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Advice to Young Tech Founders and Policymakers from the Past

Writer: Natalia Sycheva
Natalia Sycheva
15 hours ago
2 min read

I was tidying the home library when a yellowing piece of paper with some of my seemingly old scribbles fell out of a pile of papers. It wasn’t hard to recognize that it was a page from a weekly planner I used when I was working on building Dubai’s digital economy – through Dubai Startup Hub of Dubai Chambers. 


Q3–Q4 2017 planning scribbles included: 

  • Strengthen Dubai Chamber's image among entrepreneurs in Dubai (increase DSH membership of Emirati founders) 

  • Expand DC’s portfolio of successfully funded projects 

  • Minimize the failure rate of funded projects 


Today, I can say that this was not a one-off exercise, something you do because it is part of your department’s KPIs. It has been a decade-long commitment to supporting the local ecosystem. The UAE will always remain a uniquely positioned INTERNATIONAL entrepreneurial and business hub. With that, the progress we’ve seen in technology innovation initiated by Emirati youth is equally needed and desired. And the youth deliver. 


Great businesses are not built overnight. They start with a focused idea, thoughtful decisions, and the courage to build step by step.
Great businesses are not built overnight. They start with a focused idea, thoughtful decisions, and the courage to build step by step.

Having left government, my commitment to supporting Emirati entrepreneurs remains, in a different role - mentor, advisor, and angel investor. More on fascinating projects and the founders’ stories behind them – in the coming months.  


Equally, in projects conceived in Africa, my boring and consistent advice to policymakers is to co-create with local talent. Stop keeping startups at the mercy of international grants and aid programmes, leaving them in NGO-style limbo. Give them paid pilot project opportunities and, as government enablers, keep working on creating funding ecosystems – more angel investment incentives and VC development. 


And lastly, when I flipped the page of the aforementioned planner, a quote from Rodrigue Nacouzi, the founder and CEO of Transcorp, published in Arabian Business back in 2014, caught my attention. It clearly caught my attention back then and remains relevant to ALL FOUNDERS today: 


“You can't compete with the giants, so don't even try. They will knock you out of the game almost immediately, so you have to be careful and you have to be clever. You have to start small and focused so that you can build.” 


“You can't compete with the giants, so don't even try. They will knock you out of the game almost immediately, so you have to be careful and you have to be clever. You have to start small and focused so that you can build.” 
A page from a weekly planner I used when I was working on building Dubai’s digital economy – through Dubai Startup Hub of Dubai Chambers. 

And that’s the message to all entrepreneurs from the Gulf, Africa, and all around the world – start small & clever.



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