This handbook is a work in progress, heavily opinionated, and unapologetically inspired by Paul Graham’s writing style and approach to startup advice. Before you dive in, here’s what you should know about our approach and limitations.

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This Is Not Science

The advice in this handbook comes from pattern recognition across dozens of MENA startups, investments, and founder conversations—not from controlled studies or comprehensive market research. We’ve seen certain approaches work repeatedly and others fail consistently, but that doesn’t make our observations universal laws. Startup building is contextual. What works for a B2B SaaS company in Dubai might not work for a consumer app in Cairo. What works in 2024 might not work in 2026. Use our frameworks as starting points for your own thinking, not as rigid rules to follow.

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We Are Heavily Opinionated

This handbook takes strong positions on controversial topics: we think most accelerator programs are wastes of time, that pitch competitions rarely lead to meaningful outcomes, and that following Silicon Valley fundraising advice in MENA often leads to failure. These aren’t balanced, academic assessments—they’re battle-tested opinions from people who’ve been building and investing in the region for years. Sometimes we’re wrong. When local evidence contradicts our advice, trust your local evidence.

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Paul Graham’s Influence

Our writing style and analytical approach are heavily inspired by Paul Graham’s essays. We admire his direct communication, contrarian insights, and focus on what actually matters versus what people think should matter. But we’re not Paul Graham, and MENA isn’t Silicon Valley. We’ve adapted his frameworks to our context rather than copying them wholesale. When his advice doesn’t fit regional realities, we say so explicitly.

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What We’re Optimizing For

Contrarian insights over comprehensive coverage. We focus on advice that’s hard to find elsewhere, not everything you need to know about building startups. Specific regional knowledge over universal principles. We assume you can find generic startup advice anywhere. We provide the insights that only come from building in MENA. Pattern recognition over individual anecdotes. Our advice comes from observing patterns across many companies, not from single success stories or failure cases. Actionable frameworks over theoretical analysis. We want to help you make better decisions, not just understand markets better.

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Our Backgrounds and Biases

This handbook comes from the Maza Ventures ecosystem—we’re a venture capital firm focused on MENA markets. That shapes our perspective in important ways: We see more B2B software and Artificial Intelligence companies than consumer apps or hardware startups. Our advice skews toward venture-backable businesses rather than lifestyle companies or traditional small businesses. We work primarily with English-speaking founders who have international ambitions. Founders building purely local solutions in local languages might find different approaches more effective. We’re based primarily in Jordan and Türkiye, with strong networks in Saudi Arabia and UAE. Our understanding of North African and Levantine markets is deeper than our knowledge of smaller regional markets.

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How to Use This Handbook

Start with skepticism. Question our assumptions, especially when they contradict your direct experience or local knowledge. Test our frameworks with your data. We provide analytical approaches, not conclusions. Apply our methods to your specific situation rather than accepting our general observations. Combine our advice with other sources. This handbook covers things we think are underexplored elsewhere, not everything you need to know. Use it alongside other resources, not instead of them. Update your understanding as you learn. Markets change, ecosystems evolve, and what worked yesterday might not work tomorrow. Treat our advice as hypotheses to test, not truths to follow.

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What We Don’t Cover

This handbook doesn’t provide comprehensive guidance on basic startup mechanics—incorporation procedures, employee contracts, accounting systems. You can find that information elsewhere, often from more authoritative sources. We don’t cover every MENA market equally. Our experience is concentrated in larger, more developed startup ecosystems. Founders in smaller markets should adapt our advice accordingly. We don’t provide legal, financial, or regulatory advice. Consult appropriate professionals before making important decisions based on our suggestions.

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Work in Progress

This handbook evolves as we learn more about what works and what doesn’t in regional startup building. Sections marked as placeholders will be developed based on community feedback and our ongoing investment experience. When we change our minds about important topics, we’ll update the relevant sections rather than pretending we always held our current views.

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The Goal

We want to help technical founders build valuable companies in MENA by sharing insights that are genuinely hard to find elsewhere. If our opinionated approach helps you avoid common mistakes and identify overlooked opportunities, we’ve succeeded. If you disagree with our conclusions but our frameworks help you think more clearly about your specific challenges, we’ve also succeeded. The goal isn’t to be right about everything—it’s to be useful for founders who are building something significant in markets that don’t get enough thoughtful analysis elsewhere.