Making It

The Enterprise Show is an Egypt-focused business, policy and pop culture talk show, produced by Enterprise, the daily brief on all matters business, finance, and economics. Each episode will see us sit down with interesting and impactful business leaders, policy-makers, and cultural icons to discuss their life's successes, failures, and their views on major topics that shape Egypt today

Listen to the pilot episode with International Cooperation Minister Rania Al Mashat here:
https://bit.ly/3iGasdy

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Omar Hagrass, CEO of Trella

On this week’s episode of Making It, we remotely sit down with Omar Hagrass, the CEO and co-founder of Trella, a digital trucking marketplace. The company’s application acts as a hub for shippers and carriers, eliminating the time-consuming and inefficient manual process of using brokers. Trella is a relatively new company, raising an impressive USD 600k pre-seed round led by Algebra Ventures in 2019. They joined and graduated the Y Combinator program shortly after,  acquired their Egyptian rival Trukto to become the largest trucking marketplace in the country, before expanding to Saudi Arabia. 

As the Covid-19 pandemic presented challenges and disruptions to supply chains across the world, Trella’s technology allows shippers to gain valuable insight over their resources during a time when optimization is desperately needed. Hagrass offers advice to entrepreneurs on the intricacies of disruption and growth, and details why Trella has the potential to become the country’s first unicorn.

Making It is grateful for the generous support of:

CIB, Egypt’s number-one private-sector bank and the partner of choice for CEOs and leaders of businesses at all stages of their growth stories

The United States Agency for International Development, which has a 40 year history of inspiring Egyptian success in partnership with the Government and people of Egypt.

** Subscribe to Making it here https://bit.ly/35lugvb.

** Subscribe to Enterprise, our 6am briefing on business, finance and economics in Egypt (also free) at www.enterprise.press. 

You can check out Trella here: trella.app 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hoda Mansour, Managing Director of SAP Egypt and Frontier Markets

Hoda Mansour was twice recognized by Forbes as one of the most influential businesswomen in the Middle East for her work in SAP in the UAE, Oman, and Egypt. SAP’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software is among the most widely used across the world, at a time when the livelihood of many businesses hinges on establishing a digital presence. She details the reasons multinationals find Egypt attractive, and outlines how to prepare for the mass adoption of automation services and its impact on the workforce.

Making It is grateful for the generous support of:

CIB, Egypt’s number-one private-sector bank and the partner of choice for CEOs and leaders of businesses at all stages of their growth stories

The United States Agency for International Development, which has a 40 year history of inspiring Egyptian success in partnership with the Government and people of Egypt.

** Subscribe to Making it here https://kite.link/making-it.

** Subscribe to Enterprise, our 6am briefing on business, finance and economics in Egypt (also free) at www.enterprise.press. 

You can check out SAP here: www.sap.com/mena/index

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Algebra Ventures Managing Partners Tarek Assaad and Karim Hussein

From a background of senior positions at multinationals, Algebra Ventures Managing Partners Tarek Assaad and Karim Hussein are driven by a belief that tech and entrepreneurship can enable tangible change in a region where basic services can often be major inconveniences. Established in 2015, Algebra Ventures is a USD 54 mn venture capital fund that invests in early stage tech startups in the MENA region. The fund is the largest of its kind in Egypt.

Assaad and Hussein outline the most important features they look for in startups, including tackling big markets and possessing a strong management team, as well as the red flags they avoid at all costs. Our host, Patrick, sat down with Assaad and Hussein in December, before Covid-19 put us all on work from home.

DISCLAIMER: Algebra Ventures Managing Partner Ziad Mokhtar could not join us for this interview.

Making It is grateful for the generous support of:

CIB, Egypt’s number-one private-sector bank and the partner of choice for CEOs and leaders of businesses at all stages of their growth stories

The United States Agency for International Development, which has a 40 year history of inspiring Egyptian success in partnership with the Government and people of Egypt.

** Subscribe to Making it here https://bit.ly/35lugvb.

** Subscribe to Enterprise, our 6am briefing on business, finance and economics in Egypt (also free) at www.enterprise.press. 

You can check out Algebra Ventures here: algebraventures.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sahar Salama, Founder and CEO of TPay Mobile

In a country with low banking penetration and high mobile adoption, Sahar Salama saw a business opportunity in creating a payment solution through telecom operators. She used her experience at Link Development to create a direct operator billing model and launched TPay Mobile in 2014. 

Launched in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE simultaneously, they now operate in over 18 markets across MENA covering almost 51 mn transactions a day. 

The company made headlines in 2017 by making the first wholesale acquisition of a fintech company in Egypt when they acquired their primary competitors DCBEgypt. In 2018, they became the region’s first Dragon, when A15 sold its 76% stake to Helios Investment. Salama talks to our host, Patrick, about conception, the challenges of scaling, the importance of finding the right partners, and her future plans to make TPay what she considers a great business.

Making It is grateful for the generous support of:

CIB, Egypt’s number-one private-sector bank and the partner of choice for CEOs and leaders of businesses at all stages of their growth stories

The United States Agency for International Development, which has a 40 year history of inspiring Egyptian success in partnership with the Government and people of Egypt.

** Subscribe to Making it here https://bit.ly/35lugvb.

** Subscribe to Enterprise, our 6am briefing on business, finance and economics in Egypt (also free) at www.enterprise.press. 

You can check out TPay at: tpaymobile.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Having served as Executive Advisor for Microsofinance at Banque du Caire and then as head of the microfinance and SMEs division at the Bank of Alexandria, Amro Abouesh believed in private sector financing as a means to enable social mobility within the low income sector of society.

By founding Tanmeyah in 2009, Amro effectively launched private microfinance in Egypt and helped bring in Egypt’s leading private equity, commercial and investment banks. Today Tanmeyah sits at the top of the industry with over 270 branches across the country and an EGP 3.5 bn portfolio.

Abouesh walks us through the risk assessment process and his experience navigating policy and legislation to establish Tanmeyah and private microfinance.

Making It is grateful for the generous support of:

CIB, Egypt’s number-one private-sector bank and the partner of choice for CEOs and leaders of businesses at all stages of their growth stories.

The United States Agency for International Development, which has a 40 year history of inspiring Egyptian success in partnership with the Government and people of Egypt.

** Subscribe to Making it here https://bit.ly/35lugvb.

** Subscribe to Enterprise, our 6am briefing on business, finance and economics in Egypt (also free) at www.enterprise.press. 

You can check out Tanmeyah at tanmeyah.com/en

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Laila Sedky and Adel Sedky, Founder and CEO of NOLA

As Founder and CEO of one of the most recognizable brands in the confectionary business, Laila and Adel understand the business of selling happiness. Their tenure at Nola saw them grow the brand beyond the flagship store in Zamalek to a confectionary giant with 25 stores across 7 cities.

From leading the local cupcake craze to making pivotal decisions on the sustainability of their brand and the subsequent reorienting of their customers, all while dishing out fresh and exciting takes on classic Egyptian desserts, Laila and Adel are experts at marketing and operations, looking beyond trends, and separating between work and family.

Making It is grateful for the generous support of:

CIB, Egypt’s number-one private-sector bank and the partner of choice for CEOs and leaders of businesses at all stages of their growth stories

The United States Agency for International Development, which has a 40 year history of inspiring Egyptian success in partnership with the Government and people of Egypt.

** Subscribe to Making it here https://bit.ly/35lugvb.

** Subscribe to Enterprise, our 6am briefing on business, finance and economics in Egypt (also free) at www.enterprise.news. 

You can check out NOLA’ extensive range of products on their website or instagram.

www.nolabakery.com

https://www.instagram.com/nolacupcakes

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mohamed El Kalla, CEO of Cairo for Investment and Real Estate (CIRA). 

As the head of one of the largest private sector education operators, El Kalla is someone who understands the business of education. He has seen the seismic shifts in the industry over the past few decades: from family-owned businesses to corporations, from Cairo and Alex to the other governorates, from the super wealthy to the middle class, from individual shareholders to IPOs and private equity, and from the classroom to your home. CIRA has even led the way on a number of these trends.

His tenure saw him lead the company through a successful relisting on the EGX in 2018, which fueled a massive expansion. The company has 19 K-12 schools, one university, and over 30k students under their belt. Their lineup of brands now includes Futures, Maverick schools, British Columbia schools, and Badr University, among others. 

His active investment in education tech startups has kept him abreast of all the exciting new developments in e-learning and education platforms. 

And this was all before covid-19, where the millenia-old tradition of the classroom was rendered archaic in a span of a few months. The impact this transformation has had on our lives cannot be understated. School children now have to act like online grad school students and parents have had to become teaching assistants. Yet despite this transformation, the transition has appeared almost seamless. Having been on the frontline of that transformation, El Kalla gave us a first hand account of how hard it was to get us here. 

This is also the first podcast interview we’ve done entirely from home, making it the most appropriate episode to kick off what we hope is an exciting new season. 

** Subscribe to Enterprise, our 6am briefing on business, finance and economics in Egypt (also free) at www.enterprise.news. 

Making It is grateful for the generous support of:

CIB, Egypt’s number-one private-sector bank and the partner of choice for CEOs and leaders of businesses at all stages of their growth stories

The United States Agency for International Development, which has a 40 year history of inspiring Egyptian success in partnership with the Government and people of Egypt.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Making It in the time of covid-19: Making It is back for its second season. Making It is a show about building great businesses in Egypt. Each episode brings you a one-on-one sit-down with a CEO or founder at the top of their game. They are leaders at the helm of businesses going through different stages of growth and they discuss with us the issues they face, the challenges they have to overcome, and what it takes to “Make it.”

This happens to be our first season where we had to record outside the studio, courtesy of covid-19. So you’ll have to forgive us if you hear any dogs barking in the background. This is a weird time for us all, and especially for businesses, so we felt it was important to get a season out during this time, dedicate a few episodes to discuss the microbial elephant in the room, in addition to giving you guys something to kill a few hours during the lockdown. 

Season 2 kicks off on Thursday, 23 April — just in time for Ramadan. Our guests this season come from a myriad of backgrounds such as microfinance, cupcakes (also just in time for Ramadan), fintech, and education. In the meantime, you can listen to our season 2 trailer, where our hosts, Patrick and Hisham, chat about their lives in quarantine, explain why the season is coming out now, and give a bit of a sneak peek as to what you can expect to hear in upcoming episodes. 

Patrick has also been doling out advice and thoughts on how to manage your business and teams during this unprecedented crisis in his What’s Next blog. You can read some of these here: 

• What if we could start from scratch? What would we build?
• You don’t need to talk about covid-19 and your company as much as you think you do
• Your 1Q earnings: How to manage your board through covid-19
• 9 steps to build your own bailout package to see your business through covid-19

Want to catch up on season 1? You have seven days to get caught up with seven CEOs and founders:

• Lina Mowafy, cofounder of TAM Gallery
• Hani Berzi, founder of Edita
• Hazem Moussa, co-founder and CEO of Sarwa Capital
• Fatma Ghali, managing Director of Azza Fahmy
• Karim Awad, group CEO of EFG Hermes
• Karim El Sahy and Abeer El Sisi from high-profile AI startup Elves
• Jalal Abugazaleh, founder of Gourmet Egypt

** Subscribe to Enterprise, our 6am briefing on business, finance and economics in Egypt (also free) at www.enterprise.news. 

Making It is grateful for the generous support of:

CIB, Egypt’s number-one private-sector bank and the partner of choice for CEOs and leaders of businesses at all stages of their growth stories

The United States Agency for International Development, which has a 40 year history of inspiring Egyptian success in partnership with the Government and people of Egypt.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we wrap up our first season of Making It, Enterprise's very first podcast, we thought we'd reach out to everyone who lent us an ear these past few months and thank them for their constant feedback. If you have something you'd like to let us know about this season, or any recommendations for seasons to come, email us at [email protected]

** Subscribe to Making it here for https://bit.ly/35lugvb.

** Subscribe to Enterprise, our 6am briefing on business, finance and economics in Egypt (also free) at www.enterprise.press. 

Making It is grateful for the generous support of:

CIB, Egypt’s number-one private-sector bank and the partner of choice for CEOs and leaders of businesses at all stages of their growth stories

The United States Agency for International Development, which has a 40 year history of inspiring Egyptian success in partnership with the Government and people of Egypt.

EFG Hermes, the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets helping businesses realize their full growth potential.

Links:

* Enterprise: Enterprise.press

* Inktank: Inktankcommunications.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.