عربي

Startup Watch: The vampire startup, the era’s new banks and the dark side of entrepreneurship

Startup Watch: The vampire startup, the era’s new banks and the dark side of entrepreneurship

The world of entrepreneurship news is a complex one, with people ever ready to give their two cents on how you should be running your business, pitching your business and what’s trending.

This is what we’ve read about this vampire startup, the drawbacks of entrepreneurship and cannabis entrepreneurs.

When Facebook and Amazon are banks’ enemies: We all know that tech is disrupting all regular businesses and is changing the classical way things go. Banks are no stranger to this, having to face the shakiness rising fintech startups is bringing to their business momentum. However, a report by the World Economic Forum is preaching the idea that tech giants like Amazon and Facebook pose more challenges and rivalry to banks than fintech does, especially when it comes to the development of cloud computing, AI, IoT and big data. Is Facebook leading the tech revenge from banks?    

via GIPHY

...and banks turn into tech VCs: In the startup and entrepreneurial business market, banks are nothing but a funding source, and probably, not a primary one. Unorthodoxly, Goldman Sachs is altering this equation, and becoming a venture capital firm investing in tech. During the previous years, the Wall Street guru has been injecting capital in various Fortune 500 tech startups, including Uber and Spotify. Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan are also following suit. Will technology disrupt banks’ investment schemes sooner than we thought?

Entrepreneurship: New growth engine for GCC: There is a non-debatable emergence of entrepreneurship in the GCC. The ecosystem is growing on a fast pace and is founding opportunities to the region that go beyond the classic oil drilling. Several startups such as Careem, Talabat, and Souq.com have reached new heights and turned into true regional homegrown brands. Over 16 startups have launched in the region in the past years, with a value that grows beyond $100 million.

The dark side of entrepreneurship: Happy endings, cubicle-less jobs, and bright days are not exactly what describe being an entrepreneur. Contrarily, the mission goes beyond the fashionable ‘entrepreneur’ business card, and has numerous drawbacks that one should anticipate. Stress, depression, insomnia, insecurity, and loneliness are some of the symptoms that might cross your entrepreneurial path. Are you immune enough?

The ‘vampire’ startup you should know about: While startups are trying to solve people’s daily issues in an innovative way, Ambrosia, a California-based startup is beyond innovative. It consists of offering transfusions of human plasma: 1.5 litres a time, pumped in across two days, harvested uniquely from young adults. Sold to the elderly for $8,000, the doctor behind the startup claims the procedures can reverse the effects of ageing, and related symptoms. Immortality anyone?

Wamda of the week: When Facebook means business for MENA women: #SheMeansBusiness is the name of the new Facebook campaign optimizing MENA women’s usage of Facebook and Instagram in business. The initiative aims to train 10,000 women via workshops and community building. The free workshops will be given in the UAE and Egypt and they have so far trained around 700 women so far. Who run the world? Girls.

Are cannabis-preneurs on the horizon? Controversial but rising, the cannabis industry is projecting a $20 billion of annual sales by 2021. For entrepreneurs, where the ‘happy’ plant is legal, this represents an untapped virgin market that they urge to bite in, especially for healthtech.   

Feature image via Pixabay.

Thank you

Please check your email to confirm your subscription.