A snapshot of entrepreneurship in Oman
In the past decade, entrepreneurship in Oman has become significantly stronger and more mature. Ever since the late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos set the vision for an SME driven economy, through a series...
How to avoid scams in crypto
Half a billion dollars were scammed in crypto last year, and this year might be much more. Crypto is per se a risky form of digital asset, and the rule of thumb for all investors should be the...
E-Mobility not mature, and probably will never be
Ok. I get it. Maybe I am a bit old fashion. But there are some business models that make little sense to me. Starting from the food delivery frenzy, where 99% or the rides are subsidised with...
The benefits of business digitalisation
There was a time when we used to ask for “the original” invoice. It was a time when the fax machine was one of the most advanced pieces of technology in our offices. And most importantly, emails...
The future of Web3 is not the present
Let us not mistake the present with the future. I just spent a few days in Seoul, South Korea, where - besides the worst flood in at least five decades - the Korea Blockchain Week took place at the...
How to approach a web3 investor
In today’s column I would like to discuss the status of venture capital investment in web3, which to some is just a new fancy way to refer to blockchain technology.Ever since I joined as a partner...
The state of the video game industry
Recession is the buzz word of the day and the phenomena that we are we are going to talk about in this article.Recession is a multifaceted subject that has far-reaching ramifications for people,...
Behind the scene of a VC decision making
@stefanovirgilliThree months ago I joined an investment firm, which could be loosely categorised as a Venture Capital. Without going too much into technicalities, Venture Capital is money deployed to...
Was NFT just a buzzword in the end?
In 2018, when I was speaking on the stages of crypto and blockchain conferences all around the world, with a frequency of almost every couple of days, I grew tired of seeing scam after scam being...
The domino effect when crypto collapses
Not everyone is feeling it yet, but the global economy is in pretty bad shape at the moment. In some countries prices are skyrocketing. Fuel and energy in general have become terribly expensive....
Series B funding as a market sentiment indicator
When we look at macroeconomics indicator, inflation is one of the most important metrics to keep in mind as a litmus of the market’s status and sentiment. Inflation paints a picture of the current...
The growing trend of Buy Now, Pay Later
Fintech is a concept that I saw evolving from its inception. From being just a trendy buzzword, to a full scale segment of the financial industry. One of the most recent trends is the Buy Now, Pay...
How ESG could improve performance
Is all publicity, good publicity? No sorry. It does not work that way any longer. We live in the era of social media, and when things turn out to be negative, often stay that way. As I dig deeper in...
Investors strongly believe in web3
Finally I can say that — at least in my work routine — things seem to be back to normal. I was in fact I was on a conference’s stage as a panelist for the first time in years. Except for wearing...
Time to look past Bitcoin
I just returned from a longly awaited trip to Italy. After almost 3 years I managed to go back to visit my family and friends. And after nearly 2 decades spent abroad, it is always fascinating going...
Venture Capital's risk appetite in bear market
Nobody likes to lose money. That is a fact. But when the bear market hits, many retail investors will inevitably suffer. A retail investor is - by definition - the average person that in the spare...
The crypto apocalypse has begun
I have been involved in cryptocurrency since 2016. At the beginning as a spot trader, then with a series of jobs in the industry. More recently, very close to the DeFi movement and derivative...
Spot and derivatives in crypto
The 17th week of 2022 was the usual rollercoaster in cryptocurrency. Some went up, some went down, and some went both up and down in a very short period of time. I wrote a column last week on various...
Investing when inflation is high
Inflation is skyrocketing all over the world, due to a number of reasons. Until a few months ago, some analysts defined this spike as “transitionary”. It turned out to be much more permanent than...
A new wave of fintech in Oman
While I was in Dubai last month, attending a number of blockchain and fintech events, I met my friend Mohammed al Tamam, the Co-Founder and CCO of the Omani fintech Mamun. Once back home, we continue...