More along the theme of “walk softly and carry a big stick…”  I am made the decision a few months ago to stop discussing naseba updates, or achievements in this blog.

Not just because I don’t want to share information with our competition, but also because we climbed up the proverbial mountain, the late 2008 winds of crisis knocked us down, we got back up, refocused and have kept on climbing, more efficient and focused than ever….but, consistent results speak louder than words.

However, Fabien asked me to do a blog highlighting the press release on the joint venture naseba confirmed in Riyadh — my blog has picked up a strong readership in KSA, the 2^nd largest readership to the USA –  the recent local media coverage in KSA has brought new readers, and a few clients and partners have commented  to Fabien about visiting this blog.

At the end of the day, as significant and exciting as this joint venture is for naseba … I will let the success and future success of the partnership with Star Holdings in Saudi Arabia speak for us.

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HH Prince Bandar bin Saud bin Khaled bin Muhammad Al Saud, Founder and Chairman of Saudi Trading and Resources (STAR) Group, and Scott Ragsdale, Chairman of naseba group, announced the launch of a strategic partnership to conceptualise, produce and execute large-scale, targeted events in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Kingdom is currently experiencing exponential growth across multiple sectors including real estate, education, infrastructure and petrochemicals – sectors to which both groups bring considerable experience and expertise.

HH Prince Bandar bin Saud bin Khaled bin Muhammad Al Saud, whose group has helped launch and represents other prominent multi-national corporations such as Thomson-Reuters, The Nielsen Company, AON Insurance, TBWA/Raad Advertising, The Landmark Group, and Harvey Nichols, into the Saudi Arabian market commented on this latest alliance and what it brings to the Kingdom:

“The strategic alliance between the STAR Group, with its considerable reach in business in the Kingdom, and naseba, a world-class event organiser and management company, creates unlimited prospects for high level international events and forums, designed to showcase the Kingdom’s enviable economic progress, and is expected to promote Saudi Arabia as a leading economic force in the world and Middle East as a very attractive destination for strategic investments.”

Drawing on STAR Group’s extensive network and their expertise in addressing complex local business practices, coupled with naseba’s proficiency in hosting high calibre deal flow platforms, this alliance will further reinforce naseba’s strong presence in the GCC and in particular Saudi Arabia.

Ragsdale commented: “The STAR Group Holdings is one of the most dynamic and successful organisations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We are honoured to be associated with both the group and their highly respected leaders HH Prince Bandar bin Saud bin Khaled bin Muhammad Al Saud, HH Princess Anoud bint Khaled bin Abdullah bin Mohamed Al Saud and the CEO, Khalid Al Sharfa.”

He continued, “Over the past 18 months, naseba has successfully held 15 high profile executive summits without a strategic partner in Saudi Arabia. Now, this alliance with STAR Group brings immense value, not only to the shareholders of both our corporations, but also to our clients and employees, by raising the profile of our Kingdom of Saudi Arabia product.
Most importantly, this pact enables both of our groups to pave the way for outside businesses and individuals to experience the largest and most liquid economy in the Middle East.”

About Saudi Trading and Resources Co. Ltd. (STAR Group Holdings)

STAR Group Holdings was established in 1989 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as Saudi Trading and Resources (STAR), with a portfolio of business units, commercial licenses, subsidiaries and affiliates, active in multiple industries across the Kingdom.

STAR’s business model is the formation of strategic alliances and joint ventures in Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Gulf region, with international and regional companies who are leaders in their respective industries.

Global and regional companies such as Thomson-Reuters (financial information services); Aon Corporation (insurance); The Nielsen Company (research); and the Landmark Group (Department Stores) have joined STAR Group to establish successful and profitable business ventures in Saudi Arabia.

These companies rely on STAR to guide them in the often complex local business practices, regulations and legal requirements necessary to establish a strong presence in domestic Arabian Gulf markets.

STAR Group’s resources and efforts are concentrated on assuring its partner companies a leading business presence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which represents 80 percent of the Arabian Gulf markets, with its high disposable income and affluent population of 27 million.

For more information on STAR Group Holdings, please visit www.starholding.org

I like the idea of  Robert Frost’s poem about two roads diverging in a wood… and how chosing one road over the other, even if the road is much harder to navigate, can make the big difference in ones life.

It is some what scary, but exciting to think about what the world will be like next Christmas, but one thing I am certain of… loads of opportunities will pop into our lives.

Reflection…..

Up until the end of my freshman year at Berkeley….

I was one of those under achievers who boasted about achieving better than average without studying and not working very hard –I did things “half assed….”

I was always talking about what I was gonna do tomorrow….

I was a dreamer.

Surely, had I been as focused, but more importantly, “reflective” as I am today … my early years would have been more successful and fulfilling….

However, making mistakes is all part of the climb and I reflect with humilty on my early years of “wasted talent.”

In the end, what motivates me is the climb…. the adventure…. chasing the summit …. chasing “the victory.”

it comes down to “making our life; our job; our hobby; our goals … happen.”

How many people are good at something…but reality is that they could be “great” if they focused and worked harder.

In my opinion, people spend too much time trying to “feel good…”
In my opinion, people spend too much time trying “to look cool…”

…. I am far from where I want to go and I surely need to become better…

However, by living a life focused on being as honorable; hard working; consistent and steadfast as one can be…

surely, we will have a better chance of achieving……instead of living our lives consumed and focused on the negatives and challenges life brings us.

the world is full of people that “could have been…should have been…but are not.”

Yesterday, naseba turned 6 years old.

On the flight from Riyadh back to Dubai, I reflected over the past 6 years and everything I have learned, especially over this past year.

Yesterday afternoon, Fabien, Sophie, Nic and I sat in Sophie’s office reflecting back together, laughing over the past 6 years … thinking how naive we all were when we launched naseba.

But without question, our naivity, at least in the very beginning is what helped us achieve.

Fabien and I were recently asked by potentially the richest man in the world:  “where are you on your mountain?” … in reference to our mantra “the man at the top of the mountain did not fall there….”

I replied without hesitation:

“we are still at base camp…but we can see clearly where it is we are going.”

It has been difficult for me to do a blog recently – I guess you can say I have writers block because each time I try and spin a positive message in my blog – the latest news headlines pop in my mind … and I realize that nothing I say takes away the pain and stress some of the readers must be feeling.

I wrote a blog yesterday, titled “turning chicken shit into chicken salad” and once it was posted, my wife and best friend both told me that it was not good enough – so I took it down.

obviously, many of the readers, esp. in america are facing some of the biggest economic challenges and uncertainties they have ever faced.

If one good thing does come from this mess, it is that people will be forced to become more focused on what is really important in their lives.

It might not take away whatever stress the reader might be facing – but seriously…focus on staying positive and dynamic … look at whatever challenge you face as a big opportunity to become more focused, in a word, “lean” so you can climb higher.

if it was easy….

I have been in Paris and Monaco for the past week and have not had time to do a blog for a few days.  I am flying back to Dubai this afternoon, but I first wanted to do a quick blog in reply to an interesting email I received this morning from someone who knows me well — in the mail he suggests that I do a blog on why do we set goals?

His comment is focused on the idea that all too often goals are set without being fundamentally grounded in “why” it is a goal. He asked: Big or small, should not a goal be rooted in some type of value-based process?

He asked me…  Why do I want to do the Ironman?  Why do I want to make 100 million euros?  Why do I want to travel to as many countries as I can?”  Why do I want to visit Iran?

In my opinion, if we think too much about why we want something (why we set a certain goal), we will end up sitting around just thinking about it – and possibly not go about trying to achieve — the goal.

Our biggest goals surely have an immutable “why” to them – for example, “achievement” is core to who I am (or better put: who I want to be)  - but my goal of traveling to Iran has only to do with my love of adventure.

However….

If I sat around trying to figure out and understand exactly why I have certain goals … I could easily talk myself out of trying to achieve them.

Even if one maps out and understands clearly why they want to achieve a certain goal — it is meaningless if one does not do everything in their power to achieve the goal.

A quote I once read:  If you shoot for the moon, but miss – you will still land in the stars …

I suggest going after a goal, and doing everything in ones power to achieve it – even if one fails in the end, is still better than sitting around at a cafe thinking about why they should be setting the goal.