Mohamed Milyani, Founder and CEO of Nqoodlet: My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. Speaking to us this week is the founder and CEO of Nqoodlet Mohamed Milyani (LinkedIn). Edited excerpts from our conversation:

I am Mohamed Milyani. I started my career around 1999 amid the first wave of the internet as a freelancer. Around 2006 or 2007, I pivoted to become an authorized Apple trainer while also serving as a sales trainer.

In 2013, I co-founded Tech Wahood, a software development house where we launched several startups, including Lucidya, and developed more than 270 projects. During my later years at Tech Wahood, I also wrote a third book on building mobile applications and created the Mobile App Canvas. It was a long journey with multiple hats to wear.

Nqoodlet started as an expense management solution to address issues for the more than 1.3 mn SMEs in Saudi Arabia. For them, handling financial operations is very hard, and they can't hire a chief financial officer with good experience, because it's very expensive. This has caused many SMEs to either go out of business or fail to gain adequate insights into their financial projections. Meanwhile, available ERP solutions are either very expensive or overly complicated. That’s why Nqoodlet is building a comprehensive financial operating system specifically for these SMEs.

I handle two roles at Nqoodlet. First, as CEO, I oversee all fundraising aspects, keep track of all departments’ KPIs to check if we are hitting our targets, and follow up with all the teams. I also handle investor relations and manage communications with our major service providers while ensuring that the main vision for Nqoodlet is on track.

I’m also the chief product officer. In the early stages of any startup or company, the product needs to be led by the founder to ensure the vision is consistently aligned. During the last few months, I've actually started to rely more on the product team that I built internally. Now I have an acting product manager who is handling the day-to-day product operations. However, I still steward the big vision for the product and ensure we are going in the right direction with that vision.

Within the next three years, our goal is to handle all of the financial operations for SMEs — from planning to audited financial statements. We aim to make it effortless for them by providing automated VAT reports and financial insights. We are focusing on making the language of our platform very user-friendly while also catering to experienced accountants. We are designing the platform to fit our target audience, mainly startup founders and SME CEOs.

We are also working on something called Plan, which gives SMEs the ability to plan and track their budget and expenses while eliminating the need for extensive manual work. I've seen it with many companies; they have an Excel sheet, and after a few months, they start to lose track. We aim to make it very easy for them, in a language they understand.

My management style is a bit different, especially in the tough financial industry. I was initially advised to try to be tough, but then I received another piece of advice from a person I really admire: “Don't try to change your way of management, or how you are dealing with the team, even if the whole industry is trying to push you.” I took this advice seriously and decided to ignore the common advice to be tough and to continue with my own style.

I treat every team member as if we are working together on the same level. I don't like to pull rank unless it's really needed or our vision is being compromised. I also try to listen carefully and build an internal culture where everyone is welcome to talk and speak their mind, unless it concerns a major strategic direction. So, it's a balancing act. I'm neither purely logical nor purely emotional; it's almost a 50/50 balance.

Selecting the right co-founder is very important. My advice is that if you're going to have disagreements, it's best to have them at the beginning, not while you're building the startup. Fortunately, I have a great co-founder with me, Yara. She's a really great partner who is incredibly helpful and significantly lightens my workload.

Another key point is team member selection. As a founder, particularly in the early stages, you need to personally vet the cultural fit of at least your first 50 hires. This is a vital point every founder needs to consider, because if someone isn’t a good cultural fit, they can become a “bad apple” and negatively affect the whole team. When comparing two candidates, a better cultural fit will be more beneficial for the company’s early development even if the other possesses marginally more knowledge.

Uncertainty is inherent in all early-stage startups. For me, I have one word I always love to refer to: resilience. Any startup founder who does not possess resilience won't be able to keep the startup going or make it grow.

My daily routine starts by waking up between 5:30-6:30am. I go to the gym before work for about an hour, which helps release tension. I have an espresso in the gym lounge, I set my calendar, and then I start the “battle of the day” at the office.

I pick up my four-year-old son from school at 12:30pm, and he comes with me to the office on most days. We call him the Chief Happiness Officer, and he enjoys his role immensely, spending his time interacting and playing with the team and making interesting observations.

After finishing my day at around 6:30-7:30pm, I go home and do some reading. I also take online Harvard courses in leadership, applying what I learn to our growing team. After that, I sometimes watch TV series, anime, or play video games to unwind. I try my best not to work on Fridays, unless it’s urgent.

I really enjoy reading about history, especially about specific eras or people. I also enjoy learning about the science of how people interact, think, and behave — psychology or behavioral science. Moreover, reading novels sometimes takes my mind away from the real world, and it increases my ability to think and experience different perspectives. Currently, I'm really enjoying Dawn by Octavia E. Butler.

Two books I always recommend for anyone in the startup scene are The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz and Deep Work by Cal Newport.

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