If there was ever any doubt in the growing market of technology, COVID-19 has certainly blown that out of the water. In almost every industry, the demand for new and innovative technology has been unprecedented. And while this has definitely been a health crisis, it has also inspired many to expand their vision with creative solutions to our modern day problems - in medicine and beyond.
This means that it is a very exciting time for the world of startups, as raising capital is easier than ever before and there are many founders and venture capitalists looking to team up to make a real impact. Tech startups in particular are likely to thrive, and Rami Karabibar can tell us why.
Tech Whiz Through and Through
Rami is someone who is gifted with both technological curiosity and mathematical expertise. At a very young age, he was attracted to the excitement that computers offered in his small and quiet homeland, Jordan. He had a sharp mind and loved to play video games for their problem solving and decision making opportunities. He indulged his creativity by building his own computer at only 13 years old, and made his very first paycheck the following year by selling a bot that he had made to play video games for him.
At just 16 years of age, Karabibar followed in his older sibling's footsteps by leaving Jordan to study in Canada. At McGill University he initially studied engineering, but quickly realized that he was much more interested in the business side of technology than the programming and coding side. This is when he started a new chapter and went on to complete his Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Investment Management.
Even though he spent the beginning of his career fine tuning his knowledge and understanding of the finance industry, Rami always felt a pull to return to his tech roots. He even found ways of threading his financial positions with technological projects and pursuits.
Speaking from Experience
As renowned American journalist Sydney J. Harris once said, "Never take the advice of someone who has not had your kind of trouble." There is no doubt that the investment market is complex, and Rami Karabibar has the experience to speak from in offering guidance.
Throughout his career, he has been largely involved in investing across a number of different efforts - from working on investing mandates at Bain and Company, to working at one of the largest and most prestigious global private equity firms, Warburg Pincus, as a tech investor where he evaluated $50M-$1B+ investments in the technology sector.
Furthermore, Karabibar also has substantial experience with startup companies under his belt. During his time in college, he co-founded Qub, a digital car-top advertising business that advertised at music festivals and successfully partnered with Uber to bring programmatic advertising outdoors. He was also intimately involved in the early days of Legacy, a male fertility startup that won the TechCrunch Disrupt and went through the Y Combinator accelerator program to eventually raise a $3M+ seed.
His most recent endeavour is EvenUp, which uses artificial intelligence to estimate what cases are worth. Their mission is to help personal injury victims get justice, irrespective of their income, access to capital, or legal representation. The business is backed by powerful investors like DCM Ventures, NFX and SignalFire which speaks to the value of the company and the support that Karabibar has recruited for the project.
Dream Big and Act Now
Growing up with an entrepreneurial father, Rami always had the dream of starting his own business and carving out his own path in this world. In fact, part of the reason that he pursued a career in finance was to equip himself with a thorough and well-rounded understanding of how to successfully run and grow a company.
He encourages those with a creative mind to think outside of the box, and look for problems to solve through innovation. In this sense, the tech world is booming with opportunity. Although being your own boss takes a lot of hard work and commitment, the joy and pride that you receive from your success is unmatched. It also allows you to carve out a work/life balance that feels sustainable for you.
Rami adds that "Investing is getting increasingly difficult, while running startups - from a fundraising perspective - has gotten astronomically easier." These days founders have access to much more capital, faster, and more consistently than they ever have before. It seems that the market rewards those with big ideas and momentum, earlier and earlier.
The only downside to the recent popularity of startups is that it is becoming more challenging to recruit quality talent. This is because everyone (large tech companies, startups, etc.) are all raising massive amounts of capital, which means a much more competitive market to hire talent - both from the lack of current supply and also the increase in compensation expectations.
All of this to say that the tech market is full of energy and interest. Now is the time to get yourself in the game, and startups tackling the most ambitious endeavors are the way to do it.
