Hiba Al Masoud, co-founder of Sauce Capital and founder of Scope: Each week, 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 Hiba Al Masoud (LinkedIn), co-founder of Sauce Capital and founder of Scope. Edited excerpts from our conversation:

My name is Hiba Al Masoud; I’m the founder of Scope, a PR and media agency focused on tech firms, and the co-founder of Sauce Capital. I started my career at Etihad Airways in commercial sales, but when covid-19 hit and aviation was at a standstill, I decided it was time for a new adventure, and I co-founded a food tech startup — Sauce Capital.

We wanted to disrupt the outdated food delivery model and connect the food ecosystem, which was previously fragmented. We started with the launch of a few brands and several kitchens in Abu Dhabi and today they are spread over three cities with over 40 virtual food brands.

The secret to the success of Sauce Capital was, I think, timing. The sector was getting attention due to the growth of the food delivery market and a shift in overall consumer behavior from minority ordering to ordering sometimes up to three times a day. That was compounded by the pandemic, which digitized the food sector even further.

Three years into my venture, I also established Scope, a boutique PR/Communications Advisory that focuses on building brand narratives and strategy. I have always been passionate about communications and having had a Master’s and some work experience in PR, I felt it was a calling that I had to attend to.

At the same time, Sauce Capital was gaining a lot of traction and growing. I was included in Forbes 30 under 30, and also completed a Women in Innovation Fellowship with the Atlantic Council & Georgetown University.

We have a very cool day-to-day routine at Scope. Some days, we’re stuck in lots of meetings with clients, but a lot of the time I’m going out to meet a client, or I’m driving to an event, so it’s very dynamic and on-the-go. It’s fast-paced, which I love.

My morning routine starts with an early wake-up, and 30 minutes of meditation. I don’t look at my phone for the first 30 minutes. That helps me start my day right with a clearer mind . If I have some time, I’ll go play some upbeat music on my mixers for 20 mins — I DJ as a hobby — and that really helps me start my day right.

I have a team meeting almost everyday to align and regroup, because things are always moving fast in PR and a lot can change overnight.

My goal right now for Scope is to grow the team. We’re currently in the process of fundraising. My goal is to have a 360° agency, covering everything from events to social media and PR. This is where I found the gap in the market here, because a lot of companies in the sector just focus on one vertical, but not a lot of people do what we do as a boutique agency.

Personally, I’d like to go back to traveling. I’ve been to 64 countries, and I want to finish them all before I’m 40. I want to expand the team [at Scope] and take some steps back.

The best piece of advice that I ever got was to build trust and give as much as I take. My dad always used to tell me, before you ask someone for something, think of what you can offer them.

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