Talks with T

• Be intentional and conscious about how you influence at scale
• Be agile and a good listener in your fundraising process
• Weave in happy moments into the work you do
• Every year strive to hire people you couldn’t the year before

• You learn your limits once they get tested, then you can break through them
• Believe in yourself blindly that you will succeed, then you will succeed
• Balance passion and the financial figures
• Assess resources & opportunity size as a framework to prioritize

• Find your wasta
• Focus on the next milestone
• Be confident that you know your space
• Leverage your customer support team to define your product roadmap

Jen Blandos has been a serial entrepreneur for over 20 years, having founded a successful multi-national PR agency before starting Female Fusion, a global community for women entrepreneurs. Jen talks about traveling the world doing various jobs before eventually ending up in Dubai. We chat about Human Design, how Jen overcame breast cancer while juggling personal and professional commitments and principles that have helped her stay true to herself throughout her journey. Jen is a passionate entrepreneur that has found purpose in helping serve others. Her story is inspiring on many levels!I heard Jen say:

• Learn how to use your intuition, and cultivate that

• To master something, you need consistency

• Slow down to speed up

• Focus on solving problems for your customers

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• When you invest, you have to believe in your thoughts
• Three Es when looking at an entrepreneur to invest in: Ethics, Experience, Energy
• Leaders feed everybody a part of the cake
• Be intentional and systematic about mentorship
• Be an optimist in the long term but be flexible in the short term

Rabea Ataya is one of the forefathers of the MENA tech space. Prior to co-founding Bayt.com in 2000, he started and sold InfoFort. He is passionate about starting companies that have a lasting impact and align with a bigger purpose.

Rabea is generous with his thoughts and learnings. This episode is action packed with insights for any business leaders.

I heard Rabea say:

• Find complimentary talent

• Commit to never fundraise again at a certain point in your journey

• Know your big "WHY" when you're starting a business

• Be disciplined by committing upfront to the investment you're willing to put into a new idea

• Focus on being focused before pursuing new opportunities

• Use the manager 360 as the leading indicator a team's sustainability or business

• CEO / Founders need to find inspiration in different areas and bring that back to the business

Philip Bahosh is ex-consultant turned entrepreneur. He’s the Founder of Magnitt, the leading startup and investment data insights platform. Over the course of building Magnitt, Philip has had to continuously listen to customers using data to evolve and grow his product offering.

Philip is a founder who has continuously operated lean with a focus on delivering customer value without fundraising aggressively. He’s cracked the world of branding as he’s led Magnitt to become the leading authority on venture and startups, without spending any marketing dollars. Data is at the core of how he makes decisions and builds his content marketing strategy. .

I heard Philip say:

• Before you build, kill

• Data is the underlying source for making decisions

• Appreciate that some tough things are just part of the process

• Use content to drive your brand awareness

#podcast #ceotalks #pod #entrepreneurlife #entrepreneurship #middleeastentrepreneurs #mena #startupstories #menaentrepreneurs #menastartups #menastories #businesspodcast #businesspodcasts #CEOwisdom #founderwisdom #founderpodcasts #founderstories

Ramesh Ramakrishnan is the Founder of Transworld before exiting a part of his business to DP World. He took over the business from his father when it had humble beginnings, and grew it to one of the largest MENA and Asia shipping companies.

Ramesh believes in building businesses patiently and sustainably. He’s used problem solving as the foundation to understanding customer problems and building services accordingly. Ramesh has driven culture and change at scale through process excellence.

I heard Ramesh say:

• You need to have passion, persistence & perseverance to succeed

• Deliver what you promise

• Have a problem-solver mentality when it comes to working with clients

• Implement process improvement at scale

• Look at a balanced life like spokes in a wheel - each spoke is required to keep the wheel moving

#podcast #ceotalks #pod #entrepreneurlife #entrepreneurship #middleeastentrepreneurs #mena #startupstories #menaentrepreneurs #menastartups #menastories #businesspodcast #businesspodcasts #CEOwisdom #founderwisdom #founderpodcasts #founderstories

Hazel Jackson is Founder & CEO of BizGroup, a leading provider of coaching solutions in Dubai & the Middle East. She moved to Dubai on a whim with minimal cash and has spent the past 30 years building her business through multiple economic cycles.

Hazel is a visionary and has a knack for seeing the future before it happens. Multiple times, she has rolled-out services that transformed the market and has a curiosity to learn about products that will change the future. Hazel has a deep understanding of how to get the best out of people, how to coach organizations and train teams to drive sustainable growth. She is a voracious reader and shares how several books have shaped how she's building her business.

I heard Hazel say:

• The importance of purpose in driving myself

• Trust your gut

• Read veraciously

• Be a leader that amplifies those around you

• Shoot bullets before you fire cannonballs

• When you trust people they will deliver

#podcast #ceotalks #pod #entrepreneurlife #entrepreneurship #middleeastentrepreneurs #mena #startupstories #menaentrepreneurs #menastartups #menastories #businesspodcast #businesspodcasts #CEOwisdom #founderwisdom #founderpodcasts #founderstories

Hussein Wehbe is Founder of PlugMena, a consultancy offering practical & results-oriented support to companies and startups. Hussein is an Aramex veteran who has spent time in the government sector and a leading regional startup.

Throughout his various roles, Hussein's unrelenting positivity has shaped his views on leadership, managing tough situations and every day life. He's passionate about sharing his wisdom and actively does so across social channels and mentorship networks. Hussein shares his lessons around empathy, the importance of treating people right and leading by example.

I heard Hussein say:

• When you trust people they will deliver

• You create a budget for what matters

• Its required to have confidence to stay positive

• Communicate purpose by action

• By being loud you’re being seen, and by being seen people will approach you

#podcast #ceotalks #pod #entrepreneurlife #entrepreneurship #middleeastentrepreneurs #mena #startupstories #menaentrepreneurs #menastartups #menastories #businesspodcast #businesspodcasts #CEOwisdom #founderwisdom #founderpodcasts #founderstories