Eva-Maria Dimitriadis & Hadyah M. Fathalla, C5 Accelerate | AWS Summit Bahrain
(upbeat techno music) >> Live from Bahrain, it's theCUBE. Covering AWS Summit Bahrain. Brought to you by Amazon Web Services. >> Okay welcome back everyone, we are here in Bahrain for exclusive coverage for AWS Summit, part of Amazon's new region being launched here in the Middle East. I'm John Furrier, your host, we have two great guests from C5 Accelerator in Washington D.C., now kicking it out in Bahrain. Hadyah Fathalla, executive director C5 Accelerate and Eva Dimitriadis, good to see you again. >> Thank you. >> Chief operating officer. >> Great to be here. >> Guys, congratulations. Bahrain, D.C. >> The world. >> The world, it's global. >> Thank you, yeah. >> C5 Global. >> It's great to be here. >> It's an exciting time. I mean, I got to ask you Eva, because we had previously met, talked about interviews in D.C. Smart people that known Amazon, because Teresa and Andy Jassy and Jeff Bezos always say, "We're going to be misunderstood for a while." Come on, that's not true. (laughing) A region in this area is going to explode the entrepreneurial scene. What's your take? >> I think that's absolutely true. As we see today at the Summit, there's just such a growing number of entrepreneurs and people who are excited to embrace digital innovation. Three years ago I think the story would have been different but ever since we set up the accelerator here, which was the first once in Bahrain, we've just seen an explosion of interest and not just from Bahrain but from around the GCC. Even start ups from abroad coming and setting up here as their Middle East practice. >> Talk about C5 for a second. Let's take a minute, to explain what you guys do. I jumped ahead a little bit because I'm excited because I just love the entrepreneurial energy. This is a really important thing happening and you guys are playing a role. Talk about C5 Accelerate, what are you guys doin'? What's your business model? Just take a minute to explain as a set up. >> So I'll let Eva talk maybe more about our global operations but really C5 Accelerate a few years ago, branch the business which was largely an investment business, including innovation business and we built Bahrain's first and one the regions, in fact, first cloud enabled accelerators and Bahrain's very first technology accelerator and we did that in partnership with the Economic Development Board, the labor firm Tamkeen and obviously with AWS. Really we benefited from the first mover advantage and the thinking around that was that as Amazon grows it's geographic footprint there is great opportunity to build on the cloud in places like the Middle East where the ecosystem is nascent and there is an amazing first mover advantage. >> Yeah. >> So when we partnered with the government to build this, we realized as we do that, we also need to contribute to building a healthy ecosystem so we built this first accelerator and we have felt-- >> When was that, by the way? >> 2016. >> Great, thank you. >> Actually September marks our two year. We've since graduated five cohorts. We're gearing up for six and we have 34 start ups under our belt. Our first cohort was an all Bahraini cohort and today we're very proud to say that actually half of the start ups that have graduated from this program that is based out of Bahrain are international start ups. That's what we're doing locally. Maybe Eva can tell you a little bit more about what we're doing on a global scale. >> You know and that's important. I want to make sure you got that out about having a bunch of start ups under your belt because when I went to the start up Bahrain session yesterday I was really, really impressed by two things. One is, just the smart energy, the smart people who like understand entrepreneurship. Either went to school for it or have learned through the scar tissue of trial and tribulations like myself. And then the entrepreneurs were there themselves. >> Mm-hmm. >> And you know a healthy entrepreneurial community when they start bitchin' and moanin', they're all chirping away, they're hungry. There's a hungry appetite for entrepreneurship here and creating but it's not fake entrepreneurship. They're really hungry. They're, where's the cash? Where's the capital? So this is really a positive sign. >> It is and I want to add something really quick before Eva jumps in, I think in the past two years what's great about a small ecosystem and the ability to pivot and build fast is you actually see the impact that you can have as an individual and as a company and as a community really on the landscape. But also regionally we've had great collaborative efforts across the GCC and in the region with partners in Saudi and Kuwait and Egypt and in Jordan so I think there's a lot of momentum that we're riding on now, and I think it's a great time to be building in the tech space. >> Well Eva, before you get to your comments. I just want to follow up on the comment around Saudi and different regions because this is a trend that has been happening for a while in Silicon Valley, as you know. People have been leaving Silicon Valley, because it's cost to live there, but people have been putting engineering teams outside of Silicon Valley. I mean, 20 years ago, you only went outside of Silicon Valley or the US to outsource which is not really product development, it's just coding. Then the trend became real engineering and product development, real chops outside. We just had Abdul on from Saudi and he was talking about his shape of his team, the psychology, the make up of the people, it's just not in Saudi Arabia. It's in China, it's all over the world. As developers are working across the world, this is a really big deal. I mean this is the new dynamic. >> Yep. >> Diverse teams, geo located, no borders, this is going to change the political landscape. It's a cultural shift. >> Definitely, I mean I think it's a while before we have here the same secret sauce that exists in Silicon Valley or that has existed there for the past decade or so. But the emphasis on training and upscaling is huge and as we've heard a number of times today, there are so many incentives to do so for free so you can actually learn to code, you can become a certified AWS coder for free in Bahrain. Which is a phenomenal advantage and step up. I mean, no one would pay me to do that in the UK. I think that, along with a number of other initiatives are really going to leap frog the development here. And in terms of what you talk about, the sort of the landscape and geo location, it goes in so many different directions now. There's no single focus so we had a Swiss company last year come and incorporate in Bahrain, and hire developers here to grow their business. It can go in so many different directions. >> Yeah, the winner take all business model is an old business model and now it's everyone's winning so it's a little bit of flattening of the wealth and the opportunities but the pie is getting bigger. >> Yes. >> I think this is the dynamic that cloud and Amazon continues to demonstrate that the Oracles, for instance, of the world, we got to win it all, lock everyone in and we got to own it. That ethos is not, that dog's not hunting, as they say. This is changing the entrepreneurial landscape and the other thing I observe is the younger generation. Leveling up is very easy to them. It's like a video game, right? Leveling up is AI, blockchain, I think one of your companies I talked to, oh we're doing a blockchain implementation. They will eat up the cloud. >> Mm. >> I mean it's going to be like, pretty fast. >> You mentioned-- >> So I'm expecting some accelerated. >> Definitely. I mean you mentioned hungry but they're also fearless. The entrepreneurs that we work with have that perfect mix of a super smart idea and an understanding of a niche sector of the market but also this resilience and recklessness that you need to embrace the opportunity. And all the scary stuff that comes with it. >> And I think adding to that, I think what's great with Amazon coming to Bahrain, with us working across the globe, it's a cross pollination that happens because whether we like it or not, like Eva said, we are not Silicon Valley yet and maybe we don't aspire to be specifically Silicon Valley and we want to build our own unique ecosystem but the lessons learned from the likes of Silicon Valley and London and Singapore and China and everywhere else in the world. >> Yeah. >> Really helps build, not just the skills required but the grit that could otherwise be absent. >> The grit's key, yeah. >> And it can engender the kind of cultural shift that's necessary so you need, so you can develop these robust and resilient qualities that are necessary for a founder. >> Well, that's a really great point. I moved from the east coast in the US to California with my first start up because that's where the action was and I can tell ya, I've been there 20 years and I've been an entrepreneur doing things ever since. And there's a fallacy of trying to emulate Silicon Valley. Every i dotted, t crossed and trying to take the playbook. There's no direct match, however, there's some consistencies in there. That's grit, creativity, openness, capital markets and community and this is something that you guys kind of have in place. And then adapting that to your culture. Now I will say that my impression here is it feels a little bit Silicon Valley because it's a little bit more open and loose. People like to go fast. Fast and loose is the Silicon Valley way. Dubai's a little bit more like New York to me. So I can feel more, valley-like here. I'm not saying that Dubai's bad, I'm just saying it's different cultures. Bigger, its more ... >> There's definitely a lot of agility here. I think one of the other advantages which leads back into what C5 is as a whole, we're primarily an investment business. We have a venture capital fund based in the UK. What we're really looking for is investible, scalable business models where we're de risking the cost of capital with cloud computing because that is how ultimately these start ups scale. Another benefit that we really see in this market is value for money. If you're a start up in Silicon Valley and you get to the stage that some of our start ups get to when they finish their program, your valuation is pretty much always triple what we would see here, so valuation's a very sensitive subject. Our start ups hate talking about it. We structure our deals with them in a way that generally avoids having a valuation. >> It's very easy to do business here. You just keep on increasing the valuation, all the stars will come dropping to your doorstep. >> It's a nuanced area. >> Yeah. >> But that being said, you can get really good value for money businesses but more importantly you're investing in the teams and the entrepreneurs and there's no shortage of that here. >> Let's talk about the ecosystem here and then let's talk about the women in tech because one of the things that blew me away yesterday was Teresa Carlson held a women breakfast and for the first time I got kicked off a table because they wanted to make room for the workshop. >> Sorry about that. (laughing) >> I'm like, wait a minute. This is not an inclusive environment. Sorry, no, we need the table. Okay, I know, I was happy to tap out. But I wasn't expecting that and the energy and the, just really, again, this event, they had to lock the doors for the keynote so there's really a big interest across the board. Talk about the ecosystem and then the women in tech situation. >> So I think the ecosystem is an interesting question because, I mean, we work very collaboratively. Like I said, even though this initiative largely was kind of envisioned by the government and mainly by the Economic Development Board and I'm sure you got a chance to speak to Khalid Humaidan, he might have given you a bit of an idea of how this started off but really the EBD threw this idea of start up Bahrain to the community and said, "Look, you guys lead on it." And it took a little bit of time for the community to figure out what that really means and what it's going to look like but it really made the community and ourselves also think pragmatically about what we want this ecosystem to look like. So even though it's not as mature, like I said, as other ecosystems further away and especially in the west, it is coming together very nicely because it's coming together as a collaborative effort. You see a very good continuous consultative work between private sector, public sector, the start ups and then the other stakeholders, including ourselves, and academia. We still have a long way to go, I think specially in areas and this is something that I always emphasize, is to shift the culture you really need to start at a much younger age so at schools, at universities. We engage with them and are keen to do more on that front but I think we are laying the foundation for what I hope in the next five, 10 years will be a pretty competitive entrepreneurial and start up-- >> It might be sooner. >> Hopefully sooner. >> Yeah. >> I think we have the right recipe now to build a robust ecosystem. >> Yeah, I can say I can attest to that after what I saw yesterday. Your thoughts? >> Yeah I mean our team in Bahrain is 100% Bahraini. I'm based in London, but Hadyah here leads a phenomenal team who are all Bahraini citizens. Being the island that it is, we know everybody so Hadyah's done an excellent job of engaging with everyone from schools to universities to post grads to public sector, private sector. So really all the stakeholders in the ecosystem are engaged and everyone from the oil and gas industry to the finance sphere are thinking about how innovation can advance their businesses so that they don't get left behind at the train station. >> Yeah. >> It's really top of mind and top of agenda which is a very invigorating scenario. I think, going back to some of the initiatives, from bankruptcy laws to having a fintech bay with the Central Bank of Bahrain, there's just so much, like they're constantly pushing the envelope to make this a friendly environment for entrepreneurs to come and do business. >> And I want to add one thing. There's always this question of, does government have a role to drive innovation and create an ecosystem? >> They do. >> I think Bahrain is a good example for others in the region and even beyond to say actually government does have an important role. >> They do. >> If you look at Bahrain, it's government that has been very flexible and nimble in terms of moving to accommodate. Whether it's the new bankruptcy laws or allowing for the fintech sandbox and a cloud first policy and shaping the start up Bahrain. The government has taken the lead on a lot of these initiatives so it's a good example of how there can be a top down approach to building an entrepreneurial landscape but also where the bottom needs to come and meet the top so I think Bahrain a good example. >> Just to reiterate, my observation is that they know how to get things going and sponsor but they're also listening and self aware and even on theCUBE here, we heard comments like, we'll get out of the way. >> Mm-hmm. >> Now that's the difference between good judgment. >> Mm-hmm. >> You know? And, no, no I funded you, I own you, I mean I've seen that in the public sector or, we're going to fund you as an NGO and then I kind of own you so come to my receptions and be my show horse-- >> Mascot. >> Show all of my people how good I am, donating money. So there's a little bit of a balance between enabling. >> Yep. >> But at the end of the day, this is going to be a fast pace and that's where I think the speed, knowing when to get out of the way and letting the community go. I mean, people like speed here. Cars are driving fast, you got a Formula 1 race track up at 14 months. >> They like speed but sometimes things are surprisingly slow. >> Yes. >> So it's incredible that we are where we are. You asked about women in tech and I think there's something there that we're really proud of. C5 globally, 43% of the start up founders that we've supported through our accelerators are women. In terms of diversity, we're thrilled about that statistic. We'd like it be 50%. >> Yep. >> And I think that the Middle East, we're seeing so much hunger from women entrepreneurs and women who want to learn to code to be founders and we want to do everything in our power to enable that. >> Computer science degrees coming out of the university? >> Absolutely. Hadyah here had this fantastic idea a year ago to found what we call C5 Nebula. I'll let Hadyah talk about why we came up with that name and how it relates to our business but this is now a new stream of our business which really it's a membership platform where all women globally are invited to join and we provide education, upscaling, jogs, connectivity, mentorships and through this network we are allowing a complete globalization of the talent and skills that we have. >> Yeah. >> So you can be a student in D.C. wanting to come and volunteer to work for a company here and we will make that match happen. I think it's a very exciting phase for us and we've seen so much demand for this program. Maybe Hadyah can talk about why we came up with this name? >> Yeah, so like Eva said, we, I'm Bahraini, we've always had, we've been lucky to have been pioneering and have work very closely men and have had really equal opportunity but in industries like tech, globally, women's representation is lower than that of men and there are areas where there's still work to be done. >> A lot of work to be done, yeah. >> So last year, actually, with the first AWS Summit, when Teresa was out here, we figured we do a women in tech breakfast. When we were curating that guest list we couldn't find that many women and we didn't know if wasn't that we didn't know them or that they didn't exist and we realized really we need to put together something to bring all the women together and work more closely so we built Nebula, really to, like Eva said, do three things and a little more. One is the connectivity side of things and then the upscaling but also to raise awareness and appreciation. >> What is Nebula? >> What is? >> What is Nebula? >> So Nebula, scientifically it's an astrological, astronomical phenomenon-- >> But it's your network group, is that what it's called? >> It's a platform. >> Okay. >> So it's actually been officially launched three weeks ago, you can go online and visit it and it's a platform that allows you to become a member of Nebula and gives you access to mentorship, to opportunities to upscale and train but also to raise awareness and appreciation for the amazing opportunities for women in the tech space. >> Is there a URL? >> There is a URL, it's-- >> We've been debating what is is today. (laughing) >> It's www.c5nebula.com. >> Okay, I'll put it up, publish it with the video. >> And what it means, it's the Latin word for cloud and it's where stars are born. >> Yeah. It's also, what's important, is it's a compilation of a bunch of different clouds and electrons and it's a mess, it's a bit of a mess but it's a lot of forces working together and I guess the moral of the story is, we can create stars in the space but we all have to work together and it all has to come together to-- >> And it's powerful when you work together. >> Only 10% of VC funding worldwide goes to women founder companies and 1% of that goes to women of color so there's some staggering statistics there. Globally, this is not a Middle East problem, this is globally a real big area of disparity that we're trying to help address. >> Well you guys know our door's open in California and Boston, and certainly the women in tech, we got a big network, we can merge them into the Nebula connect our networks. >> We would love that. >> We would love that. >> We're open and anything you guys have to share with us we love co-creating with the communities, that's what we do at theCUBE. Thanks for coming on and sharing. >> Thanks for having us. >> Thank you, John. It's been a pleasure. >> You got a great mission. Big supporter. C5 Accelerate, they're the ones on the ground, making things happen, gettin' those sparks of entrepreneurship and helping them capture them into one community, create some energy and some momentum and help people create value and also capture the value, that's what it's all about here. You got Amazon Web Services' region in the Middle East, CUBE coverage continues after this short break. (upbeat techno music)
SUMMARY :
Brought to you by Amazon Web Services. here in the Middle East. I mean, I got to ask you Eva, but from around the GCC. and you guys are playing a role. and the thinking around that was that that actually half of the start ups One is, just the smart and creating but it's not and the ability to pivot and build fast of Silicon Valley or the US to outsource no borders, this is going to for the past decade or so. and the opportunities but and the other thing I observe be like, pretty fast. So I'm expecting And all the scary stuff And I think adding to not just the skills required but the grit the kind of cultural in the US to California and you get to the stage that You just keep on increasing the valuation, teams and the entrepreneurs and for the first time Sorry about that. and the energy and the, just and especially in the west, I think we have the right recipe now Yeah, I can say I can attest to that So really all the pushing the envelope to make and create an ecosystem? for others in the region and even beyond Whether it's the new bankruptcy laws and even on theCUBE here, Now that's the difference Show all of my people how and letting the community go. They like speed but sometimes things C5 globally, 43% of the start up founders to be founders and we and how it relates to our business and we will make that match happen. and have had really equal opportunity and we didn't know if wasn't and it's a platform that allows you We've been debating what publish it with the video. and it's where stars are born. and I guess the moral of the story is, when you work together. and 1% of that goes to women of color certainly the women in tech, and anything you guys It's been a pleasure. and also capture the value,
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Zaman Zaman, Founder & CEO at Skiplino & Alharith Alatawi, ONEGCC | AWS Summit Bahrain
>> Live from Bahrain, it's theCUBE, covering AWS Summit, Bahrain. Brought to you by Amazon Web Services. >> Okay, welcome back everyone. We are here live in Bahrain for Amazon's Web Service Summit in the Middle East, really built around the big announcement around their region coming which would open up in Q1 2019. And Amazon full force here and really bringing together a combination of cloud-computing, cloud-native, together with the community and entrepreneurship here. And of course we wanted to save the best for last of the day interview, the entrepreneurs themselves are going to tell a straight scoop what's happening 'cause it's a lot of action here. Alharith Alatawi, who is the CEO of ONEGCC and Zaman Zaman, founder and CEO of Skiplino. Welcome to theCUBE. Thanks for coming on. >> Thank you for having us. >> Thank you for having us. >> So I got to say, I was watching you guys yesterday in your little, and then Bahrain, you're on your best behavior. You didn't chirp too loud, but I can see the energy in the entrepreneurs. You know there's real entrepreneurs in the room when you can see the energy, right? And all the executives were in there, and you've got the Amazon, so you're on your best behavior banging your fists on the door. You guys are doing some good work, so congratulations. >> Thank you very much. >> So what's the real deal? What's it like here? I mean I know it's tough to get access to capital, but the government's bringing some capital to the table, there's momentum, there's opportunities. What's the straight scoop here? >> So for the past three years, when Start-up Bahrain started, there's been tremendous support from the government because they really want to see this, what they're calling the Fourth Industrial Revolution, they want it to happen. They're pushing for it. They're pushing technology start-ups. And we were really blessed to be, I mean to have started just a few months before that, so we're riding an amazing wave. We've been getting a lot of support from Tamkeen, a lot of legislation support from the government, the EDB obviously have been doing a massive job in trying to support us, getting us business. And I mean since we started til today, we've at least doubled or even tripled the amount of clients we have. And there's a lot of attention now to technology start-ups. And I think as a growing sector, Bahrain, we're really reaping the fruits of it. >> And what is your start-up, ONEGCC? Just take a minute to explain what your start-up's doing, how many people you've got going on, the stage of the opportunity. >> So before I founded or co-founded ONEGCC, I was in an investment firm, and one of our investments was in Saudi. It was called a mega-recruitment company. And what we were trying to do is, we had 500,000 work permits. We had to bring a bunch of people and start outsourcing them to companies, but the Ministry of Labor still wanted us to maintain Saudization within these companies that we're working with. And it was a very tough challenge trying to find the right GCC nationals, the right Saudis. I mean 40% of them hold degrees in Humanitarian Islamic Studies, so how do you place all of these when most of the jobs that are being offered are in construction, retail, and other services? So that's when we started ONEGCC. We said you know what, we'll hire people based on skills rather than their job titles or academic background. And that's really where we started ONEGCC. >> So it solves your own problem? >> Exactly. >> You had a little pain there. >> Well today it's our own problem. >> Yeah, now you have a bigger problem. It's called growth. >> (laughs) Yeah, but tomorrow it's going to become a global problem with AI and smart machines wiping out almost maybe 70%. >> So how many people involved in the start-up? What's the stage, would you call it? >> So today we have 18 employees. We're still early stage, but we're growing as well as we can. >> Great. Tell us about your story here. >> Well, mine was a multi-lingual intelligent queue management system. So we realized there was a gap in the market. >> First, explain what a queue management system is, and remember 'queue' is not an American word. That's an English word, or international word. Queue is 'line' they call it in America. >> Okay, let's say line management. >> But we're talking about physical standing in line at the bank. >> Yes. When you go there, you actually take a token and wait. So we realized it was a problem not only in Bahrain. It was a global problem. What we did was, we went to investigate the issue. How it started was, I went to a bank a day before I traveled, and I had to wait for one hour and forty-five minutes just to clear a check. So I found that not acceptable. So what we did was go study the markets. And we realized that was like three or four players controlling the market for the past thirty years. Some people tried to do it cloud-based, but they didn't get it right because they didn't cater to those segments, which is the large B2B clients that need to scale or have a large number of branches. So when we decided to go and build it on the cloud, we realized that there is no performance management on each agent that is live and was streamed. So when we built the reports, we realized that most of it is bottlenecks that can be solved with AI or machine learning. So we incorporated that into Skiplino. Now Skiplino has around 2,500 companies from around the globe in 196 countries. And it's now in 69 languages. >> That's amazing. How many people in your opportunity, working with you? >> Including founders, we're around 15. >> Fifteen, great. Well congratulations, and one of the things I wanted to kind of get here while we're broadcasting around the continent and around cloud is, I live in Silicon Valley, so everyone's got the entrepreneurial bug going on, but you have successes and failures. That's the way it works. You've got to try something and hit the homeruns once in a while, but you got to get a couple base hits. It's really hard. I mean people don't understand how hard it is, right? If they've never done it, it's hard as hell. So, but having the ecosystem support is key, but Start-up Bahrain is doing some good work with EDB. What is the key requirement and what's the need? Where is it working, are you guys seeing on the ground here? Because the community's there and that's a check. That's hard to do. I mean robust entrepreneur community's good, and there's money. So now you've just got to fill in the blank. What is the cloud going to bring you guys? What are you guys hoping for? What do you want to see? >> Of course with the cloud, the best thing that comes with the cloud is scalability, for us. In effect, we're removing the unpremised queue management systems businesses, but the good thing that's happening in Bahrain, and around the GCC too, is ministries and governments are more receptive for additional transformation, and they know that's the only way to keep up. So actually we're the first cloud-based service the Bahraini government used. >> And you're using Amazon now? >> No, (laughs) we're actually a Microsoft concept partner. >> Oh, okay. >> We're the first. >> Are you using Azure? >> Yes. >> Okay, makes sense. Great partner. >> Because we usually deal with banks and telecoms. Microsoft always has a foot in the door there, but we are thinking of having an AWS structure, too. >> It's okay, use it here. It is what it is, a multi-cloud world we're living in. How about your solution? >> So actually we were in the first cohort of C5 Accelerate, which is a program supported by AWS, so we are on AWS, and obviously for us, as a start-up, setting up in the beginning, we have limited resources, and setting up on the cloud just makes it so much easier. >> Yeah, a no-brainer. Not a decision. >> Exactly. >> You got to go to cloud. If you do a start-up and you're not on the cloud, you're spending too much cash. >> (laughs) Exactly. >> It's just the way it is. It's the dumbest thing you should ever do. Unless there's a prototype and you want it next to you, like a puppy and a dog or whatever pet, kind of thing, a security issue. Other than that, there's no reason. >> And it's faster to set up. It's easier for us to reach a wider audience. When we do reach the wider audience- >> What do you think about the show here? What was your walk-away? Obviously you guys are in the middle of the community. We're here for the first time. I was really impressed and I learned a lot, and I made some observations that I didn't expect to have that were really positive. It was a good experience for me, but you guys live it every day. Amazon's in town. There's good dynamics going on. What's your impression? >> Impression on what? >> This show, Amazon's presence, the community coming together. Everyone came here from the gulf states. >> I think one of the main things that we needed to happen in the system is that mind shift. So corporates to start adopting start-up technologies, and for investors who are used to investing in traditional investments and real estate to start actually investing in start-ups. So I think AWS really helped in that mind shift. I think the work that EDB is doing also is helping that mind shift. Now we're seeing more angel investors who are interested in getting into the tech start-up space and more corporates are willing to adopt our technologies, even though they're fairly new. >> Your thoughts on the show? >> It definitely shined a spotlight on Bahrain. Getting Amazon to open AWS in Bahrain is, first of all, we're getting a lot of talent that's going to come in and be trained to set up. So it's a huge- >> It's like you guys are standing around. The metaphor, I'm imagining, you're standing around, you're working on some things, you're hustling, you're scrapping, you're smart. And then all of a sudden, a big resource generator just pops down and says, hey entrepreneurs, I was built for you. >> Yeah. >> And you're there and now you're present at creation. And when you're present at creation of a movement that has this much growth because let's face it, this is going to be growth, and you guys are going to be the leaders. >> Yeah. >> Hopefully. >> So you got to pay it forward. You have big responsibilities. >> Hopefully. >> And you going to make some money along the way, too. I mean, you know the old expression. >> No pressure, huh? (laughs) >> You know the expression, "Hang around the barber shop, "you'll get a haircut." So this is, "Hang around the cloud, "you're going to create some value." So you've got to capture it. So this is the dynamic that I see as an entrepreneur. I was like, damn, if I lived here, I'd be setting up shop. I'd have five companies going on. I'd be telling all my friends to come on in. >> Because you're in the ground floor right now. >> You're present at creation. We're going to start covering you guys, and do some work with you guys. I'm already convinced. >> It's a big wave, and we're happy to be riding it. >> We're going to collaborate with you guys. I think it's a really unique thing. I mean at this scale, it's unprecedented. I mean this is Amazon. I mean in the U.S. everyone is jockeying for where Amazon's next headquarters is going to be, and literally, people are freaking out, like, come to my state. Because they know, with it come jobs, services. It's like putting up a sports stadium, and all of a sudden there's all these new things around it, right? >> Sure. >> It's going on, >> Exactly. >> So this is going to be a big opportunity. >> It's huge. >> For start-ups. So you guys are going to be reaping the rewards. >> Hopefully. >> You hungry? >> We are. (all laughing) >> You have no idea. >> I'm from California. In America, it's like we call it the wave. Get your surfboard, get out there. A lot of sets coming in. So congratulations. Thanks for sharing. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you for coming to Bahrain. It's a pleasure having you. >> Looking forward to working more with you guys. >> Definitely a pleasure. >> Thank you, John. >> Okay, we're here in Bahrain. That's a wrap. We're wrapping up with the founders and CEOs. This is the entrepreneurial action here and the signs are all pointing towards growth. Amazon Web Service is going to bring cultural revolution, economic, society, people, all going to be coming here, for the region, not just Bahrain, but all around the region. I'm John Furrier with theCUBE. Thanks for watching.
SUMMARY :
Brought to you by Amazon Web Services. of the day interview, the So I got to say, I was but the government's bringing So for the past three years, the stage of the opportunity. and start outsourcing them to companies, Yeah, now you have a bigger problem. it's going to become a global problem So today we have 18 employees. Tell us about your story here. So we realized there and remember 'queue' is at the bank. and build it on the cloud, How many people in your What is the cloud going to bring you guys? and around the GCC too, No, (laughs) we're actually Okay, makes sense. foot in the door there, It is what it is, a multi-cloud So actually we were in the Yeah, a no-brainer. You got to go to cloud. It's the dumbest thing you should ever do. And it's faster to set up. We're here for the first time. Everyone came here from the gulf states. in the system is that mind shift. that's going to come in It's like you guys are standing around. and you guys are going to be the leaders. So you got to pay it forward. money along the way, too. You know the expression, Because you're in the We're going to start covering you guys, It's a big wave, and I mean in the U.S. everyone is jockeying So this is going to So you guys are going to We are. In America, it's like we call it the wave. Thank you for coming to Bahrain. Looking forward to and the signs are all
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