181° about me 

Abdulwahab Al Zaidi

Businesser | Travel Adventurer | Blogger

Colombia coffee farms من أحد مرازع القهوة في كولومبيا
مشروع دعسوقة Dasoqa Project
صحراء الملح Salt flat
Death Road Bolivia طريق الموت في بوليفيا

Growing up in multiple cultures

I don't know how many different schools I went to during my childhood and adolescence, but it was more than seven. Sometimes I would be the odd one out, but I'd like to think it helped me understand different kinds of people


Different family background

Behaviorists believe that environment is vital to someone's personality; the environment we grow up defines who we are, as our family does.

Since both my parents' sides come from totally different backgrounds; as a result, that had a significant impact on my personality, dreams, and goals


Commercialization is just as important as scientific discovery

At university, I studied Business. The theoretical concepts and ideas were interesting, but I always thought the impact was limited without commercialization. I enjoyed the concept of experimentation and the role it plays in building new technologies and products that people want and are willing to pay for


Entrepreneurship kind of found me

I read and listened to many stories about business and entrepreneurs during my university; they all had incredible stories and unique backgrounds. I liked the fact that it is about doing things differently and that there are no rules; this really resonates with me


I was hooked

It shocked me how much - and how quickly - you learn things by working in this space. In the past, my first contribution to building a startup as a Co-founder was in my last graduation year; I ultimately failed and learned so much. It eventually led me to Co-founded/partnering a # of startups in different industries, getting acquired, building a team, and getting some funding. Being a co-founder wasn’t easy, however. My mentality has changed much, and I think I’ve became even more of a risk-taker. The ecosystem is full of positivity and high energy, and there is so much more to learn


I’m curious about many sectors

Digital Transformation, eCommerce, MarTech, Venture capitals, the 2030 Government, Tourism, and F&B, are the spaces I'm really excited about; Digital Transformation for instance, is a subject you can read about immensely and still know nothing; it's exciting and polarizing too.


Travelling experience and the start

It all started in the geography class at school; I was always the best at knowing the names of unknown countries and their capitals.


I do uniquely travel adventures around the world, living as a vagabond in Vietnam, building a nest and falling asleep under the stars in the Amazon jungle, to biking the world's most dangerous road in Bolivia; I've visited five continents and 25+ countries before my 24th.


The further I go, the more exotic and stranger it gets; that's why Latin America is my favorite; I'm always looking for culture, taste, stories, and extreme adventures (I'm looking for people with different cultures than mine)


Sport is my stress relief

As a kid, I played football for hours every day, I established a team and was the captain back then; we were young even though we played against older teams and still won (We used to have our stereo with us in every game as a motivation/entertainer, perhaps it was our secret ;-) I still love football and most of the sports (specialty the extreme type of it), whether it's hiking, mountain biking, bungee jumping, canyoning, swimming or just bodybuilding and listening to music. It takes me to a mental state that I truly enjoy, and without it I feel on edge