Rocket Internet co-founder sees venture take off in Middle East

Eyad Alkassar has already overseen a number of new ideas come to fruition and has more exciting developments in the pipeline.

Eyad Alkassar, founder and CEO, Rocket Internet talks about his plans and strategies for the region. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National

Rocket Internet builds e-commerce companies by replicating tried-and-tested business models in new markets. The Berlin, Germany-based company moved into the Middle East in 2011. Its most successful venture in the region is the Dubai-based online clothes retailer Namshi. Eyad Alkassar, a 30-year-old German of Arab origin, is one of Namshi’s co-founders and the managing director of Rocket Internet in the Middle East.

How did you come to work for Rocket Internet?

I was called by chief executive Oliver Samwer who asked if I wanted to join the company. He is the friend of a friend. I co-founded Namshi which is now about two-and-a-half years old and a big success. Carmudi, an online marketplace for new and used cars, taxi ordering app Easytaxi, online food delivery service Foodpanda and property site Lamudi are other ventures. We are currently on the ground in seven countries [in the Middle East].

After Rocket Internet closed the Dubai online electronics retailer Mizado and folded it into Namshi there was speculation that you might be refocusing your efforts away from the Middle East. Is this the case?

We sometimes see it makes sense to join companies like we did with Mizado and Namshi. It wasn’t a big deal from our perspective. Rocket Internet very strongly believes in this region and is heavily investing. We launched Middle East Internet Group, a joint venture with telecom provider MTN, which will invest about US$200 million to develop e-commerce business in the region.

What else are you planning for the UAE?

There is a lot lined up in the UAE and in the region in general – new business models as well as expanding our existing ones. We have a couple of ventures that we want to launch very soon [before the end of the year] but it’s still confidential.

At Namshi you stopped using local couriers for deliveries and took on all your own logistics. What drove that decision?

We believe we have to do everything to ensure maximum customer service satisfaction. If there is already a good logistics network in place, we go with it. If there is anything to improve, we try to improve it or we try to do it on our own. It’s definitely improved our customers’ satisfaction – from mouse click to doorstep we are dealing directly now with the customers. What we have learnt over the past year is that no one cares about your customers as much as you do. We measure [satisfaction] on a daily basis. Every customer gets a feedback questionnaire and fills it out after each order. This goes into a scoring system. Then each department gets its results.

A criticism of Rocket Internet in Europe is that by cloning companies it’s stifling innovation. Is that valid?

These are very straightforward, very generic companies we are building: they sell stuff over the internet. That is what Amazon is doing, so if you sell stuff over the internet you are replicating [that]. But that’s really not the way we think. We really believe in getting to the economy into the internet. In some ways it’s clear how to build the ventures – but then the devil is in the detail. So, you have to fix the logistics, for example. The big contribution here is to make it happen – logistics, payments, getting the customer relationships right, getting customer satisfaction right. We are executioners who can solve problems. The idea is not about selling something on the internet.

Is Rocket Internet essentially a place where young entrepreneurs cut their teeth before leaving to start their own ventures?

It’s really a place to be for entrepreneurs because you get all this freedom, you get a lot of funding, you get a lot of experience. And if you found something at Rocket Internet it’s your thing, you get a lot of ownership even if you are 24, 23 years old. When people join us for a venture, we don’t see it as them building a Rocket venture but that they are building their own venture with Rocket support.

Does that include financial ownership?

For a founder [of a Rocket company] there is equity but the important thing is they really build it as if its their own company. You definitely have a [financial] upside from the company growing but I can’t [tell you what that is]. It’s different from company to company.

Rocket Internet is also infamous for its full-on working environment. How gruelling is it?

It’s definitely not like working for some big traditional industry company. We look for entrepreneurs who are doing this for not the salary, not to come in from 8 to 5, not just to have the job done. We believe the people who are here are here to build something and take responsibility for their work. Many stay for a long, long time with us and build huge ventures. We have people who joined us when we were 23 and 24 and now they lead ventures with 100 or 200 employees and now they are 26. That’s a unique opportunity you won’t get anywhere else. That’s the main fibre of our people and of me personally also. That is what is shaping us and forming us.

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