Mo Gawdat

I always say every time I joined a company, it felt like home. And every time I left, it felt really, really alien. A massive pivotal point for me was in my second year on IBM, Egypt was struck with a seven point something hectare scale earthquake and a lot of the schools were cracked. And so children stayed at home.

And then the international aid started to pour in and the government started to put in money in a place called the Educational Buildings Organization. The only condition for all of the aid was that they do everything now with fresh, modern technology. So they wanted CAD systems. They wanted database systems. They wanted GIS systems. They wanted everything to be state of the art.

And then the international aid started to pour in and the government started to put in money in a place called the Educational Buildings Organization. The only condition for all of the aid was that they do everything now with fresh, modern technology. So they wanted CAD systems. They wanted database systems. They wanted GIS systems. They wanted everything to be state of the art.

I was a good salesman. I went in. They had a bid. So I responded to the bid. They picked IBM. I wouldn't have designed the systems those way, but I was responding to the bid. Anyway, six weeks later, I realized that the configuration they're asking is not going to work and that my systems are not the best systems. It was a $4.2 million deal, which in IBM Egypt at the time was quite sizable.

I was a good salesman. I went in. They had a bid. So I responded to the bid. They picked IBM. I wouldn't have designed the systems those way, but I was responding to the bid. Anyway, six weeks later, I realized that the configuration they're asking is not going to work and that my systems are not the best systems. It was a $4.2 million deal, which in IBM Egypt at the time was quite sizable.

Anyway, so I wake up one morning knowing that it will probably cost me my job. I walk to the minister's office, sit outside and say, I need to meet the minister of education. And they go like, who are you? And I'm like the IBM account manager, 25 year old. And basically I sat there until 7 p.m. from 9 a.m. I walk in at 7 p.m. and I say, sir, I really advise you to cancel my order.

Anyway, so I wake up one morning knowing that it will probably cost me my job. I walk to the minister's office, sit outside and say, I need to meet the minister of education. And they go like, who are you? And I'm like the IBM account manager, 25 year old. And basically I sat there until 7 p.m. from 9 a.m. I walk in at 7 p.m. and I say, sir, I really advise you to cancel my order.

I think this, this and this are perfect from IBM. This, this and that you should get from Sun Microsystems. This you should ask Oracle to do. And I can help you, but I'm sure your technical team can do it. And he said, are you mad? I was like, no, no, no. I want to give you something that works. And the next morning he calls his team in and he cancels the order.

I think this, this and this are perfect from IBM. This, this and that you should get from Sun Microsystems. This you should ask Oracle to do. And I can help you, but I'm sure your technical team can do it. And he said, are you mad? I was like, no, no, no. I want to give you something that works. And the next morning he calls his team in and he cancels the order.

So I end up with around 2 million of the 4.2. And then he tells his team, ask this guy. He said Sun and Oracle. And so I give them genuine advice and they give the orders to other businesses. A few months later, the minister calls me to his office directly. No bids, no nothing. He says, I want to build this. Can you build it?

So I end up with around 2 million of the 4.2. And then he tells his team, ask this guy. He said Sun and Oracle. And so I give them genuine advice and they give the orders to other businesses. A few months later, the minister calls me to his office directly. No bids, no nothing. He says, I want to build this. Can you build it?

So I said, yes, sir, I can build this, this, this, this and that comfort zone for me. This, I think you should go to Dell. That, I think you should do this way. And ended up with a $16.4 million direct order from the government four months later. And I have to say, from then onwards, I never sold anything other than what the customer exactly wanted.

So I said, yes, sir, I can build this, this, this, this and that comfort zone for me. This, I think you should go to Dell. That, I think you should do this way. And ended up with a $16.4 million direct order from the government four months later. And I have to say, from then onwards, I never sold anything other than what the customer exactly wanted.

And my God, I basically didn't have to work ever again. I swear. I'd go sit with my clients at top levels at Google's years in my very last years at Google. These were billions of dollars sometimes. And yeah, sit there and the customer would say what they want. And I listen attentively. And half of the time I'd say, I can't help you. Okay.

And my God, I basically didn't have to work ever again. I swear. I'd go sit with my clients at top levels at Google's years in my very last years at Google. These were billions of dollars sometimes. And yeah, sit there and the customer would say what they want. And I listen attentively. And half of the time I'd say, I can't help you. Okay.

And then occasionally I would say, oh yeah, I can ace this one.

And then occasionally I would say, oh yeah, I can ace this one.

Absolutely. Once I said that, every one of my clients, which by then I had known for 20 years, would go like, and how much would it be? And I go like, I'll tell you tomorrow. And then I send them a proposal and they say yes. It's as simple as that. I have to say there is a bit of my Eastern side in this. I was born and raised in the East with the traditions of the East.

Absolutely. Once I said that, every one of my clients, which by then I had known for 20 years, would go like, and how much would it be? And I go like, I'll tell you tomorrow. And then I send them a proposal and they say yes. It's as simple as that. I have to say there is a bit of my Eastern side in this. I was born and raised in the East with the traditions of the East.

And then I was educated and worked my entire adult life in the West. You know, the West, because of the OKRs, if you want, the measurements of success, basically really, really values working hard, pushing through, being profitable, making money. And the top two values I found in the West were freedom and, you know, it's the individual, really. So it's my individual benefit and freedom.