Agree completely. Writing was brilliant. Kudos to the author.

They’re looking for partners in money laundering.

Ever heard of the term “hawala?” Originates from this region.

what has family values and uniqueness got to do with corruption?

> offering something genuinely unique in a market where exclusivity matters

That's the biggest joke for everyone who has ever dealt a tiny bit with the tech market over there. If China is me-too of US tech companies, South East Asia is me-too of Chinese companies and the Middle East is me-too of South East Asian companies.

Think Uber -> Didi -> Grab -> Careem

there is nothing 'genuinely unique' or 'exclusive' by having the same product and business idea implemented four times over. Yes each one has added significant local touch and flavour to it but... unique? Exclusive?

No, what they’re looking for is fundamentally different. They don’t want better solutions or lower cost or greater efficiency. They want something that enhances clout.

Yep I'll never succeed in a world where I have to "dress the part".

Luckily this is an era where it doesn't matter much

Same here. My career situation isn’t looking great, and I haven’t felt truly satisfied at any of the places I’ve worked. I do believe there’s a role out there that strikes a better balance between meaningful work and a sustainable lifestyle—but finding it feels almost as daunting as starting a business from scratch.

There is a gentler version of this that I, a technical person, deeply enjoy.

Trust removes friction. Having an informal network of trusted peers makes everything easier. You get access to expert knowledge, helpful connections and opportunities simply because you're a friend. They also come to you when your knowledge is relevant to their task.

I just see it as another community, except this one is centred around an industry. It's no slimier than introducing single friends to each other, borrowing tools from a friend, fixing a friend's computer or tipping them off when a flat frees up in your building.

In my case, it means that I can call upon the knowledge of an immigration lawyer or a financial advisor for free. It also means that they get dozens of clients from me because they're my go-to experts.

You need to do those coffee dates and relationship building to figure out what (other) people want, so it's not even far removed from the philosophy you quote. Yeah, it's _ideal_ if you're your own customer and you have this intuitive knowledge of the product, but that's actually less common (and needn't be common either). As a tech person, I don't find it slimy (at least, anymore). On the pure tech front, it's a process of finding requirements, which flows into the this whole business conversation side of things.

For example, if you view building a business that people want as a challenge, those requirements will vary from place to place and time to time, so finding that out is super important!

Interestingly, I've always viewed the Indian business environment as one that requires a lot more relationship building than (say) a place like the valley, but this article seems to imply that the UAE probably views us the same way I view the US ecosystem...

This quote (or rather, "notion", since I no longer remember where I picked it up from) has stuck with me for over a decade: ultimately all business is based on trust; you can't encode everything in the contract.

To be brutally honest, FortyTwo VC is a low-mid tier early stage investor in the Indian market.

There are better angels and early stage funds in India, but these guys couldn't differentiate themselves in the now increasingly competitive Indian VC scene.

The cream of the crop of early stage startups in India tend to go to YC, Peak XV, some university alumni network programs, Antler, and a couple others.

What is a dhandha? Like a way of life that is a business?

Actually, there's a lot of investment dollars in the mid-east - maybe more than in much of the US, and it's actively looking for good ideas. Also, for certain types of business, the environment is probably more conducive there than in the US...