You’ve heard it over and over again: sometimes, the right partnerships can make the difference between making it or breaking it. But how can you identify the best partners, and secure them? How do you ensure it is a win-win partnership you can leverage on?

In this episode, we speak to Aline Sara, the founder of Natakallam, a social startup that has provided over half a million dollars in cash to displaced people around the world, while raising awareness around the daily challenges of fleeing conflict zones, through academic partnerships with universities including Columbia and Yale.

Aline comes from Lebanon, a country that hosts the world’s largest percentage of refugee per capita. So it’s no coincidence that this brilliant woman is the power force behind Natakallam, an enterprise that not only employs refugees to teach languages, but also valorises their skills, completely disrupting the way we think of humanitarianism.

In this candid conversation, we dig into this global community of language partners, while getting insider tips on how to secure smart collaborations, build a double-sided platform, driving users, and creating a company culture that keeps everyone engaged.


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Photo Credit: Ahmed Najeeb.

What does it take to go through the rollercoaster of entrepreneurship? How to embrace failure as part of the game? In the first episode of the Startups Without Borders podcast, we sit down with Syrian entrepreneur, author, and tech leader Ahmad Sufian Bayram to uncover the 5 keys that make up a winning mindset.

Ahmad is the Regional Manager at Techstars, Program Director at Jusoor, and has been supporting hundreds of Syrian entrepreneurs through Startup Syria. His most recent book, “Entrepreneurship in Exile,” is the first study on Syrian refugee entrepreneurs built on data, unveiling a startup landscape as vibrant as overlooked.

In this candid interview, Ahmad narrates his journey from Syria to becoming the Regional Manager of Techstars from his new home in Germany, while supporting refugee entrepreneurs across the Middle East and Europe. Amongst the lessons we discuss with Ahmed, we learn the 5 takeaways:

- Stop talking, and start doing
- Take risks
- Learn something new everyday
- Give First
- Work hard, not smart

Aside from firing us up with his advice, Ahmad also looks into the rise of female refugee entrepreneurs, the importance of building a team, and why embracing failure is more important than seeking rapid success.



JOIN THE STARTUPS WITHOUT BORDERS GLOBAL FB COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/362573027500677/

JOIN OUR PODCAST FB GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/314557545818551/

FOLLOW STARTUPS WITHOUT BORDERS: https://instagram.com/startupswithoutborders/

READ THE INSPIRING STARTUP STORIES OF MIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS: https://startupswb.com/

Photo Credit: Ahmed Najeeb.