Like most people I guess, the period from the second half of September to mid-December is super busy for me. I usually get most of my speaking or panel invitations during this time. Among other events, In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been a panellist at the World Business Angel Investor Week and at a workshop discussing the Bahrain Startup Ecosystem at a crowdfunding masterclass organised by Bambucorn. I had a lot to say at these events and I wanted to give you a summary of my thoughts, for what they are worth. The ecosystem To give credit where credit is due, we’ve made a lot of progress i ..read more

I did something I very rarely do, travel on a whim. I pride myself on how organized and disciplined I am. I like to have a predictable routine and I like to plan way ahead. I wouldn’t say I’m inflexible, but one of my secrets of getting a lot done is having a routine and discipline. My wife approached me a few weeks ago suggesting we travel to London the following week. What? I thought. That’s too short notice! What about work and the kids’ school? Which was starting in just a couple of weeks. But she convinced me it would be good for the family. The kids have not had a proper holiday since t ..read more

Prior to subscribing to equity in any private company or acquiring another company, potential buyers should conduct a thorough examination of different aspects of the company. Due diligence is the most important and lengthy process in any deal. In this blogpost we will explore different aspects that a buyer should keep in mind while conducting due diligence. What is due diligence? Due diligence is the critical examination of key aspects of a business (also called “target”) that a potential investor or buyer is looking to invest in or acquire, prior to agreeing to a purchase price and/or signin ..read more

The world changed dramatically when gold was found. The shine made man yearn for more and more. One of first and widely accepted “store of value” and “mode of exchange” was found some time in the 4th million BC. This is when what we know of modern-day finance began. There were those who initially produced and those who bought it in exchange for gold (as a mode of exchange), barter was disrupted. As some became more successful as compared to the others, they accumulated more gold but could not consume it, so they lent it to those who needed it, in exchange for goods and services or more gold ..read more

My good friend and author, speaker and innovation authority Greg Satell recently asked me to join a Clubhouse panel discussion. If you’re not familiar with it, Clubhouse is an invitation-only social media app for iOS that facilitates auditory communication through rooms that can accommodate groups of up to 5,000 people. A moderator oversees discussions and has the ability to let someone chime in or to kick out the unruly. In addition to the “clubs” sorted by topic, two or more users can join together and start their own chat room. The topic was Overcoming Resistance to Change, and included va ..read more

Whether we like to admit it or not, the universe is made up of clichés. These define how we do everything in life, how we grow up, start families, spend our time and also how we do our business. These beliefs govern the way we think about and do anything in life. If we pay attention to how we like to represent life as well, in the form of movies, we see this to be truer than ever. There is a good guy and there is a bad guy, bad guy tries to kill/kills the good guys’ family, the good guy ‘accidentally/in distress’ kills the bad guy while trying to save the family – convention being ‘Our hero i ..read more

Amidst the pandemic, businesses should focus on forecasting and scenario planning to navigate through uncertainties. One way of doing this is to build scenarios into your financial model to evaluate future possible events and ascertain their impact on your business’s revenue, cashflow and overall operational profitability. How is scenario modelling different from conventional financial modelling? In conventional financial modelling, your forecasts are primarily based on the “most likely” future scenario and in some cases, only on the “best case” scenario. Scenario modelling is much more compl ..read more

As consultants, we’ve seen our clients encounter all kinds of challenges, from the extremely complex to the relatively simple. But they almost all have this common theme: a lack of internal communication. I’ve seen it over and over again. Productivity, morale and alignment are low because the CEO does not value internal communication. He or she either takes internal communication for granted or they are not even aware of how important it is. Trust me on this, improve your internal communication and you’ll notice a big improvement in your organisation’s performance. In Falak, communication is ..read more

With my over seventeen years of being an entrepreneur - with eleven of those having given myself the title of CEO – I’ve seen all kinds of communication tools, methods and apps come and go. But by far the most effective I’ve ever encountered is the humble daily huddle. The daily huddle is a short (no more than 15 minutes), standing only daily meeting where you discuss the major updates of the last 24 hours, and what you’re going to do in the next 24 hours. I cannot tell you how powerful and effective this simple daily meeting is. I suggest that the CEO have one daily with his or her team, fol ..read more

2019 was the banner year for the MENA startup ecosystem which put the region on the map as an emerging startup destination, with Careem’s acquisition by Uber as the highlight. This put high expectations of 2020 being an even bigger year, however, the Covid-19 pandemic brought about uncertainty in the first half of the year which forced investors and startups to adapt to meet the changing landscape. 2020 saw a shift in investor behavior, yet over USD 1bn was invested across 496 deals, representing a 13% increase in total funding, compared to 2019. (Source: Magnitt) Despite the light start into ..read more