Dubai Founders Collective

🚀 "The Connector Effect" in Venture Capital There’s a billion dollar secret in fundraising that no one talks about—but you need to know. Do you know who unlocked Apple's potential ? Do you know who unearthed Facebook's opportunity ? Do you know who took chances with Airbnb's ideas ? In the startup world, there are hundreds—even thousands—of unsung heroes quietly empowering the next Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, or Brian Chesky The only problem? These connectors are rarely celebrated, yet they hold the keys to the billion-dollar opportunities we all admire They operate in the shadows of Silicon Valley and beyond, with an almost mystical ability to spot world-changing potential before anyone else. Why is this important for founders ? Simple: They're the first to say “yes” when everyone else says “impossible.” Think about some of these game-changing moments When Don Valentine walked into that garage in Los Altos, he didn’t just see two young men tinkering with a computer. He saw Apple's potential to revolutionize personal computing When Peter Thiel met Mark Zuckerberg, he didn’t just see a college dropout with a growing social network. He saw how Facebook could transform human connection in ways we never imagined When Paul Graham encountered Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, he didn’t just see two guys renting out air mattresses. He saw Airbnb’s potential to reinvent global hospitality The Takeaway for Founders? Seek out the billion-dollar spotters—the connectors who see what others don’t They’re the ones who will bet on your vision when the odds are stacked against you. They’ll help turn your ideas into the next big thing Founders will do well when they hunt for the billion dollar spotter rather than a billion dollar investor. that's it I met Akshat Agarwal and Guglielmo Fonda for the first time at in5 Dubai during 24SIX9 event. As usual, i started with my typical Dubai Founders Collective pitch requesting them to share their insights operating in the startup world (that is still over due) Akshat's involvement with Antler and Guglielmo's involvement with Kingpin and their unique take on #deeptech in the region is fascinating Arrayah's unwavering commitment to young and ambitious founders via the residency program was evident weeks ago during their chapter 2 demo day An incredible set of founders from across the world demoed their products with several levels of traction Prsym definitely caught my attention. Amann Shariff has a lot going for him Shree Pandey with WhatsApp based enquiry to order platform driven by AI Thomas Carstens unwavering hustle with his robotics startup So much more to talk about. Arrayah's Residency program is a game changer in spotting emerging talent with innovative ideas and providing them with a safe space to build pathbreaking commercial ventures Remember Founders, Seek out the billion-dollar spotters—those who see what others don’t #startup #dubai #build #ideas

Stop hiding behind outdated strategies It’s high time to speak up for Growth Fixed mindsets are stalling your potential Want to break free? Your startup might be losing momentum the way most early-stage businesses do: by failing to adapt fast enough to constant changes Every day in a high-growth tech startup presents a new challenge—what worked yesterday may be irrelevant today Be it PropTech, Fintech, RetailTech, Edtech, LegalTech, or any form of B2B or B2C startup, your opportunities are endless—but so are the risks In the startup world, the unwritten manifesto is ‘Go fast or go home.’ But here's the truth: Speed without purpose, direction, or technique leads to accidents Want to avoid costly mistakes? Your startup’s ability to adapt is its most valuable asset. What worked last quarter may not work tomorrow We’re not talking about “pivoting” for the sake of it or as a buzzword, but about building the capability within yourself and your teams to outgrow limitations Founders must improve constantly—not just to keep up, but to stay ahead of the curve Never forget: Winning an unfair advantage is the secret to gaining consistent traction in the crowded startup race Scaling is only possible with a unified team of confident and competent stakeholders—employees, suppliers, customers, and investors alike—who can cross-pollinate ideas from diverse industries Go-to-market strategies, distribution channels, strategic partnerships—anything that serves as a catalyst for growth—must be rigorously tested under pressure Assumption, Bias, Heuristics, Over Confidence are just symptoms of under prepared teams If you don’t want your startup to get stuck, adopt mindfulness, upskill your teams, embrace bold decisions, adapt faster, and break departmental silos All of this requires “A-Players”—the highly competent, motivated individuals who will drive your growth Enter Dubai Founders Collective, the open and free learning advocacy initiative that is spearheading contextual competency building for founders For the last 8 months, we’ve been bringing exceptional learning from thought leaders across the globe to foster a culture of continuous learning And now, we are hosting yet another exciting event, in collaboration with the awesome folks at HubSpot, the innovator of inbound marketing category of software Yes, we are talking about the same company founded by Dharmesh Shah and Brian Halligan I met Adrian Rochford (أدريان روتشفورد) at an event organized by Ignyte and DIFC Innovation Hub He connected me to Eoin McGuinness. A Serial Founder and hands on operator who has built and sold companies before. Eoin is the Head of Africa, CEE & Middle-East at #Hubspot for Startups. He work closely with 15 of the top VC’s & Accelerators in these regions to help startups scale fast! He has been with Hubspot for 8+ years and is supercharging #startups transformation from sales driven to Marketing powered Join Eoin McGuinness for an exciting #event

Mission Failed. Disaster Brewing.. Zero Breakthrough. Total Whiff Speakers Playing Hide and Seek Did my holidays kill our Learning Groove? Real Founder's Challenge is “Survival Beyond Personal Presence” In the high-stakes arena of professional growth, every incident matters We didn't land a speaker this week. It’s bothering me a lot Listen, this isn't just about missing a session. I see it as a symbol of a larger malaise that emerged from hibernation I don’t know about our attendees, but for us in the organizing team, we feel a break in lifeline A signal of things to come. A symptom of what we need to get right Where did I go wrong ? The long weekend has exposed the fragile ecosystem of our professional connections and our own process to win commitments Like many founders, I can be philosophical and say “mistakes do happen” and ignore it as a minor blip Blessing in Disguise ? Ideas are a good start. What matters is exceptional execution Bootstrapped founders need to imbibe a brutal truth: High Performance isn't luck, it's a precision engineering All said and done. Feeling quite Low on missing such an important task How do you guys treat mistakes and failures in your ventures ? Imagine if this were an expensive mistake. Irreversible in Nature. Costing millions of $ It's not just about speakers or sales leads—it's about a resilient system A thriving startup must shine beyond Individual Performance The entrepreneurial landscape doesn't reward intentions—it rewards infrastructure. We must fix organizational vulnerabilities. Our learning ecosystem cannot grow when our outreach is a scattered battlefield of missed connections, forgotten follow-ups, and lost momentum. One missed connection tests our adaptability. Hell bent on establishing resilience by Design Randomness is the enemy we want to avoid at all costs Our new Growth Formula Engagement = Tooling + Tracking Pipeline = Engagement * Cadence Take noon E-Commerce: their pivot from a struggling startup to unicorn wasn't about avoiding missed connections, but mastering systems Mr Mohammed Ali Alabbar didn't build Emaar Properties by accident—he built systems that transformed individual interactions into strategic networks The UAE's HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum didn't revolutionize #Dubai by hoping—he designed infrastructures that turn chaos into opportunity. It’s easier said than done I want to give it a shot so that we can seamlessly transition our conversations from Linkedin to our own purpose built CRM system I am Leaning Towards creating our own system that - Treats data as our most critical asset - Maps every single interaction - Creates automated Interaction sequences - Design predictable engagement workflows What do you guys think ? Are you guys building a business or a self-sustaining system ? By the way, we have an upcoming session on the 20th with a speaker from HubSpot Stay Tuned #startup #event

At Dubai Founders Collective , we are super happy to be considered to play pivotal roles I am happy to be participating and having a booth at the upcoming Messe Frankfurt Event supported by Unipreneur Inc. If you are a logistics startup or in the ecosystem feel free to take advantage Transparency and Full Disclosure.. We are neither paying nor getting paid to promote it bit.ly/LITUAE2023 Just our way of supporting #startups #dubai #event

words are not enough to express our gratitude to Peter Laurie There are 1000's of high ROI activities you could have chosen to do for those 3 hours and earn 1000's of dollars Yet, you gave time for a hitherto less known initiative called Dubai Founders Collective on a fully complimentary basis purely to support founders Everyone who has shared knowledge with us have shared out of love for learning, sharing and generally a mindset of high impact givers Our heart swells with awe and pride for each one of you. Thanks a Lot. we are super happy that our team had the good fortune of meeting you at Hub71 In terms of learning, where do I start and where do I end You started with a bang. Stressing on the unknown and unknowable dimensions of creative craft. No one could have articulated better about the elephant in the room and the house full of "me too" mentorship. At Dubai Founders Collective we always stress on the idea of continuous learning mindset and contextual thinking habit. Every point of yours just perfectly aligned with what we dream to communicate Be it on Focus, The Right Thing, Sweet spot in a continuously moving and constantly changing trifecta of desirability, feasibility and viability No one saw it coming when you aligned that with Business Model canvas and beautifully drove down the point It was 3 hours of full blown engagement. Question after question from Rayyan Alyahya, Asif Ayaz, Ibrahim Abbas, David Munir Nabti 🌻 , Sreerupa Chowdhury (Sree) Zeeshan Qedwaee , Aaeysha and more missed All that for Free. Super Crazy. I wish more folks joined and benefitted. When Founders undervalue competency building and over-value currency, we have what we have in the startup ecosystem. we call that 95% failure rate If we truly want to unlock explosive growth for your startup, we must go overboard in celebrating knowledge and the magnanimous givers of it Thanks Peter Laurie, Mikel Mangold, for being those EPIC mentors. Much Love...God Bless... #startup #dubai #founders

97.3% Die Before Takeoff. Remaining 80% Stagnate Dear Startup Founder, Welcome to the World of Rare Few. The High-Stakes game of enterprising against all odds Where Survival is an Art of Brinkmanship and Innovation is Your Only Currency of Statesmanship Wanna turn Statistical Suicide into Startup Poetry ? Remember, Every blockbuster film begins with a single, breathtaking moment of audacity. Where conventional wisdom sees dead ends, creators see uncharted territories of imagination and possibilities Where others calculate risk capital, master craftsmen choreograph high moments where adrenaline rush and emotions rise. You're not just building a company. You're directing an epic of human potential. Somewhat like a cult classic You know movie making is a high risk, high return business very much like a startup. Dominated by high IRR expecting Production, Financiers, Stars, Producers and Ambitious Directors Operating at the precipice, every movie is a do or die battle of guts and wits to avoid the epic horrors of creativity Like Billy Beane in Moneyball, founders are strategic alchemists turning limited resources into potential gold or Like Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happiness, transforming daily survival struggles into relentless forward momentum or Like Jamal Malik in Slumdog Millionaire, navigating life's chaotic labyrinth of random experiences into calculated pursuit of extraordinary transformation Founders dance on a psychological tightrope. Seeing opportunities where others only observe limitations. With a high rate of failures and no scientific way to predict success, most startups seem to  have resorted to heuristics to figure out the mindshare grabbing potential of innovative ideas While heuristics offer shortcuts, they are no jumpsuits to magically avoid the perpetual need to imbibe deep learning into organizational DNA Remember, We Tech Founders are students of knowledge in an ever-shifting landscape of disruption. You can never escape the three dimensions of Founder Learning: Deep Technical Mastery of your domains existing paradigms Adaptive Cognitive Intelligence via Cross Pollination of Insights Emotional Resilience Architecture to Transform setbacks to strategies Your only choice is to either learn from the brutal crucible of execution or ahead of your jump into the ocean pursuing mariana trench of startup Your startup isn't a business. It's a living, breathing manifesto of human potential Either learn to dance with uncertainty or be crushed by its relentless tide The choice was never between success and failure It was, It is and  it will always be competency vs currency Join us on Nov 29th to Kickstart EPIC learning with Peter Laurie and Mikel Mangold #learn #startup #dubai Links in Comments

🚀 Startup Dreams to Distribution Triumphs 🚀 +237% Revenue Growth. 4.2X Sales Acceleration Alchemy of Market Leadership is Distribution. In this session, we will discuss the perfect playbook to slay the goliaths that stifle innovation In the hyperconnected landscape of UAE's innovation ecosystem, partnerships aren't just strategies—they're rocket fuel for exponential growth. Imagine turning your startup's potential into unfair competitive advantage through strategic alliances Learn the Secret playbook of Ecosystem Titans Mohammad Alabbar (noon, Emaar) Badr Al-Olama (Mubadala Capital) Hub71 Leadership Team Dubai Technology Entrepreneur Campus - Dtec twofour54 Abu Dhabi - Media and Entertainment Hub AREA 2071 Innovation Catalysts Event Thesis: Partnerships are the hidden algorithm of startup scaling. Not just connections, but intelligent, intentional ecosystem engineering. What You'll Master: - Decoding Partnership Economics - Navigating Collaboration Landmines - Building Partnerships That Compound Value - Ecosystem Navigation Strategies Who Should Attend: ✓ Tech Founders ✓ Business Development Pioneers ✓ Innovation Ecosystem Builders ✓ Venture Catalysts Key Provocations We'll Explore: • Why 80% of partnerships fail • How to create win-win molecular structures • Turning partnerships from transactional to transformational Limited Seats | High-Intensity Learning Experience #dubai #startups #partnerships

Thanks Hasan Dayoub for such an insightful session Strategy Tactics Capital Depth and breadth of the discussion. One of the most valuable discussion We found a few synergies between your talk and earlier talks by Gökhan Polat and Fabrice Kabongo Appreciate you spending the time on a Saturday to Enlighten us Thanks Mohammed Jafarullah Khan for putting it together #startup #ai #dubai Upcoming Dubai Founders Collective Events Looking forward to meeting you all Upcoming Events 29th - Online https://lu.ma/xuxr65pv 29th - Online https://lu.ma/f8bigqdg

From "Fake it till you make it" to "Tell the truth and be more transparent to make it." From "measuring outcomes" to "real-time measured impact" From "I'm only human after all" to "I'm a human after all." From "I trust their skills" to "I like them." From "shortage" to "abundance." We hope the winner will be the Human. Happy to share that I got lucky again to be invited by Mohammed Jafarullah Khan for the second time to share my humble views on building AI-First businesses. As someone who has been working in AI for the last 8 years, I spent half of that time building AI Club in the midst of war, where half of my classmates were killed, displaced, or injured because of a senseless "human" conflict. During that time, everything moved slowly—there was no electricity for more than 4 hours a day, and the internet connection averaged less than 2 Mbps. Moving to Dubai, one of the safest, fastest, and perhaps richest cities in the world, challenged my perspective and forced me to rethink abundance from two completely different worlds. AI and technology have the potential to bring us prosperity and abundance. But the real question is: are we, as humans, willing to make it right? If you wanna join us >> https://lnkd.in/dZMscVxQ #AI #products #strategy #Dubai #UAE

invest $20 to get $2000. Phenomenal ROI not for everyone