Coders in the computer lab. I used to spend weekends coding with other students at MIT's computer lab. I dreamt up new products and whiteboarded plans with people who ended up founding a number of game-changing companies at the MIT Entrepreneurship Club. These constant interactions in such an environment presented me with opportunities that required me to dropout and become a co-founder or a first engineer for a number of startups that ended up being tech pioneers today. Instead, I finished school and joined Google to bring their business and investments to my home region. Lots of lessons learned and no regrets, but the inner coder is still alive.

I wanted to build the dream team. At Google, I had worked super close to the metal as they say; in what was the epicenter of technology for the world. I saw how high performing teams were put together, how products were built, how businesses scaled, and I wanted to replicate that and build a platform back home that truly reflects the region’s potential…And this is how STV was born.

Technologists first. I needed people with the potential to dream big, have a bias for action and can unlock value, which means ultimately looking for people who were technologists first, then investors, and above all believers in the region, its people, and its potential.

License to dream. The biggest change that we witnessed in Saudi is having the license to dream and the license to build. It’s one thing to want to do something, but it’s another to see a path for them to materialize. We are reaching a critical mass of talent and opportunity, we are at a tipping point and the region will inevitably change at exactly the right time to absorb what we are trying to do.

Startups are mental and emotional rollercoasters. I've been there. You need a support system. This is why we have the STV hug. When we believe founders need a sounding board, a helping hand, or some emotional and mental support we come together as a team and be with the founder. Many of us have been there, so we get it. We also have the Brain Trust, pulling together the best resources and experts, people we work with all over the world, to help founders when they need it.

There are many areas super ripe for digitalization.  We are focused on any sector with depth that is currently broken or where technology can add efficiency and transparency and minimize costs and waste. We want to take deep archaic and broken industries that have not caught up with digitization and reinvent them. Things like health, defense, education, housing. And many such sectors happen to be some of the biggest budget buckets for economies in our region.

Hands on.  That’s what I think would surprise people most about STV. We literally sit down and look at lines of codebases and sweep through sql query results to understand marketing and growth to help our founders. We’re also on almost 24/7…we have a 2.30am meeting to solve problems, firefight alongside a founder, close a deal, or just generally be there for a portfolio company. The STV team is all in, just like the founders.

My limited free time.  STV keeps me rather busy these days, so my hobbies are limited to one – spending what little time I have with my kids and family. 

Creators were my role model growing up. I was fascinated by founders with computers, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and the likes. The fascination of realizing you can create something out of nothing and potentially change the world. Just you and a computer and lines of code — it felt super powerful.

A timeless classic to me. The book How will you measure your life by Clay Christensen.