Running a start-up can be like building a supercar. The result is potentially rewarding but useless if there’s no road – or that road is riddled with bumps.
Mentors may not provide motorways but they can help young entrepreneurs navigate hazards and many budding business minds know this; hence the full house at Mix N' Mentor, Dubai's recent gathering of start-ups and those who've "made it", organised by the entrepreneurial ecosystem enabler Wamda.
Among those seeking wisdom at the Emirates Towers session last month was Andrew Kabrit, the chief technology officer of Seez, an app linking car sellers with buyers who upload photos of models they want.
“I might be good at technical stuff but I want to learn more about management,” says Mr Kabrit. “I want to hear from real people that have experience, to predict mistakes and try to avoid them; maybe improve on things we’ve done.”
The Dane was keen to meet his fellow Scandinavian Magnus Olsson, the co-founder of the chauffeured ride service Careem, and a keen mentor.
“Mentorship is the best way to learn. It’s super-important,” says Mr Olsson. “As we started Careem we got partners, advisers and investors who could mentor and help us, in terms of how you build a business, operate in the region and functional topics you’re not expert on.”
In turn, Mr Olsson says mentoring start-ups is rewarding because people are “energised, passionate, like sponges for information”.
“You can spend some time and have a big effect. It’s a humbling experience,” he says.
After an initial panel Q&A with success stories at the session, such as Mr Olsson and Mona Ataya, Mumzworld’s founder and chief executive, participants were assigned to round -tables, each focused on an area of challenges such as fund-raising, marketing, communications and branding.
While FitRepublik’s founder, Ali Al Amine, talked business development, Google’s Charbel Sarkis, the company’s Mena head of retail and e-commerce, was an e-commerce oracle, and Omar Soudodi, the managing director of the online payments company Payfort, dispensed fintech wisdom.
However, some attendees were cautious. Serag Meneassy, the co-founder and chief operating officer of the chatbot-building platform Botler, says he is reticent about revealing too much to mentors who have “their own agenda”.
“It is difficult to get a sense of what the mentor really wants out of it,” says the 23-year-old. “It’s hit and miss. Most of the time, if they find you very interesting, they try to get equity.”
But Ibrahim Colak, the chief executive of household services marketplace app mrUsta, values mentoring as a means to avoiding costly mistakes. “Things are changing – you need to adapt and listen to others,” says the internet City-based entrepreneur.
Samih Toukan echoes the “never stop innovating” sentiment and keeps his ears open as a mentor and the chairman of the start-up investment company Jabbar internet Group.
“I was mentored early on by a lot of people,” says the Jordanian, a Souq.com co-founder whose Arabic email service provider, Maktoob.com, was acquired by Yahoo. “Mentoring was extremely valuable. It saves effort and time … sometimes it is better not to reinvent the wheel but to get advice from people who have done it. And it is the duty of every entrepreneur to give back to the ecosystem,” says.
“One lesson I learnt and try to teach is focus, especially early on. Don’t be a jack of all trades, master of none.”
FitRepublik’s Mr Al Amine agrees. With a varied career background in the IT industry, logistics, sales, food and beverage, he was at Mix N’ Mentor to “influence the operational side of things”.
“Even if your business is technology, you still need to land an operation that has a production cycle with quality assurance; that has legal and marketing set-up, talent development and is well-rounded,” he says. “You will not necessarily get rich just by coming up with an app.
“The biggest lesson is learnt by exposing yourself to people who put you in situations, get you out of your comfort zone.”
Ms Ataya, of the mum and kids online marketplace Mumzworld, says leaning on successful entrepreneurs for guidance can help to plug weaknesses.
“Constant seeking of knowledge from industry experts is absolutely critical. You also need mentors to open doors, to reach potential partners, affiliates, to allow you to go to the next level.”
Kamel Al Asmar, the communication and community engagement head for the Mix N’ Mentor organiser Wamda, agrees the latter is one aspect start-ups also seek from his annual Dubai fixture. “They learn from fellow entrepreneurs as well. It becomes a peer-to-peer learning process,” he says. “We try to do two-way learning, for mentors and entrepreneurs.”
At the end of the day, mentoring has to be relevant, which is something that Katharine Budd values. She is the co-founder of Now Money, a UAE mobile banking app for low earners.
“You have to have something in common,” says the Briton. “Early on we took advice from CEOs of global organisations … they told us to do the wrong things. Those people did not know how to found a technology start-up.”
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