We got a chance to interview Chasan Mochament, the CEO & Founder of Digital Founders. He is an experienced professional with a results-driven mindset with exceptional business planning, development, strategy, and customer experience skills.
Through our interview with him, we learned that Digital Founders invests in maverick founders who wish to create new markets. They focus on finding inspirational and passionate entrepreneurs from innovative and technology-driven industries.
To learn more about these Angels investors, we started by asking Chasan about the idea behind Digital Founders.
The Ideas & Goals Behind It
“What’s the idea behind Digital Founders?” We asked Chasan.
“Digital Founders is an Angel Investments club for wealthy private investors focused on financing tech-based startups in exchange for equity. The idea behind the club is based on the premise that entrepreneurs face a funding gap between what friends and families can offer and what VCs are willing to contribute.
VCs usually do not invest less than $1 million; too much for a seed stage startup. As Angels, we close this funding gap called ‘Valley of Death.’” says Chasan.
Upon understanding the idea behind Digital Founders, we were also curious about understanding their goals. Hence, we asked Chasan, “What’s your company’s goal?”
He replied, “Apart from financing tech-based startups, we focus on four main verticals:
- Support
Provide a comprehensive range of business support services covering all startup and operational needs.
- Mentoring
Offer strategic mentoring and guidance while providing access to a wealth of entrepreneurial, technical, and commercial expertise.
- Strategy
Help create comprehensive and structured business strategies tailored to each opportunity, ensuring a clear road map to success.
- Network
Creating an extensive, cross-industry network leverages business relationships, opportunities, and strategic partnerships across the middle east.”
Teamwork & Innovation
We believe that a team is of immense importance to any business. Different leaders have different outlooks on team success. Hence, we wanted to know what Chasan thinks about it. That’s why we asked him, “What makes the team successful, in your opinion?”
“To answer this question, I’d prefer to shed light on what makes the team dysfunctional, and I believe Patrick Lencioni demonstrated this beautifully in his book “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” which are: 1) absence of trust, 2) fear of conflict, 3) lack of commitment, 4) avoidance of accountability, and 5) Inattention to results,” says Chasan.
Chasan surely has a unique approach to this, and we love how he thinks. Another question that struck our mind was, “How do you plan to motivate your team to go the extra mile?”
With that, Chasan continues, “I always strive to focus on three verticals here: 1) psychological safety, which entails creating space for new ideas, even the crazy ones, embracing and celebrating failure, making sure that everyone’s voice is heard and respected and being happy to accept positive conflicts.
2) Ownership. Make your organization as flat as possible and let them own their tasks, projects, and commitments the way they believe is best for the company without asking for hundreds of approval from their superiors.
3) They should have skin in the game, and ESOPs are an excellent example of that.”
“Do you use innovative ideas to be unique?” We asked.
Chasan shared, “I am a strong believer in the concept “innovate or die” I mean, seriously, is there any other way? I doubt it. Innovation is the only way to sustain and scale up your business.”
Chasan Mochament, His Career & Advice
All of the aspects we learned about Digital Founders from Chasan were very knowledgeable and interesting. In concluding our interview, we asked Chassan, “How did you begin your career journey? Do you have some advice for beginners?”
“I started my career working as tech support in big corporates in different countries like Vodafone, Microsoft, Blackberry, and Google. What I learned from my corporate life is to respect the Process. Then I moved to the eCommerce scene when I joined Talabat and became COO for the whole MENA region, followed by Rocket Internet. Then I was introduced to corporate venture builders when I joined FoundersLane.
I advise beginners to try to be the purple cow, as Seth Godin suggests in his book with the same title. Learn something rare and master it. And always have good intentions when doing business with others, and you’ll be paid handsomely later.” replied Chasan Mochament, the Founder & CEO of Digital Founders.
Connect with Chasan Mochament on LinkedIn.
Find Digital Founders on LinkedIn.
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