Episodios
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Chris Rogers is a global entrepreneur who co-founded Nextel Communications, a wireless connectivity company, in 1987 and sold it for $35B in 2005. In the early 2000s, Chris came to Saudi Arabia to launch Nextel as a joint venture with Saudi Telecom. His deep connection to the region brought him back as an investor in Careem, Kitopi, and several other startups.
In this episode, Chris shares what it takes to build and lead billion-dollar businesses, his perspective on Sovereign Wealth Fund initiatives shaping the MENA startup ecosystem, the challenges Venture Capital firms face in the region, and what it truly means to exit successfully.
Chris also offers timeless lessons on resilience, attracting global investors, and balancing ambition with wellness. Whether you’re a founder, VC, or someone with big dreams, this episode is packed with insights to help you scale your next big thing.
Support for the show comes from Capital.com, a global investment company with offices in Dubai.Click herefor a chance to win AED 1m.
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I sat down with Maha Abouelenein, powerhouse communicator, entrepreneur, and best-selling author of Seven Rules of Self-Reliance. Maha shares her incredible journey—from starting as a secretary for Naguib Sawiris to building a PR empire, working with global icons like Gary Vee, and becoming a bestselling author. We dive into the lessons from her book, the importance of betting on yourself, unlearning outdated ideas, and building a personal brand rooted in authenticity. Maha’s insights are both inspiring and practical, whether you’re an entrepreneur, corporate leader, or someone seeking purpose and growth. This is a masterclass in resilience, reinvention, and self-belief!
Support for the show comes from Capital.com, a global investment company with offices in Dubai. Click here for a chance to win AED 1m.
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I sat down with Talal Tabbaa, co-founder of CoinMENA, to unpack the latest in the crypto world. We dive into Bitcoin’s recent bull run and why ETFs are a game-changer for institutional adoption. Talal shares his take on altcoins, meme coins, and whether they’re worth the hype—or just a gamble. We also tackle the big question: is it too late to get into Bitcoin? Plus, we discuss how governments, particularly in the GCC, are positioning themselves in the crypto race. Whether you're a skeptic or a believer, this episode offers insights you can’t afford to miss.
Support for the show comes from Capital.com a global investment platform with offices in Dubai. Click here for the chance to win AED 1m: https://bit.ly/3CDIT3f
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I sat down with H.E. Sheikh Fahim a member of the Executive Council of Sharjah and the Executive Chairman of the Department of Government Relations to talk about his marine conservation work. Sheikh Fahim a.k.a. ‘the Turtle Sheikh’ whose love for the ocean - sparked by saving ‘Farah’ a turtle stuck in a fishing net - led him to launch SeafoodSouq, a technology business that tracks the global seafood supply chain or as per his words ‘a digital passport for fish’.
Our conversation covers the state of our oceans, overfishing, bycatch and outright fraud. A fascinating discussion about the need for us all to do our bit and most importantly, to ask a very simple question: where is my fish coming from?
Support for the show comes from Capital.com, a global investment platform with offices in Dubai. Visit (https://bit.ly/3YaWM0R)
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I sat down with Abdullah Mutawi, Partner and Head of Corporate at law firm Taylor Wessing and prolific angel investor as the Co-founder and Chairman of Dubai Angel Investors and Saudi Angel Investors and we unpack some of the challenges that startups founders and venture capital investors are facing as they learn how to deal with a major downturn echoing the global venture capital downturn post 2020/2021 bubble. As a prominent lawyer, Abdullah is often called upon to mitigate distress situations, those that evoke strong emotions between the parties. Abdullah shares his learnings from various situations he has managed including one of the successful restructuring deals he worked on with Fetchr, the logistics startups that was saved, only to shut down again in 2021 in a twist of fate. If you are in the startup ecosystem or a stakeholder of the ecosystem, then you will certainly enjoy this discussion.
Support for the show comes from capital.com, a global investment platform with offices in Dubai.
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I sat down with Charlie Wright, Founder & CEO of Humantra, the fastest-growing electrolytes brand in the UAE, now eyeing global expansion after a successful UK launch. Charlie’s journey to Dubai began straight out of college, where a sales job quickly showed him that he craved more than the corporate grind. After two failed ventures, he learned valuable lessons that paved the way for something bigger. A chance encounter with the Huda Beauty investment team led him to join their incubator, ultimately giving birth to Humantra. In this episode, we explore the world of electrolytes, navigating obstacles, scaling a business, and forming international collaborations, all while unpacking the key insights Charlie picked up along the way.
Support for this episode comes from Capital.com, a global investment platform with newly launched offices in Dubai. To learn more about Capital.com click here.
Support for this show comes from Dubai Harbour Residences, a newly launched beachfront project. Book your apartment by clicking here.
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I sat down with Farida El Agamy, an entrepreneur, a lawyer and expert on the MENA family business landscape, to get a peak into the rise and challenges of the families that shaped our region from the Almajdouie and Zamil families in Saudi Arabia, to W.J. Towell in Oman, the Sawiris in Egypt and Juma Al Majid in the UAE and many more. Those family businesses grew to become multifaceted conglomerates employing thousands and creating a considerable economic and social impact across the region.
Farida shared insights from her extensive research work at Tharawat Family Business Forum, highlighting the critical importance of succession planning, governance, and the role of women in family businesses. We explored the rise of single-family offices, how investment strategies are evolving across generations, and the increasing importance of sustainability. Throughout our discussion, we kept circling back to one question: how will the 3rd or 4th generation of family business owners navigate the complexities of a rapidly changing world?
To learn more about family businesses in MENA visit: www.tharawat.org and www.familybusinesshistories.org or connect with Farida on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faridafelagamy/
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Welcome back to work everyone. In this last part of the '3 part bite sized summer special', I revisit my conversations with my guests in the first half of 2024 and distill 3 trends that are shaping MENA startups. If you’re an entrepreneur you’re probably head down and ready for an eventful second half of the year! If you’re fundraising, you’re probably wondering if the VC winter will come to an end now that the US Federal Reserve Chief is signaling rate cuts? Will you be able to ‘blitzscale’ again? If you’re raising a big round of funding today, where is the money going to come from? Lastly, how big is the influence of China on our startup ecosystem? I hope you enjoy this episode and always happy to hear your input. We go back to our original programing next week!
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As you gear up for back to school season, I hope you enjoy part 2 of our 3 part - bite sized - summer special. In this episode, I share with you my personal views on what makes a great entrepreneur. Having been an entrepreneur myself over the past decade, having sat with unicorn founders, and hundreds of entrepreneurs that I’ve met over the past 5 years of venture capital investing, I offer you the 5 characteristics that make a great entrepreneur. Keen to know your thoughts!
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I hope you’re all enjoying the summer! In this 3 part episode, I will be sharing with you a bit of my raison d’être for doing the podcast. As an entrepreneur and investor living in Dubai, I am heavily invested in our regional startup ecosystem and my wish is to get as many of you to actively participate, whether as entrepreneurs, investors, advisors or enablers. In this episode I build on insights shared by some of my guests so far in 2024 and I put forward the case of why you, our listener, should care about startups. I hope you agree!
Data used in the beginning of the episode is from Clearworld (www.clear.world) I have accidentally shared the wrong url in the podcast.
Support for the show comes from capital.com, a global investment platform.
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I sat down with Mazen Kanaan, Co-founder and CEO of House of Pops to discuss his incredible journey leading the ice cream business at Unilever in the region, to his abrupt ouster and the subsequent launch of House of Pops with his girlfriend (now wife) Marcela Sancho. Mazen recounts the challenges of starting from scratch, going all in and being self-funded, the importance of brand building and customer journeys, and the strategic decisions that led to scaling the business and regional expansion. He also recounts his Shark Tank Dubai experience and the subsequent negotiations. Mazen’s story is a testament to resilience and innovation in entrepreneurship and a playbook in how to build a regional champion.
Support for the show comes from Capital.com a global investment platform.
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Imad Ghandour shares his extensive experience in the private equity sector, covering essential topics such as buying, improving, and selling companies in MENA. He delves into the philosophy behind his firm, CedarBridge Capital Partners, highlighting their unique approach to operational involvement, and focus on positive management. We delve into CedarBridge’s latest successful exit ‘The Grooming Company Holding’ and how Imad and his partners were able to successfully invest in the beauty sector, grow the business internationally and grow its bottom line. Imad offers tips on management, deal making, achieving operational excellence and managing through crisis.
Support for the show comes from Capital.com a global investment platform.
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Vadim shares insights from his journey as a professional athlete, how he learned all about mental toughness and breaking your opponent. He shares his journey beyond sports into management consulting in Germany and then becoming the youngest CEO in Groupon as he led Eastern Europe and was part of Groupon’s NASDAQ IPO. He then goes back to his roots in ‘health and sports’ to launch Bioniq in 2018, a personalized supplements company that currently sells is products globally while he lives in Dubai. Vadim talks about the multi-billion dollar supplements industry and why most supplements don’t work. He offers tips on health and wellness, shares insights from Bioniq’s large data pool and wraps up with some tips for healthy eating habits. A very insightful conversation that tackles not only Vadim’s entrepreneurial journey but also, the very important subject of health.
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I sit down with Courtney Powell, Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer of 500 Global to discuss her journey from entrepreneur to global venture capital leader. Courtney shares insights on expanding 500 Global into emerging markets like MENA, balancing motherhood with her career, and the evolving landscape of education and female representation in tech. She also shares practical tips for pitching and fundraising, weaving personal stories and professional insights throughout the conversation.
Support for the show comes from Capital.com a global investment platform.
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I had the incredible opportunity to sit down with Ronaldo Mouchawar, the trailblazing Co-founder and CEO of Souq.com, which was acquired by Amazon in 2017 for $580 million in cash + $200m in Amazon shares. Ronaldo, a true pioneer of e-commerce in the MENA region, founded Souq in 2005 as a spin-off from Maktoob, another regional success story that was sold to Yahoo for ~$170 million in 2009.
In our conversation, Ronaldo shares captivating industry insights, recounts his personal journey, and reveals his passion for music. Now heading Amazon's operations in MENA and Turkey, Ronaldo remains fervently optimistic about the future of e-commerce in the region. Don't miss this fascinating and inspiring episode!
Support for the show comes from capital.com a global investment platform. Visit their website to start investing today.
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I sat down with Jonathan Doerr, the Co-founding Partner at Antler MENAP to learn about his experience in building, scaling and exciting companies. Jonathan brings a ton of learning from his time with Rocket Internet, where he was the Co-founder and Managing Director at Jumia Nigeria, Africa’s leading e-commerce site which IPOed on the NYSE in 2019 and the Co-CEO at Daraz, the South Asian e-commerce player which was acquired by Alibaba in 2018.
We discuss challenges of building e-commerce companies in emerging markets and the differences between an IPO and an acquisition. Today, Jonathan is leveraging his experience to enable the next generation of founders via Antler where he plays matchmaker and investor to 100s of founders that join Antler’s programs in Dubai, Riyadh and more to come.
Support for the show comes from Capital.com, a global investment platform.
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Dana Baki is the co-founder and COO at MUNCH:ON, a UAE born startup that was solving the corporate lunch problem. MUNCH:ON which started as LUNCH:ON was utilizing kitchen’s off-peak to deliver affordable meals to corporate executives. The business was experiencing high growth until Covid which posed an existential threat. MUNCH:ON was then born to cater for meals throughout the day. Careem acquired MUNCH:ON in 2022 and Dana took time off to recalibrate and figure out what she wanted to do and landed in the space exploration industry. This is a fantastic conversation about entrepreneurship, work ethic, motherhood and so much more.
Support for the show comes from Capital.com, a global investment platform. Visit their website and start investing today!
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Ben Harburg is the Managing Partner at MSA Capital, a Chinese VC with $2.5bn of assets under management and MSA Novo, a newly established emerging markets fund with focus on the GCC. Ben brings a decade of expertise investing in Chinese tech companies to the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region and is scouting for the next MENA based unicorns. MSA capital is already an investor in regional success stories like Tabby, Homzmart, Rabbit, Baly and KASO to name a few.
A refreshing conversation on Chinese tech and what we can learn from China’s startup ecosystem and why Ben believes that startups in MENA would likely be looking more East than West when it comes to innovation and business models to mimic and perhaps even exit opportunities.
Ben is an entrepreneur and the co-owner of Cadiz football club, he shares tips on entrepreneurship and on having the foresight to spot opportunities before they become common knowledge and why he constantly seeks arbitrage opportunities.
Support for the show comes from Capital.com, a global investment platform. Visit their webiste to start trading today!
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Huda Al-Lawati is a veteran private equity professional across emerging markets having had executive roles at companies like Gateway Partners, Savola and Abraaj. Huda has recently launched Aliph Capital, a private equity fund that focuses on the mid market segment.
I sat down with Huda to get an insider’s view on the private equity industry in the MENA region, what are the opportunites, where to fundraise, how to source deals, how to create value to companies they acquire by building the right teams and much more. Also if you’re interested to work in private equity, Huda shares her tips on what she looks for and what it takes to succeed in this competitive industry.
If you’re looking to gain an understanding of how the industry works then this is a great place to start!
Support for the show comes from Capital.com, a global investment platform. Visit their webiste to start trading today!
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When Hassan Sawaf started working on machine learning in the 90s in Germany, no one thought advancements in AI would bring us to where we are today. Not even Hassan himself! In fact, people thought the AI field was too 'theoretical'.
In this conversation, Hassan talks to us about AI’s evolution and his vision for aiXplain, a company he is building out of California that aims to make AI accessible to builders and innovators and provide them with tools to prototype their ideas with low or no-code. Hassan has been in the driving seat of the AI evolution and has led AI efforts in some of the world’s leading companies; eBay, Amazon AWS and Meta, he is a serial entrepreneur, sits on several boards, has a Ph.D. in machine learning algorithms for speech translation applications and has 60+ patents and publications in the field.
Support for the show comes from Capital.com, a global investment platform. Visit their webiste to start trading today!
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