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The three biggest challenges facing startups in the Middle East
Two new studies have provided fresh insights into the challenges faced by entrepreneurs across the MENA region.
By Damian Radcliffe for Heat Sink | December 4, 2014 -- 09:08 GMT (01:08 PST) | Topic: Start-Ups
The Middle East's startup landscape has changed significantly in recent years. Initiatives such as Abu Dhabi's twofour54 and Flat6Labs in Cairo have provided the means for entrepreneurs to develop their skills and businesses, alongside increasing investment opportunities from global funders like 500 Startups and regionally focused efforts such as the Amman-based Oasis500.
But despite this progress, a number of infrastructure, financial, and people-orientated challenges remain. Two separate reports published in the last month -- one by Wamda Research Lab and the other by Dubai Silicon Oasis -- highlighted some of these issues, and the need to address them if the full potential of tech entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is to be realised.
As with most regions, issues related to investment and cashflow can be key challenges for MENA startups. For Middle East-based entrepreneurs, particular obstacles exist in terms of the lack of larger funding levels and follow-on investment.
The authors of Wamda's report noted that "funding gaps are particularly acute for sizes of $500,000 and above," while Dubai Silicon Oasis's study stated that "the top two predominant financial challenges are access to capital and lack of financial support from banks".
Although there is generally an acknowledgement that these situations have begun to improve, both documents highlight that many banks and investors in the region fail to understand the startup business model and the need for long-term investment. As a result, 72 percent of Oasis's respondents stated that they found it difficult to fund their business, and just 12 percent of the 220 participants in Wamda's research said they had received access to loans.
"Financing and de-blocking funds is a long process," one Syrian entrepreneur said. "Even after approval it took a good four months for the funds to go into the bank account."
As a solution, 70 percent of entrepreneurs claim to self-fund; and many startups -- especially in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) -- admit to often relying on financial support from family and friends.
That said, Wamda's analysis does highlight the emergence of "business accelerators, venture capital funds, angel investment networks, and even a small cohort of crowdfunding platforms" across the region in recent years. However, for many startups these sources are often insufficient for their needs.
Interlinked with the challenge of attracting funding, many Middle Eastern entrepreneurs find their efforts further hampered by legal and logistical roadblocks.
Issues clearly identified in Oasis's report include high fees for business registration and licensing, ownership structures, and unclear legal frameworks. Eighty-one percent of their survey respondents said they found it hard to understand governmental and legal regulation, whilst 62 percent acknowledged bureaucracy and red tape as a major barrier to progressing their ideas.
William Fellows, of the advisory and investment company Lixia Capsia, is not surprised by the findings. "With some important exceptions like Morocco, regulation and legal frameworks make SME lending very difficult," he says.
The authors of Wamda's study were even more explicit in this area, stating that "tax and business laws in many countries are subject to spontaneous revisions or else enforcement of these laws is subjective".
As a result, the experience described by one Lebanon-based entrepreneur in Oasis's study remains all too common: "Everything [is] in Arabic and for people who are not proficient with the language, it's really hard to [go] through the process alone. Moreover no proper information is available online. If you need answers, you need to go down to the institutions who ping pong you from one person to another."
Skills and talent
Although more funding and less red tape would help Middle Eastern startups, both entrepreneurs and investors have recognised additional areas which -- if addressed -- could potentially aid the development of this nascent sector.
Of particular note was the fact that over half of the 65 investors interviewed for Wamda's study felt that MENA's entrepreneurs lacked strategic planning and decision-making skills. Fourty-four percent also conveyed concern at the lack of financial literacy skills among entrepreneurs, and 29 percent of funders "feel that entrepreneurs lack the ability to pitch their ideas effectively". (Given these misgivings, sometimes it's a wonder that so many of MENA's startups get funding in the first place.)
For entrepreneurs, 30 percent of those interviewed by Wamda expressed the view that they would like to see investors offer value "beyond cash". Oasis' study meanwhile highlighted more logistical complications, such as securing visa and work permits (65 percent), the availability of technical staff (66 percent), and the cost of acquiring qualified personnel (76 percent).
"Convincing talented developers to leave corporate jobs and join a startup" is a major problem, said one Egyptian entrepreneur, nevermind "retaining the talents with the low salary budget we have".
Many of the issues faced by MENA's startups are not unique to the region, although local markets do have distinctive characteristics, which means that no two environments are ever exactly the same. Subsequently, solutions to their problems often need to be localised too, even when there is consensus about the founding principles on which to move forward.
The World Economic Forum captured ten of these solutions in a 2011 paper titled, Accelerating Entrepreneurship in the Arab World. Although MENA's startup environment has clearly matured since then, their conclusions remain highly pertinent. Their suggestions included: a multi-stakeholder approach to develop a culture of entrepreneurship, bringing these values into the classroom and the office, embracing the Arabic diaspora, and encouraging VCs "to go beyond funding and provide a support structure for entrepreneurs".
Elements of this are already in place, but clearly more can be done. Perhaps most importantly, as Emile Cubeisy - managing partner of Silicon Badia in Jordan - has identified: "There is a huge need for success stories to enlighten the ecosystem."
After all, nothing breeds success like success.
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YL Ventures secures $120 million to fund Israeli cybersecurity startups
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You can already increase the tiling of your material under material properties, but the geo plane stays the same... I think it would be cool to simply tile the preview geo itself!
Small thing as there are workarounds, still I just thought I'd throw the idea out there. Thanks!


I hope that your holiday season was full of love and joy! Now that we are shivering through a frozen January, let's all pray for an early spring!
December was a very busy month for St Johns Lodge 1P and I thank you all for the Great support! December 16th had both the Christmas food basket program and holiday party. Upwards of 110 members of the Masonic family arrived as early as 6 am to work on the boxes. About twelve hours later, our Lodge holiday party saw around 130 in attendance. By all accounts the party was a success. I'd like to thank Anne Mohrmann for her key help in planning and running the party!
The 2nd annual inter-visitation with Ezekiel Bates Lodge was truly an amazing evening. Worshipful Simmons and his officers deserve a huge thanks for all of their planning and effort hosting the event. Both Worshipful Simmons and I were blown away by the turnout and hope that the inter-visitations will continue for a very long time.
This month our officers will be back to work in the quarries with the Fellowcraft Degree. Our Senior Deacon has been working very hard on the Middle Chamber, so please come to support his efforts and those of our wonderful line of officers.
I look forward to seeing you all on the level!


This is my first post about handwriting or cursive writing. I'll be publishing more about this fascinating topic over the next few months. Cursive writing, also referred to as handwriting, is best characterized by letters that are conjoined and flowing together in a cohesive manner for the expressed purpose of writing faster. Experts can write a word in just a single complex stroke, but such a skill requires time and practice.
Students of all ages can learn cursive writing. However, kids age 7 or younger may need assistance from an adult. In general, 8-year-olds can complete cursive writing assignments after some assistance and general direction from a teacher is given. Kids age 9 or older can complete cursive writing assignments without assistance. As with any new writing technique, it is important to monitor the progress of students and then make adjustments as necessary.
Cursive writing is markedly different from the upright and separated block letters used in printing. In other words, the letters are unconnected and written without slanted loops. Letters like the lowercase "f," "r," "s," and "z," and the uppercase "D," "F," "G," "L," and "Q" are different in shape from the printed counterparts. With practice, students can master these and other letters with ease.
Many schools teach cursive writing in much the same way that they teach printing: by organizing and grouping letters that are similar – rather than presenting them in alphabetical order – for faster comprehension. This technique encourages students to build on one letter – and ultimately one group – before adding more letters – and ultimately more groups – to their current assignment. Also in my Game Designing course, I developed these techniques and used them in my thesis.
It is important to build when it comes to cursive writing because in cursive writing the letters flow together to create one connected word. Generally, you want to start learning how to write lowercase letters first, as these are easier to master and can be used in other lessons, such as spelling. And of course, the best word to start with is your name.
Cursive tracer pages offer an effective way for students to learn cursive writings. Printable worksheets are available and can be customized depending on the student's needs. Many worksheets are grouped into five main categories.
Online animations also make learning cursive writing easier. Such programs offer an interactive and fun way of learning cursive writing at home or at school. Many programs are available free of charge and are all categorized by the level of difficulty of the program. The biggest benefit of online animation programs is that they allow students to study the letters of the cursive alphabet in a visually stimulating way and provide hours of practice. Chose a well-accredited online school though, to prevent any disappointments.
These are just a few of the many techniques available to help students learn basic cursive writing.


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Payless ShoeSource To Shutter All Of Its Remaining US Stores
Posted 6:28 pm, February 15, 2019, by Associated Press, Updated at 10:24PM, February 17, 2019
NEW YORK (AP) — Payless ShoeSource is shuttering all of its 2,100 remaining stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, joining a list of iconic names like Toys R Us and Bon-Ton that have closed down in the last year.
The Topeka, Kansas-based chain said Friday it will hold liquidation sales starting Sunday and wind down its e-commerce operations. All of the stores will remain open until at least the end of March and the majority will remain open until May.
The debt-burdened chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2017, closing hundreds of stores as part of its reorganization.
At the time, it had over 4,400 stores in more than 30 countries. It remerged from restructuring four months later with about 3,500 stores and eliminated more than $435 million in debt.
The company said in an email that the liquidation doesn't affect its franchise operations or its Latin American stores, which remain open for business as usual. It lists 18,000 employees worldwide.
Shoppers are increasingly shifting their buying online or heading to discount stores like T.J. Maxx to grab deals on name-brand shoes. That shift has hurt traditional retailers, even low-price outlets like Payless. Heavy debt loads have also handcuffed retailers, leaving them less flexible to invest in their businesses.
But bankruptcies and store closures will continue through 2019 so there's "no light at the end of the tunnel," according to a report by Coresight Research.
Before this announcement, there have been 2,187 U.S. store closing announcements this year, with Gymboree and Ascena Retail, the parent of Lane Bryant and other brands, accounting for more than half the total, according to the research firm. This year's total is up 23 percent from the 1,776 announcements a year ago. Year-to-date, retailers have announced 1,411 store openings, offsetting 65 percent of store closures, it said.
Payless was founded in 1956 by two cousins, Louis and Shaol Lee Pozez, to offer self-service stores selling affordable footwear.
Topics: National News
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LOL Surprise Toys Will Be Made With Biodegradable Plastic And Paper In 2020

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Patients have difficulty deciphering complex numeric data on healthcare-associated infections used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to help consumers choose hospitals, according to a new study published online in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA).
"Healthcare has made great strides to engage individuals to take a more active role in their care through the public reporting of data," said lead author Max Masnick, PhD, University of Maryland School of Medicine. "However, presenting healthcare-acquired infection data is difficult. We found that the current way public HAI data are communicated is confusing for consumers who are trying to make informed decisions on their care."
The collection and publication of hospital-acquired infection (HAI) data are a key element of the Affordable Care Act and other recent healthcare reform legislation as part of an effort to improve care by having consumers make informed choices. These data are made available to the public via the CMS Hospital Compare website.
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine conducted a cross-sectional survey among 110 randomly selected patients at the University of Maryland Medical Center. The survey asked participants to compare two hypothetical hospitals' frequency of catheter-associated urinary tract infections, using data displayed in the same form currently used on CMS Hospital Compare for use by the general public.
When given only written descriptions of the HAI prevalence in two hospitals, nearly three in 10 participants (28 percent) were unable to accurately identify the better hospital. When participants were given both written descriptions and numeric data together, as presented on the CMS website, comprehension worsened, with 40 percent unable to correctly identify the better hospital. The authors note that based on these findings, members of the general public may reach incorrect conclusions when comparing hospitals using the current HAI reporting format.
"HAI data are made accessible to the public to help improve hospital quality and increase transparency among healthcare systems. We need more effective ways to communicate this information," said Masnick. Masnick says he and his co-authors are working on ways CMS could improve their website.
Max Masnick, Daniel Morgan, John Sorkin, Elizabeth Kim, Jessica Brown, Penny Rheingans, Anthony Harris. "Lack of Patient Understanding of Hospital Acquired Infection Data Published on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare Website." Web (November 23, 2015).
Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of A. "Complex hospital infection data confuses consumers ." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 24 Nov. 2015. Web.


We all know how hard it can be to follow a diet plan. While the 80/20 rule is not technically a full-blown way to lose weight, it is an easy plan to follow that actually works. If you are the type of person (like me) who hates to follow strict food guidelines, you don't want to count calories, carbs, or macros, then this type of eating plan may might be right for you.
The 80/20 rule is one of the easiest ways to reach and maintain the weight you want. The plan requires that you eat a clean diet 80% of the time and then allow for a more "relaxed" diet 20% of the time. The plan allows you to enjoy a few indulgences on regular basis without feeling the guilt you usually feel when you "cheat" on a stricter plan. An easy way to incorporate this diet is to follow clean eating during the week and relax a bit on the weekend.
While the 80/20 rule is easy, in order to fully benefit fully from it, you need to make sure that your 80% is really clean. For the most part, this means having meals that focus on lean sources of protein, fruits, and vegetables. Also, eating whole grains instead of processed, avoiding trans fats, drinking plenty of water and avoiding sugar and alcohol.
When you relax your diet during the 20%, portion control and moderation are very important. For example, during your clean eating days, you should avoid alcohol. Then, during your more relaxed days, you might enjoy a drink or two. During your clean eating days, you should eat veggies or fruit as a snack. During the 20% days, you could have guacamole and chips.
Moderation is fairly easy. This is not a feast or famine plan. All of your days, whether you are in the 80% or the 20%, should be moderate eating days. The only thing that changes is your food choices on the 20% days.
There is no calorie counting or need to use food apps or food journals.
No food is really off limits. You can enjoy the foods you like, just not most of the time.
You probably won't feel deprived. Because of the 20% aspect, you can enjoy a night out and indulgences like pizza, cake, ice cream, etc.
This plan encourages healthy lifestyle habits. Because you are eating clean most of the time, you learn to shop for healthier foods and cook healthier meals.
This 80/20 plan is sustainable - the fact that it is not as restrictive as other plans makes it something you can stick with.
Don't overindulge on your 20% days. If you overdo it on your 20% days, you can gain weight. For example, eating a slice of cake is good but eating the whole cake is not.
Avoid starving yourself on your clean eating days. If you restrict yourself too much during the 80% days, you will be more likely to overindulge on your 20% days. Also, it will be less sustainable, which is one of the benefits of following the 80/20 rule.
Don't overestimate your 20% days. In other words, don't start on Friday morning and go through bed time on Sunday. It is better to choose a few meals to indulge rather than the entire weekend.
Don't ignore portion control. Always remember that if you consume too much of any food, even a healthy food, you are likely to gain weight.
Do You always forget your MCRC card?
Don't want to carry your MCRC card?
We now have two ways you can enter MCRC without your card.
#1 Memorize the bar code numbers on your card.
Search for a bar code generator app that will generate a bar code for you after you have taken a picture of your membership bar code. We suggest an app like Stocard, a rewards wallet where you can tore all your rewards cards.
The MCRC Operating Calendar does not correspond with the Medina City School District Calendar. The MCRC will remain open for business during school vacations, teacher in-service days, some holidays and snow/calamity days.
PLAN YOUR NEXT PARTY OR GET-TOGETHER AT THE MEDINA REC!
12 - Senior Lecture Series - Beyond the Storefront Part 2 - The history of the Medina Public Square & Historic District - Bob Hyde - Historian - Back by popular demand and continuing from where he left off in the fall, Bob Hyde will amaze you with the amount of information he has on the history of Medina. Lunch provided by Danbury Senior Living.
Selection and More! Suzanne Vanpeursem and Barb Buser - Master Gardener Volunteers from the OSU Extension - We are so lucky to have the OSU Extension office here in Medina and even luckier to have them come and tell us imprtant information to help us make our gardens produce great flowers and vegetables. Bring lots of questions! Lunch provided by Willowood Care Center.


To understand the difference between commodity products from the industrial and those from the knowledge sector means to understand the main difference between the industrial and the knowledge society – and why Open Source is cutting-edge.
commodity has been identified as one of three key factors for success.
Software is a knowledge product, when you compare it to industrial commodities, e.g. doormats, is there any difference? The answer is that industrial commodities are physical goods and each new product will take resources to manufacture it. Hence, you always encounter the trade-off between quality and quantity with industrial commodities.
Quite different with software, as this is a virtual product. Software can be copied for almost zero cost, but developing it is a complex and time-consuming task. There's actually no trade-off between quality and quantity when talking of software commodities and physical goods. The only trade-off concerning knowledge commodities like software is between quality and time.
Concerning industrial commodities, there's a copy-per-time ratio, because the amount of products you can create, is limited by the time it takes to manufacture each product. On the other hand, knowledge commodities have an optimization-per-time ratio. There, you don't have to invest time to create copies of the product, instead, you can invest your time into making the product better.
Due to the optimization-per-time ratio of knowledge commodities, the key to success for a software company is that it optimizes its optimization processes. Knowledge companies have the fear to become mentally lame and not agile enough to compete. In other words: they should take care of their potential to optimize the optimization-per-time ratio.
One measurable example would be more bug fixes in shorter time, but still, this would not say anything about the quality of the patches. High quality expectations need to be a natural part of every knowledge company and its organizational form and company culture needs to support every single employee to live up to these expectations.
Open Source companies and projects provide an open ecosystem to gain maximum optimization of their software commodity products, e.g. by bug fixes and new features contributed by third parties. In proprietary companies, the ecosystem is rather closed and they need to rely on internal resources mostly.
Now, the next question would be, whether the open or the closed ecosystem of optimization is more efficient and competitive? Let's deal with it in another blog – this one is already long enough.


Here at Scrap Car Primrose Corner we collect vehicles free of charge throughout Primrose Corner, Norfolk. Scrap cars can be a real problem and can cause you untold misery, if you have a scrap vehicle and it is on the road it will still need to be taxed. Do not pay a company to collect your scrap car. We can collect your vehicle free of charge in Primrose Corner!
As well as offering a completely free collection, we are also currently able to offer cash for scrap cars in Primrose Corner depending upon the weight of the vehicle!
We have built a reputation to be proud of after trading in the Norfolk area for over a decade. Considering that we have been trading in and out of Primrose Corner we know the area very well and can be with you when you need us. We are proud of our reputation of a prompt and reliable service we will always be with you at the agreed time slot. Our collection service is there for you so we will dedicate a specific time slot to work around any commitments you may have.
Scrap Car Primrose Corner will dispose of your car the right way. Dishonest companies might sell your car on and never even had any intention of scrapping, sometimes the DVLA won't even be notified that the vehicle has changed ownership. This leaves you open to fines and tickets, sometimes resulting to points on your licence. When we collect your old scrap car we always ensure that the DVLA are aware that the vehicle is in fact being scrapped, there's one less thing for you to worry about. Scrap Car Primrose Corner can guarantee that whatever can be recycled is, this ensure that we are always doing our bit for the environment.
The car scrappage scheme in Primrose Corner might seem like a great idea at first. However, you will be limited as to what you can get. You can't just go and buy any vehicle you want A lot of people have felt let down as there are only certain cars available in the scrappage scheme.
You won't believe how easy it is to scrap your old car in Primrose Corner. Simply pick up the phone and speak to one of our helpful phone operators. Otherwise, please feel free to take a look at our guide to help you scrap your car before you call or book.


Cofondatrice et secrétaire de la Zola Society de Londres.
The Emile Zola Society was founded in 1990 at the Institut Français du Royaume Uni. We offer friendly and well-informed contacts for members who are interested in Emile Zola, his life, works and times. We meet regularly for talks and discussions (generally in English) on Zola and his contemporaries, on films based on his novels, on fin-de-siècle Paris, Impressionist painters, and other relevant subjects. In the summer and autumn, we organise visits to places of interest. Our annual Bulletin publishes articles, reviews and details of our activities.