High-Impact Entrepreneurship

Endeavor Brazil put together a preview video for their new documentary series, “Go For It”. The series will focus on six Brazilian start-up businesses, as well as the entrepreneurial environment in the country.

The trailer below, which has English subtitles, introduces these high-impact entrepreneurs and their stories.

Reprinted from Wamda. Original article here.

By Nina Curley

This week’s entrepreneur of the week is Wael Attili, the founder of animation and Arabic digital media company Kharabeesh and Endeavor Jordan company Think Arabia, a creative production, technology and publishing company for the Middle East and North Africa.

Kharabeesh is one of Jordan’s success stories currently, not just because they created our icon, The Mini Entrepreneur. After several of its political cartoons went viral during the Arab Spring, the company began expanding and now offers five seperate content streams, Toons, its adult animation channel, Dawsha, its music production channel, Tahsheesh, its comedy center, Kharabeesh Street, its talk show channel, and Rusoom, its channel for caricatures.

Attili, who spoke at CoE Animate about how the internet democratized animation, chats about how Kharabeesh monetizes digital content, why Kharabeesh has launched a roadshow in Amman and Ramallah that will come to Dubai, and how his family has supported him through the company’s tougher moments.

It’s a new era for digital media in the region. “This is the first time we see young celebrities from YouTube and people are waiting to get their autograph. This is something we’ve never been able to see before,” he says.

[Disclosure: Think Arabia has received funding from MENA Ventures, the investment vehicle run by Wamda's Chairman, Fadi Ghandour].

Reprinted from Wamda. Original article here.

By Nina Curley

This week’s entrepreneur of the week is Bedriye Hülya, an Endeavor Turkey entrepreneur who built b-fit, a chain of gyms for women in Turkey, that are also staffed and run by women.

In a call from Istanbul to New York at the time, Hulya chats with us about staffing the gyms with all women, her challenges creating a gym franchise, scaling up in Turkey, her aspirations to enter the Arab World, and the advice that she typically gives entrepreneurs and women.

“We have to believe that we can do anything that we want to. As long as we decide that it’s our right to start businesses, I am sure every woman will be successful,” she says.

Reprinted from Wamda. Original article here.

By Maya Rahal

The Entrepreneurs of the Week today are Nadia and Hind Wassef, co-founders of Diwan Bookstore in Egypt, and Endeavor Egypt entrepreneurs. Launched in 2002, Diwan Bookstore aims to to encourage a culture of reading and research. Today, the company is at a crossroads says Hind Wassef- “is the future of bookstores focused on e-books?”

The two Wassef sisters managed to launch 10 branches of Diwan accross Egypt, 10 years after the first one. The main reason behind Diwan’s success is its consumer-driven approach, says Nadia Wassef. “We listen to our customers and provide them with the services they really need, whether it is in the kind of books or music.”

“Hardwork and innovation are key elements today’s entrepreneurs must not ignore at all. We do not need more imitation on the market, but new and unique products,” Hind advices young Egyptian entrepreneurs.