Co-founder, 8FLAMEZ · Dubai
Notes from inside the MENA creator economy.
I co-founded 8FLAMEZ with AboFlah and Eyad Siyam. We represent the region’s largest creators and build companies with them. Eleven years of writing here: first on esports, now on creators, deals and building in the Middle East.
Start here
-
Don’t get famous. Insights from the Creator Economy.
Fame is the least valuable form of attention. The creators who win are the ones whose audience acts, not the ones with…
-
#1 Lesson I learned after spending +1,000 hours with Influencers
A thousand hours with the region’s biggest influencers, and one pattern: the ones who last put their why before their what and…
-
The Arab World is seeing the rise of content creators > influencers
The Arab world has an influencer problem and a content creator opportunity. Which one you are decides how you get paid.
Latest writing
-
“If you want to make everyone happy, don’t be a leader. Sell ice cream.” -Steve Jobs
Half of startups fail within five years. The founders who make it choose respect over being liked, with a late payer to prove it.
-
Cost to Create vs Consume
AI is collapsing the cost to create. The bigger shift is the cost to consume, and what happens when both approach zero.
-
The true story of how we got played
An agency negotiated a deal it could never afford, just to see our numbers. Choosing who you do business with is 90% of the game.
-
Job Seeking advice in the Middle East -From a Founder (Bit of Self Improvement)
Ten ways candidates disqualify themselves before a founder reads past the first line, from 7,000 applications to 8FLAMEZ in three months.
-
POV: Behind the Scenes of The Sidemen Charity Match and Match for Hope. The biggest Creator Charity Matches in the World.
From AboFlah’s first match in London to $8 million raised in Doha: what the biggest creator charity matches in the world look like from the inside.
-
5 Hadiths for better Business.
Five hadiths on thanks, patience, negotiation, conflict and presenting solutions, and what each one changes about how you work.
Topics
New essays go out on social first.
Every post here, and the updates between them, is shared on LinkedIn and X. Follow along there for the latest.