Q&A with Henri Asseily
Written by
Henri Asseily
Managing Partner, Leap Ventures
Lebanon
What is it that you’re looking for when funding startups?
We first look for a strong team encompassing vision, technology, marketing and management. The team must show operational expertise. Second, the market size must be substantial. And finally, the idea must not be bad. And that’s in order of importance.
What advice can you give to new entrepreneurs who are just starting out and preparing to approach investors?
Approach unknown investors only after building a prototype that demonstrates feasibility, operational strength, and knowledge of the space. The key point is that you’re unknown, you’ve never done this before, so you have to have an answer to the question: are you the one who can do it?
How many of the startups you’ve invested in have failed? What did you learn from that?
I’ve started and/or invested in many more startups that have failed than have succeeded, and that’s normal. I started 2 companies that failed even after raising good money, and I’ve invested in enough startups that failed that it’d be hard for me to remember them all. What I learned is that a strong team that has drive, dedication, knowledge of the environment and the technical skills will have the most chance to succeed. If the team is stellar, it will find a problem to solve, a willing market, and the solution to make it big.
What are the limitations of the Lebanese ecosystem? How can Lebanon up its startup game?
The Lebanon ecosystem is short on strong talent, and has an initiated investor community. Both need to be fostered and grown to international standards. We’ve gone a long way in a few short years, and there’s still a bumpy and hard road ahead, but we can make it happen. All the actors are pushing forward in the same direction, and I have high confidence we can get our community to have a big impact in our economy soon.