Conversations with Loulou

I sat down with GV Ravishankar the Managing Director at Peak XV (previously Sequoia India) to discus the state of growth stage investing given the current macro environment. The team at Peak XV are managing US$10bn in assets. GV walks us through Peak XV's investment strategy with a focus on MENA, what he looks for in target companies, the importance of founders as the startup matures, advice to founders in his portfolio companies as they weather the global downturn, and parallels between India, South East Asia and the MENA region.Please spend 7min to fill out the podcast listener survey: https://33s6g1ujw6w.typeform.com/to/KeVEuZe1 This episode is supported by Capital.com, an award winning global investment platform. To start trading today, visit https://capital.com

I sat down with Dr Saliha Afridi, Clinical Psychologist and Founder of The Lighthouse Arabia (https://www.lighthousearabia.com), to understand how we can prepare better, react better recover better from rejection. No is a powerful word. Being comfortable saying no in the right situations is essential to setting healthy boundaries at work and in our personal lives. But sometimes in our professional lives hearing a no can be disheartening. Whether you are a salesperson, in negotiations, an entrepreneur seeking resources and funding, or a creative trying to pitch their vision this conversation will give you practical tips and psychological insights to help you. Please spend 7min to fill out the podcast listener survey: https://33s6g1ujw6w.typeform.com/to/KeVEuZe1This episode is supported by Capital.com, an award winning global investment platform. To start trading today, visit https://capital.com

I sat down with Dr. Ali Fenwick, Professor of Organizational Behavior & Innovation at Hult International business school, to discuss how culturally specific narratives of AI fuel fear or foster optimism and why he fully believes that AI should look and behave more like a human than a robot. An enlightening discussion about what AI means, how ChatGPT feels sentient, the predictability of algorithms and how Dr. Ali built a ~2 million social media following by creating viral content and lastly whether AI will threaten or enhance our human potential.Please spend 7min to fill out the podcast listener survey: https://33s6g1ujw6w.typeform.com/to/KeVEuZe1

I sat down with Philip Bahoshy, the founder and CEO of MAGNiTT, the leading VC data platform, to unpack the most recent H1 report on the venture capital landscape and trends across MENA, Pakistan, Turkey and SEA.We discuss the macro conditions leading to the slowdown, how are investors behaving, and what it means for our nascent ecosystem. We also touch on winning industries, new and emerging industries, artificial intelligence and I get Philip’s views on Elon Musk’s ‘hardcore’ work ethic as highlighted in Walter Isaacson’s recent book and if that should be the entrepreneur’s modus operandi in these challenging times.Please spend 7min to fill out the podcast listener survey: https://33s6g1ujw6w.typeform.com/to/KeVEuZe1

Marwan Chaar and Hassan Jaffar co-founded Carzaty in 2018 in Oman. Carzaty aims at transforming the customer's used car buying journey from a messy experience to a high trust, digital first journey. Carzaty followed a portfolio management approach to selecting, buying and pricing cars. The founders raised $5.9Mn since inception and exited to Mexico born Kavak in 2021. The founder's approach to building and exiting Carzaty is quite interesting as they were quite methodical and analytical. While optimizing the used car sales journey was not their passion, they were passionate about one thing, winning! From the outset, they were realistic about their exit potential and had put a target of $200Mn. How do you ideate for a startup? Should founders build companies that can fetch a realistic exit or aim for a unicorn status but take on higher risks? How would the founders' ambition impact their ability to raise funds from investors? We cover all that and more in our discussion.Please spend 7min to fill out the podcast listener survey: https://33s6g1ujw6w.typeform.com/to/KeVEuZe1

Mudassir Sheikha, Co-founder and CEO of Careem, shares insights from his entrepreneurial journey, detailing the transition of Careem from a ride-hailing service to a super app for the MENAP region. He discusses early challenges in the tech landscape, the importance of customer-centric leadership, and navigating the ride-hailing evolution during COVID-19. Mudassir emphasizes profitability for sustainable growth and the role of innovation in shaping the future. Tune in for a glimpse into the mind of a top regional entrepreneur.

Zuhair Shamma and Rawan Baddour are the co-founders of Zest equity, a platform that enables startup founders, employees and investors to sell shares they've earned in a secondary transaction, providing much needed liquidity and incentives. But not everyone is bought in, some investors are proponents of such liquidity events, while others remain skeptical as it may incentivize bad actors. A great discussion around syndications, secondary transactions, ESOP and the maturity of the startup ecosystem in the region.To learn more about Zest visit: https://zestequity.com/Please fill in the podcast listen survey it takes 7 minutes: https://33s6g1ujw6w.typeform.com/to/KeVEuZe1

Kareem Elsirafy is the Managing Partner at Modus Capital, a venture builder with offices in Cairo, Abu Dhabi and soon in Riyadh. Kareem emigrated to the US from Egypt as a toddler, grew up in a challenging environment and joined the US Marine Corps to get some discipline. 4 years later he found himself in a homeless shelter trying to integrate back into society. He eventually worked his way out of homelessness into Columbia University and ultimately co-founding Unite Us, a startup that supports military servicemen, veterans and their families. Unite Us is valued at over $1.5Bn. Kareem made his way back to the region to help founders build companies from the ground up. An inspiring and candid conversation with so many nuggets for entrepreneurs.Please fill in the podcast listener survey: https://33s6g1ujw6w.typeform.com/to/KeVEuZe1A link to Find your Larry, the story we referred to in the podcast: https://modus.vc/find-your-larry/

Presenting confidently is a skill that no entrepreneur or business leader can ignore. The ability to communicate to different stakeholders in a clear, concise and attention grabbing manner is vital to success. I sit down with Bill Connor - veteran White House TV correspondent and anchorman for 15 years - currently the Founder & CEO of Three Media Consultancy to discuss how we can prepare content for presentations and speeches, present the content and then deliver a strong ask. We also discuss how leaders can manage media interviews. A must listen to episode for anyone trying to put together a presentation and looking for tips to do so more calmly and confidently.I would love to get to know you our listeners a bit more so I am conducting a survey. Please spend 3 to 5 minutes on the survey to tell me more about you and provide feedback on the show. I would really appreciate it. All survey responses are anonymous: https://33s6g1ujw6w.typeform.com/to/KeVEuZe1

Startups across the globe are reckoning with a down cycle as a result of the overall macro economic environment and some practices that were long romanticized by Silicon Valley - such as growth at all cost - that have led to bloated startups with a high cash burn and a long path to profitability. I speak to Basil Moftah, General Partner at Nclude, a Venture Capital firm based in Egypt about the impact of the global environment on local startups. We also discuss the challenges that Egyptian startups are facing as they experience spiraling inflation in their own country. How are resilient entrepreneurs and the overall venture capital industry navigating this down cycle and what are some of the lessons learned?For more information visit: www.conversationswithloulou.com