A Hot Take on VC in TV

In April, the executive producer of Elforsa by Lamis Elhadidi, a televised startup competition show in Egypt, asked me to participate as one of five judges on the upcoming season. At first, my public speaking fears kicked in, until she started mapping out our journey: we’d visit four major governorates across Egypt to meet over 350 founders, all of them ready to pitch their company and vision to us.

I knew this would be a meaningful opportunity for me to not only grow beyond my comfort zone (with a small chance I’d also become a viral meme) but also to access companies that are difficult to come across in the saturated but strained entrepreneurial landscape of the Middle East-North Africa region’s most populous country. 

Meanwhile, I had recently been promoted to Principal at VentureSouq, the venture capital firm I joined in 2021, and finally felt empowered to hold a managerial role within a male-dominated sector. I saw this show as an opportunity to transfer my positive professional energy and experiences to other businesspeople who are striving to give life and form to their vision.

Each founder was allocated a two-minute slot to present their idea, followed by an in-depth discussion of up to 20 minutes. In spite of a demanding schedule — which involved engaging with 50 to 60 companies a day and over 15 hours of studio filming — our commitment remained steadfast in ensuring each individual received equitable attention and thorough, constructive feedback on their future in the competition and beyond.

In Upper Egypt, I met a resilient female founder who won my mind, imagination, and golden ticket. Maha Rohaim, the founder of Truston Egypt, is a scientific researcher in the field of plant breeding, with a focus on corn and agricultural processing. She embodies the essential qualities that I’m always looking for in founders and leaders — passion, perseverance, and integrity.

In the literal field, Maha has observed a shortage of fertilizers and inadequate direct access to them, along with an increase in the spread of adulterated fertilizers in Upper Egypt and a lack of technical support in the Egyptian market overall, due to high costs of service.

Seeing these shortfalls and setbacks as a chance to make a true difference, Maha launched Truston to manufacture fertilizers with natural and organic materials, nurturing the life-giving earth. After just two months in business, her company released seven product lines and sold over 6,000 units — an impressive feat for a self-funded, small-scale operation.

Maha and her husband drove four hours from their home in Fayoum to Minya, the city where we were filming for companies across Upper Egypt. She walked out onto the stage with a broken leg and a strong spirit. We later found out that she was wearing all black because her father had passed away earlier in the week.

She is a radiant example of the many strong women and businesswomen who I connected with along this journey, from Minya to Mansoura, Alexandria to Cairo, and everywhere in between. For me, such an entrepreneur possesses a unique blend of qualities that sets her apart in the business world — a traditionally male-dominated world —  making her an industry force and source.

Maha’s unwavering belief in herself has helped her overcome life and work challenges while her assertive yet empathetic communication style inspires a climate of collaboration and inclusivity. When pitching her business to us, she proved to be a strategic thinker and visionary leader, one who makes bold moves based on experience, logic, and intuition. Beyond her professional accomplishments, she uplifts others by giving back to her community and shining a light on pathways for others to follow.

Overall, this experience opened my eyes to a range of compelling ideas and projects, ones that reflect the unique nature, culture, and conditions of each region, from Alexandria to the Delta and Upper Egypt. The entrepreneurs aimed to address specific challenges within their respective communities, ones that also resonate nationally, even internationally, as agricultural sectors are highly vulnerable to the climate crisis.

It’s also important to mention that our panel met ambitious contestants who were still in high school. They displayed entrepreneurial agility beyond their years, and their courage to participate in the show deeply moved us. We were not only committed to offering them genuine real-world advice about their potential paths forward, but also to treating them as equals alongside the older contestants. According to the United Nations, youth make up an estimated 60 percent of our country’s population, thus it’s crucial to invest time, energy, and resources into their demographic, the future.

Takeaways for fellow boss ladies:

1. Present polished slides. No one-pagers and not too wordy.

2. Numbers, numbers, numbers. Know your numbers like you know your birthday. It’s your company, you need to know everything about it inside and out — the good, the bad, and the ugly.

3. Greet prospective partners with a smile and positive energy can take you a long way.

4. Don’t get defensive. Be prepared for difficult questions.

5. If you get cut off by a question, let the conversation flow; it means people are interested in what you are saying. Don’t get flustered or stick to a script.

6. Be honest. Don’t attempt to omit or bend details and facts, because someone will know or find out.

7. Know your competitors.