By Tara Demren
I am just returning to Miami after spending the last 10 days with serial entrepreneurs and investors on the Geeks on a Plane Middle East and North Africa tour, which included stops in Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Egypt. GOAP was created by 500 Startups Founding Partner Dave McClure as a way to learn about high-growth technology markets worldwide.
As a student who began immersing herself in the startup world only seven months ago at Startup Weekend, and then being mentored and hired by LiveAnswer founder and Miami startup scene serial entrepreneur Adam Boalt, I would have never guessed I would have had the opportunity to be invited on this trip to the Mideast. Working at a startup myself, I resonated with several of the entrepreneurs I had the chance to meet, all of which have an incredible drive for global reach and impact.
Upon arrival in Manama, Bahrain, we met our fellow geeks who all were taken aback when we informed them we were from Miami, not Silicon Valley or New York City. Arriving just in time for the 500 Startups PreMoney Conference, I learned about the regional breakdown of the emerging tech and startup markets that we would encounter the rest of the trip. From talent to funding to the infrastructure supporting this emergence, it was an incredible insight to a region that I would have otherwise overlooked.
We left for the UAE the following day. In Abu Dhabi, we visited the New York University campus and had the chance to hear various business plans pitched by local students. I found it very refreshing to see that a majority of them had a focus on social entrepreneurship and genuinely wanted to make the world a better place as also witnessed with my Miami startup peers. Dubai, a short drive away, amazed me of how a city can be created out of nothing and I was even able to go indoor skiing...in the desert!
Each day beginning to feel like a week, our time in Jordan pleasantly surprised me. In Amman, we learned the basis of what a business needs in order to be successful. According to McClure, the four key components are: ideation, first customer, defining successful unit economics and then scaling.
I was fortunate to mentor startups from Gaza who received special permission just to meet us and pitch us their ideas. This was a mind-opening experience as most of their companies addressed issues that are prominent in Gaza, but taken for granted by us, such as their electricity restriction of 6 hours a day. The determination and drive to succeed we saw in Gaza was probably the most intense and humbling experience of the trip. After a full day of mentoring and attending panel sessions, the following day provided us with a much needed break by relaxing in a resort at the Dead Sea where we all woke up early for a swim (more like float).
Our last destination was Egypt and admittedly I was not too sure what to expect. Outside of our cultural excursions to the pyramids, we spent a lot of time with local geeks. 500 Startups did an amazing job planning our trip around Rise Up Summit - the largest tech and startup conference of the region with over 200 speakers composed of industry leaders. Our time in Egypt gave all of us the in-depth knowledge of what the movers and shakers of the MENA region are working towards and the challenges entrepreneurship ecosystems face in emerging markets.
As I write this on the plane ride back to Miami, I am left with the realization that at the core of it all, everyone wants to make a positive impact. Whether a brighter future or a sense of purpose, the people I had the opportunity to be surrounded by all had a drive to create, grow or support something that started out as a sole idea. Even though the last 10 days have left me physically and mentally exhausted, I am filled to the brim with newfound knowledge and motivation that I can only wish upon others.
On a personal level, GOAP was enlightening as spending each waking hour with influential geeks gave me a bevy of global connections, a new outlook on opportunities and a bond of geeks I will cherish forever. Professionally, this experience brought tremendous value for the startup I work with by providing a different strategic approach to developing product roadmaps, new strategic investment opportunities and an outlook on opening new customer segments we previously had not considered.
Both Adam and I were invited to attend GOAP East Asia tour and with some luck, hopefully we’ll be fortunate enough to participate again in this amazing learning experience and also spread the startup knowledge we’ve gained in South Florida to distant corners of the world.
*Tara Demren is a FIU Honors student with a major in International Business and currently the Strategy Manager at LiveAnswer, which was recently voted Tech.Co’s #1 startup in Miami.*Tara was born in France, raised in Miami and is of Turkish descent.