You’re reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Do you ever go back to look at things you’ve created or built in the past? Maybe it’s the first deck you sent to an investor, or perhaps it’s the first prototype of your startup’s product- you might have been proud of them then, but seeing them today might cause you to cringe.
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This month marks eight years since I joined Entrepreneur Middle East, and so, the other day, when I pulled out the first issue that I worked on, and compared it with the magazine in front of you today, it served as a reminder of how much we think we know what we are doing at any given point in time- when the reality is that we’re all simply guessing at how we go about life and work.
Indeed, while it may seem trite to say that it has been a rollercoaster of a journey, that, I’m afraid, remains the most apt way to describe my time at this publication. Much like all you entrepreneurs out there, we’ve been constantly adapting to (and evolving with) the varied circumstances and market cycles we find ourselves in. But while the changes we have gone through over the years are clearly palpable, I am comforted by the fact that our core values -which govern my and my team’s stewardship of this brand- have remained the same.
Has it been easy for us to remain committed to our ethos all through this while? Hell no! I can start a litany of the trials and tribulations we have endured at any given minute- and I can also state for the record that some of these challenges continue on to this very day. But then, what keeps us going at the end of the day -and what it all really comes down to- is impact.
From the fledgling entrepreneur who wept tears of joy after we featured her and her company in the magazine, to the co-founder of a unicorn startup who told us that the story we did on his business’ landmark acquisition still has pride of place on his mantle, the goodwill that we get for the work that we do continues to fuel me and my team, day after day.
As such, to all of my readers, I wish to sincerely thank you for giving me the honor of your time over the last eight years- I hope to continue to be deserving of it in the future as well.
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