FWDstart

Rami Tabbara (Stake) on The Saudi Real Estate Explosion, Tokenising Real Estate Assets & Why Work Life Balance is a Myth

Rami Tabbara is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Stake, a digital real estate investment platform that democratizes access to property markets in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. Allowing users to invest fractionally from as little as 500 dirhams, Stake has grown into a fintech powerhouse with over 2 million downloads, users in 170 countries, and nearly 1.4 billion dirhams transacted on the platform. The company is backed by regional heavyweights including Mubadala, Wa'ed Ventures, and Property Finder.Before founding Stake, Rami spent over 16 years in the trenches of Dubai’s real estate sector, witnessing how high capital requirements locked out most investors – that he identified the need for a transparent, digital, and affordable entry point. He launched the business during the height of the Covid-19 lockdowns with childhood best friend Manar Mahmassani and later Ricardo Brizido, navigating early regulatory hurdles to build a platform that now pays out over 60 million dirhams in rental income annually.Rami joins the podcast to discuss why he considers Dubai to be a "co-founder" rather than just a city, the brutal lesson of losing his first four hires by faking a "cool startup" culture, why work-life balance is a myth if you want massive outcomes, and the company's aggressive roadmap into 2026 – including the launch of "Stake One" for full home ownership and his pragmatic approach to real estate tokenization-----------------------------------------------Timestamps:00:00 — The "Binance for Real Estate" vision03:32 — What is Stake? Investing with 500 Dirhams05:59 — Rami’s background: 16 years in Dubai real estate10:02 — Launching during COVID and finding the right co-founders11:43 — The first (and terrible) MVP14:58 — Why there isn’t a "Robinhood of Real Estate" yet18:31 — Will technology replace real estate brokers?20:58 — The algorithm: Rejecting 90% of property deals24:00 — Stake One: Buying full homes digitally27:44 — Scaling globally: US Logistics funds and Saudi expansion31:54 — Startup Culture: Why work-life balance is a "myth"34:31 — Managing the Co-CEO dynamic without ego37:48 — The Property Finder partnership explained41:27 — Tokenization and the future of the blockchain45:11 — 2026 Outlook: Saudi Arabia’s freehold explosion-----------------------------------------------Thank you to the partners who make this possible:• Sarwa – An all-in-one investing and money-management platform. It brings together do-it-yourself trading in stocks, ETFs, crypto, and options with Sarwa Trade, hands-off investing with Sarwa Invest, and high-yield estimated returns with Sarwa Save.👉 Register using this link to be eligible for a $200 bonus when you fund $5,000 across your Sarwa accounts within three months of signing up:https://www.sarwa.co/register?promoCode=FWDSTARTPromo code: FWDSTARTSarwa is regulated by the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority. All investing involves risk. Past performance is not indicative of future results.• Hubpay – A fully digital, ADGM-regulated fintech platform that gives UAEbusinesses instant access to multi-currency accounts with named IBAN in 30+ currencies, payment links, payroll and more. No hidden fees, no minimum balance, and no waiting.👉 Open your Hubpay business account today and get 30-day free trial athttps://wearehubpay.com/pricing and scale your UAE business with confidence.-----------------------------------------------Transcript: https://share.transistor.fm/s/1b08abfe/transcript.txt-----------------------------------------------Follow Jamie Lane on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamienlane/ Follow Jamie Lane on X:https://x.com/jamienlane Follow Rami Tabbara on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rami-tabbara/Follow FWDstart on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/fwdstart/ Follow FWDstart on TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@fwdstart Visit our Website:https://www.fwdstart.me/ Subscribe to our Newsletter:https://www.fwdstart.me/subscribe -----------------------------------------------

Nafez Dakkak (Anara Capital) on Why AI Tutors Will Fail, Is MENA EdTech's "Sleeping Giant" & Solving the Arabic Literacy Crisis

Nafez Dakkak is the Founding Partner of Anara Capital, a $50 million impact fund investing in early-stage startups across learning, climate, and wellbeing in the MENA region. Designed to be intentional and scalable, the fund backs founders solving critical infrastructure challenges across the Levant, GCC and North Africa.Before launching Anara, Nafez was the Founding CEO of the Queen Rania Foundation’s Edraak, the Arab world's largest massive open online course (MOOC) platform, which today reaches over 10 million learners. His transition from operator to investor also includes establishing BLDR, a venture studio focused on the the potential of the learn to earn cycle across MENA.He joins the podcast to discuss why AI tutors will fail the 80% of students who lack motivation , the "Game Boy Principle" of innovating through constraints rather than shiny new tech , why Arabic literacy is fundamentally broken by diglossia , and the critical difference between a founder who is passionate versus one who is truly obsessed.-----------------------------------------------Timestamps:00:03:00 — Is MENA EdTech Still a Sleeping Giant?00:06:42 — Why EdTech Doesn't Scale Like SaaS (The Civil Engineering Analogy)00:10:18 — From Neurosurgeon Dreams to Education Strategy00:13:14 — Growing Up Palestinian: Education is All You Have00:14:38 — The Story Behind Edraak & The "MIT of the Arab World"00:19:49 — Lessons on Content Localisation & Completion Rates00:22:28 — The Game Boy Principle: Innovation Through Withered Tech00:24:10 — Why AI Tutors Will Fail (The Motivation Problem)00:27:59 — "Vibe Learning" & The Manchester United Transfer Fallacy00:30:17 — The Conflict Between Retention Metrics & Real Learning00:33:20 — The Arabic Language Crisis: Understanding Diglossia00:37:30 — Lessons from the Builder Venture Studio00:40:10 — Anara Capital: Differentiating Impact Investing from Philanthropy00:44:35 — The Exit Landscape for MENA EdTech00:48:13 — Nafez’s "Favorite Problems": Climate, Mental Fitness & Motivation00:50:25 — The Dangers of Cognitive Offloading with AI00:53:26 — An Alternative Career as an Arabic Teacher00:54:05 — Rapid Fire: Gamification is "Chocolate Covered Broccoli"-----------------------------------------------Thank you to the partners who make this possible:• Sarwa – An all-in-one investing and money-management platform. It brings together do-it-yourself trading in stocks, ETFs, crypto, and options with Sarwa Trade, hands-off investing with Sarwa Invest, and high-yield estimated returns with Sarwa Save.👉 Register using this link to be eligible for a $200 bonus when you fund $5,000 across your Sarwa accounts within three months of signing up:https://www.sarwa.co/register?promoCode=FWDSTARTPromo code: FWDSTARTSarwa is regulated by the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority. All investing involves risk. Past performance is not indicative of future results.-----------------------------------------------Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6GxkYxN2hNSvQsIOjjqyse?si=4f2f8be6b7294c8eSubscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fwdstart/id1859499563Subscribe on Anghami: https://open.anghami.com/mjWOJeeJ2YbFollow Jamie Lane on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamienlane/ Follow Jamie Lane on X:https://x.com/jamienlane Follow Nafez Dakkak on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ndakkak/Subscribe to Nafez's Substack:https://nafez.substack.com/Follow FWDstart on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/fwdstart/ Follow FWDstart on TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@fwdstart Visit our Website:https://www.fwdstart.me/ Subscribe to our Newsletter:https://www.fwdstart.me/subscribe -----------------------------------------------

Nour Al Hassan (Arabic AI, Tarjama) on Building Arabic AI from MENA, Why Most Pilots Fail, and Hiring Only A Players

Nour Al Hassan is the Founder and CEO of Tarjama& and Arabic AI, a UAE-based AI company building Arabic-first language models, enterprise agents, and document intelligence systems for governments and large organisations.Before Arabic AI, Nour spent more than 16 years building Tarjama& from a bootstrapped translation business into a profitable, technology-led platform serving global enterprises. That long runway of proprietary Arabic data became the foundation for the creation of Arabic AI, enabling a leap into small language models, agentic workflows, and on-prem deployments for highly regulated customers.She joins the podcast to discuss what it takes to build technology from the region, overcoming internal doubt, why Arabic remains fundamentally underserved in AI, how human-in-the-loop systems will evolve rather than disappear, and why AI adoption fails unless it is driven top-down by leadership rather than delegated to teams.-----------------------------------------------Timestamps:00:00 The State of Arabic Content Online00:46 Introduction to Nour Al Hassan and Tarjama03:49 Nour's Entrepreneurial Journey07:43 Building and Evolving Tarjama21:14 The Rise of Arabic AI25:54 Building Custom AI Solutions26:56 The Importance of Data Quality29:19 Challenges in Arabic AI Development31:00 Real-World AI Applications34:49 Sales and Business Development38:20 Future of AI and Business Strategy-----------------------------------------------Thank you to the partners who make this possible:• Sarwa – An all-in-one investing and money-management platform. It brings together do-it-yourself trading in stocks, ETFs, crypto, and options with Sarwa Trade, hands-off investing with Sarwa Invest, and high-yield estimated returns with Sarwa Save.👉 Register using this link to be eligible for a $200 bonus when you fund $5,000 across your Sarwa accounts within three months of signing up:https://www.sarwa.co/register?promoCode=FWDSTARTPromo code: FWDSTARTSarwa is regulated by the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority. All investing involves risk. Past performance is not indicative of future results.• Hubpay – A fully digital, ADGM-regulated fintech platform that gives UAEbusinesses instant access to multi-currency accounts with named IBAN in 30+ currencies, payment links, payroll and more. No hidden fees, no minimum balance, and no waiting.👉 Open your Hubpay business account today and get 30-day free trial athttps://wearehubpay.com/pricing and scale your UAE business with confidence.-----------------------------------------------Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6GxkYxN2hNSvQsIOjjqyse?si=4f2f8be6b7294c8eSubscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fwdstart/id1859499563Subscribe on Anghami: https://open.anghami.com/mjWOJeeJ2YbFollow Jamie Lane on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamienlane/ Follow Jamie Lane on X:https://x.com/jamienlane Follow Nour Al Hassan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nour-al-hassan-106778138/Follow FWDstart on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/fwdstart/ Follow FWDstart on TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@fwdstart Visit our Website:https://www.fwdstart.me/ Subscribe to our Newsletter:https://www.fwdstart.me/subscribe -----------------------------------------------

Arya Bolurfrushan (AppliedAI) on Raising $42M for AI Before ChatGPT, The Future of Work & Why AI Needs Human Supervisors

Arya Bolurfrushan is the Founder and CEO of Applied AI, the company behind Opus, a platform enabling enterprises to design AI-native workflows. The company raised a $42 million seed round in November 2022, days before ChatGPT launched, and earlier this year closed a $55 million Series A led by G42, with Palantir and Bessemer also participating.Before founding Applied AI, Arya developed his conviction during a Covid quarantine in the UAE, where time alone led him to conclude that AI would be the most significant shift in human productivity since hydrocarbons.He joins the podcast to discuss why he was "doing AI before it was cool," how the company had to rebuild its tech stack post-ChatGPT, why he believes democracies will struggle with AI-driven displacement, and how Opus is designed to keep humans as moral decision-makers rather than obsolete bystanders.-----------------------------------------------Timestamps:00:00 - Introduction04:04 - Raising Before ChatGPT Was Cool05:46 - The COVID Quarantine Epiphany10:30 - From Oil to Electricity: Why Applied AI is Like General Electric15:29 - Opus: Building the Machine That Builds Machines22:17 - Hiring Less Than 1% of Applicants & Building an AI-Native Team25:15 - Business Process Re-Engineering: Adding Humans to AI-Native Workflows30:41 - The Large Work Model: Mapping 2.7 Million Business Processes33:27 - Sharing Productivity Gains with Labour: Lessons from Das Kapital39:51 - The $2 Trillion Investor Who Believes Humans Will Have No Work44:57 - Building for His Son's Future in a World Where AI is Always Smartest-----------------------------------------------Thank you to the partners who make this possible:• Sarwa – An all-in-one investing and money-management platform. It brings together do-it-yourself trading in stocks, ETFs, crypto, and options with Sarwa Trade, hands-off investing with Sarwa Invest, and high-yield estimated returns with Sarwa Save.👉 Register using this link to be eligible for a $200 bonus when you fund $5,000 across your Sarwa accounts within three months of signing up:https://www.sarwa.co/register?promoCode=FWDSTARTPromo code: FWDSTARTSarwa is regulated by the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority. All investing involves risk. Past performance is not indicative of future results.• Hubpay – A fully digital, ADGM-regulated fintech platform that gives UAEbusinesses instant access to multi-currency accounts with named IBAN in 30+ currencies, payment links, payroll and more. No hidden fees, no minimum balance, and no waiting.👉 Open your Hubpay business account today and get 30-day free trial athttps://wearehubpay.com/pricing and scale your UAE business with confidence.-----------------------------------------------Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6GxkYxN2hNSvQsIOjjqyse?si=4f2f8be6b7294c8eSubscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fwdstart/id1859499563Subscribe on Anghami: https://open.anghami.com/mjWOJeeJ2YbFollow Jamie Lane on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamienlane/ Follow Jamie Lane on X:https://x.com/jamienlane Follow Arya Bolurfrushan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bolurfrushan/Follow FWDstart on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/fwdstart/ Follow FWDstart on TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@fwdstart Visit our Website:https://www.fwdstart.me/ Subscribe to our Newsletter:https://www.fwdstart.me/subscribe -----------------------------------------------

Ibrahim Manna (BRKZ) on Lessons from Careem, Founder Grit & Disrupting Saudi Construction

Ibrahim Manna is the Founder and CEO of BRKZ, a Saudi construction tech startup built to address inefficiencies in construction procurement: fragmented supply chains, manual processes, and cash flow gaps faced by contractors and factories. Before founding BRKZ, Ibrahim spent eight years at Careem as one of the core architects of its expansion, launching 11 out of 15 markets ahead of the company's $3.1 billion acquisition by Uber in 2019. BRKZ has raised over $50 million in equity and debt financing, and serves 850+ contractors across major giga-projects including NEOM, King Salman Park, and Red Sea.He joins the podcast to discuss how buying a house during the pandemic revealed a broken industry, why Saudi's 7-8 layer supply chain creates massive inefficiency, what Careem taught him about building culture and empowering operators as founders, and how BRKZ is using technology to work with — not against — entrenched contractor behaviours.-----------------------------------------------Timestamps:00:00 – Introduction to Ibrahim Manana and BRKZ04:02 – Ibrahim's Early Entrepreneurial Endeavours07:35 – Lessons from Kareem11:11 – Challenges in Market Expansion22:37 – Leadership and Culture at Careem26:23 – Navigating Legal and Operational Hurdles28:59 – Stories from Iraq32:16 – Launching and Learning from Careem Cash34:58 – Transition to BRKZ36:27 – Identifying Gaps in the Construction Industry40:21 – Challenges and Innovations in Construction47:09 – The AI Story51:09 – Building Relationships and Customer Trust58:12 – Regional Tech Ecosystem and Entrepreneurship01:01:24 – Future Prospects and Final Thoughts-----------------------------------------------Thank you to the partners who make this possible:• Sarwa – An all-in-one investing and money-management platform. It brings together do-it-yourself trading in stocks, ETFs, crypto, and options with Sarwa Trade, hands-off investing with Sarwa Invest, and high-yield estimated returns with Sarwa Save.👉 Register using this link to be eligible for a $200 bonus when you fund $5,000 across your Sarwa accounts within three months of signing up:https://www.sarwa.co/register?promoCode=FWDSTART Promo code: FWDSTARTSarwa is regulated by the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority. All investing involves risk. Past performance is not indicative of future results.• Hubpay – A fully digital, ADGM-regulated fintech platform that gives UAEbusinesses instant access to multi-currency accounts with named IBAN in 30+ currencies, payment links, payroll and more. No hidden fees, no minimum balance, and no waiting.👉 Open your Hubpay business account today and get 30-day free trial athttps://wearehubpay.com/pricing and scale your UAE business with confidence.-----------------------------------------------Transcript: -----------------------------------------------Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6GxkYxN2hNSvQsIOjjqyse?si=4f2f8be6b7294c8eSubscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fwdstart/id1859499563Subscribe on Anghami: https://open.anghami.com/mjWOJeeJ2YbFollow Jamie Lane on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamienlane/ Follow Jamie Lane on X:https://x.com/jamienlane Follow Ibrahim Manna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ibrahimmanna/Follow FWDstart on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/fwdstart/ Follow FWDstart on TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@fwdstart Visit our Website:https://www.fwdstart.me/ Subscribe to our Newsletter:https://www.fwdstart.me/subscribe -----------------------------------------------