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Founder@ Interview
Interview with Haitham Kalakesh
“Sometimes listening to big guys from the big firms is not ideal because they have these big achievements and benchmarks. Listen to people who walked a similar path as you, from employment level to start-up mode. These people will give you the right guidelines and advice coupled with distilled wisdom. Also, 80% of entrepreneurs don’t like numbers because they are driven by the creative, and numbers don’t feel like that. But I believe numbers will be your co-pilot, your friend, and understanding them is a precondition, it’s about turning your ideas into numbers, and only you can dot that..” – Haitham Kalakesh
Today we feature Haitham:Kalakesh, the founder at Riversong . We hear their story in their own words, their successes, their challenges and their insights.
Let’s start by getting to know you. Can you please tell us a little bit about you and what you do?
I embarked on my career as a designer – my passion, in Saudi Arabia. In the year 2000, I started working for Nokia, in the vibrant marketing department in graphic design.
I am the Global CEO for Riversong and Co-Founder of real estate, eCommerce & Digital companies and I can see how every career step I took allowed me to create a brand of my own.
A great introduction and start to this interview. Can you please tell us, how did you start, from what age, and what made you decide to change direction and start?
I started working when I was 20 years old (graphic and visual design). I started when the digital industry didn’t exist, and everything was done through printing. When I started working for Nokia, under the brand development team, I started getting more and more in touch with technology. That’s when I began to comprehend marketing and what customers desire to see.
After that role, I became a business development director in another company working across multiple electronic brands like Samsung, and Toshiba.
This job led me to create brand campaigns and understand the different perspectives of each brand. That was when I boosted my communication and business skills.
In 2011 when China started dominating the mobile industry I got hired as CEO of one of the largest factories. I spent a lot of time working with the team from China and Hong Kong to create the brand portfolio for the mobile and tablet division. 1.5 years later we launch the brand. During that time, I enjoyed great connections with technology and development partners and design houses.
With my vision, marketing, and sales experience I saw great potential and an opportunity to create our own brand. I saw a big gap between big brands with expensive good products focusing on A+ consumers and Chinese cheap prices and low-quality brand products. So, I decided to go for the middle, where the quality exists and gives the consumers the opportunity to experience it.
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Thank you for that insight. So can you tell us…What does your business do and where is your company based?
Our business started in the technology hub, in Shenzhen and China where all the hardware and software companies are established. After that, it was a matter of going worldwide. We expanded our branch offices to India, Dubai, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UK.
What’s the story behind your success? What led to your aha moment? how did you get to where you are now?
Success came from the perspective we had right from the beginning with the visual arts and marketing. Considering the selling points and what the consumer wants, combined with knowledge of technology, we knew we were heading to success.
Thank you for sharing that. What’s been your life’s biggest lesson so far?
Don’t follow the giants and international brands. What they have cannot be used as a tactic for start-up companies. The strategy must be different; you can’t reach everything at once.
In every single country, there’s a gat in the market, a space, a neutral zone where you can penetrate and add your own
touch.
The biggest challenge is delivering your entire technology brand to a platform or one commercial arm.
For instance, selling to an online platform is a good business. If you are small and want to sell internationally you can grow but keep in mind it’s a monopoly game because they are dominant and they can decide whether they want to change your brand creation so far. Create your space first, and dig deep into the commercial aspect, where you can get the engagement and the return of it. And then start adding the third-party space where they can give you the volume.
This way I can guarantee that if the third party doesn’t wish to work with us anymore, we won’t shut down our business because of it.
That going at it solo or as a one-man show cannot create success. You can be the brand ambassador, the face of the company but without a proper team behind every department (especially the backbone of a company – finance level, CFO) you can fail very easily. Cash flow is one of the essential ingredients for a successful business.
If you were to go back in time, what piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
Do not put too benchmark and objectives. Do not make too many big plans, make it on a smaller achievable scale where you can feel you’re reaching your goals and allow yourself to feel proud and motivated. If you put too much on yourself too soon you will not be able to see the greatest things ahead.
Many people doubted me, and many of them became my partners now. Therefore, I would say to myself to keep going as it is, and don’t look behind no matter what.
We’re nearly halfway through our interview so it’s a great time to ask how does your business run. What three tools make your business run better?
Our business is driven by 3 important aspects. The right human resource, the right team members and the right products, and a strong amount of passion.
Even if you have good products and prices, you won’t be able to take it far ahead without the team leading the way with you. That’s the core foundation of every business I believe.
The team creates the system, not the other way around. You shouldn’t have a systematic organisation. We establish guidelines and then the team is offered the right space to run and manoeuvre.
What do you know now that you wished you had known before?
That going at it solo or as a one-man show cannot create success. You can be the brand ambassador, the face of the company but without a proper team behind every department (especially the backbone of a company – finance level, CFO) you can fail very easily. Cash flow is one of the essential ingredients for a successful business.
What has been your greatest or proudest achievement or moment?
Once I exceeded one or two international brands of smart wearables and became a serious competitor
on the international arena.
What future life goals do you want to achieve and why?
I want to achieve the same amount of prosperity I achieved in the business with my family. Being able to be a role model for them, to teach them that any ideas, small or big can come together and grow into great things for your future.
To finish our inspire questions…”We believe that sharing inspiring words can inspire others.” If there was one positive thing you would say to someone to inspire and empower them what would it be and why?
Sometimes listening to big guys from the big firms is not ideal because they have these big achievements and benchmarks. Listen to people who walked a similar path as you, from employment level to start-up mode. These people will give you the right guidelines and advice coupled with distilled wisdom.
Also, 80% of entrepreneurs don’t like numbers because they are driven by the creative, and numbers don’t feel like that. But I believe numbers will be your co-pilot, your friend, and understanding them is a precondition, it’s about turning your ideas into numbers, and only you can dot that.
“Thank you it has been great learning more about your founder story and Riversong “
To learn more about Riversong Visit http://www.riversongtech.com/
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