Dubai
April 26, 2020
Creative Zone organised a live webinar with Abdallah Abu-Sheikh, founder of Rizek, , Kara Tointon & Marius Jensen, founders of TELL App, and Ritesh Tilani, founding partner at Enhance who shared their entrepreneurial journey with the audience giving important insights into building a successful digital venture.
The session began by discussing COVID-19 and its impact in accelerating the technological curve faster than expected and what it means for future business industries. The speakers agreed that digital businesses are taking a sudden spike in demand due to the unique problem of social distancing the pandemic is imposing on to the world.
From grocery to children’s storytelling, the world has come to depend on apps, said Kara Tointon whose recent launch of TELL, a story telling app received an encouraging response. Same was the view of Abdallah, whose company Rizek is experiencing a high volume of leads ever since the pandemic struck. Having said that, he also acknowledged the fact that it could adversely affect many SME’s due to the structural shift in the paradigm leading to numerous job losses and other related consequences.
Abdallah also forecasted that the evaluation bubble of tech companies will burst following the example of the Silicon Valley. It is observed that a lot of companies get tech evaluation without actually qualifying for it; for instance, a grocery or delivery app are not essentially tech-based entities but get the same evaluation. This process according to Abdullah will soon end and urged all entrepreneurs to keep their evaluation criteria more realistic and viable.
Another major discussion point was one pertaining to data security and privacy over the internet. Ritesh Tilani focused the importance of data protection through advanced algorithms and technologies which make companies invest more in this domain especially during recent times.
Getting the right funding to scale any business was yet another topic covered during the session. The panelist opined that an entrepreneur should focus on developing a solid product or a solution that solves a recurrent problem and funding will inevitably follow.
Marius Jensen of TELL, underlined the criticality of how the funding should be spent, as pumping high amounts of money during initial stages can go either ways. The couple were inclined towards the conservative spending route, as people do make unfortunate and even costly mistakes while setting up.
Creating a solid company culture before going on a hiring spree was one of the main factors the founders insisted upon.
The one-hour session concluded with a debate on what lies ahead and the future of businesses. There saw a unanimous answer to the topic and explained that smart investors always go for the ideas that solve problems and has a great growth trajectory and plans for expansion.
Ideally businesses that rely more on technology and sustainability will be the safest bet. Tilani advised on companies that offer cyber security, fintech, telepharmacy & telemedicine, IOT.
