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Omar Dweik
Co-Founder at bith.tv - 500 Startups (Falcons B3)
Omar Dweik is an accomplished professional with a diverse background in sports industry management and business economics. He holds an IB Diploma from Amman Baccalaureate School, a Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics and Political Science from the University of California, Irvine, and a Master's degree in Sports Industry Management with Summa Cum Laude honors from Georgetown University. With a track record of leadership and innovation, Omar has been involved in various organizations, including co-founding Bith - بِث and founding DigitaSport. He has also served as an advisor at Globasport and Player LENS Ltd. Omar's experience extends to digital marketing, sponsorship activation, and sports management, having worked at the Jordan Football Association and Dawrikom. Additionally, he has a background in social media, operations, and sports marketing, with roles at Amman League and UC Irvine.
Highlights
Story time.
A CEO of a prominent media company wanted to acquire Bith.AI as part of a vision to transform his media group into a MediaTech. As the only startup in the Arab world with video tech domain expertise and a strong online presence, we happened to be scratching their itch.
We met in November, and within three months, his company had flown us out to their HQ twice. The first trip was to meet with their team and discuss vision, while the second was intended to finalize the deal.
During that second trip, the company’s Chairman, a Jordanian, was negotiating on the company’s behalf. This is how the convo went:
“Tell me, Omar, how many entrepreneurs have been able to succeed out of Jordan?”
Me: “I don’t have the stats, but I know that a significant percentage of the region’s entrepreneurs come out of Jordan despite accounting for only 3% of the region’s population. We have the likes of Fadi Ghandour & Samih Toukan who actually started out of Jordan… I don’t get what you’re trying to get at here.”
Chairman: “Look, I’m not here to waste anyone’s time. My analysts told me to wait for you guys to run out of cash before submitting an offer. I’m here to cut to the chase.”
Me: “This is not the way to do business with us. We’d rather die than give in to such tactics.”
Chairman: “This is why I drove here today, to make this deal happen. What is the figure needed to close?”
Up until that point, we’d been asked this question countless times, and our answer was always the same: “This is something that you will need to figure out, not us”. This time, however, I decided to give them the figure that we felt was good enough for all stakeholders (with a % added on top to leave room for negotiation). The Chairman negotiated the figure down to the one we had in mind, and stated that we would get an additional 5% equity stake in their company (which would be vested over 4-years). We shook hands and went out to a five-hour long lunch.
I was leaving back to Riyadh the very next day, but the CEO insisted that we should stay a few more days to finalize everything before we leave. They bought us another ticket & extended our accommodation.
A few days later, we visited their office and two of their Investment Directors met with us to ‘finalize’. As we were reviewing the offer, we were surprised to learn that the stock-cash split had been changed.
I called them out and everything of course went downhill from that point onward (we couldn’t reach an agreement together). The Investment Directors seemed confident enough though that we were going to “die”, and will not be able to hit our "unrealistic" projections, thus giving in to their offer eventually.
Five months have passed since that ill-fated trip. Where are we today?
We’re close to becoming profitable, our monthly revenue has increased by ~7x & our MAU has increased by 4x. Most importantly, the team is more motivated than ever. Looking back now, here are a few lessons that I’ve learned:
(See comments).
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
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