Category: Inside StartUpArabia

What Kind Of Name Do You Prefer For A Startup? [Poll]

MMM

A new poll has gone live on StartUpArabia, you can find it on the first sidebar on the right or vote straight from this post.

This poll addresses the question of what names are best suited for startups, and it asks:
What kind of name do you prefer for a startup?

Do you like those cool, bordering on weird, names? Do you think the name should be meaningful and describe what the startup is about? Or do you prefer names that reference the local culture? Or maybe just some general name that might not even have to be all that relevant?

What do you think?

Feel free to further expand on your response in the comments section of this post.

What audience should Arab startups target? [Poll Results]

MMM 8 Comments

In the latest poll on StartUpArabia, the question to the readers was: 

What audience should Arab startups target?

The result of reader voting came out as follows:

Target audience poll

Out of 79 readers who responded to the poll:

– 35% of them think that it depends on the service
– 32% think they should go for a global audience
– 22% responded that they should go for a wide Arab audience grouping both locals and expats
– and the remaining 11% voted for them to stick to a local Arab audience

Personally I share the opinion that it depends on the service; some services have a very local nature while others can be extended to the whole Arab region or even globally. But a number of other factors come into play as well in the decision, like for example whether they have the necessary time and budget to invest in scaling it and opening it up to more people; including technical, marketing, support costs and all the other costs that come with it.

StartUpArabia Officially Launches Job Board

MMM 8 Comments

Today, I’m glad to announce the official launch of the StartUpArabia Job Board.

The goal of this job board is to help people who share the same entrepreneurial mentality and startup spirit get together to work and produce great products and services.

From my experience working with different companies and startups, and with people working in them from developers, to designers, to other specialties; I believe that not everyone is really cut out for or even interested in working at a startup, where a certain level of creativity, involvement, excitement, commitment and “geekism” is needed.

A lot of time is often lost looking for good candidates for this or that position, or having to deal with people who just don’t fit into the whole spirit of a startup, …etc.

The goal of this job board is to connect the readers of this blog from both sides: the entrepreneurs looking to recruit, or the developers/designers/managers/salespeople …etc that are interested in startups and in working with them.

For the launch period of this job board, posting job vacancies is open for FREE for all technology startups and companies operating in the Arab world.

There already are a number of posted vacancies from the likes of Questler, Argaam and even Google Middle East.

One last thing I’d like to add is that this job board is in no way meant to compete with the other Arab career and employment portals out there; they obviously offer a great added value to many companies and job seekers around the Arab world, and will continue to do so. The StartUpArabia Job Board only attempts to help companies and job seekers in the startup culture niche connect and work together.

# StartUpArabia Job Board

What audience should Arab startups target? [Poll]

MMM 4 Comments

A new poll has gone live on StartUpArabia, you can find it on the first sidebar on the right or vote straight from this post.

This poll addresses the question of target audience for Arab startups, and it asks:
What audience should Arab startups target?

Should they go global? Should they concentrate on the region? Or maybe just on Arabs around the world? Or does it depend on what the service they’re actually providing is?

What do you think?

Feel free to further expand on your response in the comments section of this post.

What do you think is the biggest challenge for Arab online startups? [Poll Results]

MMM 4 Comments

In the latest poll on StartUpArabia, the question to the readers was:
What do you think is the biggest challenge for Arab online startups?

The result of reader voting came out as follows:

Poll results: Challenges

Out of 62 readers who responded to the poll:
– 32% of them think that the main challenge for Arab startups is funding
– 26% think the immature online advertising market is the biggest challenge
– 15% responded that it was the low internet penetration in the region
– Another 15% blame the non conducive environment
– Only 10% thought trust was the biggest challenge
– and the remaining 3% specified other reasons like the lack of original ideas or targeting other markets other than the local one

Even though the list of challenges in this poll, and the ones added by the readers, might not be fully comprehensive, I think they actually give a good idea about the biggest challenges and problems that Arab startups and entrepreneurs face and have to tackle, and how important each one of them is.

Arabic Version Of StartUpArabia Officially Launched

MMM 4 Comments

One of the points many people asked for after the official launch of StartUpArabia back in April is an Arabic version, insisting on how important they thought it was.

I couldn’t agree more, and it was always one of the main points in my plans for StartUpArabia; and so my answer was always that it was currently underway and that it would be ready soon enough.

Well that soon enough is now, and the Arabic version of StartUpArabia is officially launched here:
http://www.startuparabia.com/arabic/

There are a number of posts already available there that have been translated from the English version, and more of the older posts from the English version will be posted over time so that everyone who prefers Arabic can read them too. As for new articles and posts, they’ll mostly be posted on both English and Arabic versions of the site on the same day from now on.

I’m happy that this Arabic version is out now, mainly because it will widen the reach of the information about Arab startups, and also because I can now focus on the next side project for StartUpArabia, which should be coming soon too.

Last, but not least, I’d like to thank Eman Abu-Khadra, my wife, for her hard work with me on the Arabic version. If not for her help with the translation, this version wouldn’t exist now.

So, I leave you with: StartUpArabia – Arabic Version

Don’t hesitate to link to it and spread the word; I’d be really grateful.

What do you think is the biggest challenge for Arab online startups? [Poll]

MMM 8 Comments

A new poll has gone live on StartUpArabia, you can find it on the first sidebar on the right or vote straight from this post.

This poll asks:
What do you think is the biggest challenge for Arab online startups?

What do you think stands in the way of their success? What is holding them back? What are the biggest issues they have to deal with to move forward?

What do you think? If you think it’s something that’s not listed below, you can choose other and input the point you have in mind.

Feel free to further expand on your response in the comments section of this post.

Is trust an issue when it comes to Arab startups? [Poll Results]

MMM 2 Comments

In the latest poll on StartUpArabia, the question to the readers was:
Is trust an issue for you when it comes to Arab startups?

The result of reader voting came out as follows:

Poll results - Trust

Out of 59 readers who responded to the poll:
– 41% of them think there is definitely an issue of trust when it comes to Arab startups
– 32% say it is sometimes an issue for them
– 8% responded that it wasn’t an issue at all
– and the remaining 19% thought the question was irrelevant

Even though the reasons every person may have vary, and even though not everyone might agree with all the points mentioned in Qwaider’s guest post here detailing why he doesn’t trust Arab online services, it’s obviously an issue that Arab startups have to tackle seriously.

Is trust an issue for you when it comes to Arab startups? [Poll]

MMM 4 Comments

A new poll has gone live on StartUpArabia, you can find it on the first sidebar on the right or vote straight from this post.

This poll addresses the question of trust, and it asks:
Is trust an issue for you when it comes to Arab startups?

Is is an issue for you? Do you think trust is a bigger issue when it comes to Arab startups? Do you as a user need a bit more assurance from Arab startups for them to earn your trust?

What do you think?

Feel free to further expand on your response in the comments section of this post.

Do Arab Startups Really Need An Arabic Interface? [Poll Results]

MMM 4 Comments

In the latest poll on StartUpArabia, the question to the readers was:
Do Arab startups really need an Arabic interface?

The result of reader voting came out as follows:

– 41% of readers thought it was preferable for the website to have an Arabic interface.
– 32% of the readers thought it was a must.
– 20% of them thought that it wasn’t necessary.
– The remaining 8% said they didn’t really care

Personally, I’m somewhere between ‘preferable’ and ‘must’, shifting between the two depending on the case, I guess.

A big percentage of internet users in the Arab world are most comfortable using the Arabic language online, instead of English or French, and deciding not to launch an Arabic interface for a website directly alienates those people, cutting out an important part of the service’s possible target audience, which can’t really be good business-wise no matter how you look at it.