A show that explores the world of founders; their disappointments, their wins, their personal lives, and how they deal with adversity.
Host Yasmeen Turayhi interviews startup founders and entrepreneurs in emerging markets in 1:1 conversations where the audience will learn about some of the biggest lessons these founders learned on their journey from the personal to the professional and share how they keep themselves motivated.
The Middle East was built on the foundation of commerce and sales and the spirit of entrepreneurship pulsates through the veins of the region. These founders have a unique lens about what it takes to build and grow a company in the Middle East and North Africa. Oftentimes, these founders have found ways to deliver on the promise of their product within an early or non-existent ecosystem. In some cases, they had to build both the product and the ecosystem.
Yasmeen Turayhi is a product marketing expert in Silicon Valley and Board member of TechWadi, the leading non-profit organization building bridges between Silicon Valley and the Middle East and North Africa region.
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A show that explores the world of founders; their disappointments, their wins, their personal lives, and how they deal with adversity.
Host Yasmeen Turayhi interviews startup founders and entrepreneurs in emerging markets in 1:1 conversations where the audience will learn about some of the biggest lessons these founders learned on their journey from the personal to the professional and share how they keep themselves motivated.
The Middle East was built on the foundation of commerce and sales and the spirit of entrepreneurship pulsates through the veins of the region. These founders have a unique lens about what it takes to build and grow a company in the Middle East and North Africa. Oftentimes, these founders have found ways to deliver on the promise of their product within an early or non-existent ecosystem. In some cases, they had to build both the product and the ecosystem.
Yasmeen Turayhi is a product marketing expert in Silicon Valley and Board member of TechWadi, the leading non-profit organization building bridges between Silicon Valley and the Middle East and North Africa region.
How to build a luxury coffee brand from the Port of Mokha in Yemen with Mokhtar Alkhanshali
Startup Confessionals
4 years ago
How to build a luxury coffee brand from the Port of Mokha in Yemen with Mokhtar Alkhanshali
Today’s episode is with Mokhtar, the founder of Port of Mokha, a luxury coffee brand.
Mokhtar comes from an ancient lineage of farmers in Yemen that traces back to when the world’s first coffee was cultivated in his home province of Ibb over five centuries ago.
In 2013, Mokhtar began focusing on his family’s roots as coffee farmers in Yemen. Seeking to reverse Yemen’s nearly lost art of coffee cultivation, he founded Port of Mokha. Mokhtar has helped to reverse the declining quality of Yemeni coffee and re-establish it as the one of industry's most treasured origins.
In 2017 his coffee was rated as the number one coffee in the world by the Coffee Review. His work has been profiled in GQ, FastCompany, Vanity Fair, and New York Times, among others. Acclaimed author Dave Eggers’ NYT best-selling book, The Monk of Mokha, traces Mokhtar’s journey as a social entrepreneur and his harrowing escape from war-torn Yemen with his first coffee samples.
We dive into the following:
✅ What Port of Mokha is with our audience, and also where they can find it
✅ Why he decided to start his company, and his journey
✅ How he was able to prove his product market fit, and become a luxury
✅ How he was able to pay the farmers in Yemen what they deserved
✅ Adversity that he faced on his journey, especially during the pandemic
Stay tuned for upcoming episodes with startup founders in the Middle East and North Africa!
Please tag us and tell us what you learned. We’d greatly appreciate a review if you are enjoying these conversations.
لسماع البودكاست ا-ب تغذية على انغامي:
https://hakawati.fm/alef-ba-taghziya
Startup Confessionals
A show that explores the world of founders; their disappointments, their wins, their personal lives, and how they deal with adversity.
Host Yasmeen Turayhi interviews startup founders and entrepreneurs in emerging markets in 1:1 conversations where the audience will learn about some of the biggest lessons these founders learned on their journey from the personal to the professional and share how they keep themselves motivated.
The Middle East was built on the foundation of commerce and sales and the spirit of entrepreneurship pulsates through the veins of the region. These founders have a unique lens about what it takes to build and grow a company in the Middle East and North Africa. Oftentimes, these founders have found ways to deliver on the promise of their product within an early or non-existent ecosystem. In some cases, they had to build both the product and the ecosystem.
Yasmeen Turayhi is a product marketing expert in Silicon Valley and Board member of TechWadi, the leading non-profit organization building bridges between Silicon Valley and the Middle East and North Africa region.
