From MENA to the World

In this episode, we chat with Ola Doudin, Founder of BitOasis, the largest and most trusted cryptocurrency platform in the MENA region. Formed in 2015, BitOasis serves as the go-to platform for first-time cryptocurrency buyers and seasoned traders alike. They are a pioneer of the cryptocurrency movement in the region.

How BitOasis came to be was unconventional, as Ola shares more about her childhood and journey to bring this opportunity for the region. Sharing her rebellious side as well as the ups and downs of running a crypto startup in the region, Ola shares lessons for founders who want to fundraise whilst overcoming very dire challenges.

I really enjoyed the insights she brought to the table, talking about the persistence you need to keep going, and the challenges of a solo founder especially in this region.

We'll talk about:

• Ola's rebellious side and how that feeds into her qualities as a proven founder
• Riding the cryptocurrency wave early and the challenges of bringing it into the MENA region
• The delusional expectations that founders have on themselves as well as those around them
• How Ola overcame the obstacles of fundraising and becoming a trusted startup until now.

Enjoy!

Timestamps:

• 2:51 What makes someone successful can become their enemy
• 6:30 Self-awareness is one of the best qualities for any founder
• 7:38 A childhood of perfectionism, and how it can be very taxing on people
• 13:50 What Ola Doudin thinks about her life choices
• 15:56 Negotiating to change schools only to get expelled
• 21:04 Turning point for Ola in studying overseas
• 27:56 The beginning of Ola's unconventional career after EY
• 31:34 Setting the foundation for BitOasis
• 37:35 Meeting with founders for BitOasis in the beginning
• 40:33 The valleys of death to cross, and founders' unreasonable expectations
• 43:18 Navigating through the challenges of crypto as a solo founder
• 45:24 How Ola Doudin fundraised for BitOasis in the Middle East
• 51:25 Invest in relationships early: advice for founders looking to get investors
• 55:00 BitOasis had the banks closed the doors on them, yet they continued
• 57:04 Ola Doudin's motivation to persevere: The Team
• 59:31 The market decides whether you win or lose
• 1:01:33 Ola Doudin's Book Recommendations
• 1:02:53 Ola Doudin's legacy is a work in progress

Links

• Ola's Twitter: https://twitter.com/odoudin
• Ola's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ola-doudin-5a026511/

About the Host

• COTU Ventures Website
• Amir's LinkedIn
• Amir's Twitter

In this episode, we talk with Rami Salman, the Co-Founder of Wrappup, a meeting-based productivity app with intelligent voice recording that helps inside sales managers make better decisions. Now, Rami is the Director of M&A, Strategy, & Partnerships at Cisco, after Wrappup's acquisition by Voicea, and concurrently by Cisco.

This was an in-depth conversation on Rami's entrepreneurial journey, from when he learned the entrepreneurial tools and mindset from childhood with his family, to Co-Founding Wrappup and raising multiple rounds for his startup, ultimately getting acquired. Now at Cisco, we talk with Rami to look back on his journey and the deep lessons he learned throughout this time. He was honest in sharing his challenges, worries, and success raising funds for Wrappup and the conversations he's had with investors, so there is plenty to unpack here if you are a founder going through the same journey.

We'll talk about:

• The frameworks and strategies Rami used to shift Wrappup in a direction to profitability and ultimately attracting investors
• What to really do once you get market validation for your product, and how to respond to it effectively
• The hardest moment of being a founder on the verge of closing down the business
• How to structure your startup so that you are fit for acquisition

Enjoy!

Timestamps

• 2:28 Intuitive, Analytical: How Rami would describe himself growing up
• 7:41 Rami's first taste of entrepreneurship through his family
• 11:11 Tinkering as a key trait of a founder
• 16:07 Starting off an experiential career after graduating
• 18:38 Working at Bain & getting the tools to tinker with business and strategy
• 19:57 How Rami's wife encouraged him to get an MBA for entrepreneurship
• 21:38 How Rami Salman learned more at a hackathon than the last 1.5 years of his career
• 26:50 "I really wanted to do something that didn't exist before" Rami Salman's ethos on Wrappup
• 28:17 Choosing the right customers for Wrappup and how to close larger rounds
• 33:57 "Impossible is was just a temporary position for them" Getting app developers for Wrappup
• 36:19 Using the matrix of use cases to figure out strategic direction
• 39:07 How Wrappup was acquired by Voia through organic connection
• 41:04 Why you should get someone to steal your idea
• 44:30 Getting market validation and 200k app downloads
• 47:20 The challenges of transitioning into getting acquired
• 50:11 The different criteria of getting acquired as a startup
• 52:39 What VCs really look for when investing in businesses
• 53:11 The hardest moment in Rami Salman's entrepreneurial journey
• 56:16 What qualities Rami Salman thinks a good investor should have
• 1:00:23 Deciding to be an entrepreneur again or not
• 1:01:50 Redefining impact now that Rami Salman is more of an investor and advisor

Links

• Rami Salman's LinkedIn: https://ae.linkedin.com/in/ramisalman

About the Host

• COTU Ventures Website
• Amir's LinkedIn
• Amir's Twitter

In this episode, we're having a chat with Sonia Weymuller, Co-Founder and General Partner of VentureSouq (VSQ), a GCC-based Venture Capital firm. Launched in 2013, VSQ is active in the MENA region with a global portfolio of 200+ companies, as well as developing rich educational content around venture investing.

Sonia is the most conscious investor in the MENA region. Arriving into the world of VC from an unconventional path, I wanted to share with you her life story and adventures that brought her to Dubai and to backing entrepreneurs in the region.

We talked about:

• Sonia's unconventional path to becoming an established VC
• How VentureSouq started as an informal gathering of interested investors
• Sonia's philosophy on conscious investing and what you need to know
• The traits you need to be a founder worth investing in

Enjoy!

Timestamps:

• 2:15 Sonia's childhood, and being an accidental outlier in everything
• 7:57 Joining Microsoft, Viacom, and Sonia's experience with headhunters
• 11:02 The number 1 skill Sonia learned with these companies
• 11:44 What prompted Sonia to move to Dubai
• 12:56 Getting confronted with mortality
• 13:42 How VentureSouq started with a birthday party
• 16:00 How a team of 4 different personalities made VentureSouq thrive
• 19:24 How The Five Languages of Love helped Sonia become a better investor
• 20:46 Conscious Collective: What it is and why it started
• 23:34 What are some misconceptions around impact?
• 26:05 The 1 trait that made Sonia a successful venture capitalist
• 31:00 The attributes to a good founder that's worth investing in
• 34:50 Sonia's relationship with imposter syndrome
• 37:19 How Sonia thinks about fundraising: Alignment is key
• 38:39 Sonia's general thoughts on the fundraising ecosystem
• 41:38 What one thing would Sonia change about this region
• 43:50 Sonia's Legacy and what she wants the next generation to strive towards
• 46:16 The book that Sonia carries everywhere with her
• 48:09 Stay motivated by being centered

Links:

• Sonia's Twitter: https://twitter.com/soniawey
• Sonia's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soniaweymuller/
• About VentureSouq: https://www.venturesouq.com/
• VentureSouq's Twitter: https://twitter.com/venturesouq

About the Host

• COTU Ventures Website
• Amir's LinkedIn
• Amir's Twitter

In this episode, we talk with Kamal Reggad, the CEO of RemotePass, a specialised remote work platform making it easy to hire, offer benefits, onboard, manage & pay your global team all at once.

Kamal gives us an overview of his entrepreneurial journey: from taking a risk by diving into Morocco's e-commerce ecosystem, to his hardest lessons as a solo founder. Despite the pandemic, he is still optimistic about the Middle Eastern startup space, and finds opportunities through the lessons he learned.

About the Guest and RemotePass

Kamal is a Moroccan entrepreneur who founded Hmizate.ma, connecting online and offline shopping through coupons for deals on products and services. By 2013, Hmizate carved out 65% of the market share. Capitalising on this, Kamal went on to launch several other websites, and is now heading RemotePass. 

Using their contract management system, companies can instantly create localized contracts, automate onboarding with identity verification, document collection and process mass international payroll all in one place. One defining feature is that RemotePass offers the flexibility for remote teams to get paid in the currency of their choice.

Main Points:

1. The power of discovering your core strengths and choosing the career path you want
2. Founding a company with no name: How Kamal took Morocco's e-commerce golden ticket and ran with it
3. From getting sued to dealing with fear: Kamal's hardest lessons as a solo founder
4. How do you innovate despite the COVID-19 lockdown? Kamal gives us his experience in innovating remotely

Timestamps

• 0:13 Kamal's origin story and how his father started his own company
• 4:43 Becoming entrepreneurial from childhood
• 8:01 Choosing his career path and focusing on core strengths
• 11:13 "I discovered I liked to be part of the inception of something"
• 16:09 The e-commerce golden ticket in Morocco
• 19:23 "There was no company...we didn't even have a name"
• 21:54 Expanding the company, and the wall between North and Central Africa
• 24:21 Pick a market: Kamal's learnings through his journey
• 25:25 The hardest moment for Kamal in his last startup
• 28:26 "Travel is not coming back in the next 12 months" How the coronavirus affected Kamal
• 33:51 How to prepare for a fundraising during the pandemic
• 38:09 Know your product inside out: How Kamal lands his client
• 41:36  Kamal's best traits and heroes
• 41:55 Positive impact, and what Kamal thinks success is 10 years from now
• 43:28 How we deal with fear is different depending on what stage

Links

1. RemotePass Website
2. Kamal's Twitter
3. Kamal's LinkedIn

About the Host

• COTU Ventures Website
• Amir's LinkedIn
• Amir's Twitter

In this episode, we’ll have a chat with Benjamin Mouflard, Co-Founder and CEO of the Dubai startup ChatFood. In 2018, Ben and his co-founder Vinny launched ChatFood, a technology platform designed to help restaurants drive their online orders from a centralised system. ChatFood has since empowered 6,000 local businesses across 62 countries to grow in an increasingly digital world. Their platform has helped deliver over $5 million in orders, saved $10 million in commissions, and attracted 1.2 million community-conscious customers globally.

In this episode, you will get a glimpse into how ChatFood carved their place in the saturated food delivery industry, Ben’s initial learning from running a startup and more.

Important Points

• Stick to the vision & mission and never lose touch with your customers
• Competition is everywhere, you need to find your demographic, niche and market
• Great product offering and user experience is the key to winning over your customers
• Raising money is the easy part, finding the right investor is where the challenge lies.
• Establishing the company culture in the beginning will help you find the right people 
• Always go back to your first customer to resonate with why you started this in the first place

Timestamps

• 01:36 Turning a childhood interest into careers at Microsoft and Facebook
• 03:01 - Stop thinking, start doing
• 05:21 - The importance of creating a support system as an entrepreneur
• 06:52 - How a chance encounter led to a successful business partnership
• 07:45 - What Ben’s first few ventures taught him
• 10:54 - Finding a problem you’re passionate about solving
• 12:49 - Shedding the fear of being a startup
• 13:37 - Connecting with communities and building conviction around your business
• 16:05 - Cultivating a competitive edge in Dubai and going international
• 19:25 - Growing pains and scaling-up funding
• 21:52 - Leading a mission-driven company 
• 24:08 - Empowering your team to take risks and the value of providing feedback
• 26:03 - Balancing process and outcome
• 28:22 - Defining your customer profile and building principles surrounding it
• 30:52 - Companies that Ben draws inspiration from
• 32:14 - Attracting long-term investors and avoiding power dynamics
• 37:20 - Finding peace in adversity and staying true to your values  
• 41:56 - Improving your approach by learning from experience and consuming content 
• 45:01 - Reminding yourself of your purpose

Links

• Benjamin Mouflard’s Twitter
• Benjamin Mouflard LinkedIn
• Vinny’s LinkedIn
• What is ChatFood?
• ChatFood Website
• ChatFood Instagram
• ChatFood Youtube

Noteworthy

• Saas Academy (Youtube)

About the Host

• COTU Ventures Website
• Amir's LinkedIn
• Amir's Twitter

In this episode, Talal Bayaa talked about his journey as a health-tech entrepreneur and founder of Bayzat, A company that provides a free platform for employee benefits, human resources, payroll and more. From finding the right investor to support the business plan, identifying the right talent to hire and grow the company, to even learning how Talal improves on his mental well-being to avoid burnt out.

Talal broke down his process to be in the right headspace, how he overcame his obstacles, building Bayzat from ground up and more.

About the Guest

Talal Bayaa is the CEO and co-founder of Bayzat, a UAE-based technology start-up that empowers businesses with smart and effective insurance & HR solutions. 

Launched officially in April 2013, the platform is the first one-stop-shop to offer a real-time comparison of health insurance rates in UAE and much more. The company has recently introduced HR Administration services that help companies automate all their admin work from data entry to managing employee records.

Talal studied bioengineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA. He is a CFA Charter holder as well as finance, investment and banking expert. In his free time, the 29-year-old Palestinian-American entrepreneur enjoys being outdoors and travelling.

Main Points

• Identifying your market.  What product and services are lacking in your immediate market. Find a small dependable team and build upon that foundation and you’re able to jump ship once the ball is already rolling.
• Learn from your mistakes and replace models that are broken or don't make sense. This is what Talal said in the episode: “If something is not going well and we’re not happy with something, we need to change it, otherwise we will get the same (negative) result.”
• Be attentive during the hiring process. Talal mentioned that the company will evolve drastically over time. You’ll have to put the right people in the right position and give them the support to succeed as a whole. 
• Seek help in the wisdom of others. In the episode, Talal shared how he has a handful of trusted peers that he is able to talk to when it comes to challenges and misery of owning a business. From colleagues to business coaches, he will try to call out for help and feedback.

Timestamps

• 01:55 - Growing up in Dubai and California
• 05:14 - Graduating university and going into the job market
• 05:29 - Early days of Bayzat and how the idea came about
• 8:20 - Bootstrapping, self funding and running an early business model of Bayzat
• 13:57 - Most significant learnings from building Bayzat from 3 people to more than 150 people.
• 16:00 - Mindset of the hiring and firing process
• 21:14 - Toughest moment in Talal’s career with Bayzat
• 25:00 - Suggestion and pointers for entrepreneurs starting a software firm in the Middle East.
• 26:24 - Talal’s technique on selecting the right strategy for his business
• 33:52 - What has Talal learnt about the fundraising process, what to look for and how to pick the right investors.
• 41:20 - What would Talal do differently if given another chance

Links

• Talal Bayaa Linkedin
• Bayzat Website 
• Bayzat Twitter
• Bayzat Instagram

About the Host

• COTU Ventures Website
• Amir's LinkedIn
• Amir's Twitter

The Middle East has a new story to tell and this is, From MENA to the World.

Over the past decade, the Middle East has been silently building an ecosystem while the world wasn't watching. We've had conflict, war and despair, and yet our people have hope and ambition for change and transformation. Step by step, driven by the spirit of entrepreneurship and an underdog mentality, we have collectively come together to create a vibrant startup industry with a new narrative that harnesses our strengths and is the driver of our future.

For the longest time, the Middle East has been misunderstood.  The mission of this show is to share those stories from those that are contributing to this change; the investors, founders, and operators. These conversations showcase entrepreneurial journeys from a deeper perspective, while sharing insights on the regional challenges and opportunities that exist in the region but are often overlooked.

Join our host Amir Farha, founder of COTU Ventures, as he explores the human side to entrepreneurship in the Middle East from the narratives of people who have the courage to drive change, overcome barriers, and build lasting companies despite all the difficulties along the way. 

Releasing in August 2023.

Music Credit: The music used in our show is from a track called "Batal", which means "Champion" in Arabic. Produced by Sandhill, an Iraqi-Canadian music producer from Montreal. A pioneering figure in Arabic hip-hop since the early 2000s, Sandhill has collaborated with the likes of Narcy, Mashrou Leila, Omar Offendum, Yasmine Hamdan, Lowkey, and Shadia Mansour. His work can also be heard in major motion pictures such as Furious 7.

About the Host

• COTU Ventures Website
• Amir's LinkedIn
• Amir's Twitter