We caught up with Ashraf Hebela in a multi-faceted episode discussing cultural hybridity, market declines, serial founders and more. Ashraf heads Startup Banking, plus Analytics & Sales Ops at one of the largest banks of the United States, Silicon Valley Bank. He shares his views on the importance of building long-term relationships with founders and not just the companies they represent.

Hashem and Ashraf reminisce about their time as Harvard undergraduates in the 90s and how their college experience delivered a solid backbone for building a supportive network. They also discuss Ashraf’s career journey, the so-called “founder mentality'', the value of innovation and invention plus Silicon Valley’s ever evolving startup landscape. 

Part two of our two-episode series. Fadi Ghandour co-founded Aramex in 1982 fresh out of studying Political Science in college, an education to which he attributes much of his dialectic thinking. It took tenacity and hard work, but Fadi says that plunging into the complexities of starting a logistics company in the Middle East from the bottom up also required a degree of experimentation and, yes, of naïveté. Aramex took the industry by storm from the get-go and, in 1997, became the first Arab company to be listed on the NASDAQ before going private again and then re-listing on the Dubai Financial Market.

Fadi sets the stage for the beginnings of his prolific career; growing up in a predominantly female household in politicized 1960s Amman, the cues he took from his father, what he learned from taking a company public and the importance of attracting local talent to foster a culture of loyalty and growth.

Part one of our two-episode series. Fadi Ghandour co-founded Aramex in 1982 fresh out of studying Political Science in college, an education to which he attributes much of his dialectic thinking. It took tenacity and hard work, but Fadi says that plunging into the complexities of starting a logistics company in the Middle East from the bottom up also required a degree of experimentation and, yes, of naïveté. Aramex took the industry by storm from the get-go and, in 1997, became the first Arab company to be listed on the NASDAQ before going private again and then re-listing on the Dubai Financial Market.

Fadi sets the stage for the beginnings of his prolific career; growing up in a predominantly female household in politicized 1960s Amman, the cues he took from his father, what he learned from taking a company public and the importance of attracting local talent to foster a culture of loyalty and growth.

Links:

• Harvard Business Review: How I Did This by Fadi Ghandour

In this throwback episode from 2020: Our guest, Youssef El Deeb, Is the founder of Fatafeat, the first Arab TV company that was acquired by a global media conglomerate, Discovery. In a time when Middle East television was airing cooking shows as “fillers" for grandmothers at home, Youssef El Deeb had the foresight to drum up the likes of Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson to the prime time. And fostered a now growing scene of Arab TV chef talents. He is also an author, painter, photographer and award winning filmmaker.

And yet, despite his many achievements, and like most successful people of such high calibre, El Deeb has vulnerabilities and a punishing inner voice. Find out what makes him tick, and which Arabic saying became his life’s motto.

In this throwback episode from 2020, we're joined by serial entrepreneur Mohamad Ballout, founder of Dubai-based foodtech pioneer Kitopi, currently the world's leading managed cloud kitchen platform. Founded in January 2018, Kitopi has quickly expanded to five countries, having added Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UK & the US to its roster after raising a successful $60 million Series B in funding this year.

Mohamad shares his thoughts on how he became a serial entrepreneur, how him and his fellow Kitopians are capitalizing on the foodtech’s startup’s first mover advantage and what it will take for the Middle East to produce & export global brands.

This week, Hashem invited Ahmad Al Marri, Founder of Dubai-based ice cream brand Canvas Gelato to the hot seat. Launched in 2017, Canvas Gelato’s raison d'être is to produce ice cream that is made exclusively with “real” ingredients and delivered at negative 70 degrees celsius. Ahmad’s ice cream delivery concept proved successful and was soon supplied to major outlets including local chocolate maker darling Mirzam and featured by international media such as Monocle magazine. Ahmad shares the challenges he faced in the early days launching his business through WhatsApp and Instagram, and how the future of Canvas Gelato will boast a fully functional website and a potential physical location.

This week Hashem and guest host Samantha Wood aka FooDiva catch up with Issam Kazim, CEO of DTCM (Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing). “Not your typical government department,” as Issam puts it, DTCM catapulted the Emirate of Dubai from the early pandemic days through to the other side of lockdown with flying colors—all with stellar planning and marketing campaigns that involved the entire DTCM team and Issam at the helm. 

Hashem and Samantha also ask Issam about how recent accolades such as MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants and The Michelin Guides affect the F&B and tourism sectors in Dubai. Issam explains DTCM’s role in bringing this international recognition to the city, what lies ahead for homegrown concepts, how to encourage them to thrive, plus his favorite restaurants in Dubai.

Hashem catches up with Mohamad Orfali, TV celebrity chef extraordinaire, restaurateur and co-founder of the award winning Orfali Bros restaurant in Dubai. When a chance email to Fatafeat founder Youssef El Deeb led to the publication of Orfali’s cookbook and subsequent blockbuster cooking TV shows, a new TV celebrity chef was born. Orfali discusses the delicate balancing act of being in front of a camera vs. interacting with guests at his restaurant where he focuses on storytelling. We also delve deeper into Orfali’s experience working closely with his two pastry chef brothers, why he doesn’t believe in messing with tradition and what makes a really good mulukhiya! 

Links:

• The Lighthouse Conversations with Youssef El Deeb

In this week’s episode we connect with Mounir Nakhla, CEO and Co-Founder of Egypt’s leading FinTech start-up ‘Halan’ (translated to: “right now”) which focuses on creating financial solutions for the unbanked and the under banked. Mounir shares snippets of his journey since 2017 when he was approached by Indonesian tech unicorn Gojek, then being struck by the pandemic in 2020 and what it meant for Halan’s growth. Hashem and Mounir also discuss the challenges that Mounir faced as a founder during a challenging macro-economic environment before reflecting on his strengths and weaknesses as a CEO; Halan’s hiring process including how to retain talent and creating common goals; what keeps him up at night; and the secret sauce of making decisions with a calm mind. A hint? It includes fresh air and the Taoist shadow boxing art, Tai Chi.

This week, we reunite with a previous guest; author and friend of The Lighthouse, Nadia Wassef. Since our first episode with Nadia, her well received debut memoir Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller has been published in several languages and Nadia is now preparing for her second narrative structure—but in a faster paced, post-lockdown world. Recorded in the Library Bar at The Lighthouse Abu Dhabi, our episode with Nadia revisits her experience during lockdown while writing Chronicles and how she found her narrative arc. She also shares her views on managing feedback constructively; and why writing should not be used by the author as a form of personal therapy. 

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