June 19, 2015
Newsletter – August 2014
Special Letter from the Executive Director
Dear Lebneters:
Greetings from Lebanon!
First, I would like to extend our wishes to all of you who celebrated Eid Al Fitr al Moubarak, please excuse the delay.
Second, I am happy to share that I have been meeting with extraordinary people here in my home country from young entrepreneurs to seasoned VCs and CEOs. You can read more below, in the partnership and mentorship programs section.
I am pursing our work with the young Lebanese entrepreneurs, building on the momentum created during the MITEF event. Again a big THANK YOU to all of you who were able to represent LebNet to this event, either in the Mentorship day or in the Investors’ day. You will find information and pictures of this event as well as a peek into our upcoming events below.
LebNet is now ready to go to the next level. Our partners are counting on us to lead the way into bridging the needs of the new generations and the expertise and experience of our successful Silicon Valley Diaspora. Here is how you can be part of this effort:
Please fill out our mentors survey here
Participate in our events as speakers, panelists, mentors, attendees
Participate in our annual fundraising campaign starting in September 2014.
Salamates!
Michelle Tager
Executive Director
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LebNet Mentorship Program:
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- What’s new: LebNet has successfully answered the MIT PanArab Forum request to co-organize a day long mentorship program last June. Check out this promotional video here: The Arab World Meets Silicon Valley 2014. See pictures from this event here.
Quotes from the Mentorship Day:Ziad Sankari from Cardio diagnostics: “I am looking for a motivated mentor, who can share his connexion and guide me on a strategic level to make the right decisions. The ideal mentor for me should be passionate about helping Lebanon, friendly, and humble.”Marc Suidan, Lebnet mentor: “I am looking for a start-up who is willing to be coached, and would like to know about their specific needs to be most efficient in my mentoring.”This event was made possible thanks to the participation of our following members: Elie Antoun, Khalid Ashour, Ahmad Chatila, Nadim Cheaib, Louay Eldada, Karim Faris, Anwar Ghauche, Elie Habib, Ramzi Haidamus, Salim Jabr, William Kanaan, Simon Khalaf, Elie Khoury, Joe Manok, Edgar Masri, Fares Mubarak, Khaled Nasr, Anthony Nassar, Ron Papas, Marc Suidan, and George Tannous.If you have participated in the MIT PanArab forum as a mentor for a day, we would much appreciate you sending us your feedback and availability to pursue your mentoring at [email protected]
- LebNet is surveying the MENA companies that were present at this event in order to identify which one will benefit from our Mentorship Program. The start-up companies we are looking at are: Apps2you, E-Tobb, CardioDiagnostic, BandIndustries and Azur.
- Elie Habib, LebNet mentor: “A good mentee should be willing to be coached, and learn. The relationship between mentor and mentee should be one of mutual trust.”
- Hassane Slaiby From Band Industries: “My ideal mentor should be a good listener, knowledgeable in the industry and able to convey information in layman’s terms.” “ I am looking to grow the company’s sales, to strengthen my business development strategy and to find more funding.”
- Mario from Apps2you: “this is a great day! Much better than other mentoring events in that I got answers and, confirmation of mistakes to avoid. Overall, it was a very honest and eye opener event. ”
- How you can help: If you wish to be on our list of potential Mentors for future opportunities, please register here and fill out our questionnaire. This survey is short and will take less than 5 minutes.
LebNet Partnership Program- launching LFE:
- Why: Partnership is key to our activities. It avoids duplicating what others have already done or can do better, it helps build up on others’ achievements, and overall it creates synergy in the ecosystem we belong to. LebNet needs to work with partners in diverse geographical areas and in complementary fields.
- What: As part of our mission, LebNet has developed extremely good relationships with the Lebanese NGOs working in the High Tech field and/or in the start-up business in Lebanon, such as Wamda, Endeavour, Berytech, Bader, Kafalate, and MEVP. LebNet has created a special initiative in Lebanon with its US partners LIFE and SEAL, called LFE (Lebanon for Entrepreneurship)
LebNet relationship with these entities based in Lebanon is one of close communication, and sharing of information. LebNet and its Lebanese partners assist each other in disseminating news from the diaspora to Lebanon and from the Lebanese ecosystem to the diaspora. LebNet works on being the advocate for Lebanese entrepreneurs who founded start-ups in Lebanon and/or in the Silicon Valley. LebNet strives to create the right environment for these companies through its network of prominent actors in the Silicon Valley. LebNet puts its network to act towards nurturing and facilitating the development of Lebanese and Lebanese held start-ups in the high technology industry.
Today, LebNet is looking to expand their partnerships with entities in the US, in two directions. First we would like to create special ties with the young generation within the framework of our membership program and our goal to benefit the maximum number of Lebanese abroad, and second we would like to reach out to corporate institutions for corporate sponsorship.
- How you can help: If you think you can lead the effort on either one of the two directions above, please drop us an email at [email protected] , and let’s brainstorm.
- What’s new: As part of our partnership program, LebNet has been approached by the World Bank Group to help identify successful diaspora members in the High Tech industry as part of a Research project launched by the World Bank. More than 30 members have agreed to answer a survey questionnaire developed by Anwar Aridi, researcher at SRI. For more info on the project read here
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UPCOMING EVENTS:
August 18, 2014: Building Businesses in Silicon Valley INSEAD MBA students are coming to the Silicon valley as part of a High Tech immersion tour. Your presence at this event will create a mutually beneficial networking environment. Login to LebNet website and register to attend if you have not done so yet.
September 10, 2014: TECHCRUNCH Arab Pavillion Event
In the framework of the renowned Techcrunch event, LebNet partner MEVP, is organizing an Arab pavilion for the second year in a row. Arab and Lebanese start ups will be present to showcase their services and products. LebNet will be organizing a networking day during the event, where LebNet members will have the opportunity to share their skills and expertise with start-up founders and CEOs.Please stay on the look-out for more information on the participating companies. We will be needing your help.
NEWS:
Select news from our LebNet Members! We are proud to announce the following successes achieved by some of our our LebNet members:
Ahmad Chatila: This segment is one of a series of interviews with Lebanese diaspora high achievers, part of a diaspora research project by the World Bank.
Ramzi Haidamous: Nokia appoints Ramzi Haidamus to head Nokia technologies
Simon Khalaf: Yahoo is buying mobile analytics firm flurry for north of 200m
If you have a success story to share please email it to [email protected]
Good News for Lebanese Entrepreneurs!
Atheer Labs closes new round thanks to Lebanese diaspora connection , read more here
Beirut co-working space AltCity is finding its path, read more here |
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Let us know what you think, send your comments and suggestions to [email protected]
Keep checking our website for latest LebNet events, news and job postings! |