Agentic AI is going to thrive - In other words, all the use cases of AI in fields like accounting, legal, shopping, shipping, etc., will start coming to life.

Liquidity may increase - Global interest rates are slowing, as is inflation and a few big IPOs are expected this year. Therefore, the investors will unlock new money to invest and diversify.

Regional divides and strengths will become even more prominent which means your idea can scale faster, within a number of geographies. This also has its negative effects, which I’ll let you imagine. But economically, if you’re building in the UAE for example, you’ll easily find success in scaling throughout the MENA region.

You gotta do everything. As a Founder, you need to do everything. All the grunt work, the things no one will do, and also the high-level-in-the-clouds thinking. After all, the expectation is that you’re operating with either a lean team or no team. You are the sales, marketing, customer support, bookkeeper, and maybe even the janitor from time to time.

At this stage, avoid using language like “I need elevate myself”. Just focus on the product and customer.

Avoid the vanity trap. I’ve met people who call themselves the CEO of a company that they haven’t even registered yet. Why does this matter? Because it shows you’re in it for the wrong reasons. Is your reason to start a business because you can’t sleep without working on the idea, or is it that you want the prestige of being a CEO? Money is a by-product of this game and is never guaranteed.

It does sound cool to be a founder. It feels cool when you’re the one bold friend who stepped out of the matrix and is getting all sorts of kudos IRL and on LinkedIn. Just don’t let this be the driver of your pursuit. Yes, you need traction and attention to move the needle but don’t use that as rocket fuel for your own ego.

Consistent, hardworking and disciplined. It's these 3 qualities that will find you backers/sponsors throughout the journey. If you follow these 3 qualities like no one else you know, to the point where you can’t talk about anything else but work, socially, your backers will admire you and keep betting on you. I’m adding this to the list because once you decide to step into founder land, you need to reek of this.

Spend 2 hours a week, training yourself. You’re building what you think you’re the best at, but that doesn’t mean you stop growing or learning yourself. Read stories of other founders, and listen to podcasts on opposing industries and also the markets. All of that extra knowledge will help. If you manage to dedicate some time in your schedule for this unstructured training, you’ll see some pretty neat dots connecting.

You might have to become an asshole. As a founder, you are responsible for each and everything. This means you’ll need to oversee everything and approve everything too. And this may lead to you micromanaging things. I don’t see that as a bad thing, because once you’ve figured out how to overcome micromanagement, you’ll figure out how to be involved in the details, without being an asshole about the process. You’ll just become an asshole about the details because that's what matters most.

It is indeed a lonely place. You may have heard “it's lonely at the top”. From experience, I can say it is. I had friends who were on a similar journey and we’d often chat and vent, but at the end of the day no one else can do what you’ve set out to do. No one will run payroll, no one will coordinate with a client, no one will make sure investors continue to feel confident, and no one will sign the tax cheque. You‘ve got to do it on your own. You may have team members that are stellar and super committed but at the end of the day, they didn’t sign up for all the baggage that comes with the job. So if you can, find a co-founder.

You don’t have to lead for long. Let's say you start a business in 2025 and by 2026, you’re profitable and making millions and want to keep scaling the business. But you just hate management and refuse to lead the whole ship. Thats perfectly A-okay. You don’t have to change your title from “Founder” to “CEO”. You can just be the Founder and do whatever you like. As long you claim the responsibility to find a suitable CEO who will lead while preserving your vision and values. A great example of this is Ben Francis from Gymshark. Ben started Gymshark from his living room, grew the business and realised he was not ready to be a business leader. He still wanted to focus on product, so he found a mature and older CEO from whom he could learn too. He found a CEO who would train him to take back the reigns for the next leg of the business. And that's exactly what he did after a couple of years.