1000+ connections established at DealMakers 2020 in Riyadh

As part of its continuous efforts to support Lebanese high-impact entrepreneurs to scale their businesses across borders, 20 investors and high impact entrepreneurs from the Endeavor Lebanon network joined DealMakers 2020 in Riyadh, a flagship investor networking event organized by Endeavor Jordan in collaboration with Endeavor Saudi, with additional support from Endeavor global network.

As in its previous rounds, DealMakers 2020 once again created a platform for strategic networking opportunities between key local, regional, and international investors and the region’s most promising entrepreneurs running high-impact entrepreneurial companies.

The event was sponsored by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), the Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC), and the Saudi Jordanian Investment Fund (SJIF), in partnership with Monshaat and the World Bank Group. It brought together over 500 investors, entrepreneurs, and key ecosystem enablers, hailing from 25 countries and 32 different nationalities. Over 1,000 touch points were established between investors and entrepreneurs, through one-on-one speed networking sessions during which entrepreneurs pitched their businesses to potential investors.

Participating countries included the USA, the UK, Bulgaria, Spain, Germany, Italy, Greece, China, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman, Lebanon, Palestine, Turkey, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, and South Africa.

Panel discussions and roundtables were held addressing such topics as “MENA as an Emerging Entrepreneurial Hub;” “Funding & Investment Opportunities in Saudi Arabia;” and “Smart Capital Goes Global: Global Trends in Angel Investing and Venture Capital.” Parallel workshops were also held for participating entrepreneurs on scaling beyond borders, and important issues concerning good governance, corporate culture, and the legal implications and liabilities when scaling beyond borders.

Commenting on the event, Endeavor Lebanon’s Managing Director Christina Chehade said, “In light of the economic challenges faced by high-impact scaleups in Lebanon, there is an essential need to expand and open up to new regional and global markets, to ensure growth for these companies.”

“Endeavor Lebanon’s participation in DealMakers 2020 comes in the context of its firm commitment to developing a supportive entrepreneurial environment for Lebanese scaleups, and to drive transformative scaling opportunities to new markets beyond Lebanon’s borders,” Chehade added. The event “provided an opportunity for Lebanese companies to put forward their ideas and aspirations on a regional platform, bringing prominent investors together with influential entrepreneurs.”

Endeavor Jordan’s Managing Director, Reem Goussous, expressed that “the rapid change Saudi Arabia has recently undergone- has cemented it- not just as an economic nucleus, but also as a regional hub for digital innovation and entrepreneurship, and hence our decision to hold this edition of DealMakers in Riyadh”. Goussous added “as the largest market in MENA, Saudi Arabia has long been a focal point for entrepreneurs seeking to scale their businesses”.

Endeavor Lebanon and LIFE leverage the Lebanese diaspora to support high-impact entrepreneurs

In a joint effort to enhance the business opportunities between high-impact entrepreneurs and Lebanese investors and strengthen the ties between the local entrepreneurial community and the network of Lebanese business diaspora, Endeavor Lebanon and Lebanese International Finance Executives (LIFE) organized a speed mentoring session targeting 15 high-growth companies.

The initiative seeks to bridge between the high potential of Lebanese scale-up companies and the available opportunities for growth beyond the local market.
Through the active involvement and shared expertise of the LIFE global business network, the focused networking discussions aim to actively support Endeavor Lebanon network companies
with business introductions and mentoring opportunities.

Held in Beirut Digital District, the sessions featured 40 expert and specialist mentors from LIFE network. Participants were divided into work groups, each of which comprised one Lebanese company and three of LIFE’s specialist mentors.

The groups focused on ways to confront the challenges faced by these start-up companies in light of the present economic circumstances in Lebanon. Sessions highlighted the significant role of such companies in catalyzing the local economy, particularly given the fact they generate 60% more revenues and jobs on average than small and medium-sized local firms.

The format of this event allowed companies to interact directly with LIFE participants who shared their global experience and outlook reflecting on the companies’ raised concerns and plans; particularly with regards to means of attracting capital and scaling by developing expansion prospects outside the country.

The companies participating from within the Endeavor Lebanon network included: Arabnet, Band Industries, Commercial Insurance, Flyfoot, FOO, Hedgeguard, HiCart, Neotic, NymCard, Royal Gourmet, SE Factory, Synkers, Topotrade, Toters, Zima.

“Today, Lebanon’s dim economic outlook poses a range of new challenges on these Lebanese scale-ups. Hence our constant endeavor to pave the way for new openings that ensure continuity of this most active economic engine for the multiplier impact it generates,” said Endeavor Lebanon’s Executive Director, Christina Chehade in her opening remarks, hoping that “this form of networking would engender new avenues and draw on a wide range of perspectives for the growth to our Entrepreneurs,” she added.

In turn LIFE Board member and Chair of the Promote pillar, Paul Raphael said “We are delighted to avail our global network towards mentoring local enterprises and create investment and employment opportunities and most importantly access to international markets. We believe in Lebanese human capital and we are committed to promoting the Lebanese brand equity beyond the borders of Lebanon.”

Endeavor Lebanon challenges economic climate to catalyze sustainable economic growth

Launched in 2011 with the mission to foster a culture of high-impact entrepreneurship, Endeavor Lebanon marks eight years of growing support for Lebanese scale-ups in an annual fundraising dinner that aims at giving back to the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The 2019 fundraising gala convened officials, business leaders, board members, Endeavor Lebanon Entrepreneurs, mentors, representatives from the private sector and supporters.

In a country where unemployment has reached unprecedented rates and where local scale-ups face numerous challenges including lack of mentors, great exposure to risk, and limited access to smart capital, Endeavor Lebanon has succeeded in riding against the tide, identifying leaders of high – growth businesses and speeding their scale-up journeys by providing them with the skills and tools that enable them not only to generate wealth, but also create jobs and reinvest in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

“Scale-ups are companies led by high-impact entrepreneurs. These are entrepreneurs who dream big, build and grow innovative successful businesses. In the current economic context, they are the ones who have the capacity to transform the Lebanese economy by generating wealth, and creating jobs. One of our recent studies has shown that these companies generate on average 1.6 times more jobs and revenues than traditional SMEs in the country,” said Endeavor Lebanon’s Managing Director, Christina Chehade. “As they expand locally and internationally, their impact will go far beyond that. They will bring back knowledge and credibility, they will give-back, invest and inspire the youth and future generations of entrepreneurs, multiplying their impact and fueling the entire ecosystem,” she added.

To date, Endeavor Lebanon has supported 40 entrepreneurs, representing 31 Lebanese companies. Crossing borders, their high-impact efforts have managed to generate more than $260M in revenue in 2018, employing more than 2,300 people.

Thanking Endeavor’s supporters, Chehade showed her appreciation to those who give back to the country, extending her gratitude to the dinner’s “main sponsor and Endeavor’s strategic partner Beirut Digital District; and the outstanding Board and team of Endeavor Lebanon.”

In turn, Executive Chairman of Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Founder of the Darwazah Center for Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship at the American University of Beirut, and active Board Member of Endeavor Jordan, Mr. Said Darwazah, shared with the audience his path, the journey of Hikma Pharmaceuticals and its evolution from a local company into a $2 billion global pharmaceutical business.

During his speech, Mr. Darwazah emphasized on innovation, courage and ambition as catalysts to success, inspiring the attendees and especially all of the aspiring entrepreneurs present at the dinner.

Our 2017-2018 Impact Report

The 2017-2018 Endeavor Lebanon Impact Report is available.

This report features Endeavor Lebanon’s research in Lebanon, updated profiles on Endeavor Lebanon Entrepreneurs, vibrant new visuals of Endeavor’s impact and highlights of key milestones from the past year.

View the digital report by clicking HERE and learn more about the ways in which high-impact entrepreneurs have the ability to inspire, mentor, and reinvest in the next generation.

IGNITE Creative Chapter

Endeavor Lebanon, an organization leading the High-Impact Entrepreneurship movement globally, and Beirut Digital District (BDD), a smart hub for the digital creative community, held the IGNITE Creative Chapter, in collaboration with the Beirut Creative Cluster in Beirut, Lebanon.

After identifying the branding and marketing challenges that scale-ups often face in their high-growth journey, this IGNITE chapter was focused on the creative industry, engaging creative experts in conversation around how brands can innovate and grow their market share through communication.

Design, Branding and Marketing experts who shared their journey and learnings on leading in the creative industry, included Prof. Jochen Rädeker, Co-founder and Managing Partner of the design agency Strichpunkt, one of Germany’s biggest and most creative design and branding agencies- awarded with more than 100 Red Dots and Grands Prix in all relevant creative competitions.

Other speakers included Ramsey Naja, Chief Creative Officer at J. Walter Thompson Middle East & Africa; Joe Abou-Khaled, Regional Creative Director at Impact BBDO MENA; Nathalie Fallaha, Founder and Design Principal at vit-e branding + digital; Fadi Sabbagha, Founder & CEO at Born Interactive; and Boudy Nasrala, Partner at Wondereight.

Endeavor Lebanon partners with LebNet to provide more mentoring opportunities for Endeavor Entrepreneurs

Endeavor Lebanon and LebNet signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on May 13 to provide more mentorship opportunities for Endeavor Entrepreneurs through LebNet’s network of diaspora professionals.

This partnership will allow Endeavor Lebanon Entrepreneurs to benefit from the support of the North American LebNet network of tech professionals. LebNet members will provide key assistance to Lebanese scale-ups ranging from punctual mentoring to more strategic guidance.

“By connecting our local entrepreneurs with esteemed Lebanese diaspora professionals from LebNet’s network, we wish to encourage mentorship that can contribute to scalability, job creation and growing the Lebanese economy,” said Christina Chehade, Managing Director of Endeavor Lebanon.

“Our collaboration with such a renowned worldwide network of entrepreneurs, mentors and investors is of great value to LebNet’s core mission of mentoring and we’re looking forward to adopt some of Endeavor’s best practices and to sharpen our assistance to Lebanese entrepreneurs,” said George Akiki, CEO and co-founder of LebNet.

The MoU was signed by Christina Chehade, Managing Director of Endeavor Lebanon and George Akiki, CEO and co-founder of LebNet.

Strategy& Middle East and Endeavor Lebanon host joint event to uncover potential of Lebanese scale-ups

Lebanon ranks second in MENA region on scale-up readiness index.

Scale-ups generate on average 3.4 times more revenues and 8 times more jobs than SMEs.

Scale-ups represent on average 5 percent of SMEs in a given country, and tend to be more productive and innovative when compared to SMEs.

Scale-ups are SMEs with a proven business model that are poised for exponential growth and economic stimulation. Strategy&, part of the PwC network and Endeavor Lebanon hosted influential guests and speakers on Friday, April 12, at Le Grand Serail, to discuss the benefits and challenges of scaling up small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and Lebanon.

In a recent joint study entitled ‘Scaling up MENA SMEs: How a handful of firms can fast forward economic growth’, Strategy& and Endeavor found that scale-ups generate on average 3.4 times more revenues and 8 times more jobs than SMEs. They represent on average 5 percent of SMEs in a given country, and tend to be more productive and innovative when compared to SMEs. To further gauge the type of support needed by scale-ups to grow further, a ‘Scale-ups readiness index’ was created to assesses the maturity of the scale-ups ecosystems across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt based on four key growth pillars: business fundamentals, business propellers, demand creators and country readiness. The index shows that Lebanon ranks second in the MENA region. 

According to Mahmoud Makki, partner with Strategy& Middle East, “Lebanon provides affordable facilities, funding opportunities channeled by Venture Capital funds and the Central Bank, and a skilled talent pool. Yet our study shows that there are several challenges facing Lebanon’s SMEs, including access to domestic and global customers, the non-conducive regulatory framework, in addition to brain drain.”

Christina Chehade, Managing Director of Endeavor Lebanon reiterated the non-profit’s objective: “Efforts at Endeavor are centered on supporting scale-ups in Lebanon to overcome these common challenges and provide the right support for scale-ups to embark on a faster growth trajectory.”

A panel discussion also shed light on the challenges that exist, in addition to the support required for the entrepreneurial sphere to achieve further growth. The panel featured distinguished speakers from key ecosystem players, including Elie Habib, Co-Founder of Anghami, Fadi Bizri, Partner at B&Y Venture Partners, Maroun Chammas, Chairman and CEO of Berytech and Yasmina El Khoury Raphael, Head of Business Environment and Innovation at the Lebanese Prime Minister’s office.

“We remain dedicated to improving the business environment and in particular to further enabling scale-ups to exponentially grow and positively affect our economy” confirmed Ms. Raphael.

To read the full study, visit: ‘Scaling up MENA SMEs: How a handful of firms can fast forward economic growth’

IGNITE Tech Chapter and Q&A with Toters

IGNITE Tech Chapter, as part of the unique program co-organized by Endeavor Lebanon and Beirut Digital District to strengthen entrepreneurial bonds in the ecosystem, took place on March 22nd, 2019.

The sixth IGNITE Tech Chapter, engaged 11 scale-up tech entrepreneurs and seasoned mentors with 11 earlier-stage tech startups, with the purpose of inspiring success stories, leading the path to growth and accelerated businesses.

The event ended with a Q&A with Endeavor Entrepreneurs and Co-founders of Toters Tamim Khalfa and Nael Halwani, who shared their journey to success.

 

Proximie and FOO selected to join Endeavor at Cairo ISP

At Endeavor’s 86th International Selection Panel (ISP) held in Cairo, Egypt, during March 13-15, 2019, two high-impact Lebanese entrepreneurs were selected to join the global Endeavor network. Proximie, the innovative medical telehealth platform, and FOO, a growing B2B Fintech provider, were among the 12 new companies chosen in Cairo to join Endeavor’s network and receive local and international support.

“We are very proud to be welcoming FOO and Proximie to the Endeavor network. These two companies are advancing both the fintech and medical health industries in the region,” said Christina Chehade, Managing Director of Endeavor Lebanon. “The impact of innovative scaleups is significantly higher than that of traditional SMEs, with regards to creating job opportunities and generating revenues, which ultimately contributes to economic development.”

Before becoming Endeavor Entrepreneurs, Proximie’s Co-founder and CEO Dr. Nadine Hachach-Haram, and FOO’s Co-founder and Managing Partner Elie Nasr, underwent a rigorous multi-step selection process. Once they were selected in Beirut at the Local Selection Panel, they joined the three-day ISP in Cairo where they were interviewed by industry professionals who assessed their potential impact on the local and global scale. A unanimous vote determined their Endeavor-readiness. The entrepreneurs received constructive feedback from experts, as well as networking and investment opportunities.

“With a ripe Fintech market in the Middle East, we are aiming to put Lebanon on the global scene of financial product innovation. By leveraging our talented pool of employees, key partnership with Zain Group and an agile implementation model, we managed to facilitate $900M in total transaction volume to date and placed FOO as a leading B2B Fintech provider in the region,” said Elie Nasr, Co-founder and CEO of FOO. “The Endeavor journey was dynamic and eye-opening on several fronts, I got the chance to meet with incredible international entrepreneurs and mentors. I am looking forward to exploring the Endeavor network further and contribute to their impact on the Lebanese economy,” he added.

“Proximie leverages technology and augmented reality to enhance global patient care by enabling surgeons to collaborate and transfer expertise in a live surgery environment. The Endeavor process was a great learning experience as we got exposed to a variety of exceptional mentors from different backgrounds and industries who all had relevant feedback for us. We are thrilled to partner up with Endeavor’s network and expand our reach through its international presence,” said Dr. Nadine Hachach-Haram, Co-founder and CEO of Proximie.

Endeavor Lebanon continues to look for ambitious, high-impact entrepreneurs with leadership potential to grow, create jobs and accelerate the country’s economic growth.

 

An overview of the two Lebanese companies chosen:

Entrepreneur: Elie Nasr
Company: FOO
Industry: Fintech
Mission: To become the go-to FinTech provider of digital wallets and payment technologies in MENA.
Description: 86% of adults in the Middle East are categorized as unbanked, yet, the region enjoys a 65% penetration rate. The founders of FOO identified an opportunity to innovate in the FinTech market. FOO is a B2B FinTech provider, enabling banks and startups to process their end customers’ peer-to-peer payments, overseas remittance payments, bill payments and loan applications. FOO also provides an online digital banking platform for any financial institution seeking digitization.

Entrepreneur: Dr. Nadine Hachach-Haram
Company: Proximie
Industry: Digital Health
Mission: To create a global surgical community where practitioners can crowdsource knowledge to serve patients better.
Description: Proximie is a telehealth platform for medical professionals, hospitals, universities, and surgical associations to share information through publications and live streams of surgeries. The medical associations and medical schools then purchase the platform through a SaaS, per-user, subscription model for surgical guidance, continued learning, sharing of best practices, and enhancing the surgical training experience for students and doctors alike. Proximie also sells its license to medical device companies that wish to train their customers on how to use the devices. Rather than conducting on-site training, the hospitals purchase the platform as part of the medical device training package to virtually train the end-user on using the device.

Endeavor Entrepreneurs have a significant track record of impact, creating 1.5 million jobs, generating more than USD15 billion in revenues in 2018, and have helped build sustainable growth models in their home countries.

Celebrating women in our network!

As part of International Women’s Day, Endeavor launched a #HerImpact series that is part of our ongoing commitment to increase gender diversity within the Endeavor network. #HerImpact is devoted to elevating the voices, sharing the perspectives, and showcasing the professional expertise of women in Endeavor’s global network.

We reached out to some of our Endeavor women mentors and entrepreneurs and asked them to share personal experiences and advice for other individuals on the same journey.
Below are their thoughts.

Asma Zein
President of Lebanese League for Women in Business (LLWB)

Q: What is one time you faced a challenge, setback, or failure in the workplace? What did you learn from the experience?

A: You need to know that I faced many failures in my life, some are personal and some are professional. So many that I cannot identify the major one. Trust me when I say that. What I learned is to always restart, learn, be open, down to earth, share your knowledge. Be humble. Smile.

Q: What accomplishment are you proudest of?

A: Establishing Aramex in Lebanon

Q: What advice would you give to other women/individuals following a similar journey to yours?

A: Count on yourselves, be patient, persistent, keep learning, seek the needed help, listen and enjoy your lives. Commit to your family, community, and country.

Chadia El-Meouchi
Managing Partner, Badri and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm

Q: What accomplishment are you proudest of? 

A: Being more than one thing and reinventing and discovering different parts of myself and what I need to feel fulfilled. Being a mother, a wife, a part of a loving family, a lawyer, a business woman, an entrepreneur and mostly being a person whose purpose is to empower others and bridges people and communities together particularly through difficult times. My accomplishment I am most proud of is that I never stop and feel I have so much to still learn and accomplish and I am hopeful to see where the future will take me.

Q: What advice would you give to other women/individuals following a similar journey to yours?

A: With privilege, access and power, comes a greater need for accountability and for responsibility. How you use that privilege and access and power is fundamental to who you are and determines your character. It is not the identities that you are born into or that you are given throughout your life that necessarily define you but the choices you make in your life that will truly reflect who you are. Try to make the right ones and put in the mechanisms that are necessary around you so that when you make the bad ones, and you will make them, you can self correct and then find the brighter path again.
And to the mothers out there who are trying to work and balance everything and wondering how they are going to keep up with it all and who might sometimes find themselves crying behind a locked bedroom door or on the edge of a bathtub in the bathroom, there will never be a true balance that will put you at peace. So dry your tears, get out of that bedroom or bathroom, and keep going. Remember that you are worthy, beautiful and loved.

 

Deenah Fakhoury
Founder & CEO, Dee Entreprise

Quitting my job after 23 years of a well-designed career because it did not fulfill my thirst anymore was probably the hardest decision I ever took, but the best one as well.
Surrounding yourself with the right people, being open and attentive to opportunities that come your way may seem like something obvious. In fact, it is something that one can learn, and develop in order not to miss on them.

 

Maissa Abou Adal Ghanem
Corporate Projects Manager, Holdal – Abou Adal Group

Q: What is one time you faced a challenge, setback, or failure in the workplace? What did you learn from the experience?

A: There is no one time I had to face a challenge or setback in the workplace: it is a natural part of the journey and I have learned with time to navigate through the wave by recalibrating my approach to adapt to different types of personalities and needs within our community.

One of the biggest learnings: there is no difference between my work and my personal life. They are intrinsically related. The main ingredients I use in my day-to-day “recipe” are passion, intuition, drive, communication, purpose and impact.

My advice: “Take your work with utmost discipline and commitment, but never take yourself too seriously and most importantly enjoy the ride.”

Q: What accomplishment are you proudest of?

A: There are many little success stories I have come to embrace. Maybe adapting every year to a new country with my husband and children: this is the best school of life! Wearing multiple hats and being able to navigate through it. Adding another hat as of next week by joining the Advanced Management Program at IESE.

Q: What advice would you give to other women/individuals following a similar journey to yours?

A: Life is made of choices and compromises. Do not forget the “why” (the purpose). Always remember that you are not “stuck”. You are your own boss when it comes to taking the right decisions.

If a great opportunity comes to you, do not be afraid of your capabilities: just accept the challenge and you will find the inner strength to make it happen.

 

Nahla Bou-Diab
Deputy General Manager – COO
AM Bank

Q: What is one time you faced a challenge, setback, or failure in the workplace? What did you learn from the experience?

A: After 10 years management experience in Canada, I decided to shift to consulting and join a reputable consulting firm, unfortunately I did not fit the stereotype of what a consultant should be at the time.  This did not stop me and I offered to volunteer my free time, to prove my abilities. After 6 months of working for free, after 6 months of financial suffering, after 6 months of outstanding performance, I was officially recruited into the firm.
I learned that excellent performance beats biases, it beats discrimination, it beats stereotyping, as long as we persevere and influence our environment positively.

Q: What accomplishment are you proudest of? 

A: My proudest achievement is that I have managed to surround myself by love. Love at home, love at work, love at the gym, love in meetings, love in managing stress, and love in dealing with a crisis…everything becomes easy, bearable and funny when there is love! I succeeded in building high quality relationships on all levels, family, colleagues, business partners, alliances …even competitors!

Q: What advice would you give to other women/individuals following a similar journey to yours?

A: Do not hear negative voices; do not see obstacles; opportunities stem from challenges; recognize your natural abilities and manage like a woman do not imitate a man’s management style; always look at a problem from the outside, never become part of the problem; let your passion and love drive you to positively influence others; make sure you feel love every minute of your day! Nothing else matters.

 

Nay Ghorayeb
Human Health Lead at Algorithm Pharmaceutical Manufacturers

Q: What accomplishment are you proudest of?

A: Juggling a demanding career and motherhood, it’s a daily struggle.

Q: What advice would you give to other women/individuals following a similar journey to yours?

A: Set your own benchmark for success; not relative to other women, if anything to great individuals. It frees you from your own prejudice.

 

Rima El-Husseini
Co-founder, Blessing

Q: What accomplishment are you proudest of?

A: Paying it forward to our community through The Blessing Foundation that was established in 2012 to empower women in business by helping them start (giving them access to a network of women in business), sustain (through the yearly one-on-one mentoring program where a woman leader in business mentors an emerging one), evolve (by referring women in the foundation to international programs offered by Vital Voices organization, Goldman Sachs, Fortune, US department of state and others), and scale (through the lately created e-commerce platform to help women sell their products online), thus creating sustainable projects and positively contributing to the ecosystem.

Q: What advice would you give to other women/individuals following a similar journey to yours?

A: Be patient. Real success takes time to achieve.

 

Rime Diab
CEO, Cetera Technology and Limelines

Q: What advice would you give to other women/individuals following a similar journey to yours?

A: First advice- It is never enough planning.  You and your team should create plans at every level; document it and track like they do in big corporations.  Never compromise professionalism even though you are a small organization. This will tremendously help in delivering high quality and cost efficient results. Think big.
Second advice- Think through and tie every task back to the overall business vision.  This is the only way to deliver a product in which every feature adds value to the customer and tells your story correctly.

Q: What advice would you give to other women/individuals following a similar journey to yours?

A: Be a woman- your high sense and dynamics are your core strengths.  After that, your business and technical skills will be revealed at their maximum capacity.

 

Serene Mawlawi

Managing Partner, ProFinance

Q: What is one time you faced a challenge, setback, or failure in the workplace? What did you learn from the experience?

A: So many challenges faced to choose from… The one that stands out the most, however, was having to continue operating seamlessly during the Israeli war in Lebanon in 2016 so that none of our clients outside Lebanon would be impacted by our local situation. We were closing a foreign deal at the time and I remember working with our team out of my house (which we felt was safer than our offices) while worrying when the bombing would start. The stress of losing local business due to the war, relocating our team and my family outside Lebanon, ensuring everyone’s physical and emotional comfort, and worrying about family left behind–all while ensuring that deliverables were met in a timely manner was substantial. Lessons learned… the importance of being resilient, taking care of your team, never compromising on professionalism, and finding opportunities in the most difficult of circumstances.

Q: What advice would you give to other women/individuals following a similar journey to yours?

A: Being an entrepreneur can be much more rewarding—both financially and emotionally—than the path of employment. However, it involves significantly more risk and uncertainty. Be ready to work hard and long hours and face setbacks (there will be many) with resilience. Surround yourself with smart people who are ready to give you honest advice. Treat your clients with integrity and stay true to your values. And in the midst of this all…don’t forget to make quality time for your family and friends.

 

Learn more about how you can get involved with Women in High Impact Entrepreneurship at Endeavor here: endeavor.org/whie

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