Insights
Insights for event founders and professionals who want to launch, scale or sell event businesses. Learn best practice across the full lifecycle — from validating a concept and building your first edition to raising capital and preparing for exit — plus practical advice from senior leaders across the global events industry.
Launch. Scale. Exit – Middle East: “When the combination of readiness, capability and opportunity lines up, you'd be foolish not to take it” with Deep Kumar, Co-Founder, Dubai Muscle Show
Some gaps in the market are spotted from behind a desk. Others are spotted in the crowd like this one – a fan at overseas bodybuilding conventions who realised nothing like it existed back home in the Middle East.
In this post, Co-Founder Deep Kumar shares why launching B2C before B2B was the right call, why credibility turned out to be a metric in itself and why company culture is the one thing he'd build differently next time.
From Travel Confidence to Event Growth: Why the UAE Remains Well Positioned
Business events run on confidence.
When confidence is shaken, the impact is immediate. Travel decisions slow. Corporate approvals become harder. International teams pause. Organisers start having different conversations with exhibitors, speakers and partners.
That has been the reality across parts of the Middle East in recent months.
Regional uncertainty has created understandable caution. But what I find interesting now is not just that confidence is returning. It is how it is returning. In the UAE, confidence is not being left to sentiment. It is being strengthened through visible, practical measures.
Inside Manta Middle East: Doug Emslie and Toby Duckworth on why the region's events ecosystem is ready to scale
Doug Emslie and Toby Duckworth lay out their vision for Manta Middle East, including why they believe the timing is right, what the team brings to the founders they back, and what the next chapter of the region’s events industry could look like.
