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The Last Day: Pharoh's tomb and the Entrepreneur

Although I hate the classic tourist stuff, if you are in Cairo you need to trek over to the Pyramids on the west side of Giza to the last intact structure of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It is closer than one thinks as all the photos are taken on the Giza Plateau so you don't see the city and the KFC right outside the gates. Friends told me to go on Friday as most Egyptians won't hit the streets until later in the day so the crazy Cairo traffic is miraculously gone. Hopping in cab with Waleed, we literally fly across town and arrive in just 20 minutes (think 1 to 1.5 hours in traffic). After being accosted by the horse and camel tour operators desperate for business (they literally jumped on the taxi, in the taxi, and tried to tell me that cabs were not allowed in the pyramid complex). Luckily, I knew about the ploy and pressed Waleed to drive onward. Finally, a scowling security man with a gun began walking towards us and the crowd scattered. A little unnerving and not for the faint of heart.

I buy tickets for both the grounds and a chance to crawl up inside the Great Pyramid and see Khufu's last resting place in the middle. One of the guides inside the gates grabs my arm and tells in me in excellent English that I am his first customer in a month. Looking up at the biggest of three main pyramids, you cannot explain how small you feel. Walking up to the tiny opening 20 feet up is even more unnerving. Claustrophobia alert, if the thought of 2.3 million stones above you scares you - don't go in. Built over 4,500 years ago, this was the tallest building in the world for 3,800 years!

Inside the Pyramid

I walk through the narrow entrance cut into the stone and come to a small ladder. I go up a few steps and then go down several more passageways until I come to small antechamber with a ramp with small cross bars to keep your feet from slipping. You need to walk hunched over and I carry my backpack in my arms as I try to crane my neck and look upwards. The tunnel goes up on a 45 degree angle for 50 meters or so. After banging my head too many times, I emerged from the crawl-way into a a seriously large chamber. Shaped like a enormous steep triangle, there is walkway 5 meters wide with the two walls coming together about 15 meters above my head. The chamber continues upwards on a 45 degree slope for another 100 meters or so. Built over 45 centuries years ago, this is where the Pharaoh Khufu's (Cheops' in Greek) sarcophagus might have traveled up to his final resting chamber. I imagine darkness, flickering torches, and temple priests chanting. Up I go to top of the top of the ramp. Inside, a small room with a roughly carved, huge stone sarcophagus remains as the only item remaining in the chamber.

It is a little anticlimactic and so I head back down. Suddenly, going down looks a lot more dramatic as you enter the giant chamber and look down the huge corridor. Other tourists look tiny at the bottom. Placing one foot in front of the other, I move quickly as yet another group of tourists pop out of the tunnel at the bottom. With limited hand holds, crossing paths is not that easy and I cannot imagine doing this in a busy season. A couple is also going down in front of me and the women is a little nervous about the slope. Little did I know what was about to happen.

The Best Part of the Story So now the three of us need to enter the crawl-way and go down even as more people come up. We move down slowly and need to press against the wall to let some nice folks from Canada pass us going up. At the end of the crawl-way I pop out and wait for the couple to emerge. Once they pop out, we take a little break as it is cooler here than inside the ramps. We introduce ourselves. He is Farhan from Pakistan and this is his sister. They are doing a little sight seeing. Farhan lives in Egypt. He is a programmer. He just quit his day job the day before to begin a new start-up in the mobile apps/tablet space. After 7 years of programming for others, we wants to build the coolest, extreme programming shop in the region. He already has customers in the US, some saving to live on, and needs to figure out how to finish his business plan, raise some money, and get going. What are the odds of this?

I am sitting in the middle of the Great Pyramid of Giza on my one day off. I am crawling down out of the sarcophagus chamber and the one person I run into is looking for start-up advice. So what do we do? We sit there for 20 minutes exchanging email addresses, names of people that can help him in Egypt, thoughts on funding and growth, and even sharing a little gum.

What an end to my first (and clearly not last) adventure in Egypt. I have made almost too many acquaintances to recall. I have had offers to visit and stay with over a dozen people in the future. My head spins with possibilities even though my calling is real poverty and injustice work with Oxfam America.

So, if you want to help a budding entrepreneur in Egypt here he is:

Please allow me to introduce you to Farhan Khalid and his sister. Farhan's website is: farhankhalid.com and wants a little help to change the world beginning with his own start-up!

As we part company, I find my guide and then it's time for a little horseback ride around the 9 pyramids (3 big, 6 small), lots of tombs, and (of course) the Sphinx.

When I depart the next day, I cannot wonder how soon I'll be back (next time with my wife!).

Day 4: Old Cairo meets Cambridge Innovation Center

If you are in Cairo, you need to visit the bustling street merchants in Old Cairo. Even better, grab three high tech entrepreneurs and learn how to haggle like a real rug merchant. Like locals everywhere, my guides generally don't do the tourist thing and only come for social events in the evening. We enter through one of the old city gates, Bab Zuwayla, built in 1092 and make our way to the top of one of the minarets about 100 feet in the air. Amid heavy winds, we look down across Cairo. After making our way down the dim staircase (going up is a lot easier), we walk through the streets just starting to open for business. As we walk, we talk about new start-ups being incubated at Flat6Labs in Giza. One of my guides is really passionate about his company, Yadget, as they try to combines social network principles with location based information systems. Another guide, Sabrine, has just left her teaching post to start her dream company and has yet to tell her parents that she has been accepted to Flat6Labs. Over mint tea at Egypt's most famous coffee house, we discuss business models, funding strategies, and where to find the best souvenirs.

After visiting some the old merchant houses and learning to bargain like a real Egyptian, we pack up and head across the Nile to Giza and the headquarters of Flat6Labs.

How cool is this? Founders Ahmed El Alfie and Hany Al-Sonbaty of Sawari Ventures are creating a vertically integrated eco-system in a single building. Overlooking the Nile in Giza; the six story, turn-of-last century building has massive apartments that have been turned into the Flat6Labs incubator, Sawari Ventures main offices, and even the new home for Alfi and his wife on the top floor. Virtual companies are being born across multiple work spaces. Cairo University classes in business are held in the miniature auditorium. The only beta Google TV appliance in Egypt is being put through its paces in the entertainment and kitchen area. A staff member slouches in beanbag chairs writing code on Apple MacBooks in the quiet room.

Now it's showtime as seven different companies try their pitches on me.

Nifim is out to create a virtual video class room for over two million Egyptian school children.

Ogra aims to revolutionize taxi dispatch with a mobile phone app that links customers, drivers, and business owners in a city where taxis have no radios.

Ask Native wants to take Yelp or FourSquare to a new level for visitors to France, the US, the UK, Spain and even Egypt.

CrowdsWay wants to take eLance to a whole new level via group sourcing video content production for killer animation and video spots.

Eshtery wants to build on Cairo's infrastructure as the most intense home delivery market in the world. Even McDonalds will deliver. How about HomeRuns (remember them?) on steroids in Egypt?

GyroLabs is building killer apps for the IP TV market based on Android. Think SmartPhone meets SmartTV. How about Mystery Science Theater 3000 built on FaceBook?

Yadget (mentioned above) wants to place virtual sticky notes on entire physical planet. Combining FourSquare with a social network/augmented reality layer is seriously mind bending.

If you are not impressed with what is happening in Cairo, you should think about getting a job as a mortician. :-)

This is nothing if not remarkable as so few of us in the US and Europe could really image that this is really happening given the grim news cycle from the Middle East these days. My request is that we open our minds a little bit and ask the question:

Given over 80M Egyptians, 300M Arab speaking people in the region, and that Africa is now the world's 2nd largest phone market (in handsets) after Asia: Do you think there is an opportunity here in 10 years?

I do.

For a little more about Flat6Labs, see their website. Here is their mission as they describe it:

Flat6Labs hosts teams for a three-month cycle and gives them access to the facilities, expertise, mentorship, and support needed to make the most of their own talent.

Upon their selection, the teams are provided with seed funding in the range of EGP 60,000-75,000 as they attempt to define their product, develop their core application, construct a well-balanced business plan, and commercialize their enterprise.

In exchange for 10-15% stake of equity in their projects, these teams are given the chance to face the real-world challenges and obstacles of creating and maintaining a startup in the local and global market. At the same time, they have the support needed to push them even further into the realm of entrepreneurship.

This support comes from more than one source, whether from the staff here at Flat6Labs, from professional speakers who come in for sessions, or from each team's mentor, who are matched with the team by Flat6Labs. Our solid interactive program has one aim in the end: to create an independent, successful company led by a team capable of making informed decisions.

At the end of the three months period, Flat6Labs holds a Demo Day event, where teams are given the opportunity to showcase their products to potential investors and the media. If any of the teams has been successful in its bid to establish a fully furnished enterprise with promising market potential, it will graduate from Flat6Labs and receive additional funding to establish its enterprise.

Day 3: We have lift off!

The day began a little later than usual with a quick trip out to the Government of Egypt's Ministry focused on investment and innovation (GAFI). After being stuck in Tahrir Square for almost 30 minutes due to traffic gridlock, we headed outside of downtown Cairo. The GAFI building was under heavy guard as many of the top ministers were in the building for meetings on this day. The ECP team and myself had a chance to discuss the role of government in regards to entrepreneurship. In general, we felt that government should be supportive, eliminate obstacles (such as complex regulations and possible jail time for bankruptcy - ouch!) as well as not directly take an active investment role as this is the purview of the private sector. It was good to see that members of the government are still trying to get legislation done perhaps as quickly as this year.

We returned to the hotel to meet with the local incubators for a first time meeting of all the major players. Representatives from Flat6Labs, Vodafone, Innoventures, OTVentures, Sawari Ventures (which runs Flat6Labs), Boost Business Incubator, and others. Everyone shared their desire to build businesses, make money, and catalyze the start-up sector in Egypt. Each incubator offered a mixture of space to work, mentorship, marketing and promotion, intense CEO coaching, business plan design support, and direct investment. In the end, the Egypt needs to continue to create hot new companies (google Bey2ollak for a great example of a cool start-up). The consumer market is large (over 80M in Egypt) and the start-up environment is about to take off. With Egypt's location and centrality in MENA, there is a good chance that 5-10 years from now we will look back this moment as the ground floor (Insha'Allah).

I grab a few precious minutes with yet another entrepreneur (ProSeed) with an Eco-friendly paper products business and then hustle down the street to a nearby hotel.

Here we go ... The Cairo Angels first meeting and I was there!

My new friend, Hossam Allam has spent untold hours bringing together his first group of angel investors and has prepared a full evening of 5 start-ups, a guest speaker (none other than the CEO of Bey2ollak), as well as a wonderful dinner.

Let me brag about these companies and their founders. I have been pitched so many times, I cannot recall an accurate number. Let me guess it is somewhere around 2,000 times in the last 15 years. These 5 men and women all nailed the art of the tough pitch (10 minutes each with 5 minutes of questions). They handled the hard questions without hesitation and were quick to admit their limits and not put on a false front. Below are the some of the stars of the event:

Over two dozen entrepreneurs from Egypt

Day 2: Now the Fun Begins

My second day is the most intense. I am scheduled to lead two, half day workshops with prospective angel investors first and then entrepreneurs second. After a filling breakfast of fuul, Egyptian sausage with peppers, eggs, and pita bread; it is time to really dig into the issues.

My first session is with about a dozen business leaders who have a broad background. A quick review of some of the group includes: Rafik Dalala is French speaking and runs a multibillion dollar private equity shop, Con has recently sold his company to Vodafone and made his first angel investment in Books.com.eg, Abe and Sharif are from Qatar and looking to create an angel fund that works across the region, one gentleman started the region's first and largest ISP (Link.net), Ahmed Samy ran HP in the region and now has started a media company, and Samer Sahn has started a really incubator in Alexandria with the catching name of [Tahrir]2 (Tahrir Squared).

For three hours, we discuss how to form and run an angel group. We discuss deal structures, valuations, term sheets, and exits. The group is well versed in all the issues and often illuminates how they will need to adapt to both the Egyptian and regional Middle East and North Africa (MENA) context. They compare and contrast similar efforts in Turkey, Jordan, and Qatar. There is a sense of determined purpose and drive in the room. The single biggest issue: they have more money to invest than they have start-ups right now. As we complete the morning session, it is obvious that most of the group are planning to do something as they form small groups and begin to have quiet, intense discussions.

Part 2

The afternoon begins with a partially full room of younger entrepreneurs. Most are in their twenties with a few older folks. It is also great to see that it is almost 40% women. As go around the room, each entrepreneur takes a moment to talk about their vision. They want to start web-based travel sites for Arabic speakers; mobile apps for car maintenance, travel destination reviews, child location based tracking; solar energy concentrators, an e-health insurance network, a rural travel experience company, as well as a new Egyptian brand for basic clothing to name a few.

All afternoon, the room keeps filling up as people brave the intense Cairo traffic. We discuss all the basic issues of starting a company such as finding advisers, strategic business model design, business plan construction, customer acquisition, financial modeling, and how to do a deal with angels or VCs.

The best part comes as I ask entrepreneurs to practice pitching their ideas to another participant in front of the group. Taking turns role playing customers, potential investors, and strategic partners; the group helps the pitch person sharpen their message, clearly state their value proposition, or determine a fair value. For over four hours we go back and forth as the group gets better and better giving their presentations and reviewing others.

By the end, we are all pretty exhausted. These entrepreneurs are excited. They want to know even more. For almost another hour, they pepper me with questions on PowerPoint slide formats, pricing schemes, cost models for smart chips, distribution models, and alternative ideas they generated in the session. These men and women are bound and determined to start companies. Some are already on their second start-up having sold their first. No one wants to leave! Finally, it is time to go so amid a circle of handshakes and hugs, we wrap-up.

My concluding remarks to the last group went something like this:

"Americans love the underdog. Our our revolution still echos in our hearts and we are drawn to those that stand-up for their rights whether it is in Tienanmen or Tahrir Square. The act of standing up is only the first step. Now they must build the country on the back of their energy, passion, and knowledge. They hold a crucial key to provide jobs for the smart, talented, and educated youth. Go forth and make your country successful." Their response was both soft and determined, "Insha'Allah!"

Day 1: Meet the Future of Cairo

As I prepared for my trip, people asked the predictable questions about security. Once satisfied that I was not likely to end up in a street protest or arrested by overzealous security forces, everyone was wondering why I would travel to Egypt right now? Simply put: I was asked to key note a conference on Angel Investing and to lead workshops with early stage investors, entrepreneurs, incubators, and others such as the government's innovation team. What a wonderful chance to see modern Egypt through eyes of people committed to a bright future.

"Where would these Egyptian's have learned about starting new companies?" or "What could they possibly do given the circumstances?" were common queries. After my first two full days in Cairo, I would like introduce some of the amazing people and give one a sense of the environment.

Breakfast on the first day begins with Hossam Allam. Hossam comes from a prominent real-estate family and a graduate of the London Business School. Urbane, eloquent, and thoughtful; Hossam has already been investing in global start-ups through the LBS E100 program. Suddenly, I am in the way-back machine as he shares with me his plans to launch an angel group this very week bringing back memories of the day four friends and I started CommonAngels in 1998.

My key note speech is to a group of about 70 business, government, and technology leaders sponsored by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham). By way of comparison, last month's key note speaker was John McCain (obviously a much bigger event :-)). Other panelists include my breakfast companion Hossam, a top Jordanian entrepreneur who had previously founded one of the region's top telecom companies (Zane), one of the country's top lawyers, and the leader of one of the largest venture mentoring services in the country. For almost 5 hours, we discuss what is an angel investor, how they form groups, why this is important for innovation, and how to link angels with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and regional or global partners.

In breaks, I love to ask people their thoughts and experiences. It turns out that there are 2-3 angel group forming right now. The people involved tell me of their experiences while at school (Stanford, Northwestern, Boston University, and Harvard to name a few places in the US) or at work (Intel, HP, Vodafone, and more). Wonderfully diverse and globally engaged, these men and women all have a great deal of passion.

I close the day with a two hour debrief with the AmCham Committee that sponsored the event. They grapple with how best to link the government, the private sector, the Egyptian diaspora, incubators, mentors, and entrepreneurs. As volunteers with busy day jobs, it is fascinating to see how much energy they putting into the construction of a new Egypt.

I finally get to leave the hotel and zigzag through the streets to a small restaurant named Toumbulah that is tucked away behind the British embassy. Over amazing Lebanese food, my hosts and I review the day amid a light cloud of sheesha and cigarette smoke.

After 13 hours straight, my head hits the pillow of fine Egyptian cotton and I sleep like a mummified pharaoh.

First Impressions of Cairo

I awoke on landing in Cairo on my last leg on Sunday feeling slightly askew. After 15 hours of travel, I can peer down on a vast, brown expanse of buildings and sand. My arrival in Cairo was uneventful but it is always exciting and a little scary the first time in a new country. With few tourists, it takes only 30 minutes to clear customs, meet my driver, and head off to a new place.

As one heads into the city from the airport, we are heading southwest towards Cairo center. With 20 million people, it is a vast city. The roads appear to be designed for 5 million inhabitants as the world famous traffic swallows us up. Five abreast, cars and trucks squeeze impossibly into three lanes. Bostonians would proud! No one uses turn signals or breaks - just a polite beep of the horn. The Old Central Artery of Boston is reborn!

We pass a blackened 10 story building and the driver remarks that the protesters burned it down in late January. It was a police station. As we approach the main traffic circle (also known as Tahrir Square), a massive luxury hotel is similarly burned. It was apparently owned by former President Mubarek or his associates and its massive concrete entrance has collapsed.

We enter Tahrir Square and suddenly I am right where the major protests and battles were in 2011. It looks surprising small from the ground as opposed to being seen from a camera in the hotel balconies above us. Filed with cars, people walking, and even trees; it it hard to imagine that this is one of one the iconic places of the Arab Spring. However, the driver points out that there are no police or military here to avoid any clashes. I look down to see where the cobblestone sidewalk used to be. This is a reminder of the protesters need for rocks to throw. As we exit the Square, a side street is blocked by military vehicles - it is the entrance to the US Embassy.

My friends have arranged for me to stay in a nice hotel near British Embassy and on the Nile about a kilometer away from the Square. Suddenly, I am in modern Egypt as I enter the lobby. Fashionably dressed patrons and overly attentive staff are everywhere. Time to exercise, eat somehting, and go to sleep hoping not to awake many hours early due to jet lag. Less than 24 hours after departure, I am back in the developing world.

Sunrise in Cairo (or Sun God versus Dusty Haze)

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