Yes, I know it supposed to be a blog anything, anytime, every time kind of platform that’s hip with the younger crowd. I never really paid it any attention. I do have an account there, of course, but the only thing I use Indifferent Musings for is mirroring this blog, Instagram and I can’t remember what else. If sharing to Tumblr is an option, I generally select that button. I do that off-handedly though, not with intention.
What brought this on my mind just now is witnessing an interview with David Karp, the founder of Tumblr on Bloomberg TV.
What intrigued me most about the gentleman were:
- He’s now only 29
- Over 400 million monthly users use the product he created, that’s a huge impact
- He sold the company he recently founded to Yahoo for US$1.1 billion
- He declared that how he managed to create, sustain, nurture and then sell off and continue to head Tumblr as an independent subsidiary to Yahoo were the investors and mentors he had.
The operative words to me are “investors” and “mentors“.
I know that both exist in the Middle East, but the numbers, quality and availability of both are extremely restricted. For instance, I read more news that a Middle Eastern investor exited or entered into an investment in the west, than those they enter into in the Middle East. The scale appears to be vastly different too; with investments in the west in the hundreds of millions of dollars while those entered into here are in the double digits.
On a personal level, I’d like the opportunity to create positive impact through my ideas, and am very ready to take on mentors to help me achieve those visions.
I don’t say this haphazardly as I am very serious. I do have many ideas which I’d like to see through to fruition. Ideas from starting a television station to having an small coffee shop. From creating on-demand, multilingual, immersive mobile tourism applications through to starting a college to specifically teach and nurture entrepreneurship. These will have a better chance at achieving impact with the right financing and I’d be a more effective member of those teams by having the right mentors in each space.
I confess that my view above might be judgemental and might be completely off the mark as the above is based on my observations rather than anecdotal evidence. I would really appreciate input from people who actually have experience in the investment markets in the Middle East and of course mentors and mentees on their experience in accelerating growth and mitigating mistakes.
What do investors look for? How would you identify and approach the right investor? What are the norms in this space? Are there legal structures in Bahrain and the Middle East that would help nurture and improve this process? How can this process be made simpler? Are there any meet-ups/events that would facilitate meetings between entrepreneurs and investors (not angel investors, or micro investors)?
I’d like to know. Please share your thoughts by entering comments here or simply reach out to me. I’d be very happy to buy you coffee and have a chat.
