Sami Abou Saab Email & Phone Number

London, Gb

London, Gb

We invest in aspiring idea-stage founders with the engagement of our trusted community of members and partners to build the next big thing.

London, Gb

Advising Querio on their strategic needs and supporting them on their growth journey

Dubai Internet City, Dubai, Ae

Advising PawPots on their strategic needs and supporting them on their growth journey

London, England, Gb

New York City, New York, Us

New York City, New York, Us

Led the expansion of Techstars programs in the Middle East region and successfully landed the first program in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and Raed Ventures.

Toronto, Ontario, Ca

Served as an advisor for the Future Skills Centre reviewing program implementation, providing feedback, and sharing industry best practices to deliver the most value to its participants.

Carouge, Geneva, Ch

• Initiated the acquisition talks of Speed and concluded an exit securing the team's future roles and the continued support for the 42 portfolio startups who became Seedstars alumni• Integrated the Speed team into Seedstars and managed a full and smooth transition of all programs and projects with existing customers• Managed MENA’s 15 countries focusing on localized funds’ creation, ecosystem building programs, and founders development

Beirut, Lebanon, Lb

http://www.speedlebanon.com• Led Speed@BDD from day one through setting the strategy, fundraising, recruiting a top management team, building a network of 100+ global mentors, and designing the program over 6 cycles and 5 years leading to investing in and accelerating 42 startups• Launched the accelerator and managed the startups deal flow and investment decisions, and services offered to other players. Coached Speed@BDD startups on all aspects and mentored / judged 1K+ startups in regional events (MITEF, Hult, ArabNet, etc.) • Negotiated successfully investment term sheets and shareholder agreements with angel investors and venture capital funds resulting in 8 startups raising 2.3M USD in follow-on funding and 4 exiting at a good return• Built a strong network of alliances and partnerships including the Global Accelerator Network (GAN), LebNet, Blackbox, angel and institutional investors, top universities, and influential media, securing major perks and access to markets for the startups• Headed the Lebanese startup delegations to Gitex Future Stars (Dubai), Turkey Innovation and Entrepreneurship week (Istanbul), Seedstars (Lausanne) where Speed@BDD startups won first prizes and collected cash prizes

Redmond, Wa, Us

Partner / Channel Marketing Manager for Lync / Skype:• Analyzed channel profitability practices and crafted the strategy blueprint for highly profitable activities and best business models• Spearheaded the global Lync Conference 2014 (~2,000 attendees) and managed communication to executives of top alliances. Developed and socialized sponsorship packages (80 sponsors in total)• Ran and managed the worldwide hardware distributors channel for Lync in FY14. Owned and managed budget allocation, created the marketing strategy, and directed field teams, leading to impactful results in both the Americas and EMEA regions• Led the FY15 worldwide technical readiness strategy for the channel ecosystem. Strategized, planned, and executed on (1) a breadth program to train 7,500+ individuals through 15 worldwide events and (2) a deep-dive program with select alliances. Owned and managed the budget to execute on the above• Started cross-functional initiatives with the Lync engineering team and cross-organizational delivery with the Office division to create technical content and integrate it into the Microsoft engines, evolving the practices of more than 1,200 partners globally

Redmond, Washington, Us

Partner / Channel Marketing Manager for Lync:• Established the competitive recruit strategy for channel partners, resulting in measurable recruitment outcomes of top partners in the US

Riyadh, 11372 Riyadh, Sa

Previous positions: Systems Engineer, Senior Systems Engineer, Project Engineer – SystemsProduct Manager - Systems (Middle East and North Africa):• Headed the Systems Department and coordinated the work of functional teams (sales, presales, and technical). Built customers’ offerings and promoted solutions to the banking, government, education, and telecom sectors. Reported directly to COO• Managed pipeline and lead generation and negotiated deals with banks’ executives and the Lebanese Ministry of Finance; grew the Systems Department beyond set goals in 2009, exceeded target revenues and increased profit margins in first half of 2010 mostly through cross-selling existing customers• Managed the Systems Department finances directly with the CFO (revenue and gross margin forecasting, budget allocation, and cash flow monitoring). Revised internal cost structure leading to better accountability and overhead reduction

Riyadh, Sa

• Planned and prepared marketing events targeting various sectors in the Lebanese and Saudi markets• Worked on search engine optimization techniques to better position the company’s online presence• Restructured the company’s website (content and design) and created a dedicated website per product• Wrote papers about success stories and built reference lists per technology and per market sector

Analyst, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia:• Revitalized a major stock exchange in the Middle East by interviewing 30 CEOs and Chairmen of listed companies, analyzing their feedback, and recommending a solution to increase daily trading volumes. Identified other potential impediments to new IPOs

Master Of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Business Administration

International Exchange Programme 2012, Mba

Bachelor'S Degree, Computer And Communications Engineering (Cce)