E6: Chris Schroeder shares valuable advice on entrepreneurship and venture investing

Chris Schroeder is a global angel investor - advisor to tech startups with a keen interest in emerging markets. Chris is the co-founder of Next Billion Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on the next billion digital consumers across global emerging markets, he is a Network Partner for Village Global, an early venture capital fund backed by Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Diane Greene, Sara Blakely, Jeff Bezos, Reid Hoffman and many more exceptional entrepreneurs. He sits on the investment committees of Wamda Capital - Saudi Telecom Ventures and he is on the board of several private and NGO boards. And that-s just the tip of the iceberg. Chris started out in politics with the George W Bush (Senior) presidential campaign before becoming the CEO of the Washington Post/ Newsweek interactive. In 2005 he co-founded Health Central, a platform that helps people find and share real-life experiences related to their health needs. Health Central was backed by the likes of Sequoia, Polaris Ventures and the Carlyle Group to name a few and was acquired by Remedy Health in 2012. In 2013, Chris published the first book on the Middle East - North Africa-s entrepreneurship scene called: Startup Rising - The Entrepreneurial Revolution Remaking the Middle East - with a forward by renowned investor Marc Andreessen. I-ve known Chris for nearly a decade and am delighted he let me ask the questions this time as he is the one who is always curious and eager to be of service. We talked about Chris-s transition into entrepreneurship from politics and corporate life, his fascination with entrepreneurship in the Middle East and emerging markets, the sectors he-s currently considering for investment and we touch on our need to step up and take control of our lives and also our biases. For those interested in learning more about fundraising for startups and venture capital, check out these 2 books: [Venture deals](https://www.venturedeals.com) by Brad Feld and (Secrets of Sand Hill Road](Secrets of Sand Hill Road) by Scott Kupor.
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Samer Hamadeh on building F&B brands that people love

My guest Samer Hamadeh is a serial entrepreneur in the entertainment and Food - Beverage space having built some great concepts such as Republique, Stereo Arcade, Akiba Dori and more. I met Samer way before his food and beverage days when he was at Impact BBDO, where 7 months in, he was already on his way out, founding his first business in the corporate events space. Samer is the kind of guy you want to hang out with and learn from as he openly shares his successes and failures. I catch up with Samer to talk entrepreneurship, fundraising, managing a board of directors, building brands that people love and more.
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E5: Samer Hamadeh on building F&B brands that people love

My guest Samer Hamadeh is a serial entrepreneur in the entertainment and Food - Beverage space having built some great concepts such as Republique, Stereo Arcade, Akiba Dori and more. I met Samer way before his food and beverage days when he was at Impact BBDO, where 7 months in, he was already on his way out, founding his first business in the corporate events space. Samer is the kind of guy you want to hang out with and learn from as he openly shares his successes and failures. I catch up with Samer to talk entrepreneurship, fundraising, managing a board of directors, building brands that people love and more.
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Rayan Karaky on spearheading digital media in MENA

A recording from the first LIVE session with Rayan Karaky who currently leads Partnerships, Product and Platform teams at Google - MENA. We chat about Rayan-s standup comedy and how it helps leaders show vulnerability which makes them more approachable. We also discuss his intrapreneurial journey with Starcom (part of Publicis Group) and his push towards implementing the latest digital advertising tools in MENA followed by his move to Google and his role in helping partners achieve digital maturity in order to better leverage digital advertising. We then move to a post COVID world and we discuss some of the opportunities for the MENA region particularly with 200 million people who are still not connected to the internet.
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E4: Rayan Karaky on spearheading digital media in MENA

A recording from the first LIVE session with Rayan Karaky who currently leads Partnerships, Product and Platform teams at Google - MENA. We chat about Rayan-s standup comedy and how it helps leaders show vulnerability which makes them more approachable. We also discuss his intrapreneurial journey with Starcom (part of Publicis Group) and his push towards implementing the latest digital advertising tools in MENA followed by his move to Google and his role in helping partners achieve digital maturity in order to better leverage digital advertising. We then move to a post COVID world and we discuss some of the opportunities for the MENA region particularly with 200 million people who are still not connected to the internet.
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Turning your MBA project into a startup with Magnitt's Philip Bahoshy

My guest today founded a company that set out to be the _Tinder_ for startups - investors--Magnitt--which he conceptualized in 2012. Philip Bahoshy is a Brit with Iraqi origins and after exploring a career in financial services, found himself wanting to get away from the corporate world and the Middle East. He went on to complete his MBA at INSEAD and as he learnt about the entrepreneurial world, realized a major gap in the startup space particularly in the Middle East. Recorded before the coronavirus restrictions came into effect, this episode has numerous insights from Philip and the data they are compiling at Magnitt alongwith his take on key players, opportunities - exits.
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E3: Turning your MBA project into a startup with Magnitt's Philip Bahoshy

My guest today founded a company that set out to be the _Tinder_ for startups - investors--Magnitt--which he conceptualized in 2012. Philip Bahoshy is a Brit with Iraqi origins and after exploring a career in financial services, found himself wanting to get away from the corporate world and the Middle East. He went on to complete his MBA at INSEAD and as he learnt about the entrepreneurial world, realized a major gap in the startup space particularly in the Middle East. Recorded before the coronavirus restrictions came into effect, this episode has numerous insights from Philip and the data they are compiling at Magnitt alongwith his take on key players, opportunities - exits.
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Why is company culture critical for success? With OMG’s Nadim Samara

My guest Nadim Samara is the CEO of Omnicom Media Group (OMG) MENA, the premier media and marketing services group. He is a media agency veteran having built a career at OMD since 2001 and built expertise in both MENA and US markets. I-ve known Nadim since childhood and I can say with absolute certainty that he is a genuine person that is big on life. In addition to his highly successful career in media, he is a shrewd businessman, a master conversationalist, a loving father of 3 beautiful kids, an adventurer and nature lover. Lest not forget his biggest passions in life, chocolate and building - oversized - cars that scale the Lebanese mountains or Dubai deserts! In this episode we discuss his focus on building a great company culture following the footsteps of his mentor Elie Khoury - now Chairman of Omnicom Media Group MENA - and why it is important for the health of the business. We will also talk about the importance of talent particularly in an industry that is under constant transformation and how OMG is diversifying their business to create more revenue streams for themselves and their clients. Lastly, we will talk about the person behind the business and what has ultimately prepared Nadim and primed him for success as well as his tips for staying the course. Overall, if you are in the advertising, media or an executive in a large business, you may find some great insights into leading, scaling and diversifying a US$500M+ business.
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E2: Why is company culture critical for success? With OMG’s Nadim Samara

My guest Nadim Samara is the CEO of Omnicom Media Group (OMG) MENA, the premier media and marketing services group. He is a media agency veteran having built a career at OMD since 2001 and built expertise in both MENA and US markets. I-ve known Nadim since childhood and I can say with absolute certainty that he is a genuine person that is big on life. In addition to his highly successful career in media, he is a shrewd businessman, a master conversationalist, a loving father of 3 beautiful kids, an adventurer and nature lover. Lest not forget his biggest passions in life, chocolate and building - oversized - cars that scale the Lebanese mountains or Dubai deserts! In this episode we discuss his focus on building a great company culture following the footsteps of his mentor Elie Khoury - now Chairman of Omnicom Media Group MENA - and why it is important for the health of the business. We will also talk about the importance of talent particularly in an industry that is under constant transformation and how OMG is diversifying their business to create more revenue streams for themselves and their clients. Lastly, we will talk about the person behind the business and what has ultimately prepared Nadim and primed him for success as well as his tips for staying the course. Overall, if you are in the advertising, media or an executive in a large business, you may find some great insights into leading, scaling and diversifying a US$500M+ business.
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Elie Habib on building Anghami, a $100 Million+ music streaming service out of Lebanon

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Conversations with Loulou, a podcast that aims to be an extension of my learning journey - transformations over the past decade. I couldn-t think of a better guest to join me to kickstart the show than a serial entrepreneur who-s fifth venture Anghami-the region-s largest music streaming service-is valued at over USD$100 million. Elie suggests that running Anghami is not unlike cooking in a kitchen with a limited pantry and we talk about some of the major milestones in the company-s journey, what they got dead right when it came to understanding the region-s consumers and Elie-s personal goal of turning the music streaming business model on its head.
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