Trending Topics

Egyptian Entrepreneurs Share Recipe For Success

Twenty Egyptian entrepreneurs from all fields shared their success stories and offered an insightful look into the inspiration for their concepts and how they worked to “bake” their ideas with the perfect ingredients. TEDxAUC held its second event “Idea Bakers” at the American University of Cairo, New Cairo campus December 2012.  The event had been delayed, as it was originally meant to be held at the AUC’s Tahrir campus. But the recent local unrest did not stop the organizers from finding another solution.

The event revolved around the analogy that entrepreneurs launch ideas the same way bakers bake a pie. Just as a delicious pie needs a skillful baker who can actually make it, grand achievements need persistent skilled execution. “We believe that baking an idea is more crucial than the idea itself; you meet thinkers every day, but clever bakers are very rare,” explained Amr Ashraf, founder of TEDxAUC.

The meetup was designed to connect successful entrepreneurs with others whose ideas are still in the baking phase,  so they can network cook their ideas with more ingredients, in the shortest time possible. “If your idea is not well-baked, then it doesn’t exist. You could have a million ideas, but they are all worthless if you don’t get them done,” added Ashraf.

The event speakers ranged from successful well-established businessmen, young entrepreneurs, AUC professors, and performers who all believe in the power of ideas, and spoke about various aspects of entrepreneurship.

A few that stood out included:

  • Shady Barakat, co-founder of The Home Page, who talked about having a proactive spirit and being a self-learner instead of getting someone to tell you what to do. He likened being an entrepreneur to joining the Do-It-Yourself culture.
  • Con O’Donnell, founder of Sarmady, and the chairman of Books.com, who spoke about thinking globally about your business at the start-up phase, but implementing it locally.
  • Sherif El Ghamrawy, founder of Basata Village, who related   how he moved from Cairo to the desert of Sinai to pursue his dream business and lifestyle, as he believed both were inseparable. That business is an eco-village, a place that is friendly to the environment and where people can spend days away from Cairo’s pollution and crowds.

TEDxAUC is inspired by the belief that the AUC is a diverse community, full of inspiring ideas and success stories shaping the whole Arab region…

Read More: wamda.com

Back to top