Pod Kas with Yaz

Sheikh Fahim Al Qasimi (aka 'Turtle Sheikh') is a member of the UAE's Royal Family, Executive Chairman at the Department of Government Relations in Sharjah, Co-Founder of Seafood Souq and a good old friend from our days back at Kearney. When he's not swimming in oceans saving turtles (literally), he's probably dining with Gary Vee or with the President of Guatemala to discuss Economic relations with Sharjah.  Last time Fahim and I caught up was more than 12 years ago, but it didn't take long for me to remember how funny, humble and smart he is - for an Emirati (joke context towards the end of our chat). On a serious note, catching up with Fahim in-person reminded me of the ingenuity that's behind the incredible story of the UAE and the unwavering passion that drives authentic entrepreneurship. Learn more about Fahim's company Seafood Souq here: https://uae.seafoodsouq.com/ Follow Fahim on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fahim-al-qasimi-6a57b754/ Follow 'Pod Kas with Yaz' on all streaming platforms here: https://linktr.ee/podkaswithyaz

Elie Skaf is the Co-Founder & CEO of Right Farm, a B2B AgTech platform on a mission to improve food supply chains in the MENAPT region. They recently raised a USD 2.8M seed round led by DisruptAD and Enhance Ventures. In the first half of this episode, we discuss the story behind Right Farm, fascinating insights about food supply, sustainability challenges, food waste management and other related topics across the value chain within Right Farm's vicinity. Even though we just met, Elie and I both worked as Management Consultants earlier in our careers and also studied at the American University of Beirut (AUB) between 2004-2007. Naturally, we also had an awesome chat about our common past experiences and went down the Lebanon memory lane after 15 years of our graduation. - Learn more about Right Farm here: https://www.rightfarm.com/ - Follow Elie Skaf on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elie-s/ - Follow 'Pod Kas with Yaz' on all streaming platforms here: https://linktr.ee/podkaswithyaz

Zina is a serial entrepreneur, mentor (500 Startups), ex-BCG and worked at Careem just before the acquisition by Uber. Most recently, she co-founded Palma de Salus, the "perfect hand sanitizer" inspired by the pain points that surfaced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Above all, Zina is a good old friend, a work colleague and someone I've always admired & enjoyed catching up with. We also lived in New York, San Francisco, Dubai and Amman at various stages of our lives, so naturally our discussion had multiple vantage points based on what we've experienced. In this overdue catch up, we discuss trends and misconceptions surrounding startups, the pros and cons of management consulting, healthy and unhealthy coping mechanisms (addictions), gender equality and the fascinating rebirth of KSA. - Learn about Palma de Salus here: https://palmadesalus.com/ - Follow Zina on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zinaajlouny/ - Follow 'Pod Kas with Yaz' on all streaming platforms here: https://linktr.ee/podkaswithyaz

My cousin Fady is a seasoned C-level executive in the advertising industry who recently got neck deep into NFTs. It all started when I introduced him to crypto at a family dinner in 2020, right in the midst of the last bull cycle. Fast forward 2 years later and he's become a walking NFT encyclopedia. In this episode, we discuss the difference use cases for NFTs (beyond just digital art), the hype over specific NFT projects, why people should consider to at least dip their toes in this new asset class, how to vet different projects, NFT jargon and much more. We also discuss how NFTs ignited a new fire in Fady's life (personally and professionally) and bridged a generational gap between him and his kids. Learn more about Fady's recent endeavor into NFTs here: https://nonfungiblepunks.io https://www.instagram.com/non.fungibl... Follow Fady on Instagram and LinkedIn here: https://www.instagram.com/fadfad73/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/fadykarim/

Dana Fakhoury (aka Earlybird) is an incredible up & coming Artist and Music Producer who was recently a Resident Performer at Dubai's Expo 2020. I came across a couple of her tracks and was blown away not only with her style of music, but also with her masterful ability to play the guitar and the Ableton Push in a live setting (despite her hand injuries, which also led her to double down on her music passion). In this episode, Dana debuts her newest track 'Traveler', which was inspired by one of her mom's favorite old Arabic songs and by her own journey as a musician. Watch her live performance and the full episode on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvf3xNriBMU Follow 'Earlybird' on all socials and music streaming platforms here: https://linktr.ee/earlybird

Rawan is an eclectic individual and an outspoken critic of the BS that gets regurgitated on LinkedIn, which is how I initially stumbled into her on my newsfeed. As it turns out, many more of Rawan's LinkedIn posts had gone viral including her thoughts on women empowerment, career choices, social stereotypes and everything in between. I found Rawan's opinions and vocal presence on LinkedIn to be quite refreshing, so I invited her to have an open chat about a bunch of topics including: - Traveling & working as a freelancer compared to full-time employment - Misguided career ambitions & disingenuity on LinkedIn - Empowerment of women & toxic masculinity - Volunteering and why many (including myself) don't do enough or any (.. and of course, no episode would be complete without discussing fun facts about whale sharks and dogs!)

Nour is a certified Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) Coach and a dear friend of mine. In this episode, we discuss what is NLP and how it fits within the overarching theme of self mastery. Nour shares valuable and practical examples of how NLP can be transformative in our every day lives and sheds light on her own self development journey.

Fouad Jeryes & Sinan Taifour are serial entrepreneurs who co-founded several companies together over the last 10 years, most recently Maqsam (maqsam.com). In this candid episode, we discuss the impact of our childhood & our environments on our adult selves, mental health, misguided ambition and the healthy pursuit of authentic success and fulfilment. فؤاد جريس وسنان طيفور رواد أعمال شاركوا في تأسيس عدة شركات ناشئة معًا على مدار السنوات العشر الماضية ومنها شركة مقسم. في هذا الحوار الصريح، نناقش أهمية الصحة النفسية والعقلية، تأثير طفولتنا وبيئاتنا على طموحنا والتعريف الصحيح للنجاح

Suna is a Palestinian Entrepreneur living in Jerusalem. She's also the Founder of Tawazon, the 1st mobile app for meditation & mindfulness in Arabic. In this episode, we discuss the history, perceptions, benefits and recent trends surrounding mindfulness - specifically for Arabs. We also had an interesting chat about her entrepreneurial story since 2018 and what it's like to build & grow a tech startup especially under the challenging circumstances in Palestine, while also raising 3 children with her husband. Tawazon app is available on Apple and Android.

Are you a Generator, Projector, Manifestor or Reflector? This is just one of the many layers within ‘Human Design', which is a new-age pseudoscience for self-discovery that is fascinating to say the least. I had my mind blown learning about it for the 1st time from my good friend Fares Bdeir, who also spoke to me in depth about the ‘Law of Attraction' and how it led him to NFTs - a topic he's extremely passionate and knowledgeable about. Human Design combines various modalities from ancient eastern philosophies (Kabbalah, I Ching, Hindu-Brahmin chakra system), quantum physics (neutrinos) and astrology to help people understand their types based on their energetic imprint. It was founded by Alan Krakower during a mystical experience he had in Ibiza in 1987! While I remain a skeptic when it comes to any pseudoscience, I always like to approach new modalities with a curious mind and I strongly believe that things don't have to be necessarily right for them to be useful. Especially in the constantly evolving realm of psychoanalysis, the ‘science' is usually inconclusive at best or hubris at worst - so it's far more useful to find a narrative that resonates well to live the best versions of ourselves. For example, the infamous Myers-Briggs assessment that's based on Carl Jung's personality types has been shown to be highly inconsistent and inaccurate in recent studies. I think It is equally important to take any psychoanalysis (scientific or otherwise) as a directional tool and not get too attached or culty about it, especially when there's no shortage of exploitative therapists, psychiatrists, healers and everything in between.

Bechara is an Executive Coach and a Facilitator who previously worked as a Management Consultant at McKinsey between 2008 - 2019. We were recently introduced to discuss business collaboration, but we walked out of our meeting as friends who perhaps knew each other from a past life (if there is one). I couldn't help but notice Bechara's humility, empathy and honesty - all the things that got me excited to have him on the show and that make him an excellent coach today. In this episode, we discuss how to approach personal growth and navigate between different modalities, the art of listening, the impact of our childhood and our environments on our wellness and other related topics. Towards the end, we exchanged perspectives on the Management Consulting industry based on our experience.

A 360 crypto episode with Yazan Barghuthi, who raised $30 million during the ICO craze in 2017. Today, Yazan is building collateralized debt offerings (CDOs) on chain with Traunch and is a Co-Founder at CoinMENA, a leading crypto exchange in the Middle East. Yazan is also a dear friend from high-school and the reason I started buying crypto 4 years ago. In this episode, we discuss a bunch of stuff including the dark world of crypto, NFTs & the metaverse, Bitcoin versus alt coins, ‘inverse' ponzis' and DeFi liquidity hacks (Olympus DAO), the history of money, consensus mechanisms & the trilemma of blockchains, conspiracy theories and the race over hash power. We also got into some mind-bending mathematics (did you know there's countable infinity, and UNCOUNTABLE infinity? Follow 'Pod Kas with Yaz' on YouTube, Apple and Spotify on the links below: YouTube: https://bit.ly/3rHx6aF Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cCZNOg Apple: https://apple.co/3485u2H

جريس مدانات (أبو يزن) سياسي وصحفي مرموق. في هذه الحلقة العفوية، يخبرنا أبو يزن عن بعض الأحداث التي شهدها قبل خمسين عاماً ومنها مقابلته مع ٱلشَّيْخ زَايِد بِن سُلْطَان آل نَهْيَان رحمه الله عام 1971 أثناء إتحاد الامارات العربية ومعركة ثغرة الدفرسوار في فلسطين عام 1973

كيف تختار العملات الرقمية للإستثمار والتداول

Elia Korban is a good friend and an ex-colleague from Kearney back in 2010. Since we left full-time consulting, we've both been active in the Management Consulting gig economy; Elia as a freelance Management Consultant and myself as the Founder of QO Collective. Both of us also endeavored into entrepreneurship by starting companies of our own.

Ramzi Khleif is General Manager MENA at StashAway, a robo-advisor investment app with +$1B in assets under management. Prior to StashAway, Ramzi was at Careem during its exit to Uber and also worked as a Management Consultant with Strategy& for ~4 years. In this episode, we discuss everything from startups, investing, management consulting, MBA, and everything in between. Watch 'Pod Kas with Yaz' live on Facebook and listen to all new episodes on Apple and Spotify on the links below: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodKasWithYaz Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cCZNOg Apple: https://apple.co/3485u2H

Chirag is the Founder & CEO of Amaeya Media Network, the UAE's 1st independent podcast company which has grown into one of the largest podcast network's in the Middle East & North Africa. In this episode, we discuss the latest and greatest in the world of podcasts and digital content. We also discuss Amaeya's 2nd report on Podcasts in the Middle East, which they recently issued. Watch 'Pod Kas with Yaz' live on Facebook and listen to all new episodes on Apple and Spotify on the links below: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodKasWithYaz Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cCZNOg Apple: https://apple.co/3485u2H

Feras Jalbout is Founder & CEO at Baraka, a new investment app for millennials across the Middle East. Before Baraka, Feras worked in venture capital and wealth management. In this episode, we discuss the differences between trading vs. investing in stocks and crypto, as well as new trends in this space such as NFTs.

Tareq Masarweh underwent a radical transformation journey, underpinned by a remarkable loss of over 25kg in overweight, a battle with addiction and a holistic approach to the treatment of anxiety & depression. In this episode, Tareq shares his experience with plant medicine (ayahuasca) and a variety of other modalities throughout his ongoing transformation journey, which led to his recent endeavor in coaching & healing other individuals.

Matt Toogood is the Co-Owner of RAW Coffee Company. Founded in 2007 and located in a funky warehouse in Dubai, RAW sources premium beans from all around the world and focuses on premium quality and sustainability. In addition, they provide all sorts of coffee machinery and training for baristas and coffee aficionados. In this episode, we discuss all things related to the coffee value chain, coffee's impact on health and everything in between.

Some of my own thoughts on the crypto space: Investing vs. Trading and why DOT & ADA may have better growth prospects compared to Ethereum, who's the current leader in the smart contract space

Basel is a talented musician, a blogger, and an entrepreneur living in Dubai. Above all, he's always been a wise & honest friend since our high-school days. In this episode, we discuss how to pursue your genuine self, especially under the pressure of unexpected pandemics, ingrained guilt and other external factors that are out of our control.

Nadine Mezher is a Co-Founder at Sarwa - the 1st Robo-Advisor in the Middle East. Sarwa raised an $8.4M Series-A earlier this year and is based in DIFC. In this episode, we discuss investing vs. trading stocks. Trading can be extremely dangerous, especially when you're new to the game or forced into margin trading as with most CFD brokers. Not only does it require a strong grasp of technical analyses and business fundamentals, but more importantly, it mandates extreme discipline, patience, bankroll management skills and a consistent mental A-game. Even then, there are too many unpredictable forces at play that 'rig' the imperfect game of active trading. Like the famous Economist John Maynard Keynes said, “the markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent". That's why for retail investors, having a long-term, passive investment strategy for a big portion of an investment portfolio can be the optimal approach to maximize wealth and balance risk & reward.

Loulou El Khazen is the host of her own podcast 'Conversations with Loulou' and Founder of Nabbesh.com. She also started an angel investing group focused on early stage tech startups. .'Conversations with Loulou' لولو الخازن مؤسسة موقع نبش ومقدمة البودكاست الخاص بها

Khaled Talhouni is a renowned venture capitalist based in Dubai. He invested in and managed over 60 early stage transactions including Careem, Littlebits, Mumzworld, Insider and Luxury Closet. Khaled recnetly launched Nuwa Capital, a $100 million VC fund focused on Fintech, Mobility, Logistics and Enterprise startups in MENA. In this episode, we discuss his new perspectives on VCs and startups after the COVID-19 pandemic and how he plans to disrupt the VC space through Nuwa Capital.

Oliver Linsenbarth is my Kinesiologist at Diversified Integrated Sports Clinic (DISC) in Dubai, who's been doing a fantastic job with my rehab after 3 shoulder surgeries. In this episode, we discuss kinesiology's holistic approach to fitness, alternative techniques to pain management such as NeuroKinetic Therapy (NKT) & kinesiology tapes, the importance of the mental game, how to work out smart & pain free, and other related topics.

Talal Tabbaa is the Co-Founder of Jibrel Network, a blockchain development company that raised $30 million through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in 2017. In this 1st episode of Pod Kas with Yaz, we discuss the future of Bitcoin, decentralized finance (DeFi) and other cryptocurrencies. طلال طباع هو الشريك المؤسس لشبكة جبريل. في هذه الحلقة، يشاركنا طلال بقصته الريادية في مجال العملات الرقمية ونناقش مستقبل التمويل اللامركزي