Austin Vance grew up in Oklahoma, but takes residence outside of Denver, Colorado now. He is a father of 3 boys, who are also 3 in under - so he's quite busy. He loves woodworking, and teaching his oldest son how to ski. When it comes to food, he loves all of it in general - but has been drawn to asian fusion lately. And he enjoys reading business books, and sci fi - of which, Blade Runner was mentioned number one.

Austin had several experiences with consulting firms, where they operated under traditional "land and expand" models. IE, increasing the footprint of their teams. He felt passionate about building a services company that was designed to deprecate itself - starting with the wide world of DevOps.

This is the creation story of Focused.

Sponsors

• Speakeasy
• QA Wolf
• SnapTrade

Links

• https://focused.io/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/austinbv/

Jason Schappert grew up in an entrepreneurial family. His Mom and Dad were always working together, and never had jobs. Jason's first job was working for his parents pest control company, where he crafted his understanding of what success looked like. Outside of tech, he is married with 3 kids, and is very into all of their sports. Fun fact, his kids enjoy doing their homeschooling in the office with their Dad, listening to calls and asking big questions - so business is actually what they do for fun.

For 16 years, Jason grew and ran a business in aviation. After a successful exit, he and his wife Magda were considering what to do next. She quickly remembered all of the things Jason did behind the scenes to setup their personal finances for success, in the midst of a chaotic startup life.

This is the creation story of Moola.

Sponsors

• Speakeasy
• QA Wolf
• SnapTrade

Links

• https://moo.la/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonschappert/

Tameem Hourani was born in the Middle East, on a small island. He came to the states, Boston specifically, for school in 2006. He planned on 4 years of engineering, which turned into 19 years of life. He became a citizen of the US during COVID, and spent many years of his career at Wayfair, which he throughly enjoyed. But outside of tech, he is a new father and spends a lot of time with his newborn. He loves being in the ocean, scuba diving, kite surfing and along side that, collecting vintage watches.

In the past, Tameem had been burned by consulting firms. He saw a gap in the industry, and when he left his prior role at Wayfair, he wanted to become a trusted, transparent technology partner - the one that he had longed for in his previous roles.

This is the creation story of RapDev.

Sponsors

• Speakeasy
• QA Wolf
• SnapTrade

Links

• https://www.rapdev.io/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/tameem-hourani/

Shahar Azulay has had many opportunities to get into tech throughout his life. He started digging into cyber security when he was 17 years old, where he learned the basics of deep tech that he still utilizes to this day. He's a startup guy, and has had the opportunity to be the first employee many times over. Outside of tech, he's married with 3 boys and a dog. He lives in the country side, and loves to spend time in nature and cook, as he was a semi professional chef at one point.

Shahar and his co-founder are veterans when it comes to using observability platforms for their systems. They wanted to build a platform that balanced the needs of the system, with a lower cost of a fully functional platform.

This is the creation story of Groundcover.

Sponsors

• Rapyd Cloud
• Speakeasy
• QA Wolf
• SnapTrade

Links

• https://www.groundcover.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/shahar-azulay-54156bb4

Today, we are releasing another episode in our series entitled Minting Unicorns - Blockchain, AI and Dubai, sponsored by the City of Dubai.

Dubai is the new global center of gravity, connecting the world in a way few places can. As a hub for trade, tourism, innovation, and finance, Dubai offers the ideal environment for startups and scale-ups to thrive. Entrepreneurs find a home here, whether in health-tech, fintech, AI, or renewable energy, supported by SME-focused programs that empower high-potential companies to scale globally. From flexible regulations to tax incentives, world-class infrastructure to access to global investors managing $1 trillion, Dubai understands what businesses need to scale fast.

In this episode, we are excited to speak with Imad Gharzeddine, the visionary CEO and Co-Founder of Mamo, a pioneering fintech platform simplifying payments and empowering businesses in the MENA region.

• Questions:

1. Tell us and our audience a little bit about yourself and the journey that led you to founding Mamo.
2. What is Mamo, and what specific problem are you solving in the fintech space?
3. Mamo is often described as a company simplifying payments for businesses and individuals in the region. What inspired this mission, and how has the journey been so far?
4. What fundamental principles guided the creation of the product, and how has it evolved over time?
5. Why did you choose Dubai as the base for Mamo? What advantages does the city offer to startups in the fintech space?
6. What opportunities have you capitalized on that you believe are unique to Dubai or the MENA region?
7. Mamo is known for promoting financial inclusion. How do your products and services cater to underserved communities in the region?"
8. How does Mamo incorporate cutting-edge technologies, like AI or blockchain, into its offerings to stay ahead of the curve?
9. As a leader, what’s your approach to building a strong and innovative team at Mamo?
10. What lessons have you learned as a CEO scaling a fintech startup in such a competitive and rapidly evolving market?
11. With Dubai emerging as a fintech hub, where do you see the industry heading in the next decade?
12. What advice would you give to fintech startups or entrepreneurs looking to expand into Dubai or the broader MENA region?

Links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/imadgharazeddine/
• https://www.mamopay.com/
• https://blockchaincenter.ae/
• https://dubaiaicampus.com/
• https://www.difc.ae/
• https://www.investindubai.gov.ae/en/why-dubai/d33-agenda

Simmi Singh grew up in Australia, when her parents migrated from India. She studied law and finance at university, and then went into investment banking during some tumultuous times. Eventually, she got interested in tech, and worked for teams at Intuit, Saavn, and Spotify, during the times of the Anchor acquisition and launching features around video podcasts. Outside of tech, she is married with 2 kids. She loves to travel, watch movies, and to do craft projects, as building is a key theme in her life.

While Simmi was at Spotify, a prior colleague of hers approached her about a product he was building. When she heard the details of what was being built, she felt that it was the culmination of all of our professional experiences and she had to jump on board.

This is the creation story of Hook Music.

Sponsors

• Rapyd Cloud
• Speakeasy
• QA Wolf
• SnapTrade

Links

• https://hookmusic.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/singhsimmi/

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Nikita Shamgunov is a native of Russia, coming to the US for grad school in 2005. Eventually he worked at Microsoft on the SQL Server product. A fun fact - Nikita quit business school on the first day, and decided to join Facebook and find his future co-founder. All of this worked out, and he and his co-founder built SingleStore, which is one of the highest valued companies at YC. Outside of tech, he was a semi-professional athlete in Ping Pong, achieving the status of Top 10 in Washington State back when he was at Microsoft.

Nikita completed his "tour of duty" at SingleStore, and post that, he joined a venture fund. He pitched incubating an idea of his at the fund, which was rolling up all Postgres instances in the world. He started to engineer an approach, the team, and the architecture - and did so in some very unique, and deliberate ways.

This is the creation story of Neon.

Sponsors

• Rapyd Cloud
• Speakeasy
• QA Wolf
• SnapTrade

Links

• https://neon.tech/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikitashamgunov/

Today, we are releasing another episode in our series entitled Minting Unicorns - Blockchain, AI and Dubai, sponsored by the City of Dubai.

Dubai is the new global center of gravity, connecting the world in a way few places can. As a hub for trade, tourism, innovation, and finance, Dubai offers the ideal environment for startups and scale-ups to thrive. Entrepreneurs find a home here, whether in health-tech, fintech, AI, or renewable energy, supported by SME-focused programs that empower high-potential companies to scale globally. From flexible regulations to tax incentives, world-class infrastructure to access to global investors managing $1 trillion, Dubai understands what businesses need to scale fast.

For today’s episode, we are speaking with Mohammad Albalooshi, CEO of the DIFC Innovation Hub, a driving force behind Dubai’s innovation ecosystem and a key player in empowering startups and scaleups across the MEASA region.

• Questions:

1. Tell me and my audience a little bit about you.
2. What is the DIFC Innovation Hub, and what role does it play in driving innovation in Dubai and the broader region? How did it come to be, and what vision does it fulfill?
3. Can you tell us more about the Dubai AI Campus? What is its mission, and how does it support the development of AI-driven innovation?
4. So I’m an entrepreneur looking to build the next big thing in fintech — how does the DIFC Innovation Hub support startups and scaleups in this space? Can you share some examples of companies that have benefited from your ecosystem?
5. Dubai is positioning itself as a global hub for fintech and innovation. How does the DIFC contribute to making this vision a reality?
6. Is it necessary for entrepreneurs to be physically located in Dubai or the MEASA region to join the DIFC Innovation Hub and its programs, or can global innovators participate from anywhere in the world?
7. What are the Dubai AI License and the DIFC License? How do these frameworks support entrepreneurs and businesses within the innovation ecosystem?
8. How is DIFC planning to expand its role in the innovation ecosystem over the next 5-10 years?
9. What new programs or initiatives can we expect to see from the DIFC Innovation Hub to attract global talent and businesses?
10. What advice would you give to startups and entrepreneurs, particularly those from outside the UAE, who are considering Dubai as a base for their operations?

Links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohammad-alblooshi-2499b54a/
• https://blockchaincenter.ae/
• https://dubaiaicampus.com/
• https://www.difc.ae/
• https://www.investindubai.gov.ae/en/why-dubai/d33-agenda