Startup Arabia: Stories and Advice from Top Tech Entrepreneurs in the Arab World

by Amir Hegazi

Startup Arabia captures the untold stories of the high-tech entrepreneurs in the Middle East who are creating one of the most vibrant and fertile tech hubs in the world today. Through their bold vision, creativity, and tenacity, they are transforming business in this region at record speed, ultimately giving rise to an endless stream of new opportunities for wealth creation and social impact. Through a collection of interviews, Startup Arabia touches on the early days of those entrepreneurs and the startups they created. It explores how they got their initial ideas, what challenges they faced and how they overcame them, what lessons they learned from those experiences, and what advice they have for the next generation of Middle East entrepreneurs. They also share what they believe is required to ensure continued development of a startup ecosystem in the region. Not only did these entrepreneurs conquer the usual challenges of new tech startups; they managed to break from deep-seated tradition and societal limiting beliefs, cut through red tape, and navigate an often unfriendly startup environment. While some consider their achievements a potential cure for many of the region's socioeconomic problems-such as unemployment, poverty, poor education, corruption, and terrorism-whether they can make a significant and lasting difference in those areas is yet to be seen. Still, their stories offer more than business lessons; they represent an insightful case study of how technology and innovation can affect long-standing social barriers, paving the way for a better and more promising future. Ultimately, Startup Arabia provides an eye-opening, refreshing look at the entrepreneurial journey and a much-needed call to action to aspiring entrepreneurs across the region to help shape the future of the Arab world.

Genres: Business, Economics

317 pages, ebook

Reviews

[Amr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good read. The book lists various examples for startups and entrepreneurs in the MENA region which they did manage make it through.

One thing I noticed that you can cluster the interviewees or extract common characteristics. The majority lives in Dubai, most of them studied outside the MENA region. I believe a reasonable number of them have dual citizenship (Arab and European/American). I am not sure if that was intentional, but definitely these characteristics made difference. And also the majority studied business at some point.

[Sam Saher Atia · Rating 5 out of 5]

كتاب رائع و يحتوي على كثير من الدروس من واقع عملي بعيدا عن اي فرضيات او نظريات
اذا كنت مقبل على الشروع بعملك الخاص انصحك بقرأته

[Zakariaaakil · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book

A book itself is a great illustration of the stories inside: dare to start something from scratch to create an impact, marry the global best practices with local innovations, provide inspirations and positive energy to the people of the Middle East and beyond. A highly recommended reading,

[Ibrahim Zalat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend it to anyone want to start his own startup in the Arabian region.
P.S. this book doesn't dive into the details but it has a lot of pieces of advice we all need.

[Oscar Wendel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Lived It. This Book Nailed It: The Real Story of MENA's Startup Surge

As someone who's organized GITEX with its startup show for years, I've had a front-row seat to these companies' evolution from ambitious startups to regional powerhouses.

Amir Hegazi does something remarkable - instead of polished success stories, he brings us real conversations with MENA's tech founders. Reading this felt surreal because I remember when many of these entrepreneurs were nervously setting up modest booths at their first GITEX!

I recall when many of these companie just started out and watching their journey through these pages while remembering how their GITEX presence grew to unicorn status is very satisfying. What makes this book extraordinary is how it captures the behind-the-scenes struggles these founders never showed that I had no idea aboutm the pivots, funding crises, and cultural hurdles I only glimpsed during networking events.This is an absolute must-read that validates everything I've witnessed organizing the region's largest tech gathering!

[Abdallah Mohamed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended
Reading this book for one time is not enough at all, it includes too many success and challenge stories that all entrepreneurs must learn from.
Learning from experiences of these entrepreneurs and knowing the milestones they passed in their life will save you too much time with your career journey❤️

[Osama Alnajm · Rating 5 out of 5]

كتاب جميل وملهم , يعطيك تجارب 23 من رواد الاعمال العرب الذين اسسوا مشاريع ناجحة في العالم العربي
دروس مهمة سيتعلمها القارئء عن البزنس وريادة الاعمال
انصح كل شخص مهتم بهذا المجال وينوي البدء بمشروع الخاص بقراءة هذا الكتاب

[Mouaz Marouane · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب رائع مشوق انصح به الجميع

[MOAHMED GASHOOT · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book, it presents stories of failure and success of projects in the Middle East...

Highly recommended

[Mina Nahamya · Rating 5 out of 5]

كتاب حلو جدا عن إدارة الأعمال و الفرص المنتهزة
أرشحه لكل حد حابب يبدا مشروعه الخاص

[dehsaR · Rating 5 out of 5]

One word: Amazing.

[Zinab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really worth reading and informative in most of the parts, It reflects real cases business that may inspire a lot, Better than theories and motivational text.

[Ahmed Abbasi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing collection of success stories from various startups like Maktoob, Careem.. etc that emerged in the Arab world. A Motivational and truly inspiring book.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of interviews with some of the most prominent tech entrepreneurs in the region. This book highlights the massive potential of an untapped market with plenty of talent and ideas.