What 7 MENA-Based Founders Wish They Knew About HR Before Starting Their Businesses

Many entrepreneurs treat human resources (HR) as something that becomes important only after their businesses start to scale, teams grow, or operations become more complex. In practice, however, many of the foundations that shape a company’s long-term culture and operational effectiveness are established far earlier, often through the first hires founders make, the standards they set internally, and the way they approach leadership, accountability, and communication from the outset. 

On the occasion of International HR Day on May 20, Inc. Arabia reached out to seven founders across industries in the MENA region to learn about the people-related lessons they wish they had understood earlier in their entrepreneurial journeys. From hiring for mindset and ownership, to building transparent cultures and establishing accountability structures early, here are some of the people-management principles these founders now consider essential to long-term growth. 

Wadi Hawi, co-founder and COO, SPICE  

1. Hire for values before skill 

“This sounds clichéd until you experience the cost of getting it wrong. Early on, many founders optimize for technical skill and speed, only to realize later that misaligned people create friction across communication, execution, and culture. Skills can be developed; values rarely change. Shared values create alignment in how teams think, operate, and make decisions under pressure.” 

2. Give early team members real skin in the game 

“People operate differently when they genuinely feel ownership. Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) shouldn’t be treated as a corporate formality; they should be part of the company’s belief system. The best early teams act like builders, not employees. Be generous, but structured. Have a clear framework tied to levels, contribution, and vesting timelines, so that everyone understands the long-term value they’re building toward.” 

3. Fairness scales culture faster than perks 

“One of the most underrated leadership lessons is that teams don’t expect perfection; they expect fairness. How you handle compensation, growth opportunities, accountability, and recognition becomes the foundation of trust inside the company. The moment people feel standards are inconsistent, culture starts breaking quietly from within.” 

4. Build the company backwards from the customer 

“Most startups build teams first, then create processes around those teams. It should be the opposite. Start with the customer journey: their goals, expectations, emotions, and experience at every stage. Then, build processes around that journey, define key performance indicators (KPIs), implement systems and tools, and only then structure teams with clear accountability. People should support the system, not compensate for the absence of one.” 

5. “Hire fast, fire fast” is a load of nonsense 

“Startups love repeating ‘fire fast’ as if people are robots. You’re hiring humans, not machines. Before evaluating performance, founders need to ask themselves a harder question: were the right systems, expectations, KPIs, onboarding processes, and accountability structures actually in place? If the foundations are unclear, you can’t expect consistent execution. Plus, when someone truly isn’t the right fit, handle it properly. Be direct, fair, and transparent about the reasons. The moment leadership starts masking the truth or miscommunicating internally, trust erodes across the company. People always find out the real story eventually, and once trust breaks inside a team, rebuilding it becomes incredibly difficult.” 

Omar Al Mheiri, co-founder, Letswork 

1. Hire for ownership rather than conventional experience 

“In the initial growth phases, relying solely on linear resumes can be a misstep. Some of the most impactful hires within our organization came from unconventional backgrounds, but demonstrated a fundamental sense of accountability and adaptability from their first day. In high-growth environments, a candidate's capacity to navigate ambiguity and take absolute responsibility for a function outweighs static corporate credentials. Startups require individuals who execute tasks with the mindset of a founder.” 

2. Culture is an output of systems, not perks 

“There is a common misconception among early-stage businesses that team culture is cultivated through social events, office benefits, or superficial perks. True cultural resilience is built through operational infrastructure. Establishing clear internal communication frameworks, objective feedback loops, and radical transparency regarding company performance has a significantly greater impact on alignment and retention than any corporate benefit. This is supported by broader industry data. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) Good Work Index regularly highlights that trust in leadership, functional communication, and clarity of purpose are the primary drivers of employee well-being and retention, far outstripping transactional workplace incentives. Culture is the direct output of organizational design, not recreational perks.” 

3. Role misalignment compounds rapidly 

“A significant challenge in early-stage ventures is the friction caused by ambiguous ownership. When roles, expectations, and operational boundaries are left undefined, internal friction develops and decision-making stalls. There is a paradox in startup operations: imposing structure and strict accountability frameworks early does not slow a company down; instead, it provides the psychological safety and operational guardrails that allow teams to execute and pivot at high velocity.” 

4. Initial management hires dictate the scaling trajectory 

“The first tier of middle management represents the most critical cultural filter in a scaling business. These initial leaders establish the benchmarks for how teams communicate, resolve conflict, and execute strategy daily. Investing time and capital into securing seasoned, highly capable managers early in the growth cycle mitigates friction and ensures that the core values of the founders remain intact as headcount scales.” 

Somya Angolkar and Shanawas Moidu, co-founders, Interior Design Associates 

1. Strong businesses are built on strong relationships 

“Our own partnership began with friendship long before business. Having known each other before starting Interior Design Associates in 1997 gave us a foundation of trust, honesty, and shared values from day one. Nearly three decades later, we still believe the strength of any company comes down to the quality of its human relationships, both between founders and within teams.” 

2. Hire people who understand the “why,” not just the “how” 

“One of the biggest lessons we learned early on was that technical skill alone is not enough. In design and manufacturing, people need to understand how things are actually built and why decisions are made, whether they are creating drawings, crafting furniture, or managing execution on-site. That deeper understanding is what ultimately protects quality and client trust.” 

3. Never rely on resumes alone—build a practical hiring process 

“Over the years, we developed a three-stage hiring system based on experience. First, we personally meet candidates to understand how they communicate and whether they fit our culture. Second, we test practical ability instead of relying purely on resumes; for example, by asking designers to conceptualize a space and detail how a piece would realistically be constructed. Finally, we believe founders should personally speak to final candidates so that expectations and values are clear from the beginning.” 

4. Recommendations should never bypass standards 

“Like many growing businesses in the early days, we sometimes trusted referrals too quickly. We learned that even when someone comes highly recommended by friends or family, they should still go through the exact same evaluation process as everyone else. Consistency in hiring standards has played a major role in building a dependable team over the years.” 

Sundeep Sahni, co-founder and CEO, Valeo Health 

1. Hire for mindset, not just experience

“Skills can be taught; mindset can't. For a startup, a determined, coachable person with the right attitude will outperform a more experienced hire who lacks hunger or adaptability. Culture-fit and drive are the real predictors of success in a startup environment."

2. A strong team culture is your most powerful competitive advantage

“A dedicated, aligned team can overcome almost any obstacle, limited resources, market headwinds, and operational chaos. Culture isn't a ‘nice to have;’ it's the foundation everything else is built on, and it starts with the very first hires you make.” 

3. Don't assume big-company talent will thrive in a startup 

“Hiring senior people from well-known companies can backfire; their success may have been enabled by large teams, established processes, and strong brands that simply don't exist in a startup. You need doers who can operate without that ecosystem.” 

4. Act on underperformance early—do not wait 

“One of the costliest mistakes is holding on to underperformers too long. It drains morale, sets the wrong standard, and sends a signal to your high performers that mediocrity is tolerated. Letting go early is one of the most important leadership acts in a young company.” 

Syed Ali, co-founder and CEO, myZoi 

1. Be transparent about the reality of startup life from the start 

“Everyone is eager to join a startup because of the perceived hype, but many underestimate the disorganized chaos that comes with building something from the ground up. It is important to explain the reality clearly during the interview process, so that candidates understand who you are, what you are trying to build, what the role requires, and what they need to bring to help move the business from point A to point B.” 

2. Make sure candidates understand the long-term nature of startup rewards 

“Many experienced candidates say they are ready to use their knowledge to build something from scratch, but this can be the wrong mindset if they are expecting immediate financial rewards. It is important to make clear that, in a startup, financial rewards are often a long-term investment.” 

3. Culture should be intentional, not something that happens by default 

“Culture needs to be built with purpose. It is shaped by what the company does, says, rewards, and ignores. This means founders and leaders need to be precise and deliberate, because these choices have an immeasurable impact on the organization.” 

4. Culture needs to be part of the strategy and structure of the organization 

“Founders need to be clear about the kind of organization they want to build and hire accordingly. Without that clarity, they risk hiring people who may not be the right fit for the long term.” 

5. Hiring requires a different approach to talent appraisal 

“The focus should not only be on hiring people who have done the job before, but on understanding how someone can move from never having done this before to adding value. This requires a new approach to assessing talent."

6. Leadership requires both strength and empathy 

“Leadership is not just about strength. Empathy also plays an important role. While the two have traditionally been seen as opposing forces, when done well, they are complementary qualities that support truly inclusive leadership in a modern workplace.” 

Namita Ramani, founder and CEO, Above Digital

1. Hire people based on values, not just skills

"One of the biggest lessons I learned is that skills can be trained, but values are much harder to change. Earlier in my entrepreneurial journey, I focused heavily on talent and experience, but over time, I realized that people who align with your company values create much stronger long-term teams. Today at Above Digital, values play a major role in how we hire, communicate, and grow the business."

2. Retaining good people is far more valuable than constantly rehiring

"Replacing team members costs far more than most founders realize, both financially and emotionally. Over the years, I learned that investing in the right people, recognizing their growth, and giving them a clear path within the company creates far better long-term results than constantly restarting with new hires. Some of the biggest growth periods in our agency came when we focused on building stability within the team."

3. Founders need to stop doing everything themselves

"One of my biggest mistakes early on was trying to control too much because I cared deeply about the business. Through coaching and leadership training with my business coach, I realized that sustainable growth comes from building systems, creating accountability, and trusting your team. Today, I work mostly on growing the business, while my team independently manages day-to-day execution and aligns with me weekly on priorities and next steps. That shift changed everything for me as a founder."