A story of an Arab Entrepreneur, who took it from idea to exit and went through all stages of investment.

Learn about the startup cycle, to know where you stand and what to do next.

Once upon a time, a smart young dreamer had an idea.

Webpreneur perspective: you have an idea of the next big website or mobile application that really adds value to people.

He wanted to build the next big ship that will change the world, he was sure that if he builds it the way he imagines, all the people in his town will use it for their traveling

Webpreneur perspective: your good in one function (Design, Development or Marketing) but you can’t seem to make it all by yourself.

He was good in design, so he knew exactly how it should look like, but he couldn’t build it, and he knew nothing about how to promote it.

Webpreneur perspective: you realize that you need co-founders, to fulfill the rest of the functions your startup needs to become real..

He realized that he needs help, so he went out there looking for other people to do it together. He formed a team of himself and two others: a geeky developer and a big mouth Marketer.

Webpreneur perspective: after finding your co-founders, you still need resources to get started, develop a beta version and start attracting early adopters during the first 3 months. You can always approach Angel investors or seed stage VC’s for your very first investment round($10k to $20k).

Then the team started to look for just enough money to buy the tools needed to build a small boat as a start.

Webpreneur perspective: Investment is always a need not a desire, don’t expect you’re going to be rich yet. Investors invest in you and your ability to execute your plan not only your idea.

The investors saw potential in the entrepreneur and his team so they decided to give them the money needed to build that small boat.

Webpreneur perspective: you started building your beta version to test out your assumptions in the market “prove your concept”, you see how the market reacts, and act accordingly.In this phase you are experimenting your product and you should be all ears ”listening to your customers taking feedback”.

After a few weeks they assembled this basic boat to prove their concept. After they proved that they can do it, and attracted a few travellers who accepted to travel with them, they all got on board and sealed for the first time.

Webpreneur perspective: Your startup is going well, customers love you but you know that if you add a few more features and with a little more help they will go crazy about it and you will serve more users.

After a couple of successful trips, it was time to take this ship further into the sea. That's when they found out that the ship needed additional staff and space to accommodate the extra travelers its attracting.

Webpreneur perspective: You simply can’t stop and enhance, you know your customer will go to competitors’ offerings, rather you should develop and enhance while staying online

They also believed that all this should be done on the way, because if they stop or go back, people may abandon their ship, and they will no longer be able to attract new travellers again

Webpreneur perspective: well, to add the extra features that will attract more users, that will require a bigger team, a bigger marketing budget, a place for you and your team to work at and all that requires extra funding, that’s when you know you need an early stage funding.

So at that point, they wanted more money to cover one-month expenses that include: hiring more people to better serve their travellers and to renovate and enlarge the ship to have more components.

Webpreneur perspective: you approach early stage investors and present to them what you have in mind and show them how you have proved your concept and the next step is to serve more people and find a business model.

They also needed this new fund to hire people and test what the best way to sell tickets is. They also realized that they needed to cover their expenses till they can make money.

Webpreneur perspective: you have received $100K but again the investment is a need to cover your startups expenses, and the only money you have for yourself is your salary.

Fortunately, they’ve got a good amount of money. With the money, they increased the number of team members and added more components. Next, they started to look in how to sell tickets.

Webpreneur perspective: You will try many business models, and find which best fits your startup, in terms of what suits your customers and you.

They tried many ways to sell tickets, they tried monthly paid subscriptions, they hired resellers and gave them commissions, they tried a pay as you go approach every 10 KM for a certain amount and they even tried to sell free tickets but the traveler will be charged for any additional services.

Webpreneur perspective: You’re over loaded, your servers are not holding this much of traffic.

Their ship became so successful that they’ve sold out too many times, and people kept asking when they would have more.

Webpreneur perspective: you and your partners decide to take this to the next level, scale the business and to the growth stage.

They knew it was time to take it to the next level and build more ships to serve more destinations.

Webpreneur perspective: you approach growth stage investors and present to them what you have in mind and show them how your startup is scaling.

So they went back to their investors and told them all about it, and how this will be a bigger success, they also provided plans and facts on how this would be the next big thing.

Webpreneur perspective: you have received a $2m investment but again investment is a need, and …. Well, you know .. You are still not rich.

Well, the investors trusted them again, and gave them the money that was needed to build and scale their first success.

Webpreneur perspective: in 2 years time, you have much more users than you have ever imagined.

Indeed it was a success, within 2 years they had much more travelers than they would have ever imagined.

Webpreneur perspective: The big people in the market noticed you and noticed the success that you’ve accomplished, So they offer you a big fat check to acquire your business.

After a while they decided to raise more funds to buy a few small ships to further expand their fleet, few years later, a bigger fleet noticed them and offered $100m to buy the whole fleet from them.

Webpreneur perspective: You receive the exit money but again the money is a need....... naaa I’m kidding you and your partners are now rich!

They sold their fleet, made a good exit, their investors got a great return on investment, and everybody lived happily ever after.

Webpreneur perspective: Once you get into entrepreneurship it’s hard to stop. So you become a serial entrepreneur, and start a new venture!

After a big vacation they got back to their round table and started to think of a steam train startup….

Stay Tuned for more.