Sanabil Founder University by LAUNCH

Friends,

Three years ago, I started to make trips to “the Region.” For a decade, my friends in technology and finance had told me that things were evolving quickly in the startup space and that I needed to meet all the new players.

They weren’t wrong. The enthusiasm for startups in Qatar, the UAE, and the Kingdom of Saudi blew my mind. Everyone I met in the Region told me they were huge fans of my two podcasts.

Everywhere I went, founders, investors, and technologists shared with me all the lessons and inspiration they had taken from conversations they heard on “This Week in Startups” and “All-In.”

They were building companies, starting venture firms, hosting co-working spaces, and, wait for it, starting podcasts!!!

To build a startup ecosystem, you need three things: founders, investors, and customers. On these trips, which have now reached almost a dozen, my schedule would fill up in real time. One founder would tell me I had to meet these two investors before I left, and those two investors would insist that I stay and have dinner with an important government group — whom I found even more visionary and engaged than most here in the States.

It reminded me of the fast-paced ”Silicon Alley” days in New York City in the 1990s, and the booming Silicon Valley days in the 2000s — and the inspiring new startup communities in Austin, Singapore, and Australia.

During my visits, people kept asking me about our Founder University program and how it worked.

It’s simple, I told them: we get 20,000 founders applying for funding from our venture firm every year, but half of them are in “Year Zero” and we don’t have a way to engage with them — other than telling them, “Watch the podcasts!”

So, we created a 12-week program for founders in Year Zero and Year One. Some founders come with just an idea and a co-founder (or two!). Others come with an MVP but no customers. Others have ten customers but haven’t raised any funding.

We like to meet founders where they are and then customize the program to their stage and needs.

While in the Kingdom, I got to spend time with the Sanabil team, and they told me, “Bring it to Riyadh!”

After a couple of conversations, lots of long meals, and very strong yellow gahwa — which I’m now craving while writing this email — we did a deal.

On November 3rd, I’ll be on the ground in Riyadh to launch Sanabil Founder University by LAUNCH.

Founder University includes a massive curriculum covering everything from cap tables to product market fit, from product design to landing your first ten customers.

Most founders know half the curriculum, but it’s always a different half. We try to teach them the challenges they’ll face and how other founders have conquered those challenges before they face them.

The program occurs in the evenings, at 5PM on Monday and Wednesday, since many founders still have a day job.

On Mondays, we have amazing speakers who give important tactical and strategic talks, followed by never-ending Q&A sessions.

On Wednesdays, we break into smaller “pods” and review everyone’s progress for the past week. The goal is for founders to make progress every week and share it. It’s hard-driving and exhausting at times, but effective for the hard-driving founder.

We are taking applications from founders around the world who want to spend 12 weeks in the Kingdom. There’s no investment on the way into this program, as it’s a pre-accelerator. However, you will meet many investors during the program, and we reserve the right to offer the highest-performing founders an investment at any time! 🙂

You can apply at: mena.founder.university If you have any questions, you can email us at: team@launchmena.co

It’s clear to me, after thirty years of building and covering startups, that there’s a huge opportunity for America and the Kingdom to create the most important startups of 2030 — and forward — starting in the Founder University!

See you in the Region for a late-night Mama Noura shawarma run and to talk about your startup.

best, JCal