For those who may not know, I am the founding CEO of Saffar Capital, the private equity firm that invested in Zawya in 2001 taking a 60% stake and then selling it to Thompson Reuters in 2012. I was also the Chairman of Zawya from 2001 to 2011. It was an incredible investment, one that I was actively involved in for a decade and that I also learnt a lot from.
Over the next few weeks I will be publishing a series of posts highlighting some of these lessons that allowed a tiny online media company backed by a young private equity firm to grow into a regional success rivaling and surpassing international competitors with deep pockets and global experience.
I have created a static page, My Zawya Story, to keep track of all the posts.
The current publication schedule is as follows:
- Introduction: 20 October
- Origins: 22 October
- Acquisition Negotiations: 23 October
- Two Initial Decisions: 26 October
- Deciding the Business Model: 27 October
- Negative Cash Flow Lessons: 29 October
- Positive Cash Flow Challenges: 30 October
- Strategic Growth Decisions: 2 November
- The Importance of Independent Board Members: 3 November
- Global Financial Crisis: 5 November
- Finale: 6 November
As each post is published I will update the schedule with the relevant links.
Sabah al-Binali