Business News
Business Takeaways From Four UAE Startups That Raised Serious Venture Capital
While venture capitalists may have deep pockets, they only got that way through calculated, shrewd, and precise investments.
Neil Petch actively assists over 300 entrepreneurs and startups to conceive, plan, and build their businesses on a monthly basis.
After launching Virtuzone as the first private company formation business in the region over 10 years ago, Neil has led the company to set up more than 16,000 businesses, making it the largest, fastest-growing and best-known setup operator in the Middle East.
As the chairman of the holding company, Virtugroup, Neil also leads VirtuVest, an in-house angel investment vehicle; Virtuzone Mainland, a provider of directorship services, corporate sponsorship and facilitator of local Dubai and Abu Dhabi company setups; and Next Generation Equity, a citizenship-by-investment firm. Virtugroup has invested in and supported the growth of multiple companies and delivered passports in over 10 different jurisdictions. Virtugroup also enjoys partnerships with Dubai FDI, the Chamber of Commerce, Dubai Holdings (ARN), VFS, Regus, Etisalat, KPMG, Aramex and Beehive, and has received awards from Arabian Business and Entrepreneur Magazine, among others.
In addition to starting up businesses, Neil has held leadership roles in several companies. He helped establish ITP, the largest media publishing house in the Gulf, which he oversaw growing from two to 600 employees. At ITP, he spearheaded the launch of over 60 digital and print titles, including Time Out, Harper's Bazaar, Arabian Business, Ahlan and Grazia.
As Managing Director of ENG Media, Neil launched the Coast FM radio station and numerous magazines, including MediaWeek. For the last seven years, Neil has also served as Chairman of GMG, the world's first interbank financial brokerage based out of Dubai, with offices in DIFC and London. Due to his extensive knowledge and expertise, Neil has been appointed a member of the "Ease of Banking' panel organised by the Chamber of Commerce.
Having lived in over a dozen countries and with a career spanning over 25 years in the UAE, Neil has the ability to merge astute cultural insight with fresh thinking, leveraging his seasoned business acumen, intuition and black book to repeatedly bring ideas to living, breathing success stories.
Neil has appeared in BBC (Dubai Dreams) and ITV (Piers Morgan) features on Dubai, as well as programmes on BBC World and Sky. He has participated as a judge on the radio programme Falcons' Lair, an entrepreneurship reality show loosely based on the BBC production Dragons' Den, as well as a similar TV competition hosted by MAD Talks. He now hosts Starting Up on Dubai Eye 103.8FM, the only national weekly show for the startup community in the world's startup capital.
Neil also lends his in-depth market insight to fellow entrepreneurs and helps cultivate Public Private Partnerships as a Task Force Member of the Advisory Council, a coalition of key decision-makers and prominent movers of the UAE business landscape, led by EMIR and the Ministry of Economy.
He is also a regular speaker, panelist, and economic commentator, specialising in the SME sector.
More From Neil Petch
Business News
The Top Rules Of Public Speaking
Jerry Seinfeld once quipped: "People's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. That means to the average person, if you have to go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy."
Business News
How To Get The Most Out Of These Five Employee Types
Just because you have a wide variety of personalities in your team, it doesn't necessarily mean they won't function well together. But what you do need to know is how to manage these various character types.
Business News
Five Skills Every Dubai Entrepreneur Needs To Develop
There is a price when you set up shop in a place full of opportunities– you can be sure there will be some competition for those golden deals. So you need to be savvy in your dealings to get a march on business rivals and shove your foot in the proverbial door.
Business News
Five Ways To Kill A Great Startup Idea
Once armed with a preliminary idea, entrepreneurs must be mindful to avoid what Steve Jobs referred to as "the disease of thinking that an idea is 90% of the work."
Business News
The UAE’s Clean Energy Sector: Opportunities Aplenty For Entrepreneurs
While the UAE is a country that initially built its fortune largely on oil, it has notably recognized the importance of renewables for the future of energy and has acted by making massive investments into a whole range of clean energy initiatives.
Business News
Seven Traits Of Incredibly Unsuccessful People
In terms of recruitment, there is a saying that goes "If you think hiring the right person is expensive, wait until you hire the wrong person."
Business News
Gaining The Upper Hand: Three Psychological Tricks To Watch Out For In The Business World
Here's a look at some of the rather devious tactics that the psychologically-savvy businessperson might employ as he or she aims to get the upper hand.
Business News
Five Things You Should Never Assume When It Comes To Your Business
There are certain areas when it comes to running a business that you never want to get too comfortable around– and in turn, certain assumptions that you should never make.
Business News
The Proposed UAE Bankruptcy Law Is Yet Another Boost For Entrepreneurs In The Country
The goal is to create bankruptcy laws that are amongst the best in the world, and that ultimately give rise to a greater entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Business News
Five Things You Must Avoid If You Want To Succeed In Business
Starting and then running a business can often feel like navigating a minefield.
Business News
A Bucket List For Entrepreneurs To Follow
We create a sample bucket list that should serve as a definitive list of achievements to tick off as you climb the ladder of success.
Business News
Three Tricky Employee Types You May Find In Your Organization (And How To Deal With Them)
Working with others is always a challenge in some form or another, and you will come across a good number of different personality types and working styles that will require varying management approaches.
Business News
What Real Discipline Looks Like
If we look at the greats across all fields, be it our sporting heroes, our favorite musicians, or the business titans that we admire so much, one thing that is often not considered when we are doling out our admiration is just how much effort went into achieving what was achieved.
Business News
The Do’s And Don’t’s Of Doing Business In Dubai
Everyone has an opinion on Dubai, but the key is to get the right business advice, directly from those who spend every single day helping businesses make that leap.
Business News
Five Things You Need To Do For Your Business To Be Successful In The UAE
When you see the obvious signs of wealth on display in the UAE, you might be forgiven for thinking that just by launching a business here, you'll be on your way to fame and fortune.
Business News
Five Tips To Avoid Burning Out As An Entrepreneur
There is now a growing body of research that shows giving our brains time away from work is essential to retain peak levels of performance.
Business News
From Lean To Mean: How To Turn A Startup Into A Corporate Behemoth
To improve outcomes and ensure full accountability, the lean approach puts a lot of focus on how we measure progress, set milestones and prioritize work.
Business News
Five Signs Your Business Has What It Takes To Make It
If reaching those dizzying heights of success is in fact your goal, ask yourself if the following indications are there that you are heading towards those bigger things.
Business News
The Essential Talent Qualifier Checklist: Five Tips To Hire Better
Let's take a look at what you entrepreneurs out there should be considering when screening to fill any and all positions at your company.
Business News
Four Tips For Mentally Escaping From Your Business
It's important to understand that your company's performance may truly suffer if you do not learn how to disconnect, because productivity is indeed affected quite considerably if we are working long hours without mixing things up.
Business News
Why A Big Ego Reduces Your Chance At Business Success
While one might think a big ego is actually a common trait among over-achieving business people (or over-achievers in general), the truth is that an out-of-control ego is anything but conducive to success.
Business News
Five Ways To Spot A Liar In Business
Being misled and lied to when you need to have accurate information at hand to make critical business decisions can have serious negative implications for your company.
Business News
Five Ways To Develop Your Mental Toughness For Startup Success
If mental toughness can be learned, then how exactly does one do that? As you can imagine, a lot of it has to do with your mental approach to life.
Business News
Five Business Lessons Entrepreneurs Can Learn From The UAE
If ever there was a place from which to draw inspiration for the way you run your business, the UAE may just be your ideal candidate.
Business News
The Four Startup Phases When An Entrepreneur (Simply) Must Not Give Up
What should always be kept high up in the conscious thoughts of the entrepreneur is that the effort required to succeed at any stage of the business lifecycle is usually much more intense than you imagine it to be, and when you feel like you've reached the breaking point, that is when you have to fight the hardest.
Business News
Seven Common Thoughts Of A (Successful) Entrepreneur
While many average company owners may stand before that which they have build, and say, "Great, it works, we are done here for a while," a good entrepreneur thinks, "Great, it works, but I want it to be better."
Business News
Three Simple Formulas For Coming Up With The Right Business Ideas
What can you take from your own experience, from an industry you know well, or from your current role, that can blossom into a standalone business opportunity? Upon close review, the answer might be a lot clearer than you think.
Business News
Nine Rules For The Entrepreneur To Live By
At some point in your life, when you've had enough experience in any one thing –or just gotten enough "life" experience– it's not a bad idea to sit down and craft a list of advice or "rules" of your own. You may be surprised at what ones you have actually been living by all this time.
