A new poll has gone live on StartUpArabia, you can find it on the sidebar on the right or vote straight from this post.
This poll is more targeted at startups and entrepreneurs who have sought funding for their project/business at one point or another, and tries to determine what kinds of obstacles they faced while doing that.
What major obstacle did you face while looking to fund your project?
Feel free to further expand on your response in the comments section of this post.
In the latest poll on StartUpArabia, the question to the readers was:
What do Arab startups need the most?
The result of reader voting came out as follows:
Out of 230 readers who responded to the poll:
– 30% of them believe there is a need for more original ideas
– 28% say funding is the most needed thing for these startups
– 17% think Arab startups are in need of mentoring
– 12% believe there is a need for strong complimentary teams at these startups
– 8% think marketing is what Arab startups need more of
The remaining 5% listed some other very interesting and true needs for Arab startups; among them are: business freedom from govermental interference, market research skills, ability to set up a truely limited liability company, more social media interaction, available data and statistics, unregulated non-paternalistic markets, and good execution.
Another really interesting thing the results of this poll show is that even though it’s often easy to blame the lack of funding or support for the lack of successes in the internet space in the Arab world; not all of the important things Arab startups need are external factors, there is a lot they can work on and solve themselves like picking and working on more original ideas, putting together stronger complimentary teams, buffing up their business and market research skills, reaching out more to the community …etc.
Of course, the external factors like mentoring, funding, government support are also very important and should go in parallel to help startups on their way to perfecting their product and building a successful business around it.
What do you think? What’s your view of things?
A new poll went live on StartUpArabia, you can find it on the sidebar on the right or vote straight from this post.
This poll asks a pretty straightforward question in a little quest to find out what people think Arab startups need the most at this point in time to be able to make it and succeed.
So without any further ado:
What do you think Arab startups need the most?
Feel free to further expand on your response in the comments section of this post.
In the latest poll on StartUpArabia, the question to the readers was:
How will the current economic crisis affect Arab online startups?
The result of reader voting came out as follows:
Out of 123 readers who responded to the poll:
– 43% of them believe the effects will be positive
– 39% say they think it’ll affect online startups negatively
– and the remaining 18% don’t see it having any effect whatsoever
The results are obviously very close, which I guess reflects the existing confusion out there on how everything going on will be affecting different types of businesses on the short and long run.
Personally, my belief ever since the crisis began has always been that for online startups, there is eventually no way but up; I mean, it’s not like they were getting all that many big investments before the crisis, or making really big money from the online advertising market that makes up less than 1% of overall advertising spend. So with the option of investing in real estate becoming unsafe for investors, and with businesses cutting their marketing budgets; if anything at all, it would mean it’s a chance for a bit more investments to make it to the online world, and for a bit more advertising to move online.
From being in the middle of it all, I can actually confirm that this is happening, slowly maybe, but it is happening; more investment opportunities are becoming/going to become available for Arab online startups, and more businesses are currently experimenting with online advertising.
But now comes in the role of the entrepreneurs and startups to make sure they benefit from this chance, build their business case to entice the right investors for them, and make sure that those businesses experimenting with online advertising have successful online campaigns with maximum analytics transparence, so that they see how effective the internet is as a medium and stick to it even when things pick up again.
In short, the crisis can be a great time for Arab online startups if they grab the opportunities it offers them and are ready to jump on any chances hidden in its midst.
What do you think? What’s your view of things?
In the latest poll on StartUpArabia, the question to the readers was:
How much money do you need for your startup?
The result of reader voting came out as follows:
Out of 230 readers who responded to the poll:
– 37.83% of them say they’d need only between $10,000 and $50,000
– 17.83% say they need $100,000 to $250,000
– 14.78% only need $50,000 to $100,000
– 11.74% said they need $250,000 to $1,000,000
– 7.83% need more than $1,000,000
– and the remaining 10% don’t need any money at all
I think the results of this poll are very interesting, because they highlight a number of really important issues:
– The evident gap we have in angel and seed funding that covers the lower startup budgets that make up the biggest percentage of startup needs, as confirmed by the numbers above.
– Are the region’s VC firms being realistic with the investment sizes they’re looking for in the online and technology startups area?
– Are entrepreneurs being realistic with the amounts of money they think they need? Are they asking for too much or too little? Are they taking into consideration all the costs they need to get their startup on its feet, or are they just looking at what it costs for them to get a prototype out the door?
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 is mainly aimed at Arab entrepreneurs who have already launched their startups and are looking for financing, or those who have yet to launch their projects and will be needing some funding.
The question is: How much money do you need for your startup?
The poll gives a number of ranges that are based on some of the feedback I’ve gotten from entrepreneurs I’ve met and talked with around the Arab world.
Feel free to further expand on your response in the comments section of this post.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.