Sajjad Ahmad, Deputy Business Editor



DUBAI: The Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) UAE Chapter recently discussed the potential growth opportunities in the post-COVID era and highlighted new ways to reinvent businesses.

During the three days event in Dubai, industry experts outlined new techniques to enhance entrepreneurial mind-set, skill-set and way of operating businesses.

An exceptional three-day Masterclass on Evolutionary Entrepreneurship by award winning MIT professor and best-selling author, Bill Aulet, turned out to be a major hit with the participants gaining deep insights on how to not only survive, but thrive.

The goal of the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) UAE Chapter in hosting this session on Disciplined Entrepreneurship, Scaling and Anti-fragility Master Class was not only to shape personal development of EO Leaders in the UAE to be able to take their business to the next level, but also enhancing their entrepreneurial mind set, skill set and way of operating.

Participants for this session witnessed the presence of successful businesses within excess of $1 million in annual revenue. The participating entrepreneurs already used their skill sets to create and grow their businesses, but going forward, they need to continuously update them for the new realities and that was the prime objective of the Masterclass.

“The participants were all achievers who had started companies that had become very successful. To maintain their success and grow further, they needed to take up the challenges posed by a dramatically different world imposed by the COVID pandemic. I am sure the programme helped them recognise that,” stated Bill Aulet.

EO UAE Learning Co-Chair Saleh Kuba, added: “What’s important is that the specialised content was totally relevant to the region. The participation was free for EO UAE members. The participants had a great time, while enhancing their entrepreneurial mindset and skillset.”

In his rare appearance in the region, the renowned entrepreneurship educational leader saw to it that the in-person masterclass programme was highly interactive and filled with rigorous skill building, followed by sure-to-be-remembered socials.

The subjects covered touched on varied important topics including, ‘Current Environment and the Imperative for Antifragility’; ‘What Makes for Good and Bad Entrepreneurship;’ ‘Who Is Your Customer? (Interactive Exercises Using SensAble Technologies Example); ‘The Importance of a Homogenous Beachhead Market;’ ‘What Is Primary Market Research (PMR)? Why is it important? How should it be done?; and ‘How Do You Make Money? Estimating CoCA and Understanding the Drivers (i.e., Developing a Thoughtful Go To Market Strategy). The specialised content was all relevant to the region.

The timing of the programme could not have been more perfect as the post-COVID world is already a significantly different one from what has been seen so far. Indications are that it will only get faster, more unpredictable, volatile, and yet be filled with opportunities.

Bill Aulet is the Managing Director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship and Professor of the Practice at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is changing the way entrepreneurship is understood, taught and practiced around the world and his current work is built off the foundation of his 25-year successful business career, first at IBM, and then as a three-time serial entrepreneur.