Who is Bassim Haidar? Not only is he a Lebanese national and Nigeria-born self-made billionaire, but he is also on the forefront of innovation and financial inclusion on a global scale. Starting his first business at just 20 years old, Haidar has gone on to establish Optasia, a large telecoms provider which operates in 19 countries and plays a major role in infrastructure in Africa and the Middle East. He now has a stake in a variety of industries including fintech, logistics, energy, engineering, and medicinal cannabis.
Here's what we discussed:
- Can you describe your journey to the position you hold now? (01:03)
- You mentioned that you failed in one of your previous ventures. How did you deal with that failure? (08:53)
- Do you feel that identifying a future gap in the market is the biggest key for an entrepreneur? (11:30)
- Your company offers banking to developing markets and you have 650m users across the world. Why is extending financial inclusion to the unbanked developing world important to you personally? (15:45)
- How does accelerating affordable smartphone ownership positively impact people? (18:40)
- What are the differences between the way the western world and less developed countries welcome new technology? (20:37)
- How has growing up in Nigeria shaped you and the way you look at the world? (22:18)
- Is entrepreneurship something that you're born with or can it be learnt? (24:46)
- Would you say that a fear of failing is a universal characteristic of entrepreneurs? (28:15)
- Imposter syndrome is discussed a lot on our podcast and in the West in general. Is this something that is spoken of in the West exclusively as part of a privilege or is this something that you've noticed in developing countries too? (29:45)
- Do a lot of people, you would be considered to have ‘made it’. Do you feel this way? How do you continue to motivate yourself? (35:31)
- Do you ever have moments when you don’t feel confident or lose your sense of purpose? (37:34)
- How do you deal with stress? Are there things you do to wind down? (39:32)
- You founded your own venture capital firm, Knuru Capital. What advice would you give to business owners about achieving investment? (40:07)
- Answer the Internet: can you become a billionaire with $5m? (44:56)
- What makes a great business leader? (45:09)
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