Editor’s Note | Page 3

I am curious to hear what our readers in the Middle East's entrepreneurial ecosystem think about Noon.

It's not about how much work you do, it's about how you do it.

At Entrepreneur Middle East, we've so far put in time and effort to helping build this ecosystem- and now, we are putting in capital as well.

The state of business in the region currently requires SMEs to rethink and reevaluate their strategies for their growth and survival.

A tale of two pitches.

When an entrepreneur is starting out, do be appreciative of their track record so far, their own particular set of skills and talents, and their abject belief in what they are about to set out to do.

Our consistent readers and our friends in the entrepreneurial ecosystem -both online and offline know us as the "real talk" medium. That transparency extends to shifts in direction and to changes in the existing team and setup.

This edition, we have some of the region's biggest achievers, and all of them come across more calm and more "stable" than I do when you encounter them in real life (I promise).

Entrepreneurs are not a promotional tool, they are businesspeople who are trying to build commercially viable and stable enterprises.

Editor in Chief Fida Chaaban asserts the importance of everyone's responsibility to encourage entrepreneurship in the region.

Happy anniversary to our readers! We're excited that this edition marks two years of us supporting entrepreneurship across the MENA region.

Did your mind automatically see Clear and Present Danger when you read the headline? I did mean prescient, and I'll get to the popular film title a bit later.

Entrepreneurs, when I use the acronym MVP here, I am not referring to your Minimum Viable Product, I'm referring to your Most Valuable Player.

Entrepreneur Middle East Editor in Chief Fida Chaaban on the importance of knowing the ins and outs of your business.

To work at this magazine, you have to believe in what we're doing, and that means that you are committed to being more than just a magazine. You are committed to the ecosystem, all the way.

If I can help two entities or two people develop a mutually beneficial, fruitful relationship, I consider it terrific for everyone involved.

If you are thinking of copycatting a concept, it's a good idea to import a concept that the MENA ecosystem doesn't have yet. It's a very bad idea to launch the exact same online model as an already established enterprise, and just slightly tweaking the concept.

Reading about the pitfalls of starting your own business (and the negative moments when no one believed it could be done) is just as useful as the story about the time when you won an award for your innovation.

I can start this edition by saying that I have seen this talent, this special something, in people from all walks of life. Being able to rise up to the occasion is, often, what sets the winners apart from the losers.

Do you complain about work a lot? Editor in Chief Fida Chaaban suggests you might have the "poor me" syndrome.

Leading and managing are not one and the same. The two do intersect, but one is logistics-based and the other is not