The Lighthouse seems to sit at the nexus of venues that are at once both familiar and inviting. A place where conversation, culture, literature and curiosity intertwine at ease and unfettered. Perhaps a Fitrovia Tavern to the budding Dubai Bloomsbury group.  As Hashem comes from an academic household, with a father he describes as an “economist at heart”, and a mother with an unparalleled level of curiosity and a strong interest in Art, we were curious about which elements Hashem brought into The Lighthouse, which he cofounded with Hani Bassiouni.  We trace back Hashem’s journey from asset management and finance, his first entrepreneurial experience, and the toolkit the cofounders built on for The Lighthouse. We dive into the dialectic of the aesthetic and the analytical, with Hashem and Hani marrying both their commercial and cultural instincts to build a sustainable commercial enterprise and the wider role technology and entrepreneurship play in a rapidly changing society.