OUR FOUNDER OF THE WEEK- Every Tuesday, Founder of the Week looks at how a successful member of Egypt’s startup community got their big break, asks about their experiences running a business, and gets their advice for budding entrepreneurs. Speaking to us this week is Sameh Saleh (LinkedIn), Founder and CEO of MNZL.

My name is Sameh Saleh, and I’m what you could call a serial entrepreneur. I’ve founded four companies so far and love building companies that solve big problems and make an impact. My third company, Harmonica, was bought by the US date-matching conglomerate Match Group — they own Tinder, Hinge, Cupid. It was the biggest online dating app in the Middle East when it was acquired in 2019. I became one of the leadership team of Match Group. It's a USD 40 bn company in the US and with the exit money, I also invest smaller cheques in tech startups.

I majored in Engineering and did a Masters in oil and gas. I worked in oil and gas engineering for almost eight years after graduation, but made a career switch in 2015 and since then I've been building companies.

Today, I’m building a fintech firm called MNZL, which is my fourth company. We offer access to credit through asset-backed financing, that is, giving people more affordable loans with their house or car as collateral. 70% of Egyptians own a home and/or a car.

Only 10% of Egyptians have managed to access credit from financial institutions. If you want to borrow cash to travel, to build a business, to invest in the education of your kids, you will be faced with a very restrictive lending atmosphere. You’ll be asked by the bank to provide details on your salary, you’ll need a HR letter and a bunch of other documents — and you might end up receiving a small loan.

We’re trying to solve the problem of accessing credit in Egypt, and Africa. With the MNZL Wallet, you simply download the app, upload your home or a car, and instantly get a credit limit of 50% of the value of your car or home, that you can withdraw and repay in a flexible installment timeline. We saw a huge gap in the market and a need for more solutions on the continent for building wealth like in the West.

I think this is a very exciting time to build in Africa. We’re finally started creating the ecosystem needed to build big companies, and the technology is catching up. Egypt has one of the most young and dynamic populations — we also have huge problems and we have the manpower to solve those problems.

Building an industry-defining startup is not easy. The process requires a lot of sacrifice from founders and I don't think this topic has been talked about enough within the ecosystem. You have to be super dedicated, sharp and focused. You give up a lot of things as a founder — you can’t simply take time off. As a founder you’re responsible for all the shareholders and employees to believe in the vision that you're building. So, it certainly impacts your freedom.

The best parts of the job are problem solving and team building. I love dreaming about the future and getting excited about what we can actually solve. Building a world class team is something that comes with time and practice, and brings a lot of joy when you get it right. You make a lot of mistakes (this is my fourth company), but then eventually you learn how to put together an intelligent, excited, and self-motivated team.

The worst or toughest part of the job is managing the highs and lows of the company’s journey. Building a company is like a roller coaster, right? The highs are super high, the lows are super low. As a CEO you have to act as the shock absorber for the team. Sure, MNZL has raised USD 3.5 mn, but for me I’ve got to say: time to build. You can’t allow yourself to be super excited. So the worst part I would say is that you eventually learn to be less emotional and more pragmatic.

We’ve raised USD 3.5 mn so far from three key investors: P1 Ventures, the European fund Local Globe (they’ve invested in Wise, for example), and Ingressive Capital.

We want eventually to serve 1 mn customers over the next five years. This is a dream that excites us, and we're on track, but it’s tricky because we’re innovating a financial service that doesn’t yet exist. We need approvals from the financial regulatory authority among other things. As a short term goal we want to make it a reality that any customer, when they download our wallet and upload their assets, gets instant cash that’s equal to 50% of their asset.

Founding a business comes with a lot of ‘noise.’ I see many people fantasize about being a founder or CEO, people who are really passionate about things, but eventually they fail to answer fundamental questions about what they're trying to solve. Are you solving a big problem? Are you attached to this problem? Is the market big enough? Can you solve it or not? You’ve got to make sure that what you're doing actually makes common sense.

Who do I take advice from? I have like 50 advisors. I believe in knowledge sharing. Some specific examples of people to whom I turn for help are: Managing Partner at P1 Ventures Hesham Halbouny and computer scientist and lawyer Mohamed El Nawawy.

A book I’d recommend is Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. It's a great take about how the mind works and how our own biases fool us.

The tech entrepreneur who inspires me the most is Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. He’s a role model for how to become a sharp CEO while being an empathetic and kind person. That mix usually doesn't work. Of course Elon Musk — whatever you say about him — he's a huge inspiration because of how he can envision a world that is better and then make that happen.

Another Egyptian startup that’s killing it at the moment? Breadfast. Great founding team and great numbers — they’re doing an amazing job right now.

If I couldn’t work as an entrepreneur, I’d probably try and work with the government in digitization — I'm driven by impact and I’d want to work in an area where I can add value.

I run very tight schedules when I’m at work, so I like to travel and completely disconnect whenever there’s a break. I’ll take one or two weeks off at a time — I like going to music festivals in Europe. Or I’ll explore a new country and use the time to just sit back and reflect.

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