Code Story | Startup Podcast for CTOs, CEOs and Technical Founders

Shahar Azulay has had many opportunities to get into tech throughout his life. He started digging into cyber security when he was 17 years old, where he learned the basics of deep tech that he still utilizes to this day. He's a startup guy, and has had the opportunity to be the first employee many times over. Outside of tech, he's married with 3 boys and a dog. He lives in the country side, and loves to spend time in nature and cook, as he was a semi professional chef at one point.

Shahar and his co-founder are veterans when it comes to using observability platforms for their systems. They wanted to build a platform that balanced the needs of the system, with a lower cost of a fully functional platform.

This is the creation story of Groundcover.

Sponsors

• Rapyd Cloud
• Speakeasy
• QA Wolf
• SnapTrade

Links

• https://www.groundcover.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/shahar-azulay-54156bb4

Today, we are releasing another episode in our series entitled Minting Unicorns - Blockchain, AI and Dubai, sponsored by the City of Dubai. 

Dubai is the new global center of gravity, connecting the world in a way few places can. As a hub for trade, tourism, innovation, and finance, Dubai offers the ideal environment for startups and scale-ups to thrive. Entrepreneurs find a home here, whether in health-tech, fintech, AI, or renewable energy, supported by SME-focused programs that empower high-potential companies to scale globally. From flexible regulations to tax incentives, world-class infrastructure to access to global investors managing $1 trillion, Dubai understands what businesses need to scale fast. 

In this episode, we are excited to speak with Imad Gharzeddine, the visionary CEO and Co-Founder of Mamo, a pioneering fintech platform simplifying payments and empowering businesses in the MENA region.

• Questions: 

1. Tell us and our audience a little bit about yourself and the journey that led you to founding Mamo.
2. What is Mamo, and what specific problem are you solving in the fintech space?
3. Mamo is often described as a company simplifying payments for businesses and individuals in the region. What inspired this mission, and how has the journey been so far?
4. What fundamental principles guided the creation of the product, and how has it evolved over time?
5. Why did you choose Dubai as the base for Mamo? What advantages does the city offer to startups in the fintech space?
6. What opportunities have you capitalized on that you believe are unique to Dubai or the MENA region?
7. Mamo is known for promoting financial inclusion. How do your products and services cater to underserved communities in the region?"
8. How does Mamo incorporate cutting-edge technologies, like AI or blockchain, into its offerings to stay ahead of the curve?
9. As a leader, what’s your approach to building a strong and innovative team at Mamo?
10. What lessons have you learned as a CEO scaling a fintech startup in such a competitive and rapidly evolving market?
11. With Dubai emerging as a fintech hub, where do you see the industry heading in the next decade?
12. What advice would you give to fintech startups or entrepreneurs looking to expand into Dubai or the broader MENA region?

Links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/imadgharazeddine/
• https://www.mamopay.com/
• https://blockchaincenter.ae/
• https://dubaiaicampus.com/
• https://www.difc.ae/ 
• https://www.investindubai.gov.ae/en/why-dubai/d33-agenda

Simmi Singh grew up in Australia, when her parents migrated from India. She studied law and finance at university, and then went into investment banking during some tumultuous times. Eventually, she got interested in tech, and worked for teams at Intuit, Saavn, and Spotify, during the times of the Anchor acquisition and launching features around video podcasts. Outside of tech, she is married with 2 kids. She loves to travel, watch movies, and to do craft projects, as building is a key theme in her life.

While Simmi was at Spotify, a prior colleague of hers approached her about a product he was building. When she heard the details of what was being built, she felt that it was the culmination of all of our professional experiences and she had to jump on board.

This is the creation story of Hook Music.

Sponsors

• Rapyd Cloud
• Speakeasy
• QA Wolf
• SnapTrade

Links

• https://hookmusic.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/singhsimmi/

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Nikita Shamgunov is a native of Russia, coming to the US for grad school in 2005. Eventually he worked at Microsoft on the SQL Server product. A fun fact - Nikita quit business school on the first day, and decided to join Facebook and find his future co-founder. All of this worked out, and he and his co-founder built SingleStore, which is one of the highest valued companies at YC. Outside of tech, he was a semi-professional athlete in Ping Pong, achieving the status of Top 10 in Washington State back when he was at Microsoft.

Nikita completed his "tour of duty" at SingleStore, and post that, he joined a venture fund. He pitched incubating an idea of his at the fund, which was rolling up all Postgres instances in the world. He started to engineer an approach, the team, and the architecture - and did so in some very unique, and deliberate ways.

This is the creation story of Neon.

Sponsors

• Rapyd Cloud
• Speakeasy
• QA Wolf
• SnapTrade

Links

• https://neon.tech/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikitashamgunov/

Today, we are releasing another episode in our series entitled Minting Unicorns - Blockchain, AI and Dubai, sponsored by the City of Dubai. 

Dubai is the new global center of gravity, connecting the world in a way few places can. As a hub for trade, tourism, innovation, and finance, Dubai offers the ideal environment for startups and scale-ups to thrive. Entrepreneurs find a home here, whether in health-tech, fintech, AI, or renewable energy, supported by SME-focused programs that empower high-potential companies to scale globally. From flexible regulations to tax incentives, world-class infrastructure to access to global investors managing $1 trillion, Dubai understands what businesses need to scale fast. 

For today’s episode, we are speaking with Mohammad Albalooshi, CEO of the DIFC Innovation Hub, a driving force behind Dubai’s innovation ecosystem and a key player in empowering startups and scaleups across the MEASA region.

• Questions: 

1. Tell me and my audience a little bit about you.
2. What is the DIFC Innovation Hub, and what role does it play in driving innovation in Dubai and the broader region? How did it come to be, and what vision does it fulfill?
3. Can you tell us more about the Dubai AI Campus? What is its mission, and how does it support the development of AI-driven innovation?
4. So I’m an entrepreneur looking to build the next big thing in fintech — how does the DIFC Innovation Hub support startups and scaleups in this space? Can you share some examples of companies that have benefited from your ecosystem?
5. Dubai is positioning itself as a global hub for fintech and innovation. How does the DIFC contribute to making this vision a reality?
6. Is it necessary for entrepreneurs to be physically located in Dubai or the MEASA region to join the DIFC Innovation Hub and its programs, or can global innovators participate from anywhere in the world?
7. What are the Dubai AI License and the DIFC License? How do these frameworks support entrepreneurs and businesses within the innovation ecosystem?
8. How is DIFC planning to expand its role in the innovation ecosystem over the next 5-10 years?
9. What new programs or initiatives can we expect to see from the DIFC Innovation Hub to attract global talent and businesses?
10. What advice would you give to startups and entrepreneurs, particularly those from outside the UAE, who are considering Dubai as a base for their operations?

Links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohammad-alblooshi-2499b54a/
• https://blockchaincenter.ae/
• https://dubaiaicampus.com/
• https://www.difc.ae/ 
• https://www.investindubai.gov.ae/en/why-dubai/d33-agenda

Cory O'Daniel has had an interesting path to technology, growing his career in a number of cloud architect roles at Ripple, DealScience and The RealReal. He has rich experience in DevOps, the cloud and platform engineering. But outside of tech, he is married with 2 kids, living in Southern California. He loves driving (and destroying) RC cars - like the ones that go 65-70 miles per hour. He jumps them off a lot of ramps, his highest jump behind 20 feet upwards... which of course, he landed.

Cory noticed that there is a huge knowledge gap regarding the cloud, especially during his time doing professional services. He would leave a project post completion, and see a major gap in how the client understood what was built. He and his co-founders had the idea to build a product to allow platform engineers to diagram their infra - and fuel developers engineering process.

This is the creation story of Massdriver.

Sponsors

• Rapyd Cloud
• Speakeasy
• QA Wolf
• SnapTrade

Links

• https://www.massdriver.cloud/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/coryodaniel

Torrey Leonard lived in Maryland prior to moving to New York City. In 7th grade, his claim to fame was building the world's largest Minecraft server in the world. In early high school, he had over a million users, made 6 figures, and was fueled by open source software that still runs on most Minecraft servers today. Outside of tech and gaming, he loves to play pickleball and really enjoys skiing - though he confesses that in New York, it's harder to do these hobbies, financially and logistically.

Last summer, Torrey built a platform that allowed you to build out voice agents. After doing so, he realized that there wasn't a good way to do this through a UI, and he realized this was an obvious thing that needed to be built. He decided to leave his prior company to pursue this vision - which headed towards the Zapier for call center agents.

This is the creation story of Thoughtly.

Sponsors

• Rapyd Cloud
• Speakeasy
• QA Wolf
• SnapTrade

Links

• https://thought.ly/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/torrey-leonard/

Today, we are releasing another episode in our series entitled Minting Unicorns - Blockchain, AI and Dubai, sponsored by the City of Dubai. 

Dubai is the new global center of gravity, connecting the world in a way few places can. As a hub for trade, tourism, innovation, and finance, Dubai offers the ideal environment for startups and scale-ups to thrive. Entrepreneurs find a home here, whether in health-tech, fintech, AI, or renewable energy, supported by SME-focused programs that empower high-potential companies to scale globally. From flexible regulations to tax incentives, world-class infrastructure to access to global investors managing $1 trillion, Dubai understands what businesses need to scale fast. 

Today, we are speaking with Dr. Marwan Al Zarouni, CEO of AI for the Dubai Department of Economy & Tourism. Dr. Marwan. He is going to help walk us through how Dubai is creating a foundational hub for AI, Blockchain, and the intersection of both. 

• Questions: 

1. Tell me and my audience a little bit about you.
2. You are CEO of AI for the DET. What does that entail? What are you driving in this position, leading your department? 
3. It feels like blockchain is still trying to find its place in the mainstream, i.e., utility, security or currency, while AI is settling in some - where are both of these areas going?
4. While AI is a major focus, Dubai has also exceedingly been adopting blockchain. How do you see these two technologies interacting in various sectors, especially since you're also the CEO of Dubai Blockchain Centre. 
5. How is Dubai addressing ethical challenges in AI adoption, especially in areas like data privacy and transparency?
6. AI is rapidly evolving globally, but how do you see Dubai positioning itself as a leader in the AI space?What’s your outlook for the city’s AI ecosystem in the next 5-10 years, and how are you working towards it today?
7. What is Dubai doing to attract promising and leading AI and blockchain companies to Dubai? What does the city offer companies in this space from a competitive advantage standpoint?

Links

• http://marwan.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmarwan/
• https://blockchaincenter.ae/
• https://dubaiaicampus.com/
• https://www.difc.ae/ 
• https://www.investindubai.gov.ae/en/why-dubai/d33-agenda

Joni Klippert has spent many years in startups. Post getting her MBA, she built her early career in Boulder, CO, and became very technical learning new technologies throughout the businesses she worked for, liked VictorOps and Splunk. Outside of tech, she is married with 2 dogs. Her favorite thing to do is travel with her husband to visit Michelin star restaurants. One of her favorites was called Azuermendi in Spain, as it was not only delicious, but an immersive experience.

Joni had been building software for engineers for a long time, as a product person. At one point, she started researching the last mile of DevOps, and was surprised how far this particular group was behind, in regard to tooling. She dreamt of automating the pen-testing remediation process, and stumbled upon an opportunity as it relates to DAST - dynamic application security testing.

This is the creation story of Stackhawk.

Sponsors

• Rapyd Cloud
• Speakeasy
• QA Wolf
• SnapTrade

Links

• https://www.stackhawk.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/joniklippert/

Eric Leebow was born in New Jersey, and bounced around a few states growing up. He has always been a gadget and tech enthusiast, growing up curious. At a young age, he could be found drawing, creating new things, and tinkering with headsets. Outside of tech, he is into juggling, playing and watching basketball. He's based in New York, and has been a vegetarian since he was a kid.

When he went off to college, Eric had with him picture books. He noticed that there were key words next to each person, which indicated their interests. He thought, wouldn't it be interesting if we can use this information to connect people within school?

This is the creation story of FreezeCrowd.

Sponsors

• Rapyd Cloud
• Speakeasy
• QA Wolf
• SnapTrade

Links

• https://www.freezecrowd.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericleebow/