About

I grew up in Dubai (mostly). In the late 90’s and early 2000’s, Dubai was not what it is today. It was a seed planted under the desert sands. A vision being watered and nourished by the country’s founder, the late Sheikh Zayed. I remember growing up playing in a lot of sand. And drinking powdered milk. My Dad first moved here in the late 80s and just worked really hard.

For most kids growing up in old Dubai, we connected with the rest of the world through TV and imported foods. We had this old TV Network (Channel33) that played all the pre 90’s cartoons. We were decades behind the rest of the world but it helped curate my fascination for all things retro. I still love the soundtrack to the Incredible Hulk (1982) and Spiderman (1967) cartoons. The first time I saw Star Wars.. ah what a memory.

Then came Video Games. LAN/Gaming Cafes were a big deal back then. Not many people had a fast PC or a reliable high-speed connection to play online. I just remember playing a LOT of Counter-strike ever since I was 14. As a die hard Half-life fan, it blew me away. From floppy drive games on DOS.. gaming had come light years. Little did I know that 12 years later, games would change my life forever.

In 2013, I joined Fnatic as their Sales Director. My role was to bring in $ to help us grow. I was lucky to be part of one of Fnatic’s legendary eras. The greatest Counter-strike team of its time and a dominant Western League of Legends team. In 2 years, we went from a team of 4 (in a 3×3 room) to a team of 10+ in London.

In 2015, I founded a creative agency called Level99. Brands paid us to connect with and grow young audiences who loved video games. Branding and content creation was our forte.

In the year we launched, I helped co-found an esports team: OG DOTA2. This later became the first esports team to share a logo with Red Bull. Today, that team has won over $33 Million USD.

In the 6 years since being founded, Level99 taught me the rollercoaster life that was start-up building. From being invested in by BITKRAFT (biggest fund in gaming) and finally being acquired by one of China’s biggest companies: WANDA. We were wrapped into the Wanda Sports Nasdaq IPO in 2019 and the rest is history.

Around 2020, I left off where I first started. Back in Dubai. I was hired as the Senior Vice President to run the MENA Region of a transmedia group (Galaxy Racer). I’ve met people who fundamentally changed my life there. I came face to face with some of the most enigmatic creators (aka influencers) in the region and learned even more.

Today, alongside the biggest content creator in the region (AboFlah aka Hassan) and a talent and marketing genius (Eyad), we’re building 8Flamez. We manage influential Middle East talent and build ventures with them.

I’m a Muslim and have built companies founded on the values of my faith. I make a lot of mistakes and am constantly learning. This blog/vault is where I’ll share my views, learnings and failures.

A lasting quote from my late, great mother that she loved so very much:

“Nothing worth knowing can be taught” -Oscar Wilde.

Thanks for reading and joining me on this journey.