E21: Facebook's Ramez Shehadi on the digital economy, entrepreneurship and impact

Ramez Shehadi is the Managing Director of Facebook for the MENA region. In 2020, Ramez was ranked among the top 20 of the 'Top 50 Regional Executives Heading International Companies' by Forbes. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Aramex, the Board of Trustees of BeMA (Beirut Museum of Art), the Board of Directors of MMA (Mobile Marketing Association) and is a Fellow of the Aspen Institute's Middle East Leadership Initiative and the Aspen Global Leadership Network to name a few. What is striking about Ramez though is not his accolades, it is his humility. In this episode Ramez speaks openly about the differences between his lifelong consulting career and his leadership role at Facebook. He shares some of the hard lessons he had to learn along the way. Ramez talks about a stronger and more prosperous MENA region and why he has faith in the region and its capabilities. We talk about Ramez's own experience as an entrepreneur and the outcome of the startup he co-founded. He continues to love and give back to the startup space by mentoring and personally investing in startups via R&R Ventures, a boutique VC he co-founded. We chat about the skills of the future and what advice he is currently giving his daughters who are transitioning from high school to university. We conclude with a recommendation for governments that are currently launching funds to invest in local startups and SMEs. This conversation is a peak into Ramez's mind and would certainly leave you more optimistic about the future. For more on Ramez and his work, please check out his biography. If you're enjoying this podcast, please subscribe, share and leave us a review!