“There is a Fire in Rome”

So my endavours in Fund Raising continues and I have to say that I’m not necessarily getting a mixed bag of views on the economy and my prospects. Its generally quite negative to say the least. With the ression and the crisis in the VC community going on a lot of people are saying, that “this is not just a bad time to raise money but I think the money has dried up in the US”

My reaction “!!#!@$#@!$, Really”.
There has been an awful lot of negative press in the media about how this recession is probably the worst in history and that there is no way to pull out of it, aka “the sh*t has hit the fan”. People have started to say “Rome is burning and its time to find the fire exit”.

Sure if you start reading 10 articles daily on how the US economy is going to drown into the annals of financial lunacy and never to emerge again, you start to think and accept the thought that, “maybe it is true! Maybe this is the end”. But on a recent meeting with a really good and smart friend of mine I got another perspective, “There is a Fire in Rome”.
His view is that the US has more natural resources than anyone in the world and also the largest knowledge base out there. If we look at countries like India and China, yes they have the labor but what about skills, education, R&D!! The US leads everyone in this regards. It will take forever for a lot of countries to catch up. 3/4th of India is still poor no matter how progressive they seem and freedom is an issue in China. And most of all the average GDP per capita in America is approximately $44k, that is a lot of money.

So those screaming that the end of the US is upon us, sorry to burst your bubble but its not going to be anything like the demise of pervious empires!! The political domination is truly near its end but with regards to the economy, we’re simply going to get bought out by free market forces!! Many people have a lot vested in the US to see it simply disappear.

- Farhan Abid

Angel Archetype

I’m in the process of raising seed investment for my firm, MyAmericanDoctor.com, and this is a pretty interesting process. First off, we still don’t have numbers that could intice Venture Capitalists (VCs) or any major institutional investor, hence we have to turn to Angels. These angels are generally members of the 3Fs club (Friends, Family &Fools) and they are either personal contacts or contacts of your close friends/families.

Now its very important as to what kind of angels you deal with, I’m interacting with a couple that are of various backgrounds, professionally and financially, they all have various demands but they all are from the MidWest. I can’t tell you too much about whats the best way to interact with them as I myself cannot assess as of yet if its a success or failure. However I have kept them engaged.

All the investors I have spoken to have definitely been excited about the idea but they seem to work quite slowly and have some awkward demands. And it makes me wonder, is there a particular archetype that angels fall into and if so what is the basis.

A few observations:
- Midwest investors will tend to move slowly
- Are definitely conservative (talk about making $5mil or $10mil and not $100mil, they are definitely not looking for the next google)
- Want to feel like they have control and say in the process

Mind you, I’m not pointing to any of the above as negatives, rather a trend I’ve noticed among the people I’ve interacted with. And like I said, most of the investors I deal with are from the Midwest and hence the culture is noticable.

I will keep adding more info about the eventual outcome and what are the lessons I’ve learned.

Let me know your thoughts.

College to work transition(Dubai Perspective)

sometimes the outcome is not so visible (Click above)

In 1934 a famous Chemical Engineering professor by the name W.L Badger at the University of Michigan once said to a class of undergrads at the start of the fall term  “Look at each other carefully, by October one third of you will no longer be here”. The above flowchart depicts a lifestyle of an individual transitioning from high school through college graduation and after which many of us hit the hurdle which we call “The Work place”.

Alright lets stop here and admit for a second that college is/was fun for many of us even though I along with many students had to spend many sleepless nights working on projects, homework, exams and anything else that would help us boost our GPA by at least 0.1. Some may feel the result they earned wasn’t worth the input while others got what they deserved: A+, distinction, Deans List or Honors. All of us had to face tremendous amount of academic pressure from school, no matter how low ranked school you end up at you still face difficulty. If you end up at a top ranked school you compete with other smart/genius kids in class simply because you are as smart as the rest of the crowd. If you were destined to end up at an anonymous school you are likely to compete with a bunch of “Not so smart kids” or as the world calls them ‘stupid’ because you also share something that is common to them. At the same time college has been fun filled adventurous time of our life. Enjoying the freedom, self-responsibility thus making us into a stronger person and an inspiration for next generation. After all this has happened many of us reach one of the crucial stages of our lives, the work environment.

Some of us are born with a focused mind towards our goals in life. With mere dedication such people end up becoming what they always dreamed about, whether to become a doctor, artist, engineer etc. Even in college I realized that there were many kids who graduated without knowing what they want to do with their lives. Personally I wouldn’t consider them ‘worthless’ or remember them with a negative connotation but rather as people who weren’t willing to follow the social norm. These are the people who disliked the typical 9-5 job, 40 hours of desk work per week, weekends with family, making $55K a year, getting a pat on their back by their boss every time something good was done. These people are not necessarily rebellious. I can say this with confidence because my personality seems to fit this definition.

Okay, now that you have gone through college the next thing you say to your self, “I have the credentials, grades, GPA, experience, and I should find myself a job to settle with. Wait a second; I’m not a US citizen, permanent resident, then who am I? An alien resident”, who is deprived of the right to work in US indefinitely. I just get annoyed every time the recruiters use these words “Are you authorized to work in US INDEFINITELY??” its interesting to note that they all say the same thing word to word as if they were reading it out of a textbook. As foreign students this is one the biggest challenge we have to face in this country. Working for the aerospace and defense company is out of the question, the auto industry is going down the drain and now with the crash of Bear Stearns and its impact on the financial sector, we foreigners are screwed in all directions .

Before I got further disillusioned by such concerning issues, I decided that it would be in my best interest to leave this country and move back to Dubai. Did I just mention “Dubai?”. Yes I did. I have grown up seeing the city emerge from a desert land to the next metropolitan city with enormous potential growth for an individual. It is not close to becoming the next NYC, BOSTON or LA simply because it does not have a 300 year old history to its name nor has it faced a great depression as yet. However Dubai does have to offer all the job and business opportunities that may not be found anywhere else in the Middle East. Big brands, multinational firms before you could even imagine they all have an office in Dubai.

There are a couple of reasons why an individual would want to work in Dubai (check out links) and you will find your answer. Apart form the banking and construction industry, the two other places where it’s worth working is Dubai Internet city and Dubai Media city. At first instinct I thought of applying for jobs in the banking sector until I found myself in a more fortunate position. Currently as the Junior Managing Director for Alutrade Middle East, a 20+ year old Aluminum accessories company based in the heart of Dubai, what more could I ask for! UAE being a tax-free country and no quota on work authorization are just a few of the many reasons why people would want to work here especially foreign students. My friends have complained about the hot weather is some thing that keeps them away from coming to Dubai. We need to realize that there is nothing that is perfect around where we live, we need to learn to fit into our surrounding and not let the surrounding change the way we want it to be. So sit back, relax, surf the web, give it a thought and then say to your self “Dubai here I come”