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Talal Tabbaa
CEO at CoinMENA
Talal Tabbaa is a highly experienced professional with a diverse background in industrial engineering, economics, and blockchain technology.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering with a Minor in Economics from Purdue University and completed his International Baccalaureate Diploma at Amman Baccalaureate School.
Throughout his career, Talal has held various key positions in top organizations, showcasing his leadership and strategic abilities.
He has served as the Chief Executive Officer at CoinMENA, a Board Member at Middle East Payment Services, and Co-Founder of Jibrel Network, demonstrating his expertise in fintech and blockchain.
Additionally, Talal has been actively involved in the crypto and blockchain space, being a member of organizations such as the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance and the Crypto Valley Association.
His professional journey also includes roles as an advisor at ATN-KSA Holding Company and ARABASCO, as well as a Senior Consultant at PwC Management Consulting.
With a background as a Supply Chain Engineer at Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Talal brings a well-rounded skill set that combines technical expertise with strategic vision.
Talal Tabbaa's experience in various sectors and his adaptability to change make him a valuable asset in the business and technology field.
Highlights
Bitcoin is Jordan’s best hope to climb out of its debt hole and achieve financial sovereignty.
I know many people will think the above statement is hyperbole. However, I saw an interview on Al MamlakaTV news channel with an economics professor that Jordan’s poverty rate is increasing and that fruits are now considered a luxury item for 85% of Jordanian households! This was painful to hear, but not surprising. Two facts convinced me that Bitcoin is our best hope:
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Deteriorating Purchasing Power: All fiat currencies are like melting ice cubes, including the U.S. dollar. I'm not referring to their relative strengths against each other; I'm talking about real purchasing power. The U.S. dollar has lost 24% of its purchasing power in just the past four years alone, continuing a trend of devaluation that accelerated after the world abandoned the gold standard in 1971. The rate of devaluation varies from country to country. For example, Egypt and Lebanon's currencies have lost over 50% and 90% of their value, respectively, in the past five years alone. Even if your country's currency is pegged to the dollar, you're still losing purchasing power. Just compare the prices of real estate, groceries, or school tuition to five or ten years ago. This isn't by accident; it's the direct result of issuing more monetary units into the system, plain and simple.
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Dinar Assets, Dollar Liabilities: The world is currently facing a sovereign debt crisis. Global government debt has reached an all-time high of $82 trillion, soaring by $20 trillion since COVID-19, $50 trillion since the 2008 financial crisis, and has increased sevenfold this century in under 25 years! Jordan's debt-to-GDP ratio stands at around 80% today. Relying on dollar-denominated debt is not a sustainable solution. Eventually, borrowers end up owing more to creditors than they originally received, leading to dire consequences. The cycle typically involves issuing loans that can't be repaid, followed by refinancing with conditions known as "structural adjustments." These adjustments often prioritize exporting crops over domestic subsistence, leaving the country financially strained and reliant on food aid. This is how Jordanians cannot afford fruits in a land abundant with local produce! Eventually, the currency is devalued to inflate away the debt. While we hope this fate can be avoided for Jordan, history has shown that this path has been grim for every country facing similar circumstances.
Jordan’s balance sheet includes a good % of gold reserves which is good, as purchasing power will be obliterated if reserves/savings are USD or USD Treasuries. Just ask your parents how much it used to cost to do or buy anything 30 years ago (go to school, buy an apartment or car, etc.).
Jordan buying Bitcoin as a country might be ambitious, but at the bare minimum the Jordanian population should have the option to legally and compliantly invest in Bitcoin; an asset that has grown 100%+ annually.
Crypto didn't fail. A centralized entity that requires trust failed. No sugar coating here, FTX/Alameda blew ~10 Billion USD (to be confirmed) and this will impact investor confidence in crypto and the industry for some time.
Here’s a quick recap of events:
- Coindesk report reveals that Alameda Research’s (FTX investment arm) balance sheet consists of $14.6b in assets. However, a large portion of that was FTT, the token issued by FTX. ($3.66 of unlocked FTT & $2.16b of FTT collateral)
- Binance CEO CZ tweets that they plan to liquidate all their FTT ~$500m dollars worth. (Side note: Binance was the first investor in FTX in 2019, and they exited in July 2021)
- This caused a bank run on FTX. Users withdrawing funds.
- Alameda Research drains wallets and sends them to FTX to shore up liquidity and defend FTT.
- FTX eventually freezes customer withdrawals and barely communicates anything to customers.
- FTX CEO SBF announces non-binding deal to be acquired by Binance (which Binance backes out of within 48 hours of DD).
- FTX likely facing bankruptcy with billions of dollars in deficit on their balance sheet
It appears there was wide-scale fraud and misuse of user deposits perpetrated by FTX and their investment arm Alameda Research. This is illegal of-course, and would have been caught or stopped earlier had they been regulated in a reputable jurisdiction.
This is why we established CoinMENA under the Central Bank of Bahrain (and soon under VARA in Dubai), with a strong regulatory framework and oversight. We go through regular audits and have to submit daily, monthly and quarterly reports to the regulators. More importantly, we don't offer leverage / margin and see crypto as a long-term investment and not a get rich quick scheme.
On a personal note, I’m extremely disappointed with the level of fraud FTX was engaged in. I got into crypto because I wanted a more equitable financial system than the current one we have. In the current fractional reserve banking system, it is standard practice for banks to lend out user deposits, which makes them susceptible to insolvency. FTX operated like a reckless financial institution and took excessive risks at the expense of its customers. If crypto wants to be the future of finance, we have to do better and not simply recreate a tokenized version of the old system.
Long term, this doesn’t impact my bullish outlook on crypto, in fact, it makes me more bullish on the importance of decentralization and trustless systems, as this was an institutional/people failure, rather than a “crypto” failure.
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Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
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:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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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.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
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.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.