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My last [NYC-built] startup operated in the Middle East (not Saudi Arabia) for multiple years as they had regulatory fast-track for medical devices/startups. W

My last [NYC-built] startup operated in the Middle East (not Saudi Arabia) for multiple years as they had regulatory fast-track for medical devices/startups. While it was a tough slog living in the middle east, I did it out of greed (my startup was doing ML-driven-health diagnostics...and...where else can you get years of medical records with full government buy-in). However..having been there I can see a lot of reasons for this possible Alphabet-SA-Aramco deal: - there is NO cloud endpoint in the region. no AWS/GoogleCloud/Azure/SoftLayer, nothing. So if you have data locality issues, like we did, you build your own storage/GPU cluster as we did. There is a huge opportunity for AWS/GoogleCloud/Azure/SoftLayer, locality laws make doing typical stuff impossible in the middle east -- just imagine how your life would be if you couldn't use cloud services?! - electricity is near free due to energy abundance, we paid no electricity costs on our giant GPU grid in the region - there is a lot of tech and ml talent in the region, most of it unable to take jobs in the US due to immigration laws and unable to take jobs in China due to cultural differences. there are also many customs like keeping your parents living in your home, which is now (post-2016) pretty must impossible with current western immigration laws. we hired locally (mostly Egypt) and got great talent for a fraction of US costs. - for the likes of DeepMind/DeepHealth trying to get UK NHS data, they can do it far more easily in Saudi Arabia for training models, etc. I'm back home in the US after 3yrs overseas. DM me if you are curious.

charlesdm 9y ago
Maybe the most important question: did you end up making (good) money, i.e. was it worth it going there looking back?
- TuringNYC 9y ago
  Our acquisition by a Fortune 100 got knocked over during due diligence (sad, but i'm told it is normal.) Made great money but a strategic acquisition was what we really wanted. I cant say I didn't try. We did a product with both market opportunity and one where the marginal cost would have allowed free distribution in needy countries. Inexpensive diagnostics help find conditions earlier so they can be treated more effectively and better human health, so very proud of what we achieved product-wise (whatever the business outcome.) Having a good country to work in with a sensible medical system and well-aligned incentives to improve the system allowed this. We tried to sell the idea/services in the US but the medical industry here is just out-of-control-complex-nonsensical. That said, whatever one might think of the governments, we had a great time with the local population. We were a bit bubbled in a western "compound" and a US embassy school for the kids, but life was very easy there. If you want apartment life, you can live/entertain pretty inexpensively on an artificial island with all things you might want: http://thepearlqatar.com/EN/TheIsland/Pages/The-Pearl-Qatar.aspx http://thepearlqatar.com/EN/TheIsland/Pages/The-Pearl-Qatar....
  - charlesdm 9y ago
    Awesome. That's great to hear! Venture funded, or bootstrapped / self-funded? Did you build the business in Qatar?
    - TuringNYC 9y ago
      We bootstrapped initially and later got some institutional funding. You'd ideally need some institutional funding from a local institution as they help arrange for visas, licenses, etc. We did our best work in Qatar but there are early efforts in several other regional countries. The Arab embargos from this past summer really put a damper on that unfortunately. There is still hope, someone else is now running the effort and I hope it succeeds. Our top thing was real-time TB diagnosis for use at airports but we developed a number of other classifiers.
    - 616c 9y ago
      I'm guessing UAE. Qatar insists they are good for this stuff. But they only recently started making good on deregulation promises they have made for years. Not sure but I think the Qatari free economic zone near KSA is still only becoming an imminent reality. UAE has had them plural for years.
      - TuringNYC 9y ago
        Qatar and UAE both have interesting free-hold business zones ideal for IP-heavy work. One of the interesting aspects of some zones is that they are chartered to do all dispute resolution via foreign law (e.g. UK law) You are right, UAE is way ahead on the freezone aspect. Qatar, however, is way ahead on the academic front with the most concentrated selection of western academic branches (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_City https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_City). For us, having a Cornell University Medical School branch next door, complete with tenured Cornell Med School professors was a huge sell for Qatar.
  - 616c 9y ago
    If you can ignore the slave labor and stuff. I lived down the street from Pearl. It ate away at me for years. Then I left.

charlesdm 9y ago

Maybe the most important question: did you end up making (good) money, i.e. was it worth it going there looking back?

TuringNYC 9y ago
Our acquisition by a Fortune 100 got knocked over during due diligence (sad, but i'm told it is normal.) Made great money but a strategic acquisition was what we really wanted. I cant say I didn't try. We did a product with both market opportunity and one where the marginal cost would have allowed free distribution in needy countries. Inexpensive diagnostics help find conditions earlier so they can be treated more effectively and better human health, so very proud of what we achieved product-wise (whatever the business outcome.) Having a good country to work in with a sensible medical system and well-aligned incentives to improve the system allowed this. We tried to sell the idea/services in the US but the medical industry here is just out-of-control-complex-nonsensical. That said, whatever one might think of the governments, we had a great time with the local population. We were a bit bubbled in a western "compound" and a US embassy school for the kids, but life was very easy there. If you want apartment life, you can live/entertain pretty inexpensively on an artificial island with all things you might want: http://thepearlqatar.com/EN/TheIsland/Pages/The-Pearl-Qatar.aspx http://thepearlqatar.com/EN/TheIsland/Pages/The-Pearl-Qatar....
- charlesdm 9y ago
  Awesome. That's great to hear! Venture funded, or bootstrapped / self-funded? Did you build the business in Qatar?
  - TuringNYC 9y ago
    We bootstrapped initially and later got some institutional funding. You'd ideally need some institutional funding from a local institution as they help arrange for visas, licenses, etc. We did our best work in Qatar but there are early efforts in several other regional countries. The Arab embargos from this past summer really put a damper on that unfortunately. There is still hope, someone else is now running the effort and I hope it succeeds. Our top thing was real-time TB diagnosis for use at airports but we developed a number of other classifiers.
  - 616c 9y ago
    I'm guessing UAE. Qatar insists they are good for this stuff. But they only recently started making good on deregulation promises they have made for years. Not sure but I think the Qatari free economic zone near KSA is still only becoming an imminent reality. UAE has had them plural for years.
    - TuringNYC 9y ago
      Qatar and UAE both have interesting free-hold business zones ideal for IP-heavy work. One of the interesting aspects of some zones is that they are chartered to do all dispute resolution via foreign law (e.g. UK law) You are right, UAE is way ahead on the freezone aspect. Qatar, however, is way ahead on the academic front with the most concentrated selection of western academic branches (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_City https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_City). For us, having a Cornell University Medical School branch next door, complete with tenured Cornell Med School professors was a huge sell for Qatar.
- 616c 9y ago
  If you can ignore the slave labor and stuff. I lived down the street from Pearl. It ate away at me for years. Then I left.