Mowgli Entrepreneur: Tarek Jaroudi

Company: Moodfit

Country: Lebanon

Mowgli Mentoring program: Ideal 2015 — EU-funded program

Over time, mentoring has been proven as a vital and cost-effective means of developing human capital. Research by Sage shows that 93 per cent of startups admit that mentoring has been instrumental to their success. Our latest impact report supports these statistics as it showcases increased business growth and sustainability as some of the key impact areas for Mowgli Entrepreneurs during their year of mentoring, along with increased economic contribution through job creation and safeguarding.

Today, we highlight an entrepreneur who attests to the power of mentoring — Tarek el Jaroudi, one of the founders of Moodfit; the first online interior design platform in the MENA region that is disrupting the industry by offering home furnishing and decoration services from carefully selected professionals, within an online setting. The platform recently closed a seed investment deal worth over $400,000 from Seeders Angel Group (including IM Capital, Impact Fund by Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP) and iSME Capital).

We caught up with Tarek to learn more about his journey following his Mowgli Mentoring Experience and the impact mentoring has had in his rising entrepreneurial journey.

1. Describe your Mowgli Mentoring journey and the impact it’s had in your professional and personal development from 2015 to date

My journey started with mentoring sessions that incorporated personal mentoring. Eline (my Mowgli Mentor) has been a big support system in my personal and professional development. Together we witnessed our start-up evolve from idea stage to receiving our first investment round.

I’m still in touch with my mentor and our relationship has evolved from purely mentoring to friendship.

2. Highlight the 3 key areas that have benefited the most from your mentoring relationship

I have enhanced my professional network, team management and marketing skills.

3. What have been your biggest successes following the Mowgli Mentoring program?

We’ve had many:

• Moodfit secured its first seed round of investment from regional investors and was selected as one of the top 50 startups to watch in the Arab world by Forbes Middle East
• We have tremendously increased our clientele by 225% between Q1 and Q2 2018 and have completed projects in Lebanon, UAE and the U.S thus expanding our global footprint
• To date, 100+ rooms have been designed on our platform
• Our team has grown to a total of 5 people, and so has our platform as we now accommodate over 50 designers

4. Has mentoring contributed to any of the above successes?

Yes. Through mentoring, I was able to improve the way we deal with internal differences in opinions. This has led to a better and unified vision for the company making our offering more attractive to investors.

Mentoring also helped expand our network which has been instrumental in
developing business partnerships and growing the business.

5. What words of encouragement do you have for entrepreneurs taking on a similar path?

Keep persevering, do not give up when you encounter the first bump on the road. It takes time to build companies and you need to realise that it is a long-term commitment.

I encourage mentoring as it’s always beneficial to have the input of someone who has done it before. It will help you avoid doing mistakes that can be easily avoided by learning from the mentor’s experience and therefore save precious time.