Seeqnce: My New Adventure
Monday I start a new gig at yet another early-stage company. The company is called Seeqnce, and we are located on Central Bank Street in the midst of the very busy town of Hamra (busy, buzzing towns are always ideal when living the ‘startup life’).
I did not, of course, take on this new adventure solely due to location. I found a very good friend in the founder, who is quite the impressive guy, and was an immediate fan of the idea and business model (coincidentally, I met him around the time I started falling in love with entrepreneurial minds and helping set up the Ideaz Prize) but was truly sold upon meeting with all five of the “go-to-guys” (check out the photo below- pretty cool, eh?)
After all, building a successful company is “not about the idea, it is about the execution,” and these 5 gentlemen have a long history of ‘crushing it’.
You are probably wondering what I’ll be doing do at this point. I can’t share that yet, but I’m looking forward to posting more about progress soon, and of course, I’ll be ranting away about digital marketing and communication strategies as the title of this blog promises.
For now, you can learn some info by checking out www.seeqnce.com and following the Seeqnce blog. What I can share now, however, is that my self-proclaimed title “Ambassador of Awesomness” is officially set in stone as of Monday morning.
Seeqnce is moving faster than any startup I have either worked at or with. Truth be told, it’s pretty exhilarating. I have been moving at lightspeed the second I walked in the door (some six months ago when I walked in just to get some playstation time with them) and have been loving every minute of it. The fact that I now get to say I work there genuinely makes life awesome[r] for me.
If there’s anything I’ve learned with the startups I’ve worked with before: speed is key in building a successful company, particularly in the tech space. In fact, it is a part of the key drivers of the startup culture (here’s a quick tip if you follow this blog for the sake of reading my pointers on communication strategies: if you do not have the defining points of your culture written down and shared with your employees, do so now! )
One last share- for those that think the early startup life is glamorous: LOL. It can definitely be fun, and a pretty crazy ride, but takes a lot of time, energy, and a helluvalot of sacrifice to make a company as awesome as Seeqnce and the startups they accelerate work.
I’m giving up something HUGE to be a part of it all, and as excited as I am, even I have to keep reminding myself that there’s nothing like a little sacrifice to make the reward of building a kickass company that much sweeter.
My time with Ideaz Prize - Encouraging Entrepreneurship in Lebanon
I just wrote this blog post for the Ideaz Factory blog, but I though I’d post it here. I really was inspired by the amazing submissions for the Ideaz Prize.
Entrepreneurship brings optimism anywhere, and is known to be a key factor in the development process of any entity, be it a country, nation, or organization. Entrepreneurs are celebrated because they offer the promise of fiscal and professional liberty, autonomy and progress for the entrepreneur himself/herself and the country as a whole. This encourages associations, governmental bodies, and others to support entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship.
It is no surprise that Ideaz Factory wanted to be (and is being actively) encouraging of entrepreneurs in Lebanon.Ideaz Factory noticed that with all the brilliant minds in Lebanon, we needed to kick some inspiration into the residents of Lebanon, and so set up the Ideaz Prize. With the submission deadline passing last night, we went to bed with 139 ideaz from 139 entrepreneurs who made it to the next stage of the competition, with excited anticipation of who will make it to the final 15 and ultimately win the Ideaz Prize. It was definitely inspiring, and definitely made us hopeful.
What does it mean to be an entrepreneur in a country like Lebanon?All of the Ideaz Prize applicants were individuals who demonstrated creativity, established the skill of being able to efficiently use their own available resources, and came up with business models that added immense value to these resource, turning them into brilliant ideaz. They were all able to make sure that a business they came up with would income that would be self-sustaining and furthermore profitable to the entrepreneur, the possible investors, the Lebanese society, and their own communities.
Ideaz Factory believes that the reason the Ideaz Prize was successful is because entrepreneurship will arise naturally in environments that are encouraging, supportive, and involved in the innovativeness of entrepreneurs. This is type of atmosphere, which was created by the Ideaz Prize competition, was motivation for many to be an entrepreneur and be involved in entrepreneurial thinking – it’s a conducive environment for innovative development for these young entrepreneurs, while there is still encouragement from successful entrepreneurs they can look up to.Seeing this and the benefits of entrepreneurship in overall development, I simply cannot wait to see who the judges pick for their final 15. Best of luck to all who made it through, you have been an inspiration.
Digital communication & social media consultant in Lebanon. Passionate about game-changing ideas and entrepreneurial minds.
