In the early days of any new technology, almost everyone playing on the edge gets called a “tech company.” Then time passes, the tools mature, and what used to be an edge quietly becomes infrastructure.

It feels like everyone in Saudi today wants to be a founder or a VC. Capital is everywhere, funds are sprouting up, and sovereign wealth is fueling the boom. But let’s be honest: too much money is now chasing too few good deals. That’s the definition of a bubble in the making.

If wave one of fintech startups was about direct disruption, I mean Fintechs fighting incumbents head on, with disruptive tech and innovative UX. It seems that wave two, or the new theme I’m noticing, is about enabling the disrupted ones to adapt. In other words, arming incumbents with disrupter-grade rails to fight back!

For decades, venture capital firms existed to fund startups. Today, the most ambitious VC firms are startups. They’re hiring engineers and PMs. Raising capital for the firm, not just the fund. Building internal tools and platforms. Operating with fintech-style UX, AI automations, and scalable infrastructure. They’re not just investors anymore — they’re venture-scale companies.

Private market liquidity has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past two decades. What began as a fragmented, opaque, and insider-driven process has slowly evolved into a more structured and founder-aligned ecosystem. In this post, we’ll walk through the key phases in that evolution — from the Wild West of secondary deals to the rise (and fall) of private marketplaces, the emergence of institutional funds, and the advent of structured liquidity windows.

Venture capital is undergoing a fundamental evolution. Once defined by specialists making a few early bets and waiting years for IPOs or acquisitions, top firms are now transforming into diversified, multi-asset investment platforms. Venture investors today are behaving more like full-stack asset managers — operating across equity and debt, public and private markets, early and late stages, primary and secondary investments, and even multiple regions, as in mature and emerging markets. It’s a more dynamic and holistic approach to venture.

I know it might sound naive, unrealistic, or even impossible. Yet, like many others, I find myself frustrated by the endless cycle of suffering, injustice, and violence. I’ve had enough of the carefully-worded diplomatic statements, historical grievances, and politically convenient half-truths. In this candid conversation with ChatGPT 4.5, I asked straightforward questions — no sugar-coating, no political correctness — about the roots of the conflict, who’s responsible, the legality of resistance, and the possibility of a secular, inclusive state not called Israel or Palestine, but simply “Jerusalem.”

Look closely at history: enduring power has never come from products or services alone. It comes from control — the ability to design the systems within which others must operate. Control is the invisible architecture shaping who speaks, who trades, who moves, and who thrives.

This comprehensive guide curates the top books in venture capital across three categories: essential reads for beginners, thought-provoking insights for experienced investors, and trend-setting works that explore the future of VC. Let’s dive into the ultimate VC reading list for 2025.

What if the very model that built venture capital — the “deploy capital and wait” approach that defined the industry for decades — is now holding it back? What if trillions in value remain trapped in an antiquated system that’s failing everyone it’s supposed to serve?

What if the next transformative startup wasn’t hiding in a pitch deck but waiting to find you? Venture capital thrives on alignment. Whether you’re investing at the seed stage or partnering with companies ready to scale, sharing your vision creates powerful opportunities for collaboration and innovation.

Publishing “Ideas We Want to Back” at the seed stage, or “Opportunities We Want to Scale” at the growth stage, isn’t about prescribing solutions or teaching founders what to do. It’s about inviting them into a shared journey. It signals to founders, Here’s what excites us — let’s build the future together.

What if the very approach that most venture capitalists (VCs) rely on — the tried-and-true methods, the data-backed strategies, the familiar playbooks — is exactly what’s holding them back? What if the real path to transformative success lies not in following the crowd, but in boldly breaking away from it?

As a data-driven VC, I always believe that data can tell a story, and within that story lies the answer to seemingly impossible questions. One such question I’ve been thinking about is: how can pre-seed VC firms create new deal flow without being a venture builder, having a venture studio, running an accelerator, or having an entrepreneur in residence program?

We Are Not “Local Players” Anymore — We’re Global Players Who Happen To Call MENA Home