4. put forward only your very best product or service offering “Make your product great. Demand will follow.”

innovator

was a struggle for her at the outset. “I used to work 12+ hours every day. Even when I was traveling for a short break, my laptop and phone used to be with me all the time, processing work on the go. As the business has grown and the idea [has] proven itself, I’ve been able to expand the team, create structure and delegate. Being an entrepreneur is synonymous with hard work; it’s a must if one wants to suc-ceed. However, I am aware now of the necessity of having balance between work and leisure. It’s as important a skill as hard work, because nothing is more deadly to an entrepreneurial spirit than burnout. Staying healthy, both physically and mentally, is as important as achieving your numbers and hitting your sales records, because if you keep your health, you provide sustainability for your role.”

Having a strong support system is one of the most important aspects in an entrepreneur’s life, and this founder credits her family and close friends for their consistent encouragement and belief in her goal state. “It’s critical to have [such sup-port], as a female who wants to embark into the trade field. Another source of support has been Badir, the advance

manufacturing incubator [with] which I worked with the first few years.” As for fellow ‘treps that Alwaalan finds inspiring, she mentions the Saudi-founded UTURN Entertainment, created by Endeavor entrepreneurs and brothers Kaswara and Soraka Al Khatib. And to those complaining about the lack of funding in the Kingdom’s ecosystem, Alwaalan disagrees with your opinion. “I think capital is accessible in KSA. In general, funding is not the issue here; it’s talent and experience that is lacking,” she says, adding that she considers Riyadh’s startup space “very ac-tive, with Khobar and Jeddah to follow.” Alwaalan also notes that networking and mentorship are integral for enterprising women who want to make a business or a professional career work well. In addition to her work at Yatooq, to promote values of cooperation and community reliance, she co-founded a nonprofit initiative in Saudi, Cella, targeting these very aspects: “Mentors are cru-cial, whether you are pursuing a professional career or as an entrepreneur. Mentors provide advice, expertise, and raise the bar for your achievement. That is why I emphasize on the power of networking, and building rela-tionships with great minds.”

2015 EY KSA Awards: Abdulaziz Al-Sowailim, Chairman and CEO of Ernst & Young MENA, greets Commerce and Industry Minister Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah

Sohar-Gareth-Entrprnr-203x273mm-Eng.pdf 1 10/25/15 11:26 AM


Dubai takes the lead in terms of market willingness to accept new ideas and innovations (68%), followed by Abu Dhabi (56%) and Sharjah (51%). Dubai is also the top city in terms of the supply of local talent to employ (52%). Lastly, Manama takes the lead when it comes to affordability of taxes and fees followed by Muscat and Doha (59%, 54% and 53%). The October 2015 Top Cities in the MENA Survey aims to understand the opinions of people living in MENA countries about their city of residence. It aims to assess the key cities in the region on various aspects that have direct impact on the quality of life of its residents, and to develop an overall index based on several parameters, including the standard of living, economic factors, socio-cultural factors, environment and labor rights.

Overall importance of the aspects

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Availability of jobs

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Reasonably-priced day to day necessities

Career growth

Competitive salaries

Benefits for working parents

Not at all important Somewhat not important

Neither important nor unimportant Somewhat important

Extremely important

All figures are %’s

Q. Given below are some ‘Economic Factors’ that affect one’s daily life. Using the scale below, could you please tell us how important they are to you.

Base: All (n=3,613)

• 77% of respondents believe that availability of jobs and affordable housing are the most important economic aspects.


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TREPONOMICS EthICS | ESQUIRE GuY | SKILLSEt | MArKEtInG | pro

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By Suhail Al-Masri

Hot spots for bUdding entrepreneUrsThE ToP cITIEs In ThE MIDDlE EasT for your busInEss

If you’re hoping to set up a business, finding the right place to start is a critical first step. We have identified the top cities in the Middle East that are hot spots for budding entrepreneurs. Each offers attractive qualities you should look for in a home base: accessible sources of funding, little taxes, and a well-educated workforce to ensure you’ll have plenty of promising

job applicants when you’re ready to hire. When it comes to the ease of setting up a new business, Manama and Dubai get the highest rating (53% and 52% respectively). Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Manama are the top cities when it comes to lack of bureaucracy in procedures and paperwork (54%, 52% and 49%). Sharjah is at 47%. In terms of the ease in finding capital to start a business, half of Dubai respondents gave their city a positive rating making it the best city in the region in this aspect, followed by Abu Dhabi (44%) and Manama (42%).


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The UAe scores besT when iT comes To The sTAndArd of living, wiTh dUbAi AT The Top spoT followed by AbU dhAbi And shArjAh. The Three emirATes emerge AgAin As Top ciTies in Terms of AvAilAbiliTy of pArks/ com-mUniTy gArdens, wiTh 81% for dUbAi, 77% for AbU dhAbi And 74% for shArjAh. mUscAT Also geTs A high score (73%). when iT comes To The AvAilAbiliTy of heAlThcAre fAciliTies, AbU dhAbi is The besT ciTy (82%) followed by dUbAi (77%) And mAnAmA (70%). dUbAi TAkes The Top spoT for Accessible pUblic TrAns-porTATion, wiTh 84% of iTs residenTs giving iT A posiTive rATing; AbU dhAbi follow AT 77%.


thE hAppIESt CItIES In MEnAResidents of big cities typically earn higher wages, but are they any happier? According to the Bayt.com Top Cities in the Middle East and North Africa Survey 2015, they are. The survey shows that Abu Dhabi residents are the happiest in the region about their current city of residence, with 83% of them stating so. Manama and Muscat follow closely in terms of overall happiness, at 79%. On the other hand, residents of Beirut are the least happy with only a little over a quarter of them (26%) stating their happiness about their city of residence.

thE bESt EConoMIESThe economy in the Middle East is expected to reach a milestone in the next few months, with four in 10 respondents in the September 2015 Consumer Confidence Index Survey saying that they foresee their country’s economy to improve in the next six months. According to the same survey, 43% expect their financial situation to improve, while 51% predict better business conditions. The GCC is home to the top cities in the region when it comes to the highest forecasted employment

growth. Leading the way is Dubai and Riyadh with about half of respondents expecting a rise in the number of jobs offered (48% and 47%, respectively). Dubai is also rated highest in terms of competitive salaries (43%), followed by Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Doha (all at 40%). These statistics are consistent with results from the August 2015 Middle East Job Index Survey where the majority of employers in the region said they will be hiring for new positions in the next three to 12 months. For career growth, Dubai emerges again as the top city with 54% rating it positively. In terms of affordable housing, Manama takes the top spot (48%), followed by Muscat (42%) and Sharjah (40%). Manama (64%), Riyadh (54%) and Eastern Province (52%) were rated best when it comes to reasonably priced day-to-day amenities.

LAbor rIGhtS EnforCEMEntThe Top Cities in the Middle East and North Africa Survey 2015 measured labor rights in a city along seven key factors that affect the lives of its residents. These factors are not only crucial for the working population but also have an indirect impact on the non-working >>>


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Culture and arts offerings (music, theatre,visuals arts, literary arts etc.)'

Always has something going on/ the citythat never sleeps



Extremely important


Q. Given below are some ‘Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation Factors’ that affect one’s daily life. Using the scale below, could you please tell us how important they are to you.

Base: All (n=3,613)

• Almost 6 in 10 respondents find availability of natural areas/ landscapes extremely important.


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The best cities to live, work and do business are also those that offer the best quality of life. Defining the term ‘quality of life’ is not an easy task. In fact, what constitutes a good quality of life has occupied philosophers since Plato and Aristotle, and countless definitions have been proposed. Nevertheless, it seems possible to find some elements on which most economists and scholars agree. First of all, ‘quality of life’ is used to evaluate the overall wellbeing of individuals and societies. Although most studies on the quality of life do take into account indicators of economic success such as income per capita, wealth and employment, they also go beyond those measures to include the environment, physical and mental health, education, leisure time, infrastructure and safety. Also often included are concepts such as freedom of expression, human rights, social belonging and happiness.

DEfInInG ‘QuALItY of LIfE’ AS MEASurAbLE fACtor


population. They have been identified as follows:1. End of service benefits2. Termination rights 3. Vacation allowances4. Parenthood allowances5. Wage protection system6. Health insurance and social security systems 7. Proactive policy-making

In terms of labor rights, Abu Dhabi scores best followed by Dubai and Manama. Abu Dhabi (50%), Dubai (45%) and Muscat (46%) emerge as the top three cities in terms of end of service benefits. When it comes to termination rights, Abu Dhabi comes first (42%), followed by Dubai, Muscat and Manama (all at 37%). Dubai takes the top spot in terms of vacation allowances with over half of respondents stating so (54%). This is followed by Abu Dhabi and Manama (both at 49%). Abu Dhabi emerges as the best city in terms of health insurance and social security, with

about three quarters giving it a positive rating (73%). In terms of proactive policy making, Abu Dhabi is also rated highest (46%) followed by Dubai (42%).

CLEAn AIr, wAtEr AnD StrEEtSEnvironmental factors form a set of important aspects related to comfort and cleanliness that affect the overall quality of life in a city. According to the Bayt.com Top Cities in the Middle East and North Africa Survey 2015, Dubai was rated highest in terms of clean streets and roads with a vast majority stating so (93%), followed closely by Muscat (91%) and Abu Dhabi (89%). In terms of comfortable weather, Amman emerges best (46%) followed by Muscat and Abu Dhabi (both 45%). Muscat is rated the top city in the region when it comes to clean air, as stated by 75% of its residents; Abu Dhabi and Dubai follow (67% and 64%, respectively). Dubai takes the top spot in terms of beauty of architecture and buildings, with the vast

majority rating it positively (92%). In terms of manageable traffic, Abu Dhabi is rated best (72%), followed by Muscat and Dubai (69% and 63%, respectively).

thE bESt StAnDArDS of LIVInG The UAE scores best when it comes to the standard of living, with Dubai at the top spot followed by Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. The three Emirates emerge again as top cities in terms of availability of parks/community gardens, with 81% for Dubai, 77% for Abu Dhabi and 74% for Sharjah. Muscat also gets a high score (73%). When it comes to the availability of healthcare facilities, Abu Dhabi is the best city (82%) followed by Dubai (77%) and Manama (70%).

Dubai takes the top spot for accessible public transportation, with 84% of its residents giving it a positive rating; Abu Dhabi follow at 77%. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are also the top two cities in terms of the quality of their public transportation system

TREPONOMICS EthICS | ESQUIRE GuY | SKILLSEt | MArKEtInG | proTREPONOMICS EthICS | ESQUIRE GuY | SKILLSEt | MArKEtInG | pro


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Extremely important


Q. Given below are some factors associated to one’s daily-to-day life. Using the scale below, could you please tell us how important they are to you.

Base: All (n=3,613)

• Feeling of stability and security (85%), availability of healthcare facilities (83%), water/electricity/sewage systems (83%), quality of education (83%) and quality of available health care facilities (82%), all emerge as the most important standard of living factors.


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Extremely important


Q. Given below are some factors associated to one’s daily-to-day life. Using the scale below, could you please tell us how important they are to you.

Base: All (n=3,613)

• Feeling of stability and security (85%), availability of healthcare facilities (83%), water/electricity/sewage systems (83%), quality of education (83%) and quality of available health care facilities (82%), all emerge as the most important standard of living factors.


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(89% and 76%, respectively). The same is true for availability of wide range of entertainment avenues for which Dubai received 89% of votes and Abu Dhabi 84%. In terms of availability of educational institutions, Beirut is the leading city, followed by Dubai, Sharjah and Amman. Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Muscat and Dubai are the top cities in terms of the feeling of stability and security.

toLErAnCE, CuLturE AnD poLItICSThe sociocultural factors are forces within cultures, societies and cities that affect the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of individuals who are a part of them. They include the equal treatment of both genders; the fair treatment of all nationalities; a stable political environment; low crime rates; freedom of expression; and tolerance to different cultures and ideas. Dubai and Muscat are the best cities in terms of equal treatment of both genders (both 76%) followed by Abu Dhabi (72%). When it comes to fair treatment to all nationalities, Muscat emerges as the best city (67%). The three Emirates (Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah) emerge as top cities in

terms of the stability of their political environment (83% for Dubai and 79% for both Abu Dhabi and Sharjah). Muscat also scores very high, at 82%. In terms of effective law enforcement, the three UAE Emirates are on top (85% for Abu Dhabi, 84% for Dubai and 80% for Sharjah). Manama takes the top spot in terms of freedom of expression (63%) followed by Dubai (60%), Abu Dhabi (57%) and Muscat (55%). Muscat is rated highest in terms of tolerance to different cultures and ideas with 79% rating it positively, followed by Dubai at 74%.

top CItIES for DoInG buSInESSMiddle East professionals have repeatedly manifested an entrepreneurial streak. In fact, the Millennials in the Middle East and North Africa Survey, February 2014, shows that 20% of respondents in MENA would prefer to have their own business. Innovation is never easy, though. Hardship and necessity underpin much entrepreneurial progress, largely because the motivation to enter the unknown in the face of bleak odds simply is not in abundance when more comfortable avenues remain to be explored. The Top

Cities in the Middle East and North Africa Survey 2015 shows that there is always room in the regional market for new ideas, products, services and multi-million dollar success stories– if one knows where to look.

Suhail Al-Masri is the VP of Sales at Bayt.com. Al-Masri has more than 20 years of experience in sales leadership, consultative sales, account manage-ment, marketing management, and operations man-agement. His mission at Bayt.com goes in line with the company’s mission to empower people with the tools and knowledge to build their lifestyles of choice.


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Extremely important


Q. Given below are some ‘Environmental Factors’ that affect one’s daily life. Using the scale below, could you please tell us how important they are to you.

Base: All (n=3,613)

• Clean water (87%), followed by clean air (77%) and clean streets (74%) are the most important environmental factors for respondents in the region.


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Q. Given below are some ‘Environmental Factors’ that affect one’s daily life. Using the scale below, could you please tell us how important they are to you.

Base: All (n=3,613)

• Clean water (87%), followed by clean air (77%) and clean streets (74%) are the most important environmental factors for respondents in the region.


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1. prICInG AnD MArKEtInG nEED to bE IntEGrAtED froM thE GEt-Go Successful companies fully incorporate marketing and pricing throughout the innovation process, from the product inception to the market

launch. An example of what not to do: after years of developing a product, a client approaches us a week before the product launch with the question: “Could you help me find the right price for my product?”

2. MAKE thE InnoVAtIon proCESS AnD nEw proDuCt prICInG C-LEVEL prIorItIES The main difference between companies that succeed and companies that fail is essentially how they look at new products. The successful

ones focus on value, always looking at their products from a market or customer perspective. The CEO sets the tone in this process and is closely involved from the start.

3. MAKE SurE thAt You hAVE At LEASt onE prICInG/MArKEtInG EXpErt In EACh nEw proDuCt tEAM This is a simple rule of thumb that will help you ensure that your product doesn’t end up being over-engineered or impossible to sell.

4. ALLoCAtE A buDGEt AhEAD of tIME to MEASurE CuStoMEr VALuE AnD wILLInGnESS to pAY You can’t make something out of nothing. Even for extremely long innovation cycles that take several years, the most successful companies set aside the necessary budgets early on (e.g. life sciences).

5. EVErY now AnD thEn, tAKE pArt In proDuCt MILEStonE MEEtInGS We don’t mean a surprise visit, but one that’s been announced ahead of time. Such a visit has an enormous impact on the team: the CEO is interested, the project gains importance, the team gets attention- everyone gives their all.

6. StrEnGthEn Your tEAMS bY EnCourAGInG thEM to MAKE DECISIonS for thE CoMpAnY bASED on fACtS AnD rESEArCh- EVEn If It’S hArD to hEAr “The train has left the station” is probably the weakest excuse for pushing a product that has no future. Regardless of the phase, if you figure out that a new product won’t achieve the profit targets, then you should kill the project as quickly as possible. >>>

10 things managers should factor into an innovation process By Lovrenc Kessler

Most companies fail to successfully position their new products in the market. This is the result of our Global pricing study. Almost three out of four new products fail to meet their profit

targets. These problems are self-inflicted and thus curable: pricing and marketing need to be the top priority of the innovation process. By far the best and often the only way to overcome price pressure is through new products, as 77% of the participating managers confirm.

Thinking ahead

*Global Pricing Study Simon-Kucher (in cooperation with the Professional Pricing Society (PPS)) conducts the Global Pricing Study every two years. In 2014, approximately 1,600 participants from over 40 countries, among them 39% C-levels from companies of all industries, took part.

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7. StrIKE unprofItAbLE projECtS froM Your LISt Make a strong impression on your team by setting a good example. Everyone will know that you practice what you preach.

8. for rEALLY IMportAnt DECISIonS, uSE two pArAL-LEL tEAMS An example: the board of a client always as-signs two independent teams with the job of developing a price strategy for the market

launch of major products. This approach consistently provides the client the best possible results. When you’re dealing with a multi-million dollar product, the approach pays off immediately.

9. MAKE Your tEAMS ShArE thE rESponSIbILItY for thEIr DECISIonS AnD rECoMMEnDAtIonS Team members should sign off personally on all milestone presentations, business cases and forecasts. Of course, no one will be held personally accountable when things don’t go as planned, but each signature will make team members critically check interim results, ultimately improving the overall team results.

10. bEwArE of wELL-IntEnDED, but fLAwED InCEntIVES Incentives gone wrong: in one company, project team members were given incentives to bring as many new products to the market as possible, regardless of quality. A major mistake!

All speakers come with the common objectives of conveying their mes-sages effectively, keeping the audi-

ence engaged, and (hopefully) having their listeners retain key points. They’re not the speakers I’d want to hear. You, my speaker, leave no room for hope or luck, and this is how you do it.

1. SoCIAL outrEACh YoU KNoW YoUR AUDIENCEYes, you probably do the regular homework and ask about the audience’s demograph-ics; but you also go the extra mile and you manage to leave no room for misunder-standing. You see, the audience comes in with preconceived ideas, but you’re

already aware of that. Taking that into consideration, how well you get your mes-sage across determines your credibility and effectiveness. The magic? Relating their interests to your talk, and still managing to make your point.

2. nEtworK tAp YoU TUNE IN To THEIR IDEAS Leaving no room for loose ends, you manage to play the field and go back to your subject very smoothly. It takes your credibility to another level predicting the questions your audience may have in mind. Better yet, you incorporate the questions asked into your talk, and use them the next time around. This way you guarantee never

missing out on audience-generated ideas. Your talk is always richer when you’re one step ahead.

3. SpEAK thE LAnGuAGE YoU MASTER YoUR AUDIENCE’S LINGoIt’s key that you set an inviting tone at the beginning of your talk, getting your listeners on board for the entire time. one of the most basic requirements to convey a message completely is to have the least amount of distraction possible, the first of which would be to lose the language bar-rier. Whether it’s a matter of science, tech, or any profession, you tailor the words to be familiar to your audience. That being said, it’s always appreciated when things are put in the simplest of terms, leaving more room to think of the subject at hand. In other words, your stage is a display of your credentials, just not a display of your vocab and mastery of industry jargon.

This article was co-written by Dr. Georg Tacke, CEO, Simon-Kucher & Partners, and Lovrenc Kessler, Managing Director of Simon-Kucher’s office in Dubai.

Lovrenc Kessler is the Managing Direc-tor of Simon-Kucher & Partners’ Dubai office and has been with the company for more than seven years. Prior to join-ing the Dubai office, Kessler focused on innovative marketing strategies, portfolio optimization, converged offer development and sales excellence. Fluent in six languages, he has led numerous international projects on a top-management level in Germany, (Eastern) Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia. Kessler advises market leaders in vari-ous B2C and B2B industries on how to achieve profitable revenue growth. He received his Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Germany, and an MSc from the University of Vaasa, Fin-land, majoring in International Manage-ment, Finance and Logistics. During his studies he was a scholar of the German National Academic Foundation.

A SoCIAL TAKE oN PUBLIC SPEAKING By Shoug Al Nafisi

thrEE wAYS to CApturE thE AuDIEnCE

yoU cAn’T mAke someThing oUT of noThing. even for exTremely long innovATion cycles ThAT TAke severAl yeArs, The mosT sUccessfUl compA-nies seT Aside The necessAry bUdgeTs eArly on (e.g. life sciences).

The mAin difference beTween com-pAnies ThAT sUcceed And compAnies ThAT fAil is essenTiAlly how They look AT new prodUcTs. The sUccessfUl ones focUs on vAlUe, AlwAys look-ing AT Their prodUcTs from A mArkeT or cUsTomer perspecTive. The ceo seTs The Tone in This process And is closely involved from The sTArT.


In the spirit of recognizing talent and turning ideas to concepts, Dubai Internet City’s tech incubation hub in5 Center brought together

developers, coders and designers for the third edition of Decode Dubai. Held on the 9th and 10th of October at Media One Hotel, the 36-hour hackathon, sponsored by First Gulf Bank, challenged 22 teams to build and develop banking and financial solutions to improve the banking experience of consumers. The 22 teams pitched web and mobile applications to a panel of judges including Beehive CTO Iain McPhail, Precinct Partners Managing Partner Amjad Ahmad, PayFort Managing Direc-tor Omar Soudodi, Telr CEO Sirish Kumar, HoneyBee Tech Ventures co-founder Ihsan Jawad, Gulf Investor Circle Group Partner Nikolas Fotilas, and FGB Executive VP and Chief Information Of-ficer Andrew Murphy. The judges

assessed team entries across a number of measures including usability, aesthetics, innovation, relevance, and market potential.

The first place distinction went to Transacto, an app to organize transactions easily and catego-rize SMSs from bank accounts, followed by Smart Visit in second place, an app personalizing cus-tomer experiences during bank visits, and in third place, Bridg, an app enabling users and SMEs offline cashless payments powered by Bluetooth. Awarded by FGB, the winning projects received cash prizes of AED15,000, AED10,000 and AED5000 respectively. Decode Dubai is one of DIC’s initiatives that are, similar to Drones for Good, HackaMENA and in5, a step to aligning with Smart Dubai’s aims in fostering entrepreneurship through the tech sector. It’s now up to the teams to turn the winning concepts into functioning businesses.

IN PICTuRES

22 fintech ideas pitched in 36-hour hackathon

Speaking in code

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As many of you have already noticed with the ads appear-ing on your In-stagram feeds, the image-

centric social network has begun monetizing its platform here in the Middle East. Ac-cording to the latest earnings call, Instagram’s ad revenues will make up 5% of Facebook’s mobile ad revenues this year, and that share will increase to 14.0% in 2017. This is thanks in part to the new advertising API, and the projected revenue is expected to rocket to $2.8 billion by 2017, leaving even giants like Twitter and Google in the rearview mirror in the U.S. market.

So what does that mean for advertisers? And why does it matter? Instagram was a platform that, for me, was a bit like Google: you simply dis-covered it. From the platform’s launch in 2010, Instagram relentlessly focused on creat-ing a user ecosystem where the individual became part of the conversation within a user-friendly experience. Unlike Facebook, Instagram has held out: to date, there is no evidence of an Edge Rank or algorithm-type function, which would pre-determine what users will see. If you follow someone on Instagram, you’ll see their posts– without filtered results. And while it’s a stream-style feed, like Twitter, it’s not nearly as fast moving. Depending on how many people you follow, you can easily log in once or twice a day and catch the posts of everyone you follow without missing anything, making it

quite a refreshing, unaltered experience for the user.

Instagram also makes it so easy to like a post. Users can easily double-tap anywhere on the image while scrolling. They don’t need to navigate or maneuver to access the like button. Furthermore, it’s super easy to upload images and engage with others, which makes the whole experience ideal for today’s online con-sumers.

whY IS InStAGrAM SpECIAL?Part of Instagram’s appeal is that the visual stories you are seeing are true reflection of those you were following despite the filters. For me, In-stagram immediately felt more real and raw, and as such, the immediacy of Instagram was so appealing. Each time I opened the app, I felt like I was on a personal journey wherein I had found Instagram and walked into a secret gar-den of knowledge and wonder. In short, what Instagram pro-vides me, as a user, is a very unique approach to curating content –the platform com-bines beautiful visuals within a simple format– a formula that seems to work across the board!

As a seasoned communica-tor, I immediately saw the potential of image-based mar-keting on Instagram– pictures literally tell a thousand words, and we all know the science of storytelling through visuals. In today’s hyper connected world, where we are trying to capture the attention of an audience with the attention span of a goldfish, you have to stand out, and beautifully crafted imagery seems to work.

Don’t believe me? Just look at the incredible momentum that Instagram has managed to gain both globally and regionally: • 300 million global users• 30 billion photos shared since 2010 when it first launched• 2.5 billion likes daily• 70 million photos are on average uploaded per day• 25 million users across MENA

Sure, Instagram might share Facebook’s scale -Facebook currently has a whopping 1.45 billion users- but it’s still a seriously formidable platform to stimulate reach, when you compare it to Twitter

or Pinterest. Why? Because Instagram really does deliver different experiences which provide deeper engagement and action. For example, when I’m using Twitter, I use it for news delivery, for customer care, and for connecting with people who share longer-form content. This means my frame of mind when using Twitter is completely different. I expect brands to respond quickly to any questions or concerns, or I want to use it as a jump-ing board onto a deeper dive on moments and news that brands are sharing.

pIntErESt VS. InStAGrAMFor Pinterest, a user’s intent


The low-down on Instagram advertising

IT’S TIME To gET vISuAl

By Ema Linaker

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tends to be focused on the dis-covery and curation of other users’ content. Similar to Google, users can use Pinterest to search for specific content or products or ideas. They can then create visually appealing and special boards by pinning and grouping the content they discover. Instagram’s move into search has certainly really developed the platform to be similar to this mode but cur-rently Pinterest has the edge, for now. And more importantly for brands, Pinterest users are predominantly female. In fact, women account for about 70% of Pinterest users and are about five times as likely to use the virtual scrapbook-ing tool as men, the largest gender difference of any social network. Pinterest users also tend to skew a little bit older, although the core demographic is still 18-34 year olds, rep-resenting 56% of users. Men and women are more evenly represented on Instagram; 50% of the platforms users are outside of the United States, making for a more global demographic. This net-work is also more popular with the younger crowd- two-thirds of users are between the ages of 18 and 34, and popularity drops a bit with the older part of this demographic.

how not to InStAGrAM Unfortunately, with the growth of Instagram as a marketing tool, I am starting to see what we call “stock image based marketing,” which is really lazy, and ultimately, not effec-tive at all. If you take a look at the data that I’ve seen on many an Instagram campaign, you can see that eye-catching, engaging photography is the single most important factor in marketing optimization for any campaign on this platform.

For example, just check out what one of the first brands to embrace beautiful photography has managed to do. Ben & Jer-

ry’s understood that featuring mouth-watering images of its famous ice cream could spread “ice cream euphoria” around the world. It has a strong com-mitment to its brand values, and it demonstrates this with its focus on building customer connections on a global scale. Ben & Jerry’s is constantly regramming photos posted with related hashtags, as well as focusing on building brand awareness by promoting new and unique flavors through Instagram to generate buzz. Ben & Jerry’s has also proven

Instagram ads’ effectiveness by strategically running them us-ing images of its newest flavors or other enticing pictures. After just four ads, Ben & Jerry’s saw a 20% increase in followers.

You’ll hear people talk about the need for authentic, real-world photos to drive engagement and they’re right. You can’t keep doing what some brands are really guilty of here in the Middle East, which is just slapping up any old marketing nonsense and hoping “it will do.” It won’t-

the Instagram community is discerning, and as the social network’s name suggests, they go to Instagram to be inspired, delighted and entertained- in an instant. Shoddy shortcuts will not hold up when brands are competing against the likes of National Geographic and some of the world’s best pho-tographers, humorists, fashion brands, and the list goes on. Instagram users refuse to be bored to tears by dull promo-tional campaigns or posters– and they vote with likes and follows. >>>

Souq.com Instagram creative


So whAt EXACtLY IS hAp-pEnInG on InStAGrAM, AnD how CAn You tAKE pArt?Well, we know all Instagram advertisers will be able to use a full slate of Facebook target-ing tools (remember that Fa-cebook now owns Instagram), including the popular Custom Audiences feature. This will be a key drawing card. Why? Because ads will be hyper-targeted based on demograph-ics: age, gender and interests pulled from Facebook. This gives advertisers a real advan-tage over organic posts because you can really deliver hyper-bespoke, beautiful content to a precise target, which means that the effectiveness of your creative investment increases enormously. Further, you can retarget your contacts with custom audiences by uploading your customers email address-es. This allows for a deeper connection to the customer relationship.

whY ADVErtISE on InStAGrAM?Apart from the reasons already mentioned, Instagram has become the de facto place to

reach younger people. Whilst I was on holiday this summer, I met a few people under 22 who wanted to keep in touch. I asked how, assuming they would ask to connect on Fa-cebook? Instead, they said to follow them on Instagram. It is this both factual and anecdotal insight that is important for brands to understand. If you want to play where millennials are highly engaged, then Insta-gram is now a vital part of the digital ecosystem. Instagram is unique because the con-tent allows for much deeper engagement off the platform as it ties deeply to the wider digital ecosystem of brands. The new functionality allows for a closer tie in to CRM and e-commerce and directly ties delight and participation with a brand to commercial actions.

whAt CAn ADVErtISErS EXpECt?For the smart brands out there that base creative work on data insights, the advertising on Instagram will have several different types of carousel ads with “Shop Now,” “Learn More” and “Sign Up” but-

tons that link outside the app, which will be incredibly insightful. These CTAs for direct response actions that open an in-app browser mean that brands can fully integrate their social CRM strategy so it moves Instagram from an awareness-only touch point to the end-of-the-purchase-funnel tool. The end-of-funnel formats have a really powerful API to track and measure what the value a brand’s invest-ment. Robust measurement and tracking will allow adver-tisers total transparency of the value of the investment on the platform against their key metrics, whether that’s aware-ness uplift, purchase intent or even actual sales the platform- which will allow for a really smart tracking system across the process, and ultimately, a powerful performance market-ing matrix.

DoES thIS MEAn I ShouLDn’t ADVErtISE on fACEbooK?In terms of Instagram and Facebook, I think that both platforms can coexist together. Honestly, it really depends on what your marketing goals

are, what business are you in and what you want to achieve. Both platforms provide a way for marketers to really bond with people in a meaning-ful way– by connecting with the right people. Facebook and Instagram both have very strong targeting capabili-ties, especially because of the huge prominence on peoples’ mobiles.

What I would recommend to all brands looking to invest in Instagram and Facebook is to measure and ask questions. For example, and I’m quoting Sheryl Sandberg here, “track ROI, if you do a car ad with In-stagram one month, how many vehicles were driven off the lot during the ad’s lifetime?” Ulti-mately, marketers need to do a bit of research and learn what products are best for them at the right time to drive their business results.

onLY QuALItY ContEnt nEED AppLY!Now that Instagram is opening up its advertising suite, there is a lot of pent-up demand. The rollout of new features over the next several months means that by the end of 2015,


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Starbucks MENA Instagram creative


Instagram will have a host of new ad products for advertis-ers, large and small. But this is not the time for marketers to rest on their respective lau-rels. Sorry, folks, but mediocre creative simply won’t work on Instagram. It needs to feel authentic, real, and beautiful.

Think of your Instagram feed as the place to show-case beautifully crafted print advertising. You don’t have to invest in lots of really ex-pensive equipment to produce beautiful photographs that look amazing on Instagram.

And innovation pays off- for example, check out what Old Spice is doing– leveraging that school boy “Create Your Own Adventure” books passion that clearly resonates with boys and men today, judging by the huge success of Old Spice’s beautiful campaign. Hats off to Wieden + Kennedy who hacked the tagging function on Instagram to gamify the platform through a “Choose Your Own Adventure” social game for Old Spice, filled with robots, retro monsters and meta jokes.

Whatever you do, don’t publish stock photography- it’s a huge no-no on Instagram. It feels fake and worse than spam. What all Insta-successful brands do on the platform is encourage truly authentic moment sharing. The challenge for Instagram now is maintaining that same high standard for quality, despite effectively shedding the training wheels- giving more advertisers more freedom, instead of just guiding a few big-budget brands to glossy campaigns.

If you happened to pass by the Burj Al Arab in october, and wondered why the Instagram logo was projected onto the structure, it was part of the company’s global fifth anniver-sary celebrations. To commemo-rate the occasion, Amy Cole, Head of Brand Development in

EMEA and the seventh member of the original Instagram team, visited Dubai for the platform’s Worldwide Instameet- an event for the app’s users to meet and explore new venues together. According to its release, more than 40 billion photos have been posted since its inception and

from the 400 million members base, over 75% are based out of the United States, particularly in the Middle East- and it’s banking on that. Cole’s visit coincides with Instagram’s announcement of facilitating business use of the platform with more advertis-ing avenues. Product-wise, it showed the roll out of new features for businesses such as landscape photo and video capabilities, and video ads that are up to 30 seconds in length

(twice the typical video length). If you’re looking for proof that Instagram has the user base to drive business objectives, then check out the number of pictures posted for the Worldwide Instameet (hashtag #WWIM12), and here in Dubai (hashtag #WWIM12_Burj). The challenge now rests on businesses to generate content that won’t turn off users who are fond of what was previously a commercial-free space.

Making businesses #instafamousInstagram marks fifth birthday with

Worldwide Instameets

The Burj Al Arab in Dubai, UAE with a projection of the Instagram logo for the Worldwide Instameet in October

Ema Linaker is a digital native who has been working integrated communica-tions for leading brands and agencies for over 20 years. She has worked at Google, Nuance, Ogilvy & Mather, and now heads up Leo Burnett’s team of social, mobile and digital experts working on multinational brands like McDonalds, Samsung and P&G.


Lenovo PHAB Plus

Apple Watch HermèsDoubleTour

TECH SHINY | WEBSITE TO WATCH | GEEK | MOBILE TECH | ONLINE ‘TREP | THE FIX

#TAMTALKSTECHIt’s time to take a look at new A/V! For the home there’s the IoT, and a slick new viewing

experience- that allows you to incorporate your device.

Fab Find Lenovo PHab PLus

Lenovo gives new meaning to the phrase “Go big or go home,” with the release of PHAB Plus, the device is designed for… everyone. The 6.8 inch device is larger than the average smart-phone but smaller than a tablet and includes features like full HD display, a 13MP rear camera, 5MP front camera and a 3,500 mAh battery that gives you up to 24 hours of talk time. The phablet includes 32GB memory for heavy multimedia users, it’s powered with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core chip

with 2GB of memory for the gamers, and offers a Panorama Selfie function with dual LED flash for the image-obsessed. Still on the fence about how user-friendly the device is? PHAB Plus has been optimized for one-hand usability by enabling double taps, long press and shakes to launch functions. There’s even a one-hand key-board that shrinks and snaps to your hand position. With a large rounded unibody design, and a host of great features, bigger really is better.

Hear ye Sony H.ear

High-resolution audio is on deck at Sony and you can have it too with the new h.ear collection. The new range is available in three formats: h.ear on headphones, h.ear in NC noise canceling and h.ear in in-ear earphones. The headband style headphones are a welcome remix of an old favorite for audiophiles featuring an in-line remote and mic to take calls and control music, a tangle-free cable in cool coordinating shades, and a compact folding design that fits perfectly in its carrying

pouch. Even better than the specs? h.ear accessories actually look good. Made with premium audio components and finishes, the gadgets are available in striking colors like viridian blue, cinnabar red, charcoal black, lime yellow, and bordeaux pink. Keeping with the cool factor, the Sony Walkman has also undergone a refreshing redesign too. It’s not just about music anymore. With expanded capabilities, the media player is more com-pact, contains 128GB memory with a micro SD card slot and Sony’s upscaling technology which enhances compressed MP3 files to near high res audio quality. The Walkman can hold all of your multimedia files and has built-in AM/FM radio. When paired, Sony h.ear headphones and Walkman combine premium audio with striking design for your listen-ing comfort- superior sound never looked so good.

Sony H.ear


Makook, a Dubai-based technology firm, wants to simplify and enhance your life. As people and things continue to converge on the IoT, services to facilitate connectivity must keep up and that’s where Makook is useful. The company offers everything from entertain-ment to home security, automation, and energy management. Makook keeps

your world connected with its proprietary app that is available in both Google Play and the App Store. From the app, you can stream video, take an online course, and take a peek into your home or anywhere you have home monitoring devices installed. Makook aims to bring all facets of your life to a single, digital platform with a seam-lessly connected experience.

Welcome homeMakook delivers ioT To The MeNa regioN

The Sony BRAVIA™

X9400C Series 4K LCD

Android TV

#tamtalKsteCh

A brAve new world Sony brAviA meetS Android tv

Tamara Clarke, a former software development professional, is the tech and lifestyle enthusiast behind The Global Gazette, one of the most active blogs in the Middle East. The Global Gazette has been welcomed and lauded by some of the most influential tech brands in the region. Clarke’s goal is to inform about technology and how it supports our lifestyles. See her work both in print regional publications and online on her blog where she discusses everything from how a new gadget improves day-to-day life to how to coordinate your smartphone accessories. Visit www.theglobalgazette.com and talk to her on Twitter @GlobalGazette.

Sony unveiled the X9000C Series of BRAVIA 4K LCD televisions, its thinnest range of TVs to date with edge-to-edge viewing. The televisions were built with a new 4K Processor X1 which improves clarity, color accuracy and contrast of HD and 4K video. The virtually frameless televisions mount flush to the wall, featuring TRI-LUMINOS display for sharper, expanded color. To give you a seamlessly integrated experi-ence with your mobile devices, the series supports Google’s latest Android TV operating system. With built-in Google

Cast, you can easily choose to watch your favorite content via your mobile device- cast it to the big screen! It doesn’t stop there; you can access Google Play for apps, movies and more using your Google ID. One-Flick Entertainment allows you to ac-cess content without disrupting what you’re currently watching. Perhaps the most coveted feature of BRAVIA Android TV is Voice Search, allowing users to search content across different services, and enabling you to command your TV… by simply talking to it. A TV that responds when spoken to? Epic.

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TECH SHINY | WEBSITE TO WATCH | GEEK | MOBILE TECH | ONLINE ‘TREP | THE FIX

After Apple acquired Beats Electronics during the summer of 2014, it took just a few months for people to speculate about what Apple’s going

to do with it. Rumors and leaks about a restructuring of iTunes swarmed the Internet through-out the spring of last year, most-ly due to the fact that former Beats chief creative officer and Nine Inch Nails singer Trent Reznor was going to spearhead the project. There was also talk of Apple trying to give Spo-tify a knockout blow through a streaming service price war. That didn’t work though; music labels weren’t willing to go low-er than US$9.99 for a streaming service according to leaks. Apple Music boasts around 30 million albums, similar to Spotify that claims it has “more than 30 million.”

But… don’t let the few simi-larities fool you. There are more than enough features here that separate the two. While both are similarly priced, Apple Music doesn’t have a free version with

ads, but they make up for it by offering users a free three month trial, as well as a family plan (for up to six people) for just US$14.99. This is a little different than Spotify’s free-mium model; a free version is available, but you have to toler-ate some annoying ads.

Moreover, Apple Music integrates your existing iTunes playlist, whether you bought a digital album or transferred songs off a CD. Spotify has a section for your music, but it’s not integrated into your main playlist. It’s a separate tab on its own. Unlike Apple Music how-ever, Spotify has a stronger so-cial element to it, allowing you to see your friend’s playlists for inspiration. What might be the winning feature for Apple Music is its radio feature. Instead of being a series of playlists of hit songs, there is a human touch with DJs hosting several shows, as well as the playlists being comprised of songs by some lesser known bands, or songs by genre pioneers that have often been overlooked.

At the end of the day, it’s going to be up to consumer taste. Ap-ple’s tendency to be exclusive, especially when it comes to mo-bile, might not appeal to those who use Android or Blackberry operating systems. Speaking of Android, where’s Google Music in all this? We’re keeping our eyes peeled for what could be an upgraded version of their

YouTube Music Key feature. To get better insight on how

this could impact the music in-dustry, we spoke to Elie Habib, founder of Anghami. “For us, the pro in Apple Music is mostly a validation that streaming is the way forward,” says Habib, who says this also shows that Anghami made the right deci-sion when setting up a little over two years ago. Will it be a hit in the MENA region? Habib believes that it might take some time before consumers can adopt the streaming service due to a number of factors. The first one is the most obvious: the MENA region’s relatively low credit card ownership and usage. The second reason Habib believes Apple Music could take some time before it becomes a huge MENA-wide hit also ap-plies to international markets: streaming needs to become “mainstream,” but this requires a significant “habitual change” for the average consumer. He cites that “they have been always used to filling up an SD card or an MP3 CD” for a significantly cheaper cost, and used websites like YouTube to

listen to their favorite songs without paying a dime. All in all, Habib believes that a “hybrid paid/free model” will be most successful.

“Apple will grow the pie as a whole,” Habib adds, pleased about Apple Music’s impact thus far, adding that this will help make the streaming indus-try blossom. Going forward, he can imagine streaming services becoming more niche-based. For example, if you’re into jazz, you can subscribe to a service that gives you access to a nar-rower library that focuses on jazz and excludes hip hop… for a cheaper price than paying for an entire package. And you can tell he’s being genuine based on some of Anghami’s moves that he’s shared with us: “We have recently released a redesign of our app, a new web player, [and] support for Chromecast as well as Apple and Android watches.” The founder also lists a few other Anghami plans such as a Pandora radio-esque easy listening feature, videos, and a social platform that keeps listeners connected to their favorite artists.

CoULD IT BE A MUSIC BIZ TRENDSETTER?

apple MUsiC strikes a ChorD

By Kareem Chehayeb

what is anghaMi? Anghami, the MENA region’s legal alternative to pirated music, was launched publically on December 30, 2012 after a beta period that began nearly two months earlier on November 5. The mobile app’s co-founders, Elie Habib and Eddy Maroun, who were inducted into Endeavor in October 2013 making them the 12th and 13th Endeavor Lebanon entrepreneurs, have a division of labor that sees them play to their strengths. “I am the techie guy… I handle the actual product and operations and I wrote the first version of Anghami,” says Habib. Co-founder Maroun “handles the musical part -which by far is a more complicated task dealing with music from artists- and business development. I focus on the product, team and growth strategies.” Like many success-

ful enterprises, the co-founders credit strong human capital for their success. Onboarding the massive 15 million user base of Anghami was “a team sport,” says Habib. “We’re just drivers.” www.anghami.com

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Elias El-indari, the style-conscious founder of SMF Blog, trains his expert eye on better menswear. The 23-year-old digi-tal influencer and fashion writer has teamed up with notable

companies in the MENA region –a range that spans gentlemen’s timepieces to fine clothiers- and most recently with Google Arabia for an interesting digital exploration trip in Europe. With impressive engagement across his digital platforms, the young professional shares a mixture of content that includes travel and lifestyle in addition to his

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‘TrEP TrIMMIngs

the exeCutive seleCtionELIAS EL-InDArI on fAShIon, funCtIon, AnD thE thrEE-pIECE SuIt

DrEss ThE ParT main focus of fashion. Given his aforementioned track record, when it comes to matters of style, let’s just say that it’d be wise to follow in El-indari’s footsteps. “Other than a beautiful hand-made Italian shoe, a timepiece is my favorite accessory,” he says. “Every gentleman should invest in a timepiece that suits his lifestyle. Whether it be a sporty,

classic or a vintage watch, it brings out your true character-istics.” Other fashion forward pointers? El-indari says when you make an investment in an executive wardrobe, you need to make an effort to maintain it as well. “My top tips when it comes to taking great care of a suit are to rotate your suits during the working week,” he says. “Get the right size, and tailor to measure whenever possible. Do not dry clean unless absolutely neces-sary, hang with care, and use a steam iron.”www.smf-blog.com | Smfblog


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thE ACCESSorY “A pocket square is a gentleman’s wardrobe staple in my opinion. They help add character to a suit or smart casual ensemble, differentiating you from the rest. Your tie and pocket square do not always have to match. Bend the rules a little and play with contrasting colors.”

thE thrEE-pIECE SuIt “Personally, I think men constantly associate a three-piece suit with a special occasion such as a wedding or gala dinner- that prevents men from taking advantage of the bold outfit. I highly encourage gentlemen to wear a three-piece suit to the office. Its boldness and professionalism will help you to look damn good when walking through those doors in the morning.”

whAt hE’S wEArInG “This Italian-made Dior Homme three-piece suit is part of the House’s Winter 2015 menswear collection. The two-button jacket with a tailored lapel in grey and a striking Prince of Wales check guarantees a formal, elegant look. The suit’s material of wool and cashmere ensure flex-ibility and ultimate comfort as you constantly move around during the day. The concealed button waistcoat -a favorite- helps create a clean and charismatic look. A good briefcase is an essential accessory, as it helps keep everything intact, safe and in the one place for when you’re on the move. The Dior sunglasses are perfect for everyday wear with cutting-edge design for an on-trend look. When focusing on a suit, you do not want to draw away any attention from it with another statement piece, so a pair of black, simple, clean tassel loafers is prefect for the three-piece suit. It’s a little different as it leans more to an Italian-inspired look, but different is always good.”

“MAINTAINING YOUR IMAGE IS KEY IN THIS DAY AND AGE. SIMILAR TO HOW PEOPLE INVEST IN THEIR EDUCATION, FUTURE AND STABILITY, A GENTLEMAN SHOULD ALWAYS INVEST IN AN EXTENSIVE WARDROBE RANGING FROM SMART CASUAL TO FORMAL. YOU CAN ALWAYS TELL A GENTLEMAN BY HIS SHOES. ENSURE THAT YOUR DRESS SHOES ARE ALWAYS POLISHED, TUCKED AWAY IN DUST BAGS FOR PROTECTION WHEN NOT IN USE, AND GET THEM RESOLED ONCE IN A WHILE WHEN NEEDED.”

Land Rover’s all new Range Rover Sport SvR‘treps choice

It’s been called “the fastest, most powerful and most dynamically focused Land Rover ever produced,” and that declaration alone was enough to make us sit up and take note of the Range Rover Sport SvR. However, that’s not to say that this vehicle requires a marketing plug for it to be noticed- from a visual perspective, this SUv boasts of a distinctively muscular exterior offered in seven different color palettes, including the exclusive Estoril Blue shade. Performance-wise, the SvR packs quite a punch: its 550PS/680Nm 5.0-litre supercharged v8 engine allows the driver to rev up the Land Rover from 0-100km/h in a matter of just 4.7 seconds, while also enjoying its superior levels of interior comfort and handling. Designed, engineered and built in Britain, the Range Rover Sport SvR is guaranteed to make your driving experience an exhilarating one- while also giving your profile on the roads an impeccable boost. www.landrover-me.com


In order to conduct business and do it suc-cessfully, you need to first invest your time in understanding the cul-

ture and customs of those you do business with,” maintains Andreas Jersabeck, General Manager of the Conrad Dubai. Jersabeck gives the example of Japan, where sharing your business card with a new as-sociate is a minute ceremony in itself: “It’s presented in a particular way, with both

hands and never in a rush; you must spend time in read-ing and acknowledging what you have been given.” Prior to his current appointment at the Conrad Dubai, the flag-ship property of the Conrad Hotels & Resorts portfolio in the Middle East, Jersabeck has, in this region, held posi-tions in Qatar and Egypt as well. The Austrian national has also worked across his native Europe and in the U.S., giving him ample opportunity

to impress corporate clients, and he’s seen some of the properties under his tenure garner awards and accolades, including the title of Best Business Hotel in Europe- no mean feat for a continent that boasts some of the world’s finest hotels.

The GM’s impressive 38 years in the hospitality industry -he joined Hilton Worldwide in 1975- positions him high amongst his peers in terms of anticipating the needs of a business guest. The Conrad Dubai’s visitor roster is “approximately 65% business-travel related,” and with that comes a slew of individual requests. Jersabeck says that understanding tailored one-to-one service levels is an absolute priority for business clientele, and that the property strives to “find innovative ways of meeting the needs and demands of the new generation of smart travellers.” And what facets does he believe are of the utmost importance for the busi-ness guest? Jersabeck points out (rightfully)

that “connectivity is the most essential; without it, busi-ness travellers would need to work double as hard to catch up– everything from trans-portation to WiFi and open channels with the hotel staff, news and tools would fall under this element.” Besides being switched-on, the GM says that prestige properties need to have an “intuitive” service operation that goes the extra mile, and finally, options for those that need to de-stress- like superior spa and recreational facilities.

Conrad Dubai’s Andreas Jersabeck invests time in the business guest

Meeting the needs of smart travellers

“


General Manager Andreas Jersabeck

Conrad Dubaiexterior

Lobby

The Executive Lounge interior


EXEC STAY “Conrad Dubai is a 555-room property featuring locally inspired, internationally designed rooms that start on the 24th floor with breathtaking views on both sides. Our rooms and suites range from 46 square meters to 138 including Deluxe and Executive rooms, King Bed and Double Bed Deluxe Suites, Ex-ecutive Suites and Conrad Suites. Guests can appreciate views of the Arabian Gulf or the magical city of Dubai and the vibrant Sheikh Zayed Road, while enjoying amenities such as in-room wire-less and wired Internet, mini bar, LED screen television, docking station for iPad/iPod/iPhone and 3+1 Bose Surround Home Theatre System. Each room offers a space to refresh the senses in a spacious marble bathroom, offering a luxury rain shower, luxurious toiletries, and an HDTV in the defogging mirror.”

CONFERENCE CAPABILITIES “Conrad Dubai also offers 4,400 square meters of flexible spaces, including two impressive ballrooms and several spacious

private rooms, all with natural light and modern design. The property also features the only indoor vehicle elevator in the UAE, perfect for exclusive weddings and car launches. All of the meeting spaces come equipped with WiFi and state-of-the-art audio-visual technology. The wide variety of rooms can also be tailored to accommodate the specific needs of our corporate business travelers. [We’ve had many large scale conferences], including the International Prosecutors Confer-ence which brought hundreds of high-level prosecutors from around the world to Conrad Dubai. Louis Vuitton’s annual meeting was also held at our property. The most impressive was the Nu Skin press conference and product launch, which brought with it over 18,000 room nights to the city. It was the biggest conference in terms of room nights to be held in Dubai, and the headquarters was based in our hotel.”

CONNECTIVITY “The Conrad Concierge app offers greater con-venience at the touch of a button-

from ordering in-room dining to a stress-free check out. Our guests have the ability to choose from bespoke bath amenities, preselect the types of pillows they would like and ensure their favorite newspaper will be delivered the morning of their stay. It really transforms the guest experience giving more personalized freedom and flexibility.”

MUNCH “If I had to choose one [outlet] at the Conrad, it would be Cave, our Parisian bistro and bar. In addition to its beautiful aesthetic, it houses more than 550 [beverages] from around the world. Being a native Austrian, I have great appreciation for hav-ing cheese perfectly paired with not one, but two bottles of local Austrian [beverages]! Executive Sous Chef Francesco Dimonte’s

mushroom risotto is his speciality, and more importantly my favourite dish. You can find it at our market inspired restaurant Ballarò.”

DOWNTIME “[To unwind], guests can relax by the pool, surrounded by the lush gardens of Purobeach Urban Oasis located on our sixth floor terrace. Dubai is full of energy and people rushing to get from one place to another, I always find it amazing how with Purobeach, you virtually escape the city without ever leaving. The sur-roundings are absolutely stunning and it’s a perfect way to spend an afternoon.”

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esCape QUest www.escapequest.ae The concept of the real-life escape game has been around for quite some time, popping up in Japan, Europe, New York and San Francisco. Escape Quest founder, Dubai-based Zoe Masey, is a former accountant who launched her business about a year ago.

She explains that the team build-ing activities at her business are logic-based and nonlinear, as opposed to linear and narrative-based games (think murder mys-teries). So it was with curiosity, a bit of anxiety and excitement that the Entrepreneur Middle East editorial staff entered The Explorers Library room (one of the three Escape Quest chal-lenges).

whAt wEnt Down With an ominous click of a lock on the door, our team took in our surroundings, and gathered as much clues as we could. We were given 60 minutes to solve our way out- our task was to search, find keys, solve puzzles, open all of the locks, and try not to give

in and ring the bell to ask for clues from the game-master via a suspended screen in The Explor-ers Library room. After lots of laughter, passive aggression, and patience-testing moments, our teamwork allowed us to unlock the last barrier with two minutes to spare. What makes Escape Quest appealing is the camara-derie and triumphant feelings of solving a puzzle. Masey regards it as one of the best parts of the experience. The founder says that from what she observes going on during the challenges, communication and strong listening skills are important to finding your way out of the different rooms. So if you want to get your adrenaline jacked up with mind-bending challenges,

take a crack at solving the clues and puzzles to freedom! Our team was four people, and the room was spacious enough that we could all work on different challenges comfortably.

thE buSInESS Though Escape Quest only opened this year, the startup claims to be sustaining itself and is operating profitably now, with 50% bookings over the summer. The company welcomes everyone from families to group of friends, and corporations divided into groups. For those of you who want to amp up the challenge, teams of two to five players can also compete with each other on getting out first with two identi-cal Explorers Library rooms. >>>

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We tried out two different (but similar) team build-ing activities, and we also talked to the founders

behind the concepts to hear about the business side of things. Skip the same old retreat, and book your team in for a mentally stimulating and exciting hour!

Then opt for clues, cryptology, and crime scenes team building time?

By Pamella de Leon


hinthUnt www.hinthunt.ae Fresh from our experience at Escape Quest, we decided to try our luck at HintHunt as a team of two. As a brand originally from London, HintHunt also has branches in Cape Town, Paris, Moscow, Vienna, and now Dubai. Managing Partner Lina El Sahab explains that HintHunt’s rooms are narrative-based, meaning that the hunts involve a storyline that requires logical thinking. With encouragement from our Game Master and anxiety levels rising, we entered JM’s Office (one of the two sets of rooms) to take a crack at

actually solving a mystery, and finding our way out of it.

whAt wEnt Down With 60 minutes on the clock, we searched for clues and solved puzzles in hard-to-find secret spots. Should

you need help, the Game Master watching via video camera will lend a helping hand through the screen placed on the wall inside the room. Despite our best ef-forts, though we were two clues away from solving the mystery (which is a feat for a team of two), we couldn’t make it out on time. If you ever want to test your detective skills, try your hand at solving HintHunt’s mys-teries. El Saheb says that curios-ity and being able to work well together is important in solving the puzzles. Whether you’re a great detective or a mediocre one, your team will surely love the adrenaline rush.

thE buSInESS Located at Times Square Centre in Dubai, HintHunt opened to the public in June 2014 and quickly gained popularity with corporates, families, and even as a destination for birthday parties and schoolchildren. UAE’s HintHunt is actually a family business- the founders were encouraged by their father who set up his own auditing firm in Dubai in the 70s. Brought

to Dubai by the five El Sahab siblings, based on research-ing, they concluded that brand franchising was the way to go as developing their own concept wouldn’t have been as success-ful. The benefits of a franchise? Relying on a professional team with a tried and tested brand and business methodology. Bookings can be made online and are designed for groups of three to five people.



Business, like sports, requires perseverance. Squash champion Raneem El Welily says it’s not just the hours that you put in toward your goal, but “what you work on, how well you manage your weak points, and how you work on improving them.” Her strategy seems to be paying off- El Welily recently topped reigning nine-year champion Nicol David. The young Egyptian athlete landed her title as World No. 1 during the Sep-tember 2015 PSA (Professional Squash Association) Women’s Rankings, officially making her the first Arab to win the accolade. El Welily, who was the World No.

2 for eight months, continued a winning streak at the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions, Guggenheim Partners Windy City open, and the Alexandria open. The champion asserts that it’s just about having the talent, paired with hard work, discipline, and hunger to achieve. “Staying motivated the entire time is really important,” says El Welily, “so yes, I always have a practice plan to follow that I try and be very or-ganized and disciplined [about].” She adds, “But getting bored from the routine is inevitable and it kills your motivation. So always know when you need a break,

when you can afford one, and if not, know what to do to refresh and energize yourself.”

RANEEM EL WELILY’S TIPS FoR KEEPING YoUR EYE oN THE PRIZE “The key for my success was four things. First, the help and support I got from those around me- thinking you can succeed on your own is a huge mistake.

Second is listening and learning when to listen, and when to keep your ears shut from the crazy world around you is really difficult for me. Learn to filter; know for myself what’s good for me and what’s not. Third is that everyone has their own tests and paths to walk, crawl or even run. Focus on your test, and think how you can get to the end of your path. No matter what you do, never ever

compare [yourself] to someone else. Finally, never let arrogance get inside you. I have to admit it does get to me from time to time, but I’ve learned the hard way that the moment you think you know it or have it all, is the mo-ment you lose it all.”


Egyptian Raneem El Welily dominates the court

Success strategies from a globally recognized athlete

Daniel Abi Saab

Raneem El Welily

New York City-based ar-chitect turned Beirut-based yoga instructor and entrepreneur,

Danielle Abisaab, launched her first studio in her flat. After 11 successful years of establishing her yoga venture, she launched a new studio designed by her personally, putting both past

and present career expertise to work. “Design and execu-tion [took] two months. I was fortunate to work with an amazing and highly professional contractor who literally gave me the illusion of working in New York.” The space maxi-mizes a basement flat in Bei-rut’s Achrafieh district where

students can buy membership cards or pay a per class rate. Abisaab uses a North Ameri-can business model and it has paid off- her ROI happened just “nine months into operation.” The approach has garnered her hundreds of loyal students who also attend regular workshops staged by guest instructors, hosted by Abisaab. Were there any setbacks? “This studio came together very easily as the result of past reflections and observations.”

UnionSquareYoga Yoga_Holic

tIpS for StrESSED out ‘trEpS “When we recognize that the stress reaction is a choice, and we have the power to make a different choice, stress starts to dissolve. Stress is a product of the mind and we can either empower or kill it completely; one way to get there is through meditation.”

1. TAKE A STRETCHJust because you’re in a suit at the office doesn’t mean you can’t do a few simple stretches. “Sitting long hours in a day can take a big toll on our health. The first thing to do is to become aware of your

posture: every time you catch yourself slouching, crunch-ing the shoulders to your ears, hunching over your keyboard, sticking your head forward toward your screen, or holding your phone between your ear and your shoulder, stop, sit up, extend the spine, reach the arms over head and give yourself a long nice stretch up-ward. Take side leans alternat-ing between the right and left side of your torso. Go back to whatever you were doing while maintaining consciousness in your spine. Repeat this every time you catch yourself slipping into poor posture. Yoga is about expansion and extension, and your spine is the antenna by which you receive, assimilate and redistribute life’s energies. Make sure to always keep it upright and spacious.”

2. TAKE A MENTAL RESPITEA quick meditation can do won-ders for a racing mind. “Three minutes of stillness performed intermittently throughout the day will yield great results and allow you to achieve greater fo-cus. Giving time to meditation in a day, helps you manage your time and schedules in a much more efficient way.”

Entrepreneur Danielle Abisaab helps you wind down at the office

rELAXAtIon tIpS for ‘trEpS

Danielle Abissab

Entrepreneur-W20.3x27.3Hcms-V3Final-English.indd 1 10/7/15 4:30 PM


Are you a workaholic trying to find a way to keep your energy up and also find time to relax? Are

you tired of struggling to keep it all together, while trying to squeeze in enough time to truly enjoy life? Entrepreneurs at startup businesses are working longer hours than ever before. You rise early and work late into the night. It consumes your mind and drains your energy. Time is finite, the number of hours in a day is fixed, but your energy is renewable. If you don’t manage your energy, your relationships will suffer, your work performance will suffer and your general love for life will suffer. Being the best requires us to take a close look at how we manage our energy because it is necessary for everything we do. Even Formula One has pit stops to refuel and check the safety and performance levels of the vehicle.

Just like a race car, people need pit stops; scheduling breaks is essential to staying at your peak potential. If you

don’t manage your energy you will be unable to function to your maximum potential, very much like racing around with a flat tire. Just because you’re moving forward does not mean you’re getting ahead.

rIDDInG YourSELf of EnErGY-wAStErS We all have people and circumstances that are taking up our energy and leaving us with little left for the people and things that really matter. Your energy is being diluted by people and things that are trying to distract you from your passion and vision. This is costing you big time. 1. Stop CArInG whAt othEr pEopLE thInK. It is important not to measure yourself by the standards of other people. This preoccupation with trying to please others can quickly lead to depression, and it is often an act of futility. The opinion of strangers shouldn’t matter. Wanting to please and take care of others is natural, but when pleasing others is

based on the fear of rejection it can become habitual and unhealthy. You can combat this destructive habit by appreciating your inner strengths. Whatever thoughts or feelings arise within you, respond to them with a kinder outlook and a positive self-appraisal. Life is not about pleasing others.

2. Stop worrYInG About thE CoMpEtItIon. Drive your business forward by following your purpose. While it is healthy and even good business to be aware of your competitors, that’s not where your main attention should be focused. Doing this eventually will work against your own ability and potential.

3. DItCh pEopLE who ArE ConStAntLY brInGInG You Down. Surround yourself with people who are positive and fashion an environment that helps you grow, be inspired and have the courage to tap into your own creative genius. Who you allow to speak into your life will affect the way you think, and subsequently, your behavior and rate of success. Rid yourself of people that criticize (not the constructive feedback types, the other ones) and speak ill of you. Pay no attention to these dream-killers.

4. Stop EXpEnDInG VALuAbLE EMotIonAL EnErGY on oLD, unrESoLVED pAIn. We judge our pain and believe we are not entitled to it, because the event occurred such a longtime ago. It’s important to acknowledge the past pain, open the wound so the healing can begin and clear the emotional space for lighter, healthier feelings. You might need counselling or just a heart-to-heart with a trusted friend or mentor. Make an appointment and let the healing begin.

5. Stop DoubtInG AnD SEConD-GuESSInG YourSELf. Take a look at the root cause of your dissatisfaction and address why you invalidate your own choices. Learn to trust yourself to make good decisions. Don’t let the fear of making a mistake stop you from gaining new experiences. Keep a proof journal, where you record all the instances from your past when you have made good choices that have brought positive outcomes and happiness. This is your irrefutable proof that you have the ability to make forward-propelling decisions.

What energy wasters do you need to get rid of? I’d love to hear about them. Remember that breaks lead to breakthroughs.

Mark Sephton is an international personal mentor to entrepreneurs, basing his program on a GPS system with eight key fundamentals. This system reveals blind spots, efficien-cies and deficiencies, and is used to find your “inner sniper” to improve your instinct, producing devastating results in your own revolution of discovery. It is hard to see the picture when you’re in the frame. Changing the way you think through culture and mindset shifts and introduced to game-changing habits helps increase your productivity and skyrocket your personal brand. www.marksephton.com

Five energy-wasters that you need to get in check

Stop sputtering at the finish line

By Mark Sephton


ENTREPRENEUR4

ENTREPRENEUR4



Way upstream -near the origi-nal inspiration for any company, product, or pro-ject- founders quickly realize

that they need a name. Oth-erwise, how do you tell your friends what you’re working on? How do you label a file or folder? How do you settle on a subject line for an email to your scheming partner?

Sometimes the name we talk about years later -like Face-book- is there from the begin-ning, a part of the original idea itself. But often enough, R&D begins and a business plan is agreed upon under a place-holder. Maybe it’s generic, like “Travel App,” or overtly beta,

like “Project Atlas,” or casu-ally personal, like “Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Web” (which eventually changed to Yahoo!). Regard-less of what it is, the place-holder is meant to go away.

But as anyone who has been through the naming wringer knows, that’s easier said than done. There are a great many reasons not to choose a name. Everyone turns out to be an expert and a critic, and they are often at odds with each other. Each name you propose is met with rival riffs and counter suggestions. The possibilities pile up, heads swim, the wheels begin to spin, and before you know it -as progress is made on all other fronts- you’re bogged

down picking through loads of rubbish.

It can be exasperating. Nam-ing takes more than a creative mind, a fluent voice, and a critical eye. Success requires the right perspective from the outset and proper procedures throughout. Here are some simple steps to help:

1. GIVE It tIME While a proper deadline can be your best friend, good nam-ing takes time- time to explore and discover, time to ride a dark horse, time to support a big idea. Remember: your name is a key strategic asset, not a tactical project task. The right name will outlast every business correction and marketing campaign.

2. rEStrICt ACCESSNothing is gained by polling a crowd. It feels like the right thing to do, but it’s not. No two opinions are the same and inevitably the result is over-caution and paralysis. Go

ahead and review the assign-ment with stakeholders, but review name candidates only with decision makers. You don’t really need consensus anyway. You either need a) the top dog to pick a bone or b) a quorum of senior leadership.

3. worK outSIDE In Don’t trouble yourself too much over the brief. Don’t ex-haust yourself before you get started. It’s hard to describe what you can’t yet imagine. Keep it simple and aim your team in the right general direction. Instead commit to looking at many, many names. If a name is intriguing, see if you can retrofit the rationale. Chances are the gears have been turning all along.

4. MIX It up You may think you know your type, but life is full of sur-prises. Try to break the con-ventions you see in the names of your competitors. Look at your opportunity in new >>>

10 tips for taking on any naming assignment

trailblazers begin as oUtliers

By Christian Turner


and varied ways. Having a name that clearly cues a category or suggests a benefit can be the right or wrong ap-proach. It really depends. You’ll feel better about your just dessert if you first sample every flavor.

5. foLLow Your InStInCtS Great names don’t grow from grids. Avoid checking boxes to pick the winner. Your nose will lead you, your eyes will return to any standouts, and your ears will vibrate to silent frequencies. Your name sets the tone. So open yourself up and do it with feeling. Find your way in the dark. It can be illuminating.

6. SEnD A SIGnAL This essentially means: send a strong signal rather than a weak message. Whatever the name –and I repeat, whatever the name- a great many things will need to be explained: products, prices, services, suites, bundles, specials, teams, tiers, partnerships, ini-tiatives, investments, markets, territories, terms, conditions, and all the rest. No name can tell the whole story. The best you can hope for is a name that makes an impression, lin-gers in the mind, and creates the right kind of expectations in your audience.

7. EXpECt LoSSES You have to be willing to let a good name go. Even your favorite. Establishing the viability of each name candidate on your short list is the least understood part of the process- as well as the part that often has the greatest impact on the outcome. Trademark availability alone can ruin your best-laid plans, especially if your ambitions run global in popular sectors like technology and FMCG. Add in language checks (so you don’t put your foot in your mouth in Turkish, Thai or Tagalog) and any top-level domain (TLD) considerations and the name you grow to love over the coming years may well be the name your lawyers allow you to use today. The key here is to identify obstacles that cannot be overcome and, once you’ve done so, move along to the next name, all the wiser, with only a modicum of fuss.

8. LooK to thE futurE There’s not much sense in calling your company JustShirts if, tomorrow, you’re going to add pants to your repertoire. Again, you’ve got to get this right. The last thing you want to change is your name. Anticipate alterations. Suspect surprises. Don’t box

yourself in. Everyone worries about first exposure to a name. The real test is whether your name remains pliant and purposeful to employees and customers alike when used for the millionth time. Great names add wind to the sails. Weak names eventually act as a drag that requires extra work from everyone to overcome.

9. Count on ContEXt The name will be more plausible, not less, in action in the wild. When you come right down to it, people are receptive to new ideas that enter the world we know. We understand our surroundings. The new name fits in simply because it showed up. Sure, big launches from top brands are subject to increased scrutiny and criticized for a week, but even those furors fade quickly. Truthfully, when your name becomes your brand -supported visually, explained verbally, introduced with a handshake and a business card, underpinned by product packaging and mobile interface- we will all accept it as we should, as you intended.

10. bE brAVE Consider breaking the mold. The names we celebrate after the fact are the groundbreak-ers, trailblazers, and trendset-ters. Fine enough. That’s easy to do, to back certified success. But trailblazers begin as outliers. Supporting an outlier among colleagues long before launch is much harder to do. Yet that’s what has to hap-pen. The next big idea needs a champion. That champion needs to be passionate and persuasive. That champion needs to be you.

trep talk Me THE BUSINESS The Hundred Wellness CenterTHE ‘TREP Founder Asma Hilal Lootah Q What were the biggest lessons from your endeavors? A “The biggest lesson was to be patient as everything takes time. As I am a very organized person, my biggest challenge was dealing with

others who are not as organized, which used to make me really frustrated. Being your own boss means that you need to take care of everything, such as dealing with contractors, suppliers etc., and everyone has their own agenda, so dealing with that was very tricky. We stress over things, but what we need to remember is that at the end it gets done. I learned to be just calm, and everything eventually worked out. Sometimes things are slow– but we need to accept it, work with it and stress less. I really learned to have the patience and not to stress in the process, but instead I learned to enjoy it.”

Christian Turner is the Naming Director EMEA at Siegel+Gale, a global brand consultancy.


the storY oF Mike FlintMike Flint was Buffett’s personal airplane pilot for 10 years. (Flint has also flown four U.S. Presidents, so I think we can safely say he is good at his job.) According to Flint, he was talking about his career priorities with Buffett when his boss asked the pilot to go through a three-step exercise. Here’s how it works:

StEp 1 Buffett started by asking Flint to write down his top 25 career goals. So, Flint took some time and wrote them down. (Note: You could also complete this exercise with goals for a shorter timeline. For exam-ple, write down the top 25 things you want to accomplish this week.)

StEp 2 Then, Buffett asked Flint to review his list and circle his top five goals. Again, Flint took some time, made his way through the list, and eventually decided on his five most important goals. (Note: If you’re fol-lowing along at home, pause right now and do these first two steps before moving on to Step 3.)

StEp 3 At this point, Flint had two lists. The five items he had circled were List A and the 20 items he had not circled were List B.

Flint confirmed that he would start working on his top five goals right away. And that’s when Buffett asked him about the second list, “And what about the ones you didn’t circle?”

Flint replied, “Well, the top five are my primary focus, but the other 20 come in a close second. They are still important, so I’ll work on those intermittently as I see fit. They are not as urgent, but I still plan to give them a dedicated effort.”

To which Buffett replied, “No. You’ve got it wrong, Mike. Everything you didn’t circle just became your Avoid-At-All-Cost list. No matter what, these things get no attention from you until you’ve succeeded with your top five.”

Warren Buffet’s two-list strategy

How to maximize your focus and master your prioritiesBy James Clear


With well over US$50 billion to his name, Warren Buffett is consistently ranked among the wealthiest people in the world. Out of all the investors in the 20th century, Buffett was the most successful. Given his success, it stands to rea-

son that Buffett has an excellent understanding of how to spend his time each day. From a monetary perspective, you could say that he manages his time better than anyone else.

And that’s why the story below, which was shared directly from Buf-fett’s employee to my good friend Scott Dinsmore, caught my attention. Let’s talk about the simple three-step productivity strategy that Warren Buffett uses to help his employees determine their priorities and actions.

EvEry bEhavior has a cost. EvEn nEutral bEhaviors arEn’t rEally nEutral. thEy takE up timE, EnErgy, and spacE that could bE put toward bEttEr bEhaviors or morE impor-tant tasks. wE arE oftEn spinning in motion instEad of taking action. this is why buffEtt’s stratEgy is particularly brilliant. itEms six through 25 on your list arE things you carE about. thEy arE important to you. it is vEry Easy to justify spEnding your timE on thEm. but whEn you comparE thEm to your top fivE goals, thEsE itEms arE distractions.

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Warren Buffett helped me build my business- even before I de-cided to try my hand in entrepre-neurship. Several years before I founded my own company, a colleague gifted me Warren Buffett’s biography. His ideology and approach to communication and management continue to influence me to this day. While it’s universally recognized that Buf-fett has exceptional investment acumen, his fearlessness and will-ingness to go against traditional business norms have inspired me

to build an organization that does the same. Here are three Buffett quotes your business should live by:

1. “There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.”Warren Buffett’s laser focus on his areas of competence has been essential to his success. As he says: “I’m no genius, but I’m smart in spots, and I stay around those spots.” It’s very common,

especially amongst ac-complished executives, to achieve a level of success then branch out into other areas in an effort to expand their businesses. Though Buf-fett has made his fortune in investing in sev-eral industries, he’s remained focused on the areas he knows best. Put simply, he’s

an expert in identifying the most basic opportunities that show long-term potential and execut-ing on them flawlessly. The best business owners are great at determining their area of compe-tence and focusing on how they can capitalize on that competitive advantage, rather than trying to do everything and solve unneces-sarily complex problems.

2. “What’s nice about investing is you don’t have to swing at every pitch.”Despite many misconceptions, Buffett rarely invests, but and when he does, he is in it for the long haul. He’s always invested in companies that have a strong brand and a personality with the right leaders driving them forward. If you want your busi-ness to succeed, think like Buffett: big and long-term. Invest in your brand, hone in on what you’d like to accomplish and stick with it.

3. “Be greedy when others are fearful, and be fearful when others are greedy.”This quote describes Buffett’s strategy to a tee- an aggressive market player when others deem an investment unworthy. Think back to the salad oil scandal of 1963 when Anthony “Tino” De Angelis, a savvy conman from New Jersey, discovered a way to exploit an American Express

program that gave business loans based on collateralized inventory. Through an elaborate system of deception, De Angelis was able to obtain loans on an oil inventory greater that the total national holdings combined. While everyone stood clear of AMEX stock, Buffett did the opposite. He visited local businesses and observed that business owners were continuing to accept Ameri-can Express Travelers Cheques and consumers were still using them. Contrary to virtually every investment expert at the time, Buffett purchased more stock and established a 5% stake in the company. It reportedly cost him $20 million at the time but now 50 years later, it was obviously incredible foresight.

Whether you aspire to run a multinational company or your local mom-and-pop store, this is an important lesson to apply. In-novate and solve a problem rather than following suit with the rest of the industry. Apply these ideas to your company’s operations and you’re bound to see a substantial improvement. More importantly, you’ll feel liberated by your abil-ity to confidently make sound choices- especially when you’re going against the grain and doing what’s best for your business.

See this article in its entirety at Entrepreneur.com

the power oF eliMinationI believe in minimalism and simplicity. I like getting rid of waste. I think that eliminat-ing the inessential is one of the best ways to make life easier, make good habits more automatic, and make you grateful for what you do have.

That said, getting rid of wasteful items and decisions is relatively easy. It’s elimi-nating things you care about that is dif-ficult. It is hard to prevent using your time on things that are easy to rationalize, but that have little payoff. The tasks that have the greatest likelihood of derailing your pro-gress are the ones you care about, but aren’t truly important.

Every behavior has a cost. Even neutral behaviors aren’t really neutral. They take up time, energy, and space that could be put toward better behaviors or more important tasks. We are often spinning in motion instead of taking action.

This is why Buffett’s strategy is particu-larly brilliant. Items six through 25 on your list are things you care about. They are important to you. It is very easy to justify spending your time on them. But when you compare them to your top five goals, these items are distractions. Spending time on secondary priorities is the reason you have 20 half-finished projects instead of five completed ones.

Eliminate ruthlessly. Force yourself to focus. Complete a task or kill it.

The most dangerous distractions are the ones you love, but that don’t love you back.

three warren BUFFett QUotes YoUr BUsiness shoUlD live BY

By Jason Richelson

James Clear writes at JamesClear.com, where he uses behavior science to share ideas for mastering your habits, improving your health, and increasing your creativity. To get useful ideas on improving your mental and physical performance, join his free newsletter JamesClear.com/newsletter.

To have James speak at your entrepreneurial event contact him jamesclear.com/contact.

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“We focus on two core areas: practical education and community building,” Mekki explains. “We have started to make an impact on both fronts, but there is still so much more to be done. We have trained over 150 tech startups across MENA in the last two years in our Scaling Online Startups program alone, with many more at-tending our other programs. Some of our earliest par-ticipants have gone on to become the biggest success stories in the region; for ex-ample, Careem, Souqalmal, etc. In aggregate, our alums have raised over US$50 mil-lion in capital over the last two years, and have gener-ated hundreds of jobs. We have just started community building with our coworking space AstroLabs Dubai, and

While AstroLabs has been in existence for more than two years now, the October opening of its first coworking space in Dubai’s Jumeirah Lakes Towers neighborhood marks a significant point in its growth and evolution. After all, as an organization that was set up by founding partners Louis Leb-

bos and Muhammed Mekki (perhaps best known for being the co-founders of e-commerce portal Namshi.com) with a mission “to create a thriving technol-ogy ecosystem in the MENA region,” AstroLabs’ new hub is aimed at becoming, as Mekki put it, “a physical home for tech entrepreneurship, starting in Dubai.”

A LooK INTo WHAT THE NEW GooGLE FoR ENTREPRENEURS-PARTNERED ASTRoLABS TECH HUB IN DUBAI MEANS FoR THE MENA STARTUP ECoSYSTEM By Aby Sam Thomas

for entrepreneUrs, by entrepreneUrs “Our alums have raised Over us$50 milliOn in capital Over the last twO years”


The AstroLabs Dubai workspace


are already seeing the results emerge. With one acquisi-tion already (Beneple) and many companies raising rounds of financing to grow, the members of AstroLabs are on an amazing trajec-tory.”

Aiding AstroLabs in its drive to help scale new online ventures in the MENA region is another company that once was (before it became an Internet gi-ant whose name became a de facto verb) a startup founded in a garage: Google. Thanks to a partnership with Google for Entrepreneurs, a Google-run program aimed at helping startup com-munities around the world, AstroLabs has been able to offer entrepreneurs in its program the opportunity to leverage the global Google network, and of course, its

many advantages and deep expertise. “We feel we can add the most value to aspir-ing entrepreneurs by acting as a support network and giving them access to the rest of the world,” says David Grunwald, Senior Partner-ships Manager EMEA, Goog-le for Entrepreneurs. “For example, by being a member of AstroLabs in Dubai, the entrepreneurs will be able to leverage all the advantages of the Google for Entrepreneurs community, which includes access to all Google-run or our partners’ physical spaces all over the world includ-ing Seoul, Silicon Valley, London, New York, Paris

and Kenya. This will provide the entrepreneurs a unique opportunity to explore new markets, spark new connec-tions, and even experience the serendipity of being at the right place in the right time. In the sense of easing the challenges typically faced by startups, we aim to provide a regional opportu-nity out of Dubai and act as a connection to the rest of the world, while giving them access to local and global Googlers, classes, hangouts, etc.”

It’s important to note here that Google for Entrepre-neurs has been especially influential in supporting and encouraging the cause of entrepreneurship glob-ally- the entity has been privy to some amazingly successful startup communi-ties in locations around the world, with Grunwald name checking places like NUMA in Paris, France, Dogpatch Labs in Dublin, Ireland and Factory in Berlin, Germany. Given that history and heritage, Google for Entre-preneurs’ new partnership with AstroLabs is especially exciting for Dubai and the Middle East- but why Dubai

in the first place? Besides noting the readiness of the entrepreneurial ecosystem here, the substantial pres-ence Google already has in the region, and the fact that they found a great partner in AstroLabs, Grunwald also points toward HSBC’s Expat Explorer 2015 survey for the answer to that: according to that particular poll, the Emirate has been ranked the second best city in the world for an expat to start a business. “Dubai’s startup scene is growing very fast in the region, and is attracting a lot of international talent to be based here,” Grunwald says. “Unlike other parts of the globe where Google for Entrepreneurs oper-ates, the issues we identify in MENA are not related to the absence of business or tech talent- this exists in abundance. If anything, >>>

“we cUrATe A groUp of The highesT poTenTiAl foUnders, And provide Them wiTh The jeT fUel They need To scAle Up. we hAve An engAged menTor pool wiTh some of The Top prAcTiTioners, invesTors, And TechnologisTs in The region, who regUlArly visiT The spAce To meeT wiTh oUr members.”

“if AnyThing, The region coUld benefiT from denser sTArTUp clUsTers, wiTh more enTrepreneUr-focUsed commUniTy spAces. we Also feel ThAT sTArTUps shoUld AdopT A more ‘inTernATionAl firsT’ oUTlook, where They Think from dAy one AboUT scAling Their prodUcTs Across borders And Accessing foreign mArkeTs, wheTher elsewhere in The middle eAsT or beyond. for boTh Those reAsons, we’re pArTicUlArly exciTed To be pArTnering wiTh AsTrolAbs in dUbAi.”

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AstroLabs at Jumeirah Lakes Towers in Dubai


the region could benefit from denser startup clusters, with more entrepreneur-focused community spaces. We also feel that startups should adopt a more ‘international first’ outlook, where they think from day one about

scaling their products across borders and accessing foreign markets, whether elsewhere in the Middle East or beyond. For both those reasons, we’re particularly excited to be partnering with AstroLabs in Dubai.”

“Google began as a startup in a garage, and it remains a startup at heart,” Grunwald adds. “Entrepreneurship is in our DNA, and we’re com-mitted to enabling the next generation of entrepreneurs to be successful. Through Google for Entrepreneurs, we focus on building entre-preneurship communities

around the world through partnerships with leading tech hubs, accelerators and startup community or-ganizations, and Google-led Campus spaces. We believe that entrepreneurship in the technology sector can play an increasingly important role in opening new eco-nomic opportunities across MENA. That is why we partnered with AstroLabs, so we can help to provide a classroom for entrepreneurs, a support network, access to local/global mentors, and a chance to aid entrepreneurs in creating a community among themselves.”

The space that AstroLabs now provides its startups is, by itself, pretty impressive: besides the coworking space, the hub -which already has 41 member startups- also

features a mobile device development lab designed and supported by Google for Entrepreneurs, alongside dedicated rooms set aside specifically for training, cod-ing, meetings, etc., as well as a café, which is open to the general public too. Per-haps it’s a testament to the nature of the environment (or maybe even the sense of community that AstroLabs seems so intent in instilling with its startups) that dur-ing a visit to the AstroLabs prior to its official launch, it was easy to spot the sense of camaraderie that linked all of the entrepreneurially minded people in that space. “We curate a group of the highest potential found-ers, and provide them with the jet fuel they need to scale up,” Mekki says. “We have an engaged mentor pool with some of the top practitioners, investors, and technologists in the region, who regularly visit the space to meet with our members. We host AstroLabs Academy workshops on a regular basis at the space, in addition to a range of meetups and events open to the public.” Me-kki also draws attention to AstroLabs’ partnership with the Dubai Multi Commodi-ties Centre as being one of the space’s signature ben-efits for its members. “We wanted to be able to address the biggest challenges facing startups here in Dubai, and so we worked on a unique partnership with the DMCC


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“we hAve TrAined over 150 Tech sTArTUps Across menA in The lAsT Two yeArs in oUr scAling online sTArTUps progrAm Alone, wiTh mAny more ATTending oUr oTher progrAms. some of oUr eArliesT pArTicipAnTs hAve gone on To become The biggesT sUccess sTories in The region.”

“The enTrepreneUrs will be Able To leverAge All The AdvAnTAges of The google for enTrepreneUrs commUniTy, which inclUdes Access To All google-rUn or oUr pArTners’ physicAl spAces All over The world inclUding seoUl, silicon vAlley, london, new york, pAris And kenyA.”

“we hAve An engAged menTor pool wiTh some of The Top prAcTiTioners, invesTors, And TechnologisTs in The region, who regUlArly visiT The spAce To meeT wiTh oUr members. we hosT AsTrolAbs AcAdemy workshops on A regUlAr bAsis AT The spAce, in AddiTion To A rAnge of meeTUps And evenTs open To The pUblic.”

David Grunwald, Senior Partnerships Manager EMEA, Google For Entrepreneurs

HE Mohammed Al Gergawi with Muhammed Mekki touring AstroLabs Dubai


Free Zone to make it very easy for companies to get registered,” he says. “Our startups can come from any-where around the world, and get set up with a company, bank account, and residency immediately. This is a big draw for our international entrepreneurs.”

As for the entrepreneurs who were already part of the AstroLabs program, the ones I met were quick to sing praises of the community they were a part of. Tarig El-Sheikh, founder of Beneple, an HR software management platform that was acquired just eight months after its launch, was one such startup founder. “As soon as I heard Muhammed and Louis were launching AstroLabs, I want-ed to know how we could sign up,” El-Sheikh says. “The timing was opportune, as we were still in the cus-tomer discovery and revenue testing phase at that stage, and we wanted to avoid high set up fees one typically

expects when setting up in Dubai. Above and beyond all the bells and whistles one would expect from one of the leading regional accelerators in the MENA region –i.e. access to venture funding, mentors, good connectiv-ity, lower set-up costs etc.- we’ve been really surprised by -and incredibly excited to be a part of- the AstroLabs community. It’s a real com-munity!” Richard Fitzgerald, founder of Lovin Dubai, an online publication aimed at being “a fresh voice” for the city, agrees with El-Sheikh,

adding that AstroLabs’ partnership with Google for Entrepreneurs is also an indication of how well Dubai is doing in terms of being an entrepreneurial ecosystem. “It just goes to show how advanced the region and the city is becoming, there isn’t much that you can’t get here compared to London, New York or

Hong Kong,” he says. “That’s also what Lovin Dubai is all about, to showcase the great opportunities we have here. For us, as a business, we want to collaborate with AstroLabs as much as possi-ble in our first few years- to contribute to its growth, as well as benefiting from its ecosystem.”

AstroLabs currently of-fers four different kinds of membership packages (one of them, the Moonlighter Package, seems to have been designed especially for the wannabe entre-preneurs among you), and startups need to apply to be a member- Lebbos and >>>

“we believe that entrepreneurship in the

technOlOGy sectOr can play an increasinGly impOrtant

rOle in OpeninG new ecOnOmic OppOrtunities

acrOss mena.”

The coworking space at

AstroLabs Dubai


Mekki reveal that the space has received more than 200 applications already, and it currently has a less than 20% acceptance rate. The appeal of the space is pretty

obvious, given the aforemen-tioned offer-ings- but one other detail that makes AstroLabs particularly interesting for startups is the fact that it is run by Lebbos and Mekki, who are two entrepre-neurs that have gone through the experience of setting up an enterprise in the MENA region, and perhaps more impor-tantly, making a success out of it. When asked how much of contribution did their experience with Namshi.com bleed into the formation of AstroLabs, the reply is almost instant: “Ba-sically, a hundred percent,” Lebbos replies. “We saw the

big gaps [in the ecosystem] that a lot of people complain about or talk about- but then nobody does anything about it. There are specific issues in the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the region that everyone is suffering from, but not a lot of people are ac-

tually dedicating their lives and times to solving them.” With AstroLabs, Lebbos and Mekki are thus trying to better the environment for startups in the region- and building a sustainable com-munity that does just that is at the top of their agenda.

ECoSYStEM | who’S Got VC | Q&A | StArtup fInAnCESTaRT IT uP ECoSYStEM | who’S Got VC | Q&A | StArtup fInAnCESTaRT IT uP

59 Degrees, the cafe at

AstroLabs Dubai

Muhammed Mekki and Louis Lebbos, Founding Partners, AstroLabs

“unlike Other parts Of the GlObe where GOOGle fOr

entrepreneurs Operates, the

issues we identify in

mena are nOt related tO

the absence Of business Or

tech talent- this exists in abundance.”

november 2015 entrepreneur 798 Expat Explorer Balancing life abroad 9

Country Expat Exploreroverall

Rank RankScore Rank Score Score Rank Score

Economics Experience Family

Expat Explorer Overallleaguetable

Singapore 1 0.56 2 0.59 3 0.61 3 0.48

New Zealand 2 0.56 16 0.49 1 0.67 2 0.52

Sweden 3 0.52 6 0.53 15 0.50 1 0.54

Bahrain 4 0.51 8 0.52 7 0.57 6 0.46

Germany 5 0.51 3 0.56 12 0.50 5 0.46

Canada 6 0.50 11 0.51 6 0.58 8 0.44

Australia 7 0.49 15 0.49 4 0.59 12 0.40

Taiwan 8 0.48 18 0.46 5 0.58 15 0.39

UnitedArabEmirates 9 0.47 4 0.55 18 0.48 16 0.39

Switzerland 10 0.47 1 0.60 26 0.46 25 0.36

HongKong 11 0.47 10 0.51 11 0.51 20 0.38

Netherlands 12 0.46 14 0.49 29 0.45 7 0.45

Spain 13 0.46 36 0.29 2 0.62 4 0.47

Oman 14 0.46 9 0.52 10 0.5 27 0.33

Russia 15 0.45 23 0.43 16 0.50 11 0.42

UnitedStates 16 0.45 13 0.49 23 0.46 19 0.38

India 17 0.44 17 0.46 30 0.43 10 0.43

Czech Republic 18 0.44 20 0.45 20 0.48 17 0.38

Mexico 19 0.43 26 0.40 9 0.52 18 0.38

Malaysia 20 0.43 25 0.41 17 0.50 23 0.37

Thailand 21 0.42 30 0.34 8 0.53 14 0.40

Qatar 22 0.42 5 0.54 34 0.41 34 0.30

UnitedKingdom 23 0.42 19 0.45 24 0.46 28 0.30

Japan 24 0.41 27 0.39 13 0.50 24 0.36

Vietnam 25 0.41 21 0.45 22 0.47 31 0.32

SaudiArabia 26 0.41 7 0.53 35 0.41 36 0.29

China 27 0.41 12 0.50 36 0.41 30 0.33

Philippines 28 0.41 31 0.33 27 0.45 9 0.43

France 29 0.41 32 0.32 14 0.50 13 0.40

Belgium 30 0.40 24 0.42 33 0.42 22 0.38

Ireland 31 0.38 29 0.36 28 0.45 26 0.34

South Africa 32 0.38 34 0.29 25 0.46 21 0.38

Indonesia 33 0.37 28 0.38 32 0.42 33 0.31

Kuwait 34 0.35 22 0.44 39 0.36 39 0.24

Argentina 35 0.34 38 0.28 31 0.42 29 0.33

Turkey 36 0.34 35 0.29 21 0.47 38 0.25

Egypt 37 0.33 33 0.31 38 0.39 35 0.29

Italy 38 0.33 39 0.20 19 0.48 32 0.31

Brazil 39 0.32 37 0.28 37 0.39 37 0.29

The Expat Explorer league table ranks each country or territory based on a score that summarises expats’ overall views of that destination. The Expat Explorer score is the average of the Economics, Experience and Family scores, covering 27 key questions from the survey. Further details of the methodology for this league table can be found in ‘The research’ section at the end of the report.

Scores are rounded to two decimal places in the league table

8 Expat Explorer Balancing life abroad 9

Country Expat Exploreroverall

Rank RankScore Rank Score Score Rank Score

Economics Experience Family

Expat Explorer Overallleaguetable

Singapore 1 0.56 2 0.59 3 0.61 3 0.48

New Zealand 2 0.56 16 0.49 1 0.67 2 0.52

Sweden 3 0.52 6 0.53 15 0.50 1 0.54

Bahrain 4 0.51 8 0.52 7 0.57 6 0.46

Germany 5 0.51 3 0.56 12 0.50 5 0.46

Canada 6 0.50 11 0.51 6 0.58 8 0.44

Australia 7 0.49 15 0.49 4 0.59 12 0.40

Taiwan 8 0.48 18 0.46 5 0.58 15 0.39

UnitedArabEmirates 9 0.47 4 0.55 18 0.48 16 0.39

Switzerland 10 0.47 1 0.60 26 0.46 25 0.36

HongKong 11 0.47 10 0.51 11 0.51 20 0.38

Netherlands 12 0.46 14 0.49 29 0.45 7 0.45

Spain 13 0.46 36 0.29 2 0.62 4 0.47

Oman 14 0.46 9 0.52 10 0.5 27 0.33

Russia 15 0.45 23 0.43 16 0.50 11 0.42

UnitedStates 16 0.45 13 0.49 23 0.46 19 0.38

India 17 0.44 17 0.46 30 0.43 10 0.43

Czech Republic 18 0.44 20 0.45 20 0.48 17 0.38

Mexico 19 0.43 26 0.40 9 0.52 18 0.38

Malaysia 20 0.43 25 0.41 17 0.50 23 0.37

Thailand 21 0.42 30 0.34 8 0.53 14 0.40

Qatar 22 0.42 5 0.54 34 0.41 34 0.30

UnitedKingdom 23 0.42 19 0.45 24 0.46 28 0.30

Japan 24 0.41 27 0.39 13 0.50 24 0.36

Vietnam 25 0.41 21 0.45 22 0.47 31 0.32

SaudiArabia 26 0.41 7 0.53 35 0.41 36 0.29

China 27 0.41 12 0.50 36 0.41 30 0.33

Philippines 28 0.41 31 0.33 27 0.45 9 0.43

France 29 0.41 32 0.32 14 0.50 13 0.40

Belgium 30 0.40 24 0.42 33 0.42 22 0.38

Ireland 31 0.38 29 0.36 28 0.45 26 0.34

South Africa 32 0.38 34 0.29 25 0.46 21 0.38

Indonesia 33 0.37 28 0.38 32 0.42 33 0.31

Kuwait 34 0.35 22 0.44 39 0.36 39 0.24

Argentina 35 0.34 38 0.28 31 0.42 29 0.33

Turkey 36 0.34 35 0.29 21 0.47 38 0.25

Egypt 37 0.33 33 0.31 38 0.39 35 0.29

Italy 38 0.33 39 0.20 19 0.48 32 0.31

Brazil 39 0.32 37 0.28 37 0.39 37 0.29

The Expat Explorer league table ranks each country or territory based on a score that summarises expats’ overall views of that destination. The Expat Explorer score is the average of the Economics, Experience and Family scores, covering 27 key questions from the survey. Further details of the methodology for this league table can be found in ‘The research’ section at the end of the report.

Scores are rounded to two decimal places in the league table

AstroLabs in Dubaiwww.astrolabs.com“In taking the astrolabe as inspiration, AstroLabs aspires to foster a culture of big thinking and innovative exploration among startups across the Arab world.”WHAT AstroLabs is aimed at enabling technology entrepreneurship in the MENA region. Besides its coworking space, AstroLabs also runs a number of digital training programs through AstroLabs Academy. WHO The co-founders of Namshi.com, Louis Lebbos and Muhammed Mekki, are the Founding Partners of AstroLabs.WHY “We are the only Google-partnered Tech hub in MENA, and are entrepreneur-run. We have a strategic partnership with the DMCC Free Zone, which enables our startups to get up and running quickly without the usual expenses associated with setting up a new company in Dubai. Our space is focused only on scalable tech startups, and we are looking for the best companies from all over the world.”WHERE Cluster R, Parkside, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai

plus pointsA few of the Google for Entrepreneurs initiatives startups at AstroLabs Dubai can take advantage of: • Passport Program allows members to access space over 20 Google for Entrepreneurs partner tech hubs and campuses globally• Mobile Device Development Lab in-house to experiment with changes to your mobile app and

see them displayed across multiple screens in real time• Link to Google’s Dubai office with mentorship, office hours and educational programming• Network of Google for Entrepreneurs partners to learn from and collaborate with, amongst the best startup-facing organizations in the world.

• Silicon Valley Blackbox Connect offers a chance to link to resources, mentors and a network in the U.S. via a residential program in Silicon Valley for international startups• Invitation to GFE’s Women’s Demo Day wherein female-led startups in the Astrolabs community will be eligible to pitch Silicon Valley investors in December at the Googleplex• Google for Entrepreneurs Exchange Astrolabs members will be eligible to apply to the Google for Entrepreneurs Exchange, a global immersion

who’s who A sampling of the startups that are currently a part of AstroLabs• Beneple A simple HR platform to manage admin and benefits, thereby providing a digital solution for business owners to streamline the entire HR workflow. www.beneple.com

• Lovin Dubai An online publication that features everything from restaurant reviews to recipes, to launches and events, and other fun lifestyle content. www.lovindubai.com

• Exclusive Tables is a mobile app that allows you to easily make table reservations at high-end nightclubs, lounges and restaurants in Dubai, Barcelona and Ibiza. www.exclusivetablesapp.com

• ClassDive A mobile app that allows you to access all of your fitness workouts in Dubai, by allowing for you to search, book and locate fitness workouts in the city on the go. www.classdive.com

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So what exactly does the Fetchr app do? Founder and CEO Idriss Al Rifai explains that the app aims to offer a better alternative to the delivery process with a tech solution. By downloading the app, the user can take a picture of what needs to be sent, integrate the GPS to pinpoint location, and then set a time for driver pick-up- all tracked in real-time via the iOS or Android app. Once it’s delivered, the sender gets a notification. >>>

ecosystem | who’s got Vc | Q&A | stARtUP FINANce STaRT IT uP

shipping made easyFetChr CirCUMvents logistiCal Challenges

with gps-eQUippeD app By Pamella de Leon

Dealing with delivery packages is a headache. From sending off your parcel, to waiting for a courier to actually arrive on time, to directing the driver to your location- we’ve all had these types of frustrating moments. First world problem or not, there has to be an easier way to do this. In a region where directions are a major

hassle since addresses are often too difficult to locate (or in some cases, may not exist at all), Fetchr has found its window of opportunity. In fact, the startup has gained such impressive traction that in June of this year, the en-deavor raised US$11 million in Series A funding. The round was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA)- it was the first time the U.S.-based global venture capital firm invested in a Middle East-based startup. NEA was also joined by Mobily Ventures, Ben Narasin, Delta Partners Capital Limited, Dhabi Holdings, and TriplePoint Capital in this venture.

in tErms of onlinE markEting, vidEo contEnt has bEEn work-ing wEll for thE businEss. with a subjEct such as lo-gistics –not always thE most markEtablE sEctor- fEtchr’s concEpt is simplifiEd through thE startup’s vidEos.


Al Rifai adds that the startup is broadening its reach- let-ting customers receive packages via the Fetchr app, regardless of where it’s coming from: “The pack-ages would all come to [the] Fetchr warehouse, and then be delivered via our app with the same level of transpar-ency and predictability.” With its business model offering logistics services for B2C, B2B and P2P deliveries, they’ve had a great launch so far, and according to Al Rifai, they are demonstrating “double digit growth week on week” as of September.

Al Rifai and co-founder Joy Ajlouny got the idea for Fetchr through an interesting meet-ing when Al Rifai was pas-

sionately speaking at an event in Silicon Valley about solving the logistics problem of no fixed addresses in MENA and other emerging markets. The two entrepreneurs connected at that event, and they knew from their similar back-grounds that they could build and improve logistical solu-tions for retailers in emerging markets through technology.

“[We] come from significant e-commerce backgrounds, so we understand what keeps retailers up at night. From a top-level point of view, the development process started with solving problems that retailers face everyday.” Dur-ing the development process, making the service better, fast and more transparent were what Al Rifai called the “three key dimensions in this business.”

Currently, the app operates in UAE, KSA, and Bahrain, and the enterprise is prepar-ing to launch in other coun-tries with customized services for international shipping, small businesses, social commerce, startups, bricks and clicks, and environment-controlled deliveries for businesses in the F&B and pharmaceutical sectors. With white-label operations in other cities, “it allows us to leverage our technology for clients who are eager to keep their direct exposure to their customer.” What about its marketing strategyhow is Fetchr getting the word out? I noticed that in terms of on-line marketing, video content

has been working well for the business. With a subject such as logistics –not always the most marketable sector- Fetchr’s concept is simplified through the startup’s videos. The brand concept messag-ing is clear and easy enough for an interested layperson to understand, and potentially see it as an attractive alterna-tive to established shipping methods.

What’s next for the co-founders? With the funding received, they have what Al Rifai calls “an aggressive expansion plan” to implement, with KSA at the top of their list. They also plan on outsourcing more drivers for faster delivery. Developing international logistics partnerships for global deliveries via the app is also in the process, as they already have existing relationships with inbound freight and cargo companies. “We want to change habits, make delivery and shipping as easy as shopping, one tap away from sending or receiving anything,” explains Al Rifai. “Now that we are validated by some of the most prestigious investors in Silicon Valley and in the region, the goal is to scale and reach more people in different countries with our technology.”


“now that wE arE validatEd by somE of thE most prEstigious invEstors in silicon vallEy and in thE rEgion, thE goal is to scalE and rEach morE pEoplE in diffErEnt countriEs with our tEchnology.”

currEntly, thE app opEratEs in uaE, ksa, and bahrain, and thE EntErprisE is prEparing to launch in othEr countriEs with custom-izEd sErvicEs for intErnational shipping, small businEssEs, social commErcE, startups, bricks and clicks, and EnvironmEnt-con-trollEd dElivEriEs for businEss-Es in thE f&b and pharmacEutical sEctors.


IDRISS AL RIFAI Founder and CEo Al Rifai’s passion lies in im-proving the MENA retail market with tech and customer-centric services. In 2012, he founded MENA360- the now rebranded Fetchr. He previously worked for MarkavIP and the Boston Consulting Group.

JoY AJLoUNY Co-founder and Director of Business Development & Partnerships, Joy Ajlouny’s background is in e-commerce. She founded Bonfaire, a vC-backed discovery platform for luxury footwear and accessories that was acquired in 2013 by Mode operandi. She has also acted as a strategic advisor to fashion startups, vC firms, and fashion publications.

Meet the FetChr teaM

IDrISS AL rIfAISilicon valley vs. MENA’s entrepreneurial ecosystem“Silicon Valley is an advanced system that economies around the world are trying to replicate. Nobody has managed to replicate it as the Valley has a unique blend of attributes: talent, infrastruc-ture, funding, and access to a large market and plenty of exits [through] which money has been reinjected in the whole ecosystem. The MENA region is at its infancy stage. However, we see very en-couraging signs of development of the ecosystem; new VCs and incubators are growing, exits such as the one from Talabat. Talent is also scarce especially in technolo-gy, with Amman and Dubai being the only hubs for tech. The big-gest issues I find is still the lack of an appetite from investors for VC type of mentality that implies both risk-taking and agreeing on not taking control over the com-pany you are backing. It will need some time to be fully accepted by the mainstream investors.”

fEtChr’S top tIpS for pErfECtInG Your InVESt-MEnt pItCh “Early stage challenges were plentiful; it’s difficult to raise money and attract people when all you have is a Pow-erPoint deck and your faith that you can make it happen. You need to be surrounded by investors that can help you, and a team that is moved by your vision to change things. There are two lessons that I found critical. First, always raise more money than what you think you need. Money goes fast, and even if you sleep on couches and do not get a salary for a year, you will always end up spending more than you thought. Second, surround yourself with people that are here for the long run. Working with omar Yaghmour [Fetchr’s General Manager] has been a blessing, and his dedi-cation and hard work is one of the key reasons of why we are here today.”

1. Start your venture outreach eight months before you need investment.2. Under promise and over deliver.

3. Seek funds locally and seek Series A globally.4. Be ready to have all of your answers backed by documen-tation.


It seems like a straightfor-ward concept, but I asked Richards to elaborate some more about compareit4me’s services and platform. The

founder says that the plat-form’s concept is a “win-win for both consumers and banks.” For consumers, it’s a free and useful platform,

and for banks, it gives them access to what he describes as “educated users”: these are the people who have been doing their homework

and are ready to start talking and make a decision soon regarding their finances. compareit4me.com offers a wide array of services, and given that it has been expanding across the region, I had to ask if there were any kind of users that were the most active. Richards didn’t specify a type, claim-ing that the user base is “extremely diverse.” And the most popular service of the platform? “Personal loans is definitely the greatest per-centage of users,” claiming that they account for about 40% of the 45,000 applica-tions per month. Things are a tad bit different during the Ramadan season though, where he notices a “spike” in car finance searches. He also mentions that credit card-related inquiries tend to increase during “key” holiday seasons.

One feature that stood out to me was the SME data-base. “We understand all of the challenges with SME finance,” says the CEO; after all, compareit4me is an SME as well. He says that there are “lots of SME banking products” out there, and that it’s important that they can help as many different


take Care oF YoUr CashCoMPAREIT4ME.CoM CEo JoN RICHARDS HAS ALL THE INFo YoU NEED

In a cosmopolitan city like Dubai, it only makes sense that expats from across the globe could use a hand in sorting out a few things in the finance department after moving to their new home, starting with open-ing a bank account in an institution they feel is the best fit for them. That’s what Jon Richards went through after moving to Dubai in 2011,

and inspired him to eventually start compareit4me.com. After about eight years working in the digital domain in the U.K., Richards made his way to Dubai to spearhead propertyfinder.ae’s digital team. When he got here, he found it hard to make a decision on choosing a bank that was right for him. “I didn’t know which products were right for me, and there was no way of comparing finance here back then,” he remembers, noting that back home in the U.K., people would not make big decisions like that without compar-ing them to all of the options they had. Because “there wasn’t a great deal of product information available online,” compareit4me’s CEO realized that there’s a gap in the market that he could fill- and a site was thus born.

Soushiant Zanganehpour

By Kareem Chehayeb

with comparEit4mE’s prEsEncE now almost mEna-widE, it’s safE to say that thE platform has bEEn wEll rEcEivEd. thE platform’s availablE in most gcc statEs, notably Qatar, bahrain, kuwait, and thE uaE. saudi arabia isn’t out of thE picturE, as it’s part of an arabic vErsion of thE platform alongsidE lEbanon, Egypt, and (soon) jordan callEd amwalak, which mEans “your monEy.”

things havE changEd sincE thE launch of thE wEbsitE. dEspitE costing lEss than us$5000 to start thE businEss, costs havE in-crEasEd; thEy havE rEcEivEd somE hElp through an angEl invEstor sincE thE launch of comparEit4mE.com. thEy first rEcEivEd a round of invEstmEnt in march 2014 from mulvErhill associatEs, run by formEr abraaj capital dirEctor jonathan hall.

Jon Richards, CEO, compareit4me.com


“commercial users” as pos-sible. Sounds like a standout feature, and speaking of that, I then asked Jon Richards about what he thinks makes the platform better than its competition (I even had the audacity to mention a com-petitor). Despite not making direct comparisons, Richards focuses on the specifics of compareit4me, saying that it is the only MENA-based website that is “dedicated solely to finance and insur-ance.” He concludes that keeping their platform nar-rowed and specific would give them more credibility and of course helps them maximize the platform’s efficacy. Developing the online

platform wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t capital-intensive either. Richards, alongside co-founder and COO Samer Chehab, bootstrapped the site, and used their indi-vidual skills and career backgrounds to minimize costs. The tasks were divided

among the two: Richards focused on the website and marketing, while Chehab “managed the bank and media agencies.” According to the CEO, Chehab’s 10+ years of media sales experi-ence in the MENA region was incredibly helpful in this regard. It’s quite impressive how the two managed to sort all this out on their own- the only mention of a third party was an unnamed U.K.-based design agency that “original-ly developed and designed” the platform.

Things have changed since the launch of the website. Despite costing less than US$5000 to start the busi-ness, costs have increased; they have received some help through an angel investor since the launch of com-pareit4me.com. They first received a round of invest-ment in March 2014 from Mulverhill Associates, run by former Abraaj Capital Direc-tor Jonathan Hall. Richards calls this investment “smart money,” as this relationship allowed for them to make use of networking opportunities with VCs, as well as account-ing and legal experts. The company now has a staff of 18, and Richards expects the

team to hit 24 people by the end of the year. The develop-ment team is now in-house as well. Marketing still remains to be the company’s biggest costs, which is a fair indicator of Richards and Chehab’s ambition.

With compareit4me’s pres-ence now almost MENA-wide, it’s safe to say that the platform has been well received. The platform’s available in most GCC states, notably Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the UAE. Saudi Arabia isn’t out of the pic-ture, as it’s part of an Arabic

version of the platform alongside Lebanon, Egypt, and (soon) Jordan called Am-walak, which means “your money.” After asking Rich-ards about the reason behind the decision, he simply said that it was based on language preference of the majority of the audience, and reassured me that “the services are

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4me.

com

aftEr about Eight yEars working in thE digital domain in thE u.k., richards madE his way to dubai to spEarhEad propErtyfindEr.aE’s digital tEam. whEn hE got hErE, hE found it hard to makE a dEcision on choosing a bank that was right for him. “i didn’t know which products wErE right for mE, and thErE was no way of comparing financE hErE back thEn.”

with markEting taking thE big-gEst slicE of thE piE whEn it comEs to costs, it’s cErtain that comparEit4mE has an intErEsting stratEgy for thE samE. richards claims that it has bEEn “pErfor-mancE lEd” to datE, mEaning that thEy’vE bEEn targEting consum-Ers who arE activEly looking for a comparison platform.

>>>


exactly the same.” Despite the encouraging reception to compareit4me.com, the CEO is more determined than ever to keep improving its service both for banks and consum-ers. For the former, he wants to keep trust levels at a high, saying, “If a bank doesn’t get a positive ROI, they won’t continue to spend with us, so we’re committed to that partnership.” Regarding the latter, Richards has been wel-coming and hearing all kinds of feedback, which appears to have been mostly positive.

With marketing taking the biggest slice of the pie when it comes to costs, it’s certain that compareit4me has an interesting strategy for the same. Richards claims that it has been “performance led” to date, meaning that they’ve been targeting consumers who are actively looking for a comparison platform. However, they want to move past that to take on consum-ers who may not be aware of comparison platforms, let alone one catered to their respective country of residence. Richards says that despite compareit4me’s success, the “comparison industry” in the UAE and the rest of the Middle East is still small, so it’s important to “educate” people about the benefits of referring to comparison platforms like his. Therefore, it’s expected

that social media plays an important role in their mar-keting strategy. While also using LinkedIn and Twit-ter, Facebook has been the startup’s primary social me-dia focus. The CEO describes the social networking tool as “amazing,” citing that his company’s page is almost at 100,000 likes as of October, and that the team has appre-ciated all of the feedback and comments they’ve received through their page. There’s also a blog section on their website that has advice on effective debt management, as well as a news section that keeps people updated with what’s going on within the banking industry.

With almost eight coun-tries already on board, expansion continues to be a part of compareit4me’s future plans. While Richards and co. want to make their

services available MENA-wide, they’re also looking at opportunities in Asia and Africa. They’re also gearing up for some more fund-ing. “We’ve just closed a $3 million round of investment from STC Ventures, the VC arm of Saudi Telecom, [and] Wamda Capital, which is headed up by Aramex founder Fadi Ghandour, and Dubai Silicon Oasis Author-ity.” Given the success he has seen with his enterprise, what tips would Richards give a young and aspiring ‘trep in the region? “Do not invest too much money until you have proof of concept,” he replies. “You can get a pretty good site built for very little money and prove there’s a market for your product or service.” That’s some solid startup finance management advice right there, and the rest of us would be wise to follow it.

dEspitE comparEit4mE’s suc-cEss, thE “comparison indus-try” in thE uaE and thE rEst of thE middlE East is still small, so it’s important to “EducatE” pEoplE about thE bEnEfits of rEfErring to comparison platforms likE his. thErEforE, it’s ExpEctEd that social mEdia plays an important rolE in thEir markEting stratEgy.


“wE’vE just closEd a $3 million round of invEstmEnt from stc vEnturEs, thE vc arm of saudi tElEcom, [and] wamda capital, which is hEadEd up by aramEx foundEr fadi ghandour, and dubai silicon oasis authority.”

aftEr about Eight yEars working in thE digital domain in thE u.k., richards madE his way to dubai to spEarhEad propErtyfindEr.aE’s digital tEam. whEn hE got hErE, hE found it hard to makE a dEci-sion on choosing a bank that was right for him. “i didn’t know which products wErE right for mE, and thErE was no way of comparing financE hErE back thEn.”

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4me.

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Samer Chehab, COO and Jon Richards, CEO, compareit4me.com

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If you ask an entrepreneur in the Arab world what their biggest challenge is, they’ll almost certainly say that it has to be

with finding funds for their respective enterprises. This is curious, especially when you consider the 2013 Maintain-ing Momentum in a Complex World: Global Wealth report by Boston Consulting Group that said that 40 out of every 1000 households in the UAE held a private wealth of at least US$1 million. According to the same report, neighbor-ing GCC countries, Bahrain and Kuwait, had a 11.5% and 4.9% density of millionaires respectively, while Qatar ranked the first in the world with a millionaire density of 14.3%.

On the other hand, a report published by Forbes on the richest people in the world in 2015 revealed that the total wealth of the 40 Arab billion-aires on the list, an estimated $146.1 billion, exceeded the budgets of Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, Tunisia, Mauritania, Yemen, Comoros, Djibouti, Sudan, Palestine and Somalia combined. With figures like these, it’s hard to understand why Arab entrepreneurs feel that there is no money in the region. Why do we feel the need to look for money in the U.S.A, Europe or Asia, when we have plenty of it right here in MENA region?

Our problem is thus not a problem of funding- the problem is gaining access to the funding that already exists in the MENA region. While I cannot speak to

the experience of all Arab entrepreneurs, I can use my experience in the UAE startup ecosystem to illuminate three of the unfortunate realities that are interrupting the flow of capital to entrepreneurs in the region.

1. the event appearanCe paraDoX If you’ve ever attended a startup conference or net-working event in the UAE, you’ve probably noticed that the people who can invest in your business are usually the last to arrive and the first to leave the event. However, even if they do remain for a networking session, they are usually swarmed by acquaint-ances from their industry, to whom they are obliged to speak to out of social decorum. By the time these

people are finished with their social pleasantries, they are usually answering business calls and snatching one last hors d’oeuvre from the buffet before they dash to their next business meeting. That being said, even if you are able to catch someone who would be an ideal investor, partner or mentor, sometimes they’re just not interested in talking to you.

So, while these events are supposed to unite people who need funds with people who have funds, it’s ironic that there is almost no op-portunity for the former to network with the latter. As a result, it might have to fall to event planners in the region to give these networking events more structure to en-able such interactions to take place. Perhaps entrepreneurs

and influencers with similar interests can be assigned to the same tables, or maybe their nametags can showcase the industries they belong to, so as to encourage conversa-tions to begin. In addition to coming up with practical solutions to this problem, event organizers also need to emphasize the need for influ-encers to spend some portion of their time mingling with entrepreneurs, who often spend exorbitant amounts of money to register for these events. Whatever these event organizers decide to do, they have to make sure that their strategy is promoting more interaction between entrepre-neurs and influencers.

2. the Corporate-startUp DisConneCtOne of the most difficult challenges for an Arab en-trepreneur to overcome in this part of the world is the corporate-startup mentality disconnect. As it so happens, many of the angel investors or venture capitalists in the MENA region, unfortunately, have extensive experience in the corporate world or the “traditional” business arena.


Cash CrunCh THREE HURDLES ARAB ENTREPRENEURS FACE WHEN GAINING ACCESS

To CAPITAL (AND HoW To GET PAST THEM)By Soukaina Rachidi

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I say unfortunately, because there is nothing orthodox about startups and the way they function, especially in the Arab world. In a region where financial literacy is limited, innovation is not en-couraged and social adoption is problematic, entrepreneurs have to develop creative busi-ness models and monetiza-tion strategies to survive in nascent startup ecosystems.

So, when Arab entrepre-neurs are sitting across from judges in a startup competition or a pitching event, who are assessing their potential success using corporate benchmarks, it feels like we are setting them up for failure. If Arab startup ecosystems are going to grow, we need to educate stake-holders in these ecosystems about the realities of Arab entrepreneurship. We need to educate angel investors, venture capitalists and people who manage wealth about the realities and needs of Arab entrepreneurs, so that we can establish a community of investors who make sound investment decisions based on accurate assessments of

Arab startups, their potential and their target markets.

3. the inCreDUloUs investorArab entrepreneurs are almost always battling the pervasive culture of skepticism that exists in the Arab world. Whether they’re pitching for money, or trying to promote the social adoption of their concept, they are always faced with an incredulous audience. We complain about the lack of innovation or ingenuity in Arab ecosystems- however, the sad truth is that the entre-preneurs who tend to receive funding are also the ones who are executing proven concepts from the West. Why is that? Because they are a safe bet. For some reason, there seems to be this prevalent -and rather inaccurate- belief that concepts that have succeeded in the U.S.A and Europe are more likely to succeed in this region than new, untested, homegrown Arab solutions.

If Arab startup ecosystems are to grow, local angel inves-tors and venture capital-ists are going to have more faith in the ecosystem and its innovators. If we don’t

help financial influencers in the region understand Arab startups and the needs of their target markets, we will perpetuate ecosystems that promote nothing more than a copy-paste mentality. In order

to unleash the true potential of Arab entrepreneurs, we have to promote and invest in startups that find creative solutions to local, national and regional problems. After all, what’s the point of creat-ing an Arab Airbnb if there is no demand for it? We have to start investing and empower-ing entrepreneurs who are creating solutions to address pressing problems in the Arab world.

Cash CrunCh

Soukaina Rachidi works as Melltoo Marketplace’s Media Relations Coordinator, where she is responsible for forging new partnerships with like-minded

entrepreneurs in the Dubai startup scene and promoting Melltoo’s core values of trust, sustainability and privacy to the larger UAE community. With a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Delaware, Rachidi is passionate about global issues and frequently writes about trending cultural issues and entrepreneurship.

trep talk Me THE BUSINESS pixelbugTHE ‘TREP Co-founder and CEo Dany El-EidQ What would you say is the region’s biggest challenge for entrepreneurs?A “one of the biggest challenges for entrepreneurs is most defi-nitely the massive funding gap between the seed and Series A round. There is a dissonance be-tween what investors claim and

the actual dollars being deployed in the ecosystem. This definitely stifles Dubai and the region as a global contender for innovation. The startup ecosystem in the region still has a long way to go in order to provide entrepreneurs with the right support systems and laws that foster risk-taking and the creativity associated with starting a business, espe-cially in the tech industry.” www.pixelbug.com

Pixelbug’s founders:

Elie Youssef, Dany El-Eid

and Denis Kruger

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Over the last two years, more than 800 startups have pitched across 50

countries at the global seed-stage startup competition Seedstars World, as it seeks out promising startups in emerging markets worldwide. With this year’s focus on the travel and the fintech sectors, the Switzerland-based startup contest held its Middle East regional event, Seedstars Dubai, at The Cribb in September. From a pool of 42 participating teams, 12 finalists were given six minutes to pitch their enterprises, and four minutes for a Q&A session with judges that included President and CEO of Innovation 360 Kamal Hassan, Seedstars World Regional Manager for CEE/MENA John

Chehaibar, Souqalmal.com founder Ambareen Musa, and Choueiri Group Chief Strategy Officer Patrick Thiriet. Taking the title of regional winner was AlemHealth, a cloud-based system connecting local hospitals in developing countries to doctors globally, followed by first runner-up Boxit, a platform connecting people who need extra storage space to store their items to logistic warehouses, and second runner-up Unnyhog, a fast-paced cross-platform game letting players compete in real-time from different devices. AlemHealth will now represent the UAE in February next year in the final pitching round to potentially win the US$500,000 equity prize. www.seedstarsworld.com

IN PICTuRES

Seedstars Dubai 2015 picks finalists for global competition

for the win!

From top left to bottom right: Innovation 360 President and CEO Kamal Hassan, 1776 co-founder Evan Burfield, Seedstars World Regional Manager for CEE/MENA John Chehaibar, Choueiri Group Chief Strategy Officer Patrick Thiriet, and Souqalmal.com founder Ambareen Musa.

Regional winner AlemHealth founder and CEO Sajjad Kamal

Boxit CEO and founder Premlal Pullisserry at Seedstars Dubai

Seedstars Dubai

Unnyhog founder Pavel Ignatov presenting at

Seedstars Dubai

Igor Ovcharenko, Regional Manager for CEE and MENA of Seedstars World hosting the event

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15955_WMT_203x273_ME.indd 1 01/09/2015 16:59


money ask the money guy | vc viewpoint | your money | econ

Surviving the inveStor Selection

proceSS A diAmond is just A piece of chArcoAl thAt hAndled

stress exceptionAlly well

Bluntness, honesty and transparency are founder virtues

Take the normal approach, and your current chances of being funded by an investor, private equity or venture capitalist equates to roughly 1%. Understand the process and put yourself in the investor’s shoes, and you may substantially increase these odds so that you and your business may survive the investor’s selection process and secure that needed investment partner.

Appreciating what an investor does and how he screens, filters and selects investment opportunities will allow you to understand what professional investors do, how they do it, what type of information they will seek from you, and that will make the difference between leaving with, or without, a check.

By Jan Nigel Bladen



There are four basic activi-ties an investor undertakes to make a return on invest-ment for his shareholders:

1. rAISE funDS An investor raises funds from sources like pension and retire-ment funds, endowments, insurance companies, and high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs).

2. SourCE DEALS Investors identify and find deals, carry out due diligence (research and analysis on identified deals), and close transac-tions (negotiate and buy) to purchase shareholdings in companies the investor likes.

3. MAnAGE portfoLIo Investors help improve op-erations, manage costs, drive performance and tighten management in their port-folio of acquired companies, with the sole objective of improving the value of these companies.

4. EXIt Investors now sell their shareholdings in an improved portfolio company (i.e. they exit the invest-ment) at a profit.

raise FUnDs The principal investor, or General Partner as they are known in the private equity industry, raise capital by approaching external third parties, or Limited Partners, for capital commitments. The General Partners may also contribute some of their own capital to the Invest-ment Fund from which fund-ing will be made available to invest in your business, if you are selected as one of the Investment Fund’s portfolio companies.

Your investor (the General Partner or the Fund Man-ager) will tend to prefer a small number of external or Limited Partners, each contributing a significant amount to the Fund. This normally limits the amount

of time, and facilitates the task of the General Partner, when having to manage and report back to his pool of investors and Limited Part-ners. Ideally, the Fund would have a minority of Limited Partners, each contributing tens to hundreds of millions of dollars, depending on the size and strategy of the Investment Fund.

While Limited Partners make a commitment to provide capital, that capital is not all provided at once. Rather, as the General Part-ner/Fund Manager identifies and acquires portfolio com-panies, the General Partner calls committed capital from the Limited Partners into the Investment Fund. In an investor’s terminology, Limited Partners’ commit-ted funds are referred to as “Committed Capital” and paid out funds are referred to as “Contributed Capital.”

To make things a little bit more complex, many Invest-

ment Funds also refer to “first close” and “last close.” First close means when a certain amount of funding has been committed, the Investment Fund can begin to make investments in Port-folio Companies, while new Limited Partners may still join by committing capital for a limited time. Final close means when a second threshold has been reached for committed capital, new Limited Partners may no longer join the Investment Fund.

Limited Partners who have expressed a willingness to commit to an investment fund prior to the first close will often enjoy more favora-ble terms such as reduced management fees and co-investment rights. >>>

in An invesTor’s Terminology, limiTed pArTners’ commiTTed fUnds Are referred To As “commiTTed cApiTAl” And pAid oUT fUnds Are referred To As “conTribUTed cApiTAl.”


soUrCe Deals Question: would you, the reader, invest in a company that only sold one out of every 100 leads? Or, like-wise, would you invest in an organization that requires three full-time investment team members to close one transaction in one year? These statistics are, unfor-tunately, a true reflection of the private equity indus-try (see data from Teten Advisors, Winter 2010 issue of The Journal of Private Equity), and they demon-strate that deal sourcing is highly inefficient and labor intensive, despite the fact that deal origination (find-ing deals) is fundamental to a successful investment fund. (Note: Private Equity funds that employ a proac-tive and creative origination strategy have consistently higher returns, driven by a greater volume and qual-ity of incoming investment opportunities, but that’s for another article.) On the flip side, it does mean that your average successful inves-tor is an expert at sifting through a large truckload of pebbles to find a couple of rough diamonds- find that

needle in a haystack.When an investor carries

out due diligence of com-panies for potential acqui-sition, they will consider elements such as the com-pany’s product or service, the company’s strategic fit within the investor’s portfo-lio, the company’s strategy, business model, the senior

management team and their experience, the industry, the company’s financial performance, risk factors, a valuation and likely exit options and scenarios for the company. Due diligence typi-cally intensifies in phases, with each phase sifting out unsuccessful investment opportunities and narrowing down on likely investment opportunities.

If the deal looks promis-ing and no obvious show stoppers or red flags are identified, then the due diligence team will typically present the opportunity to the investment committee of the investment fund for an initial funding approval (end of Phase 5). Final terms of

the deal with be negotiated with lawyers on both sides (Phase 6), and the deal will transact, with funds being released and equity being traded.

Manage portFolioYou’ll need to appreciate several elements to the relationship between your portfolio company and the investor, but be clear about one thing: your investor (General Partner or The Fund Manager) does not want to be the CEO of your company, nor does he want to run the company on a day to day. He will want to take board seats, he will encour-age you to reshuffle senior management based on skills and performance, and he will provide active advice, support and introductions in respect of operations, strategy and financial man-agement. He will want to aggressively drive revenue, sales, operational and finan-cial efficiencies, optimiz-ing working capital, push


To mAke Things A liTTle biT more complex, mAny invesTmenT fUnds Also refer To “firsT close” And “lAsT close”. firsT close meAns when A cerTAin AmoUnT of fUnding hAs been commiTTed, The invesT-menT fUnd cAn begin To mAke invesTmenTs in porTfolio compA-nies, while new limiTed pArTners mAy sTill join by commiTTing cApiTAl for A limiTed Time.


expansion and any other key factors that will contribute towards generating a higher share value in the next three to five years.

Your investor has pur-chased shares in your organization with the sole intention of selling them for a substantial profit at a later date, and some larger Private Equity funds have specialized teams whose sole objective is to improve the operational and financial efficiency of the portfolio companies so as to maximize resell value. These teams are commonly good at what they do but can also be quite ruthless.

And how involved your investor is really depends on how big their investment is in your portfolio company. If the investor only own a small minority stake, they probably won’t be very involved, leaving the lead in-vestors (the one owning the larger stake) to be most in-volved. However, if they own either a sizeable percentage of the equity or a significant portion of the entire fund is invested in the company, then they will be much more engaged in improving the company for a profitable exit down the line.

Your investor will pro-duce regular reports on the performance of portfolio companies and will share these with his own investors (the pension and retirement funds, endowments, insur-ance companies, and wealthy

individuals who all invested in his Fund from which you got your investment).

eXitThe end goal for the inves-tor is to exit their portfolio companies at a substantial profit. Typically, the exit occurs between three and seven years after the original investment, but it could be shorter or take longer depending on the strategic circumstances, economic cy-cles, availability of suitable buyers and other factors.

Most exits happen as the result of either a sale or merger of the portfolio com-pany (most likely exit), an initial public offering (only a small fraction go this way), a redemption (redemp-tion rights are almost never exercised) and eventually a management buy-out (nor-mally not possible). While the investor may do a lot of the coordination to sell the firm’s portfolio companies, they may also retain invest-ment banks to handle the execution, especially when the transactions are large or complex.

Your nEXt StEpSNow that you have a high level overview of what an investor does, we’ll take a look at what your next steps are. The majority of expe-rienced investors tend to overlook business plans and focus in on the entrepreneur or business leader and his story, including any presen-tation materials, financial forecasts and an executive summary. This is logical since the majority of inves-tors actually invest in, and place their bets on, people and teams rather than busi-ness projects or business plans. Therefore, the only goal of your first submission (a Business Executive Sum-mary) to any investor is to

obtain a face-to-face meet-ing. As such, the content and layout of your Business Executive Summary needs to be well thought out and structured so as to optimize your chances of passing the first hurdle (Phase 1 in the Typical Investment Process and Deal Flow diagram) and meeting your potential investor.

Keep your initial document as brief as possible and limit it to a maximum of two to four pages. It must be easy to read. Images and charts “speak a thousand words,” so optimize the use of visu-als where possible. Resist the temptation to use com-plex, theoretical, technical or business jargon. Rather, keep it simple and comprehensi-ble using unpretentious lan-guage. Remember that any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is probably the wrong word. Be blunt, be honest and be transpar-ent (better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without).

Your investor will carry out substantial due diligence prior to providing funds, and so the more upfront you are, the better the chance you have in developing a strong positive relationship, based on trust.

It’s remarkably simple; in-vestors review so many deals that they actually become experts at filtering invest-ment and business project proposals, and a simple Business Executive Summa-ry will substantially increase the chances of you obtain-ing that initial face-to-face meeting.

Understand what an inves-tor does and preempt what

The only goAl of yoUr firsT sUbmission (A bUsiness execUTive sUmmAry) To Any invesTor is To obTAin A fAce-To-fAce meeTing. As sUch, The conTenT And lAyoUT of yoUr bUsiness execUTive sUmmAry needs To be well ThoUghT oUT And sTrUcTUred so As To opTimize yoUr chAnces of pAssing The firsT hUrdle (phAse 1 in The TypicAl invesTmenT process And deAl flow diAgrAm) And meeTing yoUr poTenTiAl invesTor.

The end goAl for The invesTor is To exiT Their porTfolio com-pAnies AT A sUbsTAnTiAl profiT. TypicAlly, The exiT occUrs beTween Three And seven yeArs AfTer The originAl invesTmenT, bUT iT coUld be shorTer or TAke longer depending on The sTrA-Tegic circUmsTAnces, economic cycles, AvAilAbiliTy of sUiTAble bUyers And oTher fAcTors.

>>>


he wants, save both your time and their time, and utilize the saved time to build a trusted relationship with your potential future investors while obtaining free, experienced advice. At the end of the day, investors invest in people, not projects or business plans. As you start negotiations, keep in the back of your mind that 100% of nothing or a small organization is a lot less than 20% of a big company. The investor will want his slice of the pie and will expect some sort of control. Be a realist: no investor will provide the majority of your capital in return for no control and a minority shareholding.

Once you’ve done all this and the odds are stacked in your favor, accept that you may still not succeed with the first investor you talk to for multiple reasons beyond your control, including chemistry, personality, ge-ography, industry, size, and others. There may simply be a mismatch between your business venture and the ap-proached investor. And then the investor may also make the ultimate blunder and mistake a rough diamond for a worthless pebble. How-ever, now is your chance to learn from every profession-al investor you talk to for free, and make use of their investment knowledge and experience. Ask the ques-tions: what went wrong? What could you do better? What are the typical risks

and pitfalls that you need to avoid? Recall that the assessment is also two ways. Can you trust this investor?

When all is said and done, an investor wants a viable investment with the highest chances of success (and so should you), and you need their investment. Remember that a diamond is just a piece of charcoal that handled stress exceptionally well. Be a rough diamond and cash that investor’s check.

Jan Nigel Bladen, the former Program Lead and Executive Advisor to the Board at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and founding Chief Operating Officer of the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), carries a wealth of experience in corporate leadership in the Middle East. He has been a resident of the UAE for the last 15 years and has worked

extensively in Egypt, Morocco, Syria, Pakistan, Lebanon, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar. Fluent in English, French and Spanish, he has now spent over 25 years living and working throughout the Middle East and obtained a Master of Business Administration (Summa Cum Laude) from Lausanne in 1993.

a. A description of the prob-lems or challenges, and how your solutions or products resolve the issue.b. A description of the market for your product or solution, including distribution and sales.c. A description of how your venture provides the solutions or products.d. A description of how you will make a return on investment for shareholders, yourself included.e. The Management Team and their relevant experience.f. List any patents and/or trademarks and any intel-lectual property linked to the product or solution. g. Highlight the competition

and competitors- why you are better?h. Highlight any areas of risk and how else you may seek non-financial support from your investors.i. What size of funding are you seeking and what will you do with these funds?j. What other sources of funds have you already secured?k. If a valuation has already been calculated, how was it calculated, and what is the valuation.l. Include your projected financials including revenue, cost of goods sold, operat-ing expenses and anticipated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.

Consider including the following sections in your Business Executive Summary:


how involved yoUr invesTor is reAlly depends on how big Their invesTmenT is in yoUr porTfolio compAny. if The invesTor only own A smAll minoriTy sTAke, They probAbly won’T be very involved, leAv-ing The leAd invesTors (The one owning The lArger sTAke) To be mosT involved.

keep yoUr iniTiAl docUmenT As brief As possible And limiT iT To A mAximUm of Two To foUr pAges. iT mUsT be eAsy To reAd. imAges And chArTs “speAk A ThoUsAnd words,” so opTimize The Use of visUAls where possible. resisT The TempTATion To Use complex, TheoreTicAl, TechnicAl or bUsi-ness jArgon. rATher, keep iT simple And comprehensible Using UnpreTenTioUs lAngUAge.

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In September, Nabbesh, in collaboration with Qatar based Silatech, launched Fursati, a campaign that

brings jobs directly to the disenfranchised young Arabs in Palestine- where youth un-employment sticks currently at 40%.

It’s a really simple concept; utilizing our already estab-lished virtual jobs market-place, we are encouraging employers to do their bit by posting their briefs fee-free for jobs that can only be ap-plied for by our pre-screened, qualified candidates from Gaza and the West Bank. We aren’t just playing matchmak-er. We are, consciously and credibly, helping Palestinian freelancers enter the world of virtual work via our Gaza and West Bank based workshops, facilitated by our local com-munity manager (you can monitor how the workshops are going on the Nabbesh YouTube channel and via our social media updates). We are also responsible to our employers, and ensure all candidates are pre-screened, with appropriate portfolios and more.

Nabbesh, as a business, isn’t a social enterprise. There’s an obvious link, of course, since Nabbesh is about creating jobs in the region which, at a time of high youth Arab unemployment figures cou-pled with unrest in certain nations, carries a certain responsibility. The Fur-sati initiative is a perfect fit. While there has been nothing to stop freelancers anywhere registering and bidding for jobs, and most jobs are avail-able for freelancers from anywhere due to the virtual nature of the briefs, this is a targeted effort. In collabora-tion with Silatech, we’re able to create a solid, measurable project that makes a direct difference to the careers, and let’s not forget, pockets of talented young people in an area that needs our help. It’s not a traditional CSR effort, instead, we’ve gone the route of a social venture. Why? Because social enterprise is a commitment to a continued effort in good:

SUSTAINABILITY The whole idea and perception of corporate CSR has become

diluted, especially in the UAE. As important as any effort is, they are very rarely more than one-off projects that benefit a corporate conscience far more than they ever will those on the receiving end. You may generate a PR buzz and a sense of goodwill amongst colleagues and stakeholders, but what’s next? Where is the long-term benefit? Improving the quality of life for those facing circumstantial diffi-culties is worth significantly more when you aren’t just offering a one-time solution.

GENERATE PRoFIT Social enterprise can generate much-needed profits for your business in a way that CSR doesn’t– that coupled with the sustainability can only be an all-around win. There are plentiful funds available for social entrepreneurs, which can mitigate your risks, not to mention heightening the enthusiasm of your found-ing team- we all know that fundraising woes can certainly curb positive energy!

BUILD AWARENESS Despite the fact that your startup model may be newsworthy and adding value to society, you just don’t get the at-tention that your business deserves. Social enterprise makes for a feel-good success story, both for people looking to help out socially responsi-ble businesses and for those participating in alleviating societal challenges. This leads to a successful campaign, which, when conceptualized intelligently, creates a positive effect on everyone concerned. Raising brand awareness -of both your company and the

cause you’ve chosen to hone in on- can only lead to posi-tive things.

Essentially, Nabbesh is about creating jobs for people in this region, and by taking a social enterprise turn with the Fursati project means that we can stay true to the Nabbesh mission state-ment. We’re developing new business within the region, specifically in areas such as Palestine that are facing big challenges due to ongo-ing conflict. We’ve set out to create a sustainable business that makes a difference, since by default, social enterprise is at our heart and core. As a founder, it’s exciting and fulfilling for me to pursue new partnerships and projects that will ultimately make a true difference in people’s lives, and to act as the facilitator for local employers to do their part- on a sustained basis.

Why my startup has taken a turn at social entrepreneurship By Loulou Khazen Baz

pALEStInE on thE AGEnDA

Loulou Khazen Baz is a proud entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Nabbesh.com, the Middle East’s

first online marketplace which specializes in connecting businesses with freelancers online. Baz started Nabbesh to help combat the Middle East’s unemployment crisis, and Nabbesh successfully helped freelancers in the Middle East land over 3000 freelance jobs in its very first year. Nabbesh allows people to monetize their potential by showcasing their skills and visual portfolios online, connecting them with freelance job opportunities, facilitating secure online payments, and receiving merit-based ratings. To date, Nabbesh has nearly 40,000 members and boasts job postings in over 100 cities throughout MENA.


About Fursati

Fursati, meaning “my opportunity”, is a pilot project by Silatech, a regional social initiative that works to create jobs and expand economic opportunities in the Arab World, and Nabbesh.com, the Middle East’s largest online work marketplace, helping businesses locate, manage and pay expert freelance talent

Contact

Nabbesh Platform

Why Palestine

How it works

With youth unemployment reaching unprecedented rates in the Arab World, remote work is a solution well suited for those with limited mobility caused by geopolitical and/or gender-based restrictions Fursati aims to create 300 remote jobs for educated and experienced youth in Palestine in Q4 of 2015. The project will provide training and on-boarding of top Palestinian talent onto Nabbesh.com in order to help businesses get work done at a�ordable rates while at the same time providing opportunity for Arab youth

youth unemployment rateof Palestinian youth are between ages 15 and 29

freelancers of which in Palestine

of freelancers are between ages 18 to 34.With of them having a higher education

businesses

Post a job on Nabbesh and use the promo code: FURSATI

Blog.nabbesh.com/[email protected] o�ces +971 4 320 9172Gaza community Manager +970 59 037539

Benefits

Only eligible Palestinian freelancers will be able to apply

Pay “zero” fees to Nabbesh. You will only pay what the

freelancer charges for the work

About Fursati

Fursati, meaning “my opportunity”, is a pilot project by Silatech, a regional social initiative that works to create jobs and expand economic opportunities in the Arab World, and Nabbesh.com, the Middle East’s largest online work marketplace, helping businesses locate, manage and pay expert freelance talent

Contact

Nabbesh Platform

Why Palestine

How it works

With youth unemployment reaching unprecedented rates in the Arab World, remote work is a solution well suited for those with limited mobility caused by geopolitical and/or gender-based restrictions Fursati aims to create 300 remote jobs for educated and experienced youth in Palestine in Q4 of 2015. The project will provide training and on-boarding of top Palestinian talent onto Nabbesh.com in order to help businesses get work done at a�ordable rates while at the same time providing opportunity for Arab youth

youth unemployment rateof Palestinian youth are between ages 15 and 29

freelancers of which in Palestine

of freelancers are between ages 18 to 34.With of them having a higher education

businesses

Post a job on Nabbesh and use the promo code: FURSATI

Blog.nabbesh.com/[email protected] o�ces +971 4 320 9172Gaza community Manager +970 59 037539

Benefits

Only eligible Palestinian freelancers will be able to apply

Pay “zero” fees to Nabbesh. You will only pay what the

freelancer charges for the work

LAGOONA MALLGround floor, West Bay, +974 4433 [email protected]

Autumn/Winter 2015 collectionNOW available!

LAGOONA MALLGround floor, West Bay, +974 4433 [email protected]

Autumn/Winter 2015 collectionNOW available!

Entrepreneur Qatar November 2015 | Harnessing Heritage

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Transcript of Entrepreneur Qatar November 2015 | Harnessing Heritage