Hal Miran is the founder and CEO of MSELECT and editor-in-chief of Bite.Tech, a news source that covers the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Iraq. We talked to Hal about the HR challenges of starting and running a business, the importance of tech journalism, and the key players promoting entrepreneurship in Iraq.
AEI: Could you please briefly describe your background and path toward your current career?
HM: At university, I studied computer science, which I really enjoyed, but back then, computing and information technology (IT) was not as cool as it is now, so I finished computer science and I went into banking in London. I worked for an investment fund, then in investment banking, where I stayed for about 8 or 9 years. It was fun, I travelled all over the world, and I learned a lot, but eventually I hated the idea of working for a corporate. Some people love it, but it really wasn’t me. By 2008 the global financial recession had just hit, and the global banking industry was never to be the same again, so in 2011 I decided to put my job aside and move to Erbil to start MSELECT.
AEI: Did the impetus to start your own business come from your disillusionment with working for a corporation, or from other reasons?
HM: I think I’ve always known I wanted to do my own thing. Even as a kid, I set up a sweet shop at my school, and I’d have to give half the money to charity. However, the corporate experience enabled me to do what I am doing today. I don’t think I’d be where I am now without that. Starting MSELECT gave me the experience of establishing a business and going through the usual difficulties that come with starting your own business, naturally this made starting new initiatives easier.
AEI: Did you feel you were filling some sort of gap in Iraq/the KRI by starting MSELECT? What made you choose the recruiting industry in particular?
HM: I didn’t really know much about the recruiting industry before I moved to Erbil, even though I spent a gap year at a major staffing consultancy in London, however after spending a year analysing the market, I realized this was definitely an area that could expand in Iraq. I spent a lot of time reading up on the industry and didn’t even really create a business plan or financial forecast; I didn’t believe I needed that to know there was a gap. I’m a bit of a risk taker so I just started off.
AEI: So it started in Erbil, and now you’re in a lot of different cities in Kurdistan and Iraq?
HM: Yes, the first office was in Erbil. (I didn’t even have an office at first actually--I was just working remotely part-time whilst also working on other things). When we formed a small team, we just had a small office in a mall. We had around five or six people in this small space whilst I was remotely working as I had other commitments at the time. It was quite funny because we were having meetings with massive global companies in this little office in a mall. In a way I’d like to think these big clients (as they later became) appreciated we were a start-up that was going to work around the clock to support them, maybe more so than larger international staffing agencies. Then we expanded in Iraq, as well as internationally.
AEI: What were some of your biggest challenges in starting MSELECT?
HM: Some of the harder things related to starting a business are not actually related to the business itself. Such as managing people. When you start a business, you learn a lot about the people side of things, this is even more complicated when working in a different culture and work ethic. Essentially, human resources is a major cog of any business. So that’s one side. On the other side, you have to learn pretty much everything that’s involved in running a business, advertising, marketing, or sales etc. For me, the best way of learning these areas was to start off small and continuously improve and get more advanced. Every now and then I review the evolution of the business to see how far we have come.
AEI: I want to switch gears and talk a bit about Bite.Tech. What inspired you to get involved with tech journalism, and how do you think that complements what you’ve been working on for the past few years?
HM: I’ve always been a techie at heart, and I’ve always wanted to use my computing knowledge. About two years ago, I started supporting a couple startups here locally. Around the same time, I was looking for online resources about the startup ecosystem in Iraq and realized it didn’t exist. Pretty much every country in the world has a news source in English giving an overview of its start-up ecosystem. So I thought this was an opportunity to start one. It’s growing by the month, and it’s been fun. We receive messages from all over the world asking all sorts of questions and we are involved from the early days in something that could one day grow to be hugely important for the country. Since Bite.Tech we also launched TechHub in Erbil, this was the first co-working space in the country and has been pretty much full since the launch. A few other coworking spaces have opened up since which is a very positive sign.
AEI: What specific needs do you think can be satisfied by entrepreneurship in Iraq and the KRI, specifically in terms of stimulating private sector growth?
HM: There is a lot that Iraq needs as a country. It’s still very much a frontier and needs pretty much everything. We do not have the same level of entrepreneurial spirit as the rest of our region. And that probably comes with the culture and traditions, such as the fact that a government job was historically more of an ambition than starting a business. The mindset is shifting as we can all see but its going to take time, education will be a big part of this shift and we also need the government to genuinely understand that the private sector is where most jobs come from.
AEI: Do you think there’s a way that entrepreneurs and policy makers can work together to make it easier for entrepreneurs or the private sector to work here?
HM: Yes for sure. We don’t have to go far. We can just look at what the region around us is doing and see why they’re so much further ahead. If you take Jordan for example, you can see how the government is encouraging, educating, and financially supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses. This is all missing in Iraq.
AEI: Could you identify some key players in entrepreneurship or private sector growth in Iraq and the KRI, particularly in the realm of businesses, investors, or venture capital?
HM: International investors contact us via Bite.Tech often inquiring if there are any start-ups we can recommend them to look at. The main issue is that investors will not invest until they know their money is safe and protected and that local businesses are reporting according to their investment guidelines. The last thing an international investor wants is to go through Iraqi courts for any disputes. They also want to see a clear path to an attractive return on their investment, this needs to be considerably high for them to invest in a business in Iraq.
However, progress is being made. Mohammed Khudairi, a key player in the growth of the ecosystem, has recently launched Iraq Tech Ventures (ITV) to provide a mechanism for international investors to invest in Iraqi start-ups. ITV are working on creating a legal framework with international lawyers in order to bring confidence to the market.
In terms of businesses that are engaged in the social entrepreneurship side of things, Zain is very active--probably the most active in Iraq. Although, we need more involvement from major corporations who eventually will also benefit from the growth of a tech ecosystem.
AEI: Last question: do you have any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs in this region?
HM: A lot of people think Iraq is a tough place to start a business because you may not have the resources or required infrastructure at hand, but the positive side is that it’s a hugely untapped market.
Investors want to invest in businesses that are making revenue, have a clear vision, a solid team in place, and with a business model that has difficult barriers to replicate.
There really are some great opportunities out there. And there’s really nothing to hold anyone back; if you have an idea, you just need to go out and get stuck in.