In this episode, we talk with Kamal Reggad, the CEO of RemotePass, a specialised remote work platform making it easy to hire, offer benefits, onboard, manage & pay your global team all at once.

Kamal gives us an overview of his entrepreneurial journey: from taking a risk by diving into Morocco's e-commerce ecosystem, to his hardest lessons as a solo founder. Despite the pandemic, he is still optimistic about the Middle Eastern startup space, and finds opportunities through the lessons he learned.

About the Guest and RemotePass

Kamal is a Moroccan entrepreneur who founded Hmizate.ma, connecting online and offline shopping through coupons for deals on products and services. By 2013, Hmizate carved out 65% of the market share. Capitalising on this, Kamal went on to launch several other websites, and is now heading RemotePass. 

Using their contract management system, companies can instantly create localized contracts, automate onboarding with identity verification, document collection and process mass international payroll all in one place. One defining feature is that RemotePass offers the flexibility for remote teams to get paid in the currency of their choice.

Main Points:

1. The power of discovering your core strengths and choosing the career path you want
2. Founding a company with no name: How Kamal took Morocco's e-commerce golden ticket and ran with it
3. From getting sued to dealing with fear: Kamal's hardest lessons as a solo founder
4. How do you innovate despite the COVID-19 lockdown? Kamal gives us his experience in innovating remotely

Timestamps

• 0:13 Kamal's origin story and how his father started his own company
• 4:43 Becoming entrepreneurial from childhood
• 8:01 Choosing his career path and focusing on core strengths
• 11:13 "I discovered I liked to be part of the inception of something"
• 16:09 The e-commerce golden ticket in Morocco
• 19:23 "There was no company...we didn't even have a name"
• 21:54 Expanding the company, and the wall between North and Central Africa
• 24:21 Pick a market: Kamal's learnings through his journey
• 25:25 The hardest moment for Kamal in his last startup
• 28:26 "Travel is not coming back in the next 12 months" How the coronavirus affected Kamal
• 33:51 How to prepare for a fundraising during the pandemic
• 38:09 Know your product inside out: How Kamal lands his client
• 41:36  Kamal's best traits and heroes
• 41:55 Positive impact, and what Kamal thinks success is 10 years from now
• 43:28 How we deal with fear is different depending on what stage

Links

1. RemotePass Website
2. Kamal's Twitter
3. Kamal's LinkedIn

About the Host

• COTU Ventures Website
• Amir's LinkedIn
• Amir's Twitter