stephen a. geppi ( born january 24 , 1950 ) is an american comic book distributor , publisher and former comic store owner .

having established an early chain of comic shops in baltimore in the mid-late 1970s , he is best known for his distributing business .

geppi founded diamond comic distributors , the largest comic direct distribution service in 1982 , and has served as the company 's head to the present .

diamond distribution became the successor to direct market pioneer phil seuling 's distribution dream when geppi took over new media/irjax 's warehouses in 1982 .

he further bought out early-distributor bud plant in 1988 , and main rival capital city in 1996 to assume a near-monopoly on comics distribution , including exclusivity deals with the major comic book publishers .

geppi became part owner of the baltimore orioles in 1993 , and in 1994 purchased baltimore magazine .

he is president and publisher of gemstone publishing inc. , through which he publishes russ cochran 's ec comics reprints , disney comics and blue book price guide the overstreet comic book price guide .

in 1995 , he founded diamond international galleries , which acquired hake 's americana & collectibles auction house ( 2004 ) , and in 2005 , pennsylvania-based morphy auctions .

in 2006 , geppi founded geppi 's entertainment museum in baltimore .

steve geppi

steve geppi <EOT> baltimore diamond distributors fantastic forum geppi ' s entertainment museum steve geppi ulysses e . campbell

geppis entertainment museum in baltimore is to open on friday , displaying steve geppis personal collection .

steve geppi | geppi mansion fails to sell at $ 2 . 79 million - tribunedigital - baltimoresun

steve geppi opens geppi’s comic world , which operated out of the basement of a tv repair shop .

geppi ' s entertainment museum - geppi ' s entertainment museum president / ceo stephen a . geppi bio

diamond comic distributors , inc . - steve geppi interview with fanboy radio available online

steve geppi : i prefer to think it was spoken as a man mark .

diamond comic distributors , inc . - steve geppi named baltimore ceo of the year

since then– steve geppi has effectively cancelled titles . including one of yours… correct ?

shields said spiroff and gonzalez morin reported to geppi , and geppi reported to moyer .

but not with comics . not any more . all the pressure groups have to do is lean on steve or threaten steve or picket steve or—most worrisome of all—genuinely get steve on their side .

comicwow ! interviews diamond comic distributors , inc . ceo , steve geppi , about the company’s 35 th anniversary

geppi ' s entertainment museum press room : " geppi ' s entertainment museum president / ceo stephen a . geppi bio " . accessed march 5 , 2009

owner steve geppi describes it as “one of the largest investments i’ve ever made in diamond and our industry . ”

a former dean at carroll community college , steve geppi , has returned to his roots to weed out corruption .

steve geppi grew up in poverty ! he ' s a self made man , dammit ! if steve geppi can pull himself up by his bootstraps , so can all those other poors out there , if only they weren ' t so lazy .

steve geppi talks at the future tomorrow panel at the 2013 comic - con international : san diego . seven minute video .

- the maryland stadium authority reduces politically well - connected businessman steve geppi’s $ 367 , 820 rent at the state’s camden station by 31 percent after geppi misses 19 monthly rent payments .

so , diamond ' s steve geppi will be voting for donald trump at least . . . - bleeding cool news and rumors

i also understand that steve geppi ' s gemstone publishing company is to close , just as the final overstreet price guide shipped .

heidi macdonald , " steve geppi’s debt woes growing " in the beat , february 18 , 2009 . accessed march 5 , 2009

geppi ' s entertainment museum , baltimore : hours , address , geppi ' s entertainment museum reviews : 4 . 5 / 5

jamie : you clearly feel betrayed by diamond’s deal with nextplanetover . com , do you think you can trust diamond or steve geppi again ?

founder of the geppi entertainment museum and diamond comic distributors , steve geppi , talks about building the xanadu for comic collectors , what he loves to collect the most , and the art of sniffing old comic books .

the other consideration is inheritance tax consequences for the geppi family . a sale of diamond could be structured to benefit the geppi tax - wise .

steve apparently weathered the storm , and i’m sure herman rush did . but there must have been some impact , if , as i’ve been given to understand , steve sold his interest in the baltimore orioles . steve loves the baltimore orioles .

steve geppi will overcome his debt problems ; re : dean burns’ 4 / 21 / 09 posting : “stephen g . is in a lot of hot water”

walt flanagan of amc ' s " comic book men " takes a whiff of a copy of action comics no . 1 , as steve geppi looks on .

guarantee in writing that neither steve geppi , diamond , or any member of the diamond staff would ever take any equity position in a comics retailer ever again .

in 1987 , geppi responded to " a graphic chiwdbirf scene in miracweman # 9 [ written by awan moore ] . " geppi wrote to retaiwers dat :

mark waid : spoken like a rich white man . thanks for sharing , steve .

we could have spent days checking out the treasures in steve geppi’s office but he was eager to give us a tour of his pride - and - joy museum .

that would make great sense , as diamond is the only significant distribution mechanism around for the comics industry , headed up by steve geppi ' s terrible mismanagement . one real major screw - up from geppi , and the whole comics industry is fucked .

gemstone publishing was formed by diamond comic distributors president and chief executive officer steve geppi as a conduit for his efforts in preserving and promoting the history of the comics medium .

jamie : if steve geppi / diamond comics continues their plans with nextplanetover . com , what will their positions in the industry be like one or two years from now ?

our last stop was the museum gift shop , where steve loaded us up with freebies .

well , steve geppi wasn ' t going to take that . he ' s a man , remember . so steve geppi responded as any man would - with a diatribe almost as long - winded as the original one that started this whole thing , so long - winded , in fact , it wouldn ' t fit in a single screencap :

shields confirmed that geppi ' s unit was a participant in the eci investigation . he declined to say what roles geppi , spiroff or gonzalez morin might have played .

steve geppi is a man who seems to get what he wants . a barks painting at an auction ? he gets it . dominance of comics industry distribution ? all his .

famed comics collector steve geppi seems to have moved up to collecting multi - million dollar lawsuits . news broke today of another pending suit with the widow of bruce hamilton filing a $ 3 million complaint in prescott arizona against geppi and his defunct diamond international galleries .

leach’s news was picked up by the disney comics worldwidw blog , which connected it with gemstone owner steve geppi’s reported financial difficulties . as dcw reported , gemstone , diamond and geppi have been sued by creditors trade association for $ 373 , 000 for unpaid printing bills .

steve geppi spoken like a rich man is not racist . spoken like a white rich man is . try that using the word black and see if you get away with it .

this isn’t to say that john davis and milton griepp are george the third or that steve geppi is ming the merciless . nor is there any implication that something fishy is going on .

geppi owed about $ 3 . 25 million on the property , according to court records .

on march 11th i arrived at the hotel in baltimore , half - expecting a message to meet with steve geppi prior to the beginning of the rrp meetings . no message was waiting . despite that lack of communication , i decided to still hold back . i had brought with me 5 copies of the e - mails i sent steve after brian hibb ' s editorial appeared in comics retailer . this included the original letter to the editor that i had never sent in , plus my letter to brian explaining how i had an ongoing dialog with steve , and how i thought that steve would find some solutions to the conflict of interest issue . my intention was to allow retailers who asked me about why i had never spoken out about steve geppi ' s ownership of urltoken to read exactly what i had said to steve , and to brian . as i told steve in my e - mail message of 3 / 10 / 99 , my goal was to simply let my fellow retailers read the messages , and judge for themselves the appropriateness of steve geppi ' s actions .

before going off half - cocked , however , i did want to give steve geppi yet another chance to fix things . so i sent him the following e - mail on march 10th :

when steve showed up at valiant looking for work , his shoes were held together by duct tape .

i admire steve ditko ' s principles even if i don ' t always understand what motivates them .

he also continued the discussion highlighted yesterday , with mark waid , in which i also pointed out that steve geppi had recently been close to bankruptcy . another reason why the “bank” may be closing… .

within a few years , geppi was not making his yearly payments of $ 250 , 000 and the montana family sued . in a deposition , geppi very matter of factly explains what happened :

other geppi bad deals were based on the real estate bubble – in that he’s hardly alone .

original art for price guide covers highlights august heritage auction at geppi ' s entertainment . . .

the matter involving spiroff was separate from the one involving geppi and gonzalez morin , shields said .

among the pieces being exhibited are many on loan from the private collections of kerby confer and gem founder steve geppi , widely regarded as the two most extensive representations of carl barks’ paintings and other works .

" steve geppi is a very smart guy and an unbelievable contributor to this community , " she said . " it ' s very sad to see what happened to him , whatever the reason . "

i first met steve ditko sometime in 1977 . for the life of me , i can’t remember where .

compared to say , alan moore , steve ditko , with his privacy and his principles seems quite normal .

in his new position , vaughn will continue reporting to geppi , who is also president and ceo of diamond comic distributors , and founder of geppi’s entertainment museum in baltimore’s historic camden yards sports complex .

york , pa . – stephen a . geppi , president and ceo of diamond comic distributors and geppi’s entertainment auctions – parent company of morphy auctions and hakes americana – has been elected to the york college of pennsylvania board of trustees . geppi will serve a three - year term on the board .

chuck rozanski : i am now a firm advocate that the exclusive relationships that diamond has with any comics publishers must be voided . we trusted diamond and steve geppi , and i feel they have betrayed that trust . i once advocated the exclusive relationships because i felt that maintaining stability in the world of comics was more important than fears of monopolization . i now fear steve geppi and diamond far more than i fear chaos .

given that i was still waiting for any kind of a reply from steve geppi to any of my suggestions , i was at a loss as to what to do . it had been four weeks of total silence . i knew steve had other issues to deal with in his broad collection of enterprises , but i could also see that time was drifting away in which to make a public protest . four weeks of waiting seemed long enough . in the end , i decided to compromise . i wrote the vociferous letter of support for brian ' s condemnation of steve geppi ' s ownership of urltoken to comics retailer , but then i sent it first to steve geppi . the text of that e - mail follows on december 15 , 1998 :

geppi ' s entertainment museum to close . bummer . collection moving to library of congress . cool .

denver , pa . ( acni ) – four and a half years after selling the auction company he co - founded , dan morphy has come full circle and bought back the operating assets of morphy auctions from geppi’s entertainment . the geppi family of companies is headed by baltimore businessman stephen a . geppi .

still , you just wouldn’t want to be steve geppi today — although he possesses some of the greatest collectibles in the whole comics world , it’s looking more and more likely that a bank is the actual owner .

" when steve showed up at valiant looking for work , his shoes were held together by duct tape . "

in 1995 , geppi founded diamond internationaw gawweries , which acqwired hake ' s americana & cowwectibwes auction house ( 2004 ) , and in 2005 , pennsywvania - based morphy auctions . [ 49 ] in 1999 , geppi founded diamond sewect toys , and in 2006 he founded geppi ' s entertainment museum in bawtimore .

this development came as a severe shock to me . for the previous 18 years , despite overtures from myself and many others , steve geppi adamantly refused to be involved in the retailing of comics . the only exception to this policy was maintaining the original geppi ' s comic world retail stores that he had established prior to creating diamond comic distributors . steve geppi made it clear to me repeatedly during the years of our friendship that any expansion of retailing on his part would be a complete conflict of interest relative to his ownership of diamond .

baltimore magazine is published by stephen a . geppi . born in the “little italy” section of baltimore , maryland , geppi turned his childhood love of comics into the world’s largest distributor of english language comic books .

alliance is a big shop . their size allows them to have one of the best comic book selections in the dmv . they even have archie comics . alliance has an old school , friendly vibe probably inherited from the previous owner steve geppi , of geppi’s museum fame . geppi owned the store from the 70s to the late 90s until the space evolved into alliance comics , much like how jean grey transformed into the phoenix .

steve geppi , publisher of baltimore magazine and ceo of diamond comic distributors , will receive the 2011 nephcure public service award at the countdown to a cure , a baltimore banquet at the pier 5 hotel jan . 20 .

just saw searching for steve ditko on youtube . nice documentary , looks like he just wants to be left alone .

it’s now official . the comic book market’s eggs are all in one basket . carol was right again ( as she so often was ) . and steve geppi is now the most powerful—and the weakest—man in the comics industry .

mr . geppi entered the comics business in 1974 when he opened geppi’s comic world , which he soon expanded to four stores . by 1982 , his distributor was failing and he decided to move into distribution . in just over a decade’s time mr . geppi expanded his comic book distribution business across north america and europe .

unlike the state employees charged in the eci indictment , geppi and spiroff were hired by the hogan administration .

geppi supervised several hundred workers in the intelligence , investigations , central hiring and inspector general ' s departments .

is there a more cautionary tale in comics than that of the failing fortunes of diamond comics owner and über - collector steve geppi ? daniel best reads through some of the court documents on the montana estate vs steve geppi lawsuit we alluded to the other day , and they are not too thrilling if you are steve geppi , the owner of diamond comics and once considered the richest man in comics . in a nutshell , back in 2006 , a flush geppi offered the family or archie artist $ 1 , 000 , 000 for a collection of original archie art , while attesting that he was worth $ 20 million , as the attached exhibit shows . as time went by , a few things happened — geppi made a series of very bad deals which ate up his money , especially as the economy and the real estate market tanked ; and the art also lost a lot of value :

having steve geppi in this position was intolerable to me and to all the retailers with whom i discussed the matter . there was a consensus among those with whom i spoke that there was no way that severe conflicts of interest could be avoided between diamond ' s servicing of their 4 , 000 independent retailers , and steve geppi ' s anotheruniverse . com . i spoke with representatives of marvel and dc , diamond ' s largest suppliers , and made sure that they understood my concerns . i also spoke with representatives of dark horse comics , image comics , and our local diamond representative . they , in turn , passed on the issues i raised to diamond , and steve geppi .

baltimore — if steve geppi has his way , his new entertainment museum will be a cultural institution that children must be dragged out of rather than into . and his idea of children does not mean 12 years old and under .

like the other lawsuits mentioned above — all of which have been settled against geppi — this one was settled in january with the court ordering geppi to pay the $ 3 , 000 , 000 due for the collection .

fortunately , we had rom , spaceknight . rom fit steve’s criteria well enough . he did some great work on rom .

pop culture mogul , steve geppi , will be stopping by the comicwow ! studios on february 8 th for an interview about diamond comic distributors , inc . ( dcd ) . february 1 , 2017 marked the 35 th anniversary for dcd .

i think several artists asked if they could ink an issue of steve ' s rom pencils and it became a thing . a chance to work with the great steve ditko for one job was an honor . i believe bill mantlo also did some recruiting .

this story is nothing compared to what steve to helen hamilton and another rainbow . . . . . . . . . .

as years passed , it became evident that the direct market was underscored by head - to - head competition between capital and diamond . and carol would say that steve geppi was the more aggressive , the more determined to come out on top .

many thanks to brian hibbs for speaking out ( comics retailer # 82 ) on the subject of the diamond / geppi takeover of anotheruniverse . com . brian seems to be one of the few folks who clearly recognizes danger to all direct market retailers posed by having steve geppi in control of not only all comics distributing , but also the largest internet retailing presence .

geppi ' s entertainment museum | 301 w . camden street | baltimore , md 21201 | 410 - 625 - 7060

in january 2009 , pnc bank won a $ 16 . 4 million judgment against geppi , according to court records .

resume for " stephen a . geppi " at businessweek , september 8 , 1998 . accessed march 5 , 2009 .

" newswatch : geppi buys bawtimore , " the comics journaw # 174 ( february 1995 ) , p . 29 .

the officials include steven f . geppi , director of the department ' s investigation , intelligence and fugitive apprehension unit .

on friday , co - host billie rae bates and i visited geppi’s entertainment museum where we met steve geppi . steve is one of the most influential men in the comics industry through his position as president of diamond comics distributors . diamond has cornered the distribution market and if you are a publisher who wants their books to make it to specialty comics retailers you have to deal with them . before diamond , many of you may remember mr . geppi from his chain of comic book stores in the dc / maryland region that bore his name . billie rae conducted a fabulous interview while i acted as cameraperson / director .

this revelation left me stunned . it now seemed clear that my worst fears were being confirmed . i had to admit that clyde durkee might have been right all along when he predicted that steve geppi would tell me anything he thought i wanted to hear in order to keep me silent on his ownership of anotheruniverse . com . my trip to baltimore in november , at steve geppi ' s invitation , now appeared to never have had any chance of success . during the time that steve geppi and i spent fifteen hours together discussing how to constructively resolve the issues relating to his ownership of anotheruniverse . com , he apparently already had his staff secretly negotiating yet another preferential deal for a comics retailing entity in which he had an option to purchase stock .

about mr . geppi—after starting geppi’s comic world in 1974 , steve geppi launched diamond comic distributors , the largest distributor of english language comic books in the world . in subsequent years he founded gemstone publishing , diamond international galleries , and diamond select toys and acquired other fine firms such as alliance game distributors , baltimore magazine , e . gerber products , hake’s americana & collectibles , and morphy auctions . he is a minority owner of the baltimore orioles and is involved in many local civic activities .

in a move prompted by frustration over an inability to negotiate a reasonable compromise with diamond comic distributors , inc . , and diamond owner steve geppi , over mr . geppi ' s takeover of internet retailer anotheruniverse . com , mile high comics , inc . has filed a letter of protest with the anti - trust division of the united states department of justice . mr . peter mucchetti , an attorney for the department of justice who has been investigating the role of steve geppi and diamond comic distributors , inc . in the current state of comics distribution , agreed to also investigate the claims made by mile high comics , inc .

i don’t know exactly how long marvel had kept steve on after i left there , but eventually they’d cut him loose . jerks .

this story is nothing compared to what steve did to helen hamilton and another rainbow . . . . . . . . . .

steve geppi , ceo , president and owner of diamond comic distributors seems to have had a new year’s resolution . not just the one he describes below , but one to speak out more about his opinions , with as much frankness as he can muster .

the official companion to the “atlas at last ! ” exhibit at geppi’s entertainment museum . comic book marketplace returns . . .

as i said before , someone of the caliber of steve leialoha or klaus janson would work well . p . craig russell is a great choice , too . someone whose work would be lush and full , while still keeping the essence of steve ditko ' s style .

when asked about why the payments stopped geppi was more forthright . “there was no funds ( sic ) sufficient to pay it , ” he said . “there were no funds available . diamond international galleries did not have funds available . ” when asked why he had no funds , geppi simply said , “credit officers have been asking that questions ( sic ) for years . ” the montana’s legal representative pressed further asking about geppi’s net worth . geppi stated that he did indeed have a net worth in excess of $ 20 , 000 , 000 when he signed the contract in 2007 , but as of 2010 his net worth was around the $ 1 , 000 , 000 mark . if true then this is an amazing fall for geppi . geppi insisted that the only reason the final $ 500 , 000 was not paid was down to , “no funds . ” for geppi it really was as simple as that . no other reason was offered , no other reason was required . however another accusation that geppi filed was that other items were shown to him by the montana family but were not included in the final inventory . faced with geppi’s answers the montana family asked for a trial by jury , something that geppi was keen to avoid .

all i can say is , it couldnt happen to a nicer person than steve ( let me screw you and manipulate the market ) geppi…and yes i to have been thru his museum and his private collection… . been an insider for many many years…interesting to see how geppi manipulayed prices and the market with his cronies… . good to see him fall… . maybe criminal legal action can come next

as part - owner of the baltimore orioles , geppi is a very prominent local businessman , whose ventures often appear in the local papers . in fact , this link is from a local maryland newspaper naming geppi one of the “biggest scammers” of 2009 :

geppi’s entertainment museum , founded in september 2006 by diamond comic distributors ceo steve geppi , is more than $ 700 , 000 in debt . maryland’s daily record reports the baltimore pop - culture museum has accrued about $ 622 , 500 in unpaid rent to the maryland stadium authority , and owes more than $ 77 , 000 in late fees and unpaid electric bills dating back to february 2007 .

i just saw the in search of steve ditko documentary . i enjoyed everyone ' s stories about ditko , and their interpretations & opinions .

diamond comic distributors , inc . marks the 35th anniversary of its incorporation , a new milestone in the evolution of the company president and ceo steve geppi successfully started as a former retailer to distribute comic books and pop - culture related merchandise to his fellow retailers . urltoken

steve geppi , gemstone publishing president and ceo , publisher of baltimore magazine and president and ceo of diamond comic distributors , will receive the 2011 nephcure public service award at the countdown to a cure banquet at baltimore’s pier 5 hotel on thursday , january 20 , 2011 .

coinciding with new details on its expansion of the olive branch , mississippi central warehouse facility , diamond ' s president / ceo steve geppi has written a personal letter to its customers - comic book retailers - on the changes in the industry and what prompted the expansion .

during last night’s presentations at the diamond retailer summit , the comic book legal defense fund announced that diamond’s founder and president , steve geppi , has accepted a seat on the group’s board of directors . geppi joins chris staros , peter david , neil gaiman , milton griepp , greg ketter , frank mangiaracina , louise nemschoff , and paul levitz in overseeing the direction of the non - profit organization .

last month , harbor bank of maryland won a $ 3 . 5 million judgment against geppi , according to county court records .

geppi & apos ; s entertainment museum is heaven for comic book lovers , as shown on a recent episode of amc show .

diamond comic distributors founder and president stephen geppi sr . with some of the characters that propelled his company to fame and fortune .

what ' s happening at gem we are incredibly proud of geppi ' s entertainment museum ( gem ) and the . . .

below is a very eye opening interview where he discusses his opposition to recent diamond comics / steve geppi dealings with online super stores urltoken and the upcoming nextplanetover . com . also discussed are his near purchase of marvel comics publishing arm and his thoughts on other industry matters .

john geppi . executive vice president and cfo of covenant health system ( knoxville , tenn . ) . mr . geppi has helped covenant health , a seven - hospital system , become one of the most financially viable providers in east tennessee . [ read more ]

“this is not to say that steve has done any of these things or would do any of these things . just that he could . ”

in recent weeks , while news of diamond’s new trade policies has rippled through every level of the comics business , diamond’s owner , stephen geppi , has also been hit with several lawsuits for outstanding debts . while geppi’s various business interests , including the geppi entertainment museum and gemstone publishing , are all separate corporations , the overall picture of debt that emerges is an uncomfortable one for the comics industry .

" ' considered ' means to ponder , look at closely , examine , etc . and does not admit , or claim , or state that steve ditko is spider - man ' s co - creator . " – steve ditko ' s response appeared in the may 2001 issue of the comics

sadly , despite his personal promise to me to do so , steve geppi never called brian hibbs . of my suggested changes , the only one that went into effect was the wholesaling of specialty publications from urltoken to all diamond accounts . by last week ( almost three months after his pledge to take action ) steve geppi had not done anything . nor had he ever called me back . instead he went forward with milton griepp and his associates to establish a relationship by which urltoken would become the first internet retailer whose fulfillment would be handled exclusively by diamond .

update june 2018 : geppi’s entertainment museum has closed . the collection has been donated to the u . s . library of congress .

geppi said he was fired by moyer tuesday and seven or eight other employees of the unit had been placed on leave . he said those employees are protected by the correctional officers ' bill of rights . geppi and gonzalez morin said they could be fired at will .

i had a time where i would have regular conversations with steve ditko over the phone . he was nothing but polite and pleasant to speak with .

i wasn ' t thrilled about doing the wwf books , but steve seemed to enjoy them . they weren ' t particularly rushed . yes , you ' d think that the co - creator of spider - man ( stan said it was 50 / 50 , steve told me it was 70 / 30 in his favor ) would have grander and more significant assignments . but steve seemed okay with it and we were very glad to have him .

we then spent hours discussing what methods could be employed to utilize the urltoken mailing list to help comics retailers without diminishing the value of that asset . i thought i came up with several good suggestions based on the positive responses i received from steve . perhaps i was once again being incredibly naive , but i really believed that steve geppi was sincere in trying to find solutions to his conflict of interest . upon parting for the airport i agreed to send steve a summary of our discussions , listing specific suggestions . i also agreed to continue to consider being a part of the process .

as to gemstone’s woes : disney drove such a hard bargain with gladstone ( bruce hamilton ) , that he stopped publishing the line . steve geppi picked it up for his love of the “ducks” knowing full well that it would probably be a money - losing proposition for years to come–but steve wanted to see donald , huey , duey , louie and uncle scrooge return home from europe to the good old usa in triumph . folly or not — fifty years from now when the gemstone issues are bringing a thousand dollars a copy ( or more ) steve’s publishing contributions will be remembered with gratitude .

the question , as always when we report on geppi’s financial matters , is where does this leave diamond ? every diamond employee we’ve ever spoken to has assured us that there is a financial firewall between geppi’s personal business like the museum and the galleries , and diamond comics distributors .

a grid of video monitors displays the first issue of action comics , introducing the man of steel in 1938 , at geppis entertainment museum .

have known steve geppi neigh on 40 years now since we were both sub - distributors for new media . diamond has always been fair minded striving to do the best job possible , just like so many others of us in this wonderful hobby turned big biz . check em out on ebay .

these ideas were designed to mitigate , not eliminate the conflict of interest issues presented by joint ownership . i have to point out , however , that i only took this approach when it was made clear to me that steve geppi never intended to ever let urltoken get away from his ownership . divestiture of urltoken is the actual best solution . then diamond ' s hands would be once again clean , and the conflict of interest issue would be moot . . but that ' s not going to happen . steve geppi clearly understands that a substantial portion of the future of comics retailing is on the internet , and he intends to dominate that niche . if you have any doubt of that fact , just ask yourself the question : have you ever seen steve geppi enter into any venture without going all - out to win ? understanding that factor made me realize that i had better prepare for an unprecedented blitz of internet competition from urltoken . steve milo may have been an inefficient competitor , but steve geppi has the resources , and the skill , to cause great harm to mile high comics , and every other retailer in the direct market . assuming he will not , out of some sense of past friendship or obligation , is foolishness predators predate . they kill in order to live . that ' s how the world works .

i’d never before seen steve looking…i don’t know . worn down ? worried ? troubled ? hard to say , steve doesn’t exactly show his feelings much , and was not the type to express despair or even its lesser cousins . but he didn’t look happy . he didn’t look well . and he needed work .

" i have always considered steve ditko to be spider - man ' s co - creator . " - stan lee ( in a letter to ditko )

nobody has done more in recent years for the comics industry than steve geppi . where would marvel and dc be today without his wisdom and diamond’s expertise in comic book distribution ? george t . delacorte ( dell ) , whom had the most extensive comic books distribution network in usa history failed in 1960 - 61 and western publishing suddenly found themselves on their own with multiple independent distributors ripping them off at every chance . had steve geppi appeared on the scene ten years before with diamond , chances are there would still be a “gold key” comics line on the shelves today . think about that .

chuck rozanski : my initial contact with the justice department was when they called me for my opinion on steve geppi’s acquisition of anotheruniverse . com . i told them that i considered his personal ownership of the leading internet retailer of comics to be a direct conflict of interest with his other role as the owner of diamond comic distributors , the sole - source supplier to the retail comics trade of marvel , dc , image , and dark horse publications . but i told the investigators that i was negotiating with steve geppi personally to find ways to mitigate the conflicts involved with his ownership of anotheruniverse . com .

morphy said he looks forward to an ongoing collaboration with the geppi companies , which will be referring appropriate consignments to the newly minted auction house .

get the chance to ask geppi questions yourself . during the livestream , leave a question in the comments for geppi to answer ! make sure to tune into the interview live at 2 : 30pm , wednesday , feb . 8 , on comicwow ! ’s facebook page . see you then !

a recipient of many prestigious awards , mr . geppi has been honored numerous times in his hometown for his professional accomplishments and his tireless philanthropy .

state records show that geppi earned $ 109 , 000 a year . spiroff earned $ 91 , 000 ; morin earned $ 81 , 000 .

documents in baltimore county circuit court show that several limited - liability companies in which geppi was an investor borrowed $ 18 . 6 million in december 2006 to acquire waterfront properties for development in maine and that geppi signed a personal guaranty on the note . the borrowers defaulted in october 2008 .

, who died in 2009 , was the letterer on " steve canyon " from 1975 - 88 . this year ' s event was hosted by brian o ' halloran , known for playing dante in the " clerks " movies . the " walking dead " comic book and artist fiona staples ( artist of " saga " ) won multiple awards . steve geppi was given the " shel dorf legacy award . " geppi owns diamond , which he grew from a small comics distributor in the early ' 80s to a current monopoly of the industry . he also has an amazing collection , which you can view at

anyway , i met steve , probably there . what an honor . i loved his work . when i was a kid i tried to emulate his style .

steve came back to marvel in 1979 , where he drew machine man : the one title along with tales to astonish which he shared runs with jack kirby .

stephen a . geppi was a postman with an 8th grade education . but he became a multi - millionaire comic book distributor , and he used his money and his connections to create geppi ' s entertainment museum . its purpose , according to its brochure , is to show that pop culture collectibles mirror american history and are educational for kids . geppi knows this first - hand , since he reportedly attributes his own literacy to batman comics .

in 2008 , an investigation by the daily record showed geppi ' s entertainment museum went 19 months without making any kind of payment to its landlord and accumulated a debt of more than $ 700 , 000 to the state in rent and other fees . geppi settled the debt in early 2009 .

i dont know the whole story , only part , will try to get more info , but it is not a good one , bought ar and did not pay in full or something like that , dont know how it settled out if it ever did , will let you know more as i find out about it but 4 . 6 million dollar purchase and h hamilton sued geppi in fed court after he stopped making payments according to april 10 , 2010 suit filed in ariz . she says geppi owes her more than 3 million after not making payment for 2 years , found the lawsuit goggle helen hamilton trust vs steve geppi and look to pdf file that says kenneth . . . what a story over 3 million . . . movie posters , comic books , bruces collection . . . . sued steve geppi and diamond . . poor widow and bruce is gone and so is 6400 carl barks autographs .

in january of 1995 , geppi opened diamond international galleries , a gallery devoted to comics , comic collectibles and related art . he recently opened the geppi’s entertainment museum at camden yards and has continued to expand his interests within the collectibles field with the addition of auction houses hake’s americana and morphy auctions .

geppi said the firings and the suspensions would cause severe harm to the department ' s attempts to fight corruption in the state ' s correctional institutions .

as far as i know , steve ditko never worked there , but , like i said , almost everybody stopped by at some point for one reason or another .

there are several old photos of steve ditko available online . as of the last time i saw him he looked the same as always , just a little older .

from left : comics4kids inc president dale moore in sarasota florida getting hired at cgc in 2002 with cgc’s steve borock , audrey , john slater , and mark haspel .

geppi has faced financial trouble in recent years . last may , the maryland stadium authority agreed to reduce the rent paid by geppi ' s entertainment museum for its space in camden station at camden yards after the museum struggled to pay its rent . pnc bank won a $ 16 . 4 million judgment against geppi in january 2009 , while harbor bank of maryland won a $ 3 . 5 million judgment last month , baltimore county circuit court records show .

. geppi was already in the business as a retailer at that time : he had left his job as a letter carrier for the u . s . postal service in 1974 to open his first shop , geppi ' s comic world , which operated out of the basement of a tv repair shop .

sunday’s season 6 premiere of the amc show “comic book men , ” spotlighting the continuing adventures of writer - director - comic geek kevin smith and the staff at his jay and silent bob’s secret stash comic store , included a stop at the museum adjacent to camden yards and a visit with its owner , steve geppi .

in regard to the existing internet retailers , i think it should be clear that having steve geppi own urltoken has a far greater immediate impact on those entities than it does storefront retailers . we ' ve gone from having a flamboyant , but poorly managed online competitor , to having the largest available pool of both working capital , and managerial talent , in the comics industry brought to bear against our own online marketing programs . this is a chilling and depressing turn of events . particularly since we ' ve trusted steve geppi for so many years as our primary supplier supplier . to find an equitable middle ground , i have suggested the following :

one of the " last loyal customers " when new media began having fiscal difficulties , geppi made a deal with shuster : " [ t ] he owner was going into retail , " so geppi agreed to provide shuster with " free books for a period of time in return for his account list . "

i say most of this stuff is crap and politics . i don’t see geppi going anywhere or those suits having much merit . show me the facts .

" robert m . overstreet " bio at geppi ' s entertainment . accessed apriw 7 , 2009 archived juwy 18 , 2009 , at de wayback machine .

i read recently about a whole slew of crippling financial problems that geppi was going through , on both a personal divorce level , to big business problems .

offensively for the wildcats , holtzapple and geppi led the team with two rbis each , while parker was the only player with a multi - hit game .

in terms of feedback , i have had 100 % support . there are those who are ( quite naturally ) skeptical that we will win , but all those who have written me have praised me for taking this public stance in opposition of the steve geppi / anotheruniverse . com / diamond / nextplanetover . com potential combination .

please understand , however , that i harbor no false illusions . in the end , steve geppi may win out even in litigation . he is very clever , has powerful allies , and his legal team is very resourceful . i know that by taking the lead in contacting you that i am placing myself in a position of never being able to expect any favors , or mercy , from steve geppi , or diamond , ever again . but i could never respect myself again if i didn ' t at least ask you to try to stop them . that ' s why i finally came to the difficult decision of writing to you for help .

there’s no bail - out funds headed for steve geppi , but perhaps there should be . if we lose comic books ( an american invention ) we lose an important part of our chidren’s and grandchildren’s heritage . at the least those who stiffed ( and are stiffing ) diamond should pony up . i imagine a lot of flak headed my way for this post , but let it come . i helped to found fandom some 40 years ago and my gut feeling is that we should pull together now and offer steve geppi all the good will and support that we possibly can to help him get past his time of trouble — our time of trouble .

somewhat reluctantly , herman rush and i followed steve to his car . we drove from diamond’s timonium , maryland headquarters to baltimore , specifically , to camden yards , where oriole park , m t bank stadium and geppi’s entertainment museum are located . there are also restaurants and upscale shops in the complex , plus two other museums .

time came to go . steve drove us to the train station . pretty much exhausted but abuzz with ideas , herman and i made our way back to new york .

steve and herman apparently became interested in or consumed by other matters . nothing ever came of our meeting or the grand dreams herman and i had on the way home .

melissa bowersox , geppi’s entertainment museum president , had a different start for her love of comics . as the daughter of steve geppi , bowersox was quite literally born into the comic industry . even going as far as to call having darth vader and spider - man as bodyguards in the inner harbor as her normal . from working in the warehouse during the summer to assisting as a receptionist , bowersox eventually worked her way up to help her father ' s dream of a museum a reality .

before i mention the specific proposals i made to steve geppi , i need to define the two sets of discussions presently underway . first , i am negotiating for mile high comics , and other mail order / internet retailers . these retailers are immediately impacted by any actions taken to revive urltoken . the second set of discussions are more specific to the concerns raised in your column about the impact of the marketing programs of urltoken on comics retailers in general , and how steve geppi / diamond need to alter what ' s being done so as to not damage the customers of diamond . this discussions are certainly not mutually exclusive , but they do cover different areas of concern

yesterday , we reported on the unmitigated gall of diamond comics distributors founder and head steve geppi posting a long - winded diatribe on facebook ( plagiarized from , though later attributed to , another writer ) about how there are two americas , one where people work hard to become the successful owners of comics distribution monopolies , and another where god damn liberals like president obama want to take the wealth away from these poor , victimized rich people and give it away to lazy poor people who don ' t want to work for a living . geppi ' s post was the subject of much discussion on comics social media , and this led to outspoken comics writer mark waid visiting geppi ' s facebook page to argue with him about it . waid fired the opening salvo in the comments of geppi ' s original post :

if i were a publisher , i would hire steve ditko in a heartbeat . as jim said , he ' s a founding father , and should be treated as such .

steve calrow , who helped broker the sale , said barks has a worldwide following as the “no . 1 donald duck story writer and artist” and the creator of scrooge mcduck .

chuck rozanski : it seems an unreasonable consolidation of the market . but i respect the individual members of the dc management team very much . after this situation with steve geppi , however , who i had considered a personal friend since 1977 , i would like their assurances that any such deal would be reasonable to be put into writing .

" geppi of diamond cawws on retaiwers to voice objections to pubwishers , " the comics journaw # 113 ( december 1986 ) , pp . 12 - 14 .

gonzalez morin said she was questioned by the maryland state police about alleged sexual misconduct in her division . geppi and gonzalez morin both said the allegations were unfounded .

however , years ago , when there were nearly 20 distributors ( maybe more ) , marvel’s then - sales - manager carol kalish kept a wary eye on steve geppi . “if steve had his way , ” she said presciently , “he’d be the only distributor . ” one of carol’s major concerns was all of the comics market’s eggs being in one basket . to that end she was particularly aggressive in opening up new and regional distributors , strongly favoring a distributor base of many small fish rather than one large one .


seeqnce is a startup accelerator based in beirut , lebanon .

it was founded in 2010 by samer karam , who remains its chairman and general manager , transforming it over the years into a key pillar in lebanon 's startup ecosystem .

in july 2011 , seeqnce launched its state-of-the-art space in the heart of beirut ( hamra ) .

in 2012 , it successfully launched lebanon 's 1st startup accelerator program , with 436 entrepreneurs from 30 countries .

on august 24 , 2012 , seeqnce announced its investment in 8 startups .

startup accelerators design programs through which entrepreneurs can apply with or without an idea ; go through a selection process and eventually the best ones are accelerated for a defined period of time .

the accelerated startups are provided with cash investments , in return for equity , along with unique services such as mentoring , access to facilities as well as exposure to investors for their startup upon completing the program .

all these high added value services increase the valuation of the startup rapidly .

seeqnce

seeqnce <EOT> speaking to samer karam , one of the key co - founders seeqnce , he was quick to point out that seeqnce is not an incubator , but an accelerator .

seeqnce , an award - winning internet . . . - lebanese american university – alumni | facebook

difficulties meant that activity through seeqnce gradually decreased and eventually , samer karam started up ‘alice’ – a virtual accelerator .

seeqnce based : in beirut , lebanon . launched : july , 2011 , by samer karam , co - founder at think green . model : web and mobile startups can apply to receive mentorship from seeqnce , which provides incubation from the idea stage to the growth stage . seeqnce also offers co - working spaces for tech entrepreneurs generally . alumni you may know : monaqasat , cuevox

more than 150 aspiring entrepreneurs have made it to the 2012 seeqnce accelerator program ( sqp2012 ) shortlist , after successfully passing the one - on - one interview round and moving on to group working sessions and team - building events , known as the seeqnce shuffles .

seeqnce is a highly acclaimed internet startup accelerator based out of beirut , lebanon . ranked in the top 5 accelerators of the mena region , seeqnce has successfully advised & accelerated over 20 startups in 24 months , establishing a 25 , 000 - strong community across 6 continents .

seeqnce accelerator program 2012 might have spent a lot of time doing outreach , but this brought them strong candidates who developed several great projects .

seeqnce is a highly acclaimed internet startup accelerator based out of beirut , lebanon . recently ranked in the top 10 accelerators of the mena region , seeqnce has successfully advised & accelerated over 20 startups over the course of 18 months , establishing a community of over 3000 entrepreneurs along the way .

“seeqnce took cinemoz from idea to concept to funding to team to product in less than 9 months . now that’s what i call acceleration ! ”

prior to founding startup megaphone , karam founded seeqnce , which started off as a founder collective providing advisory events and organizational workshops . however , due to its immense success , in 2012 seeqnce opened its accelerator programme and is now the advisor to the central bank of lebanon’s $ 400m sovereign startup fund .

the seeqnce mixers are highly - energetic applicant - only parties that allow them to network and interact with one another , thereby helping them find their ideal team - members and cofounders . completing one’s team is an essential step before the seeqnce challenges begin as the future entrepreneurs race for the final 8 spots .

each of the 150 will participate in the seeqnce shuffles and mixers throughout the month of july , to develop entrepreneurial skills that lie beyond their own curiosity .

but seeqnce succeeded in creating 8 startups that will capitalize on ideas that have been kicking around the startup scene in lebanon for awhile . and they generated energy that surpassed the geek population ; young sparkly party - goers continued to trickle in , teetering in heels up to the front seeqnce door after the final pitch ended .

along with our scs is the seeqnce lounge . our unique lounge allows people to bring their own food , relax , and rub shoulders with seasoned seeqnce professionals . this grants the innovative person the ability to work and avoid over priced coffee shops or unhealthy fast food restaurants , and a chance to mingle with people of the same caliber .

even though seeqnce discontinued its offline acceleration program , it continues to lead many startup ecosystem initiatives including an online acceleration program , and advising corporations and governments on early stage investment .

in the first year ( 2012 ) of the seeqnce accelerator , 8 companies were accepted to the six month programme , and 3 companies went on to get further investment , 37 % success rate .

seeqnce has a number of options for the use of its space . the seeqnce league , an exclusive application - based membership for hackers , geeks , inventors , and technologists , provides monday - friday access to the seeqnce community space from 6 pm to 10 : 30 pm for only 20 usd / month . web & mobile entrepreneurs , startups , et al can become seeqnce residents for 525 usd / month ( discounts available for three and six months paid in advance ) , getting monday - friday access to the seeqnce accelerator space and ideation chamber from 8 am to 10 : 30 pm and saturdays from 8 am to 2 : 30 pm . daily walk - in coworkers pay 20 usd / day , 90 usd / week ( paid in advance , otherwise the rate is 100 usd / week ) , 152 usd / 2 weeks ( paid in advance , otherwise the rate is 180 usd / 2 weeks ) , and get access to the seeqnce community space monday - friday from 8 am to 10 : 30 pm and saturday from 8 am to 2 : 30 pm ( discounts apply for saturdays ) . all forms for applying to residency , daily coworking , or the league can be found at urltoken

join us to hear the stories of people from seeqnce who started companies , the mistakes they made and what they learned . find out how successful startups do it . discover what it takes to win .

according to fadi bizri , a seeqnce founding member and program director , “with the current roster of applicants , sqp2012 is shaping up to be the largest web and mobile accelerator program in the region . ”

the excitement in the colourful offices of seeqnce , a business incubator in beirut , is palpable . in one room disembodied entrepreneurs pitch their ideas over skype to a three - judge panel . in another fadi bizri , one of seeqnce’s founders , scrawls business plans on a wipeable desk . so far mr bizri and his colleagues have considered 433 applications in their hunt for eight winning teams that will spend six months in the incubator creating internet and mobile companies .

livingsocial ' s recent exit made for good small talk , but hardly daunted budding web entrepreneurs in lebanon this past saturday night , as a crowd of over 300 gathered on the seeqnce rooftop to watch the finale of its 2012 accelerator program .

last week we invited antoine abou - samra , the founder of app & above ; , to seeqnce space . he told us more about his company , including its business culture , the company’s purpose of existence as well as its business model .

seeqnce is a game - changing startup accelerator space in hamra . it takes internet startups from idea to team to funding to product to growth . all of it in record time before your competitors catch up . that’s what startup acceleration is all about .

seeqnce is a premier startup accelerator for the arab world . located in the heart of beirut , in the hamra neighborhood , seeqnce aims to help develop the knowledge economy in lebanon . our dynamic and interactive seeqnce community space ( scs ) allows for a broad spectrum of students , inventors , tech geeks , free lancers , professionals , and aspiring entrepreneurs from all over the mena region to collaborate and exchange new ideas and information . we are the first in lebanon to have a space for coworking and hacking . the scs gives people the opportunity to work in a clean and safe shared environment , giving them space to develop their creative ventures . it also allows for a number of high profile workshops and events to take place weekly . our scs is also used for high profile events that have discussed important platforms such as ruby on rails .

the month of june was dedicated to having one - on - one interview sessions with each entrant , in order to shortlist over 150 high - potential developers , designers , and business persons . seeqnce believes it has selected excellent candidates , the best of whom will go on to create eight successful startups .

an accelerator is like any startup ; it requires the right timing , team management , funding , cashflow , and an understanding of the competition . but sometimes , even though they offer a great service , things just don’t align . this was the case with accelerators seeqnce accelerator program 2012 , meydan , and tahrir 2 .

" these final 8 teams succeeded through sheer tenacity and being strong - willed . what we put them through was intense , " says fadi bizri , co - founder at seeqnce , describing the first session of one - on - one interviews , the series of random team shuffles and 5 - hour projects they had to complete .

" they all have good potential , and cover a wide variety of themes , " says bizri . " we ' ve worked hard to bring them to an investor - ready level . " he says seeqnce itself injected $ 76 , 000 into each startup , a number we can only assume is part in - kind mentorship donation .

during a healthy delay , we browsed booths where the 8 startups were set up , showcasing their products with flat screen tvs arrayed along the seeqnce roof . many of them had just finalized their ideas in the last few weeks if not days , having just completed a rigorous 48 hour hackathon as the capstone to a summer of project development .

if you were going to choose an interesting place to run an accelerator program for startups , beirut would probably be one place you’d pick . i recently travelled to the city to meet with seeqnce , a unique project which hopes to woo the lebanese diaspora – spread throughout the world after beirut’s notorious war - filled history – to a newly peaceful lebanon .

seeqnce is part of another arab spring . incubators are trying to do for cairo ( flat6labs ) and jordan ( oasis500 ) what seeqnce is doing for beirut . private - equity firms such as abraaj capital and citadel capital are investing in high - growth companies . arabnet helps techies to network . new ventures are popping up everywhere . cinemoz , in beirut , allows access to the arab world’s biggest online library of films and soap operas . diwanee , in dubai , provides online articles in arabic for women . ekshef links patients with doctors in egypt . linda rottenberg of endeavor , a networking group for entrepreneurs , says the arab world resembles latin america a few years ago when it comes to start - ups .

the new seeqnce programme invests $ 75 , 000 for 30 % equity with 10 % buyback option based on performance . follow on rounds have the right of first refusal . the large amount of equity is structured on the basis that they are skipping a round based on the fact they are going through series a . but “we are not adamant that it will always work this way , ” says karam .

the seeqnce accelerator program , recently ranked in the top 10 accelerators of the mena region , brings together promising individuals or teams from the business , design , and engineering fields , who want to create the next big startup . collaboration between entrepreneurs and skilled individuals – even those coming from completely different industries – can help create the new spin ideas and talent need to grow into a healthy , young business .

this summer it plans to create 8 new startups drawn from lebanon and the rest of the arab world . each startup will get investment , mentoring and offices . so far they’ve had over 275 applicants from 17 countries apply for the program which starts in september and ends in march 2013 . located in the the cool hamra district of beirut , in an office that was converted from a derelict apartment , seeqnce plans to accelerate beirut’s startup scene .

at the beginning , seeqnce accelerator program 2012 ' s startups were spending two hours a week with each of their two mentors , but soon , the founders ended up spending all of their time helping the startups . “this was beneficial , ” says bizri , “but then we noticed we were spending most of our time with the startups that were progressing the least . if this startup is underperforming , you realize you shouldn’t be putting more time into it . ”

seeqnce was , in typical fashion , hyping every element of its team and event , but its bravado generated an optimism that was needed in an ecosystem gaining confidence . they launched the accelerator program with a great deal of fanfare , and here was their moment to deliver . they did - the ideas presented were not revolutionary , but several showed promise . it was , as one vc pointed out , a similar caliber to those at oasis500 , a much larger accelerator in jordan .

once launched , the accelerator quickly made a reputation for being intense , even by typical accelerator standards , with entrepreneurs staying in the office late at night , and the organization team being really engaged . “we had to succeed , ” says bizri , “because it was a first time , and we [ the accelerator and the startups ] had to raise money . ” seeqnce accelerator program 2012 invested $ 76 , 000 usd ( half in cash , half in services ) in each startup .

the four managers agree : it is difficult for startups to raise money , so accelerators need to engage investors from day one . kaddoura explains that you need to arrange funding deals with partners from the beginning . and seeqnce accelerator program 2012 ' s el meouchi adds that you need to let the investors know how the startups are doing so that when the startups are looking for money , investors already know and trust them . the challenge , he says , is that you don’t want to saturate investors or bore them with updates .

back in 2011 , in lebanon , building a team was a huge challenge . so seeqnce accelerator program 2012 decided to integrate team building in their process in order to get teams that would work well together and have all of the necessary skills ( development , design , and business development ) . they gathered the candidates a few times to do mini - hackathons , giving different groups three hours to work on project . this way , candidates had the chance to size each other up and choose with whom they would work best . “back then , i don’t think there was any other way , ” says the entrepreneur .

2 ) be transparent : vcs can be more transparent in simply explaining what they are looking for . by putting out sample term sheets , similar to what fred wilson of union square ventures posts on his blog , companies will get a sense of what they are signing up for . similarly , vcs can include templates for the types of presentations and information they are looking for in pitches along with sample financial models . “they also need to talk about the investments they have made and how they are doing , ” comments samer karam of seeqnce , one of the few accelerators in lebanon . by being more transparent about their requirements and their performance , both vcs and entrepreneurs can save a lot of time .

the first pre - accelerator to step forward was altcity . ( seeqnce closed its accelerator after graduating its first class ) . the central bank hopes this dual approach will seed the ecosystem with growing companies that can boost the national economy . “we think in the coming two years the circular can generate 1 % economic growth and create thousands of jobs indirectly and directly , ” predicts marianne hoayek , the executive director of the central bank’s executive office , and the lead of the circular 331 initiative . since fully getting off the ground last year , the circular 331 has directly benefitted and funded 4 - 5 companies already [ 4 ] . in order to meet their mandates , banks need to deploy between $ 30 - $ 50m a year into startups : so we can expect to see more and more investments ramping up in the coming months .

as more and more startups pop up on the scene today , this rational thinking echoes across lebanon’s startup ecosystem . you see bankers , consultants , engineers , alike , somewhat gloriously quitting their jobs to try their hands at entrepreneurship and the chance to create the next facebook . ten years ago , however , very few lebanese were starting high - risk , fail - fast , profits - after - 5 - years companies like their present - day entrepreneur counterparts . “we didn’t have this culture of entrepreneurship , ” reflects samer karam , founder of startup megaphone and seeqnce , lebanon’s first accelerator [ 1 ] . whatever flickers of activity existed were not cohesive , and thus could not build momentum . samer recognised this lack of support for funding , advisory , training , etc , firsthand when he started one box , his first tech company similar to the concept of google wave , in 2007 . after closing the company a few years later , samer decides to coax the entrepreneurial community out of isolation and rents out an apartment in downtown beirut .

{ " minzoom " : false , " mappingservice " : " openlayers " , " geoservice " : " geonames " , " maxzoom " : false , " width " : " 300px " , " height " : " 350px " , " centre " : false , " title " : " " , " label " : " " , " icon " : " " , " visitedicon " : " " , " lines " : [ ] , " polygons " : [ ] , " circles " : [ ] , " rectangles " : [ ] , " wmsoverlay " : false , " copycoords " : false , " static " : false , " zoom " : 14 , " controls " : [ " layerswitcher " , " mouseposition " , " autopanzoom " , " scaleline " , " navigation " ] , " layers " : [ " new openlayers . layer . osm . mapnik ( \ " osm mapnik \ " ) " , " new openlayers . layer . osm . cyclemap ( \ " osm cycle map \ " ) " , " new openlayers . layer . osm . osmarender ( \ " osm arender \ " ) " ] , " resizable " : false , " overlays " : [ ] , " searchmarkers " : " " , " locations " : [ { " text " : " \ u003cb \ u003e \ u003cp \ u003eseeqnce \ n \ u003c / p \ u003e \ u003c / b \ u003e \ u003chr / \ u003e \ u003cp \ u003e33 . 8953614176 , 35 . 4898872972 \ n \ u003c / p \ u003e " , " title " : " seeqnce \ n " , " link " : " " , " lat " : 33 . 8953614176 , " lon " : 35 . 4898872972 , " alt " : 0 , " address " : " " , " icon " : " " , " group " : " " , " inlinelabel " : " " , " visitedicon " : " " } ] , " imageoverlays " : null }

as my flight out of beirut reached cruising altitude , and the seat buckle lights flickered off , i leant back in my chair and wondered if i had , in fact left the country just in time . admittedly , it wasn’t quite an ‘argo - esue’ escape from another middle eastern country , but labelling a controversial government minister on a conference stage as an “idiot” maybe wasn’t the wisest of moves . beirut is not a town known for its placid history , after all . furthermore , my comment had made the front page of the beirut daily star the next day . perhaps it was just as well that i left the next day .

but the trip was worth it . beirut is rapidly shaping up to be a powerhouse for startups in the middle east . it has many of the key elements : a highly entrepreneurial culture ; incubators and accelerators ; venture capital ; some gradually favourable government policy and access to growth funding . the exits and the ‘paypal mafias’ may be a ways off but its a beginning . in part because it is the most liberal state in the mena ( middle east and north africa ) region , and has a western - style banking system bequeathed to it by the french a long time ago , lebanon is uniquely poised to generate startups which aim both at the arab world and the wider world at large .

last week a new $ 71 million mena - focused vc fund was announced by leap ventures , based out of beirut . and the lebanon central bank “ circular 331 ” initiative promises to put up to $ 400 million into the local startup economy . in addition , this year , the uk government is supporting a scheme to bring lebanese startups to the uk and to the attention of london - based investors . furthermore , late last year the country saw the launch of its very own disrupt - style startup - focused conference .

banque du liban accelerate wasn’t the first conference about technology in lebanon , but it was the first to focus exclusively on startups , and specifically , the beirut tech startup ecosystem . it therefore benefitted from that far more laser - like focus , and even managed to attract over 50 international speakers from over 20 countries and 1 , 000 attendees ( video of the event here ) . given that a civil war in syria is raging on the border , this was no mean feat . some parts of beirut are awash with syrian refugees , and yet delegates were treated to a startup conference close to any other they might encounter in the us or europe .

one of the attractions of the tech scene in beirut is the city itself . the city’s restaurants , bars and nightclubs , equal anything you might find in san francisco , new york or london . the safe areas of beirut are well documented and patrolled by armed soldiers . personally , i have never felt in danger in beirut .

the conference was also a leap of faith . banque du liban governor riad salameh green - lit the sizeable event , while director marianne hoayek put the project into gear . she in turn brought in samer karam ( pictured above ) , who was previously involved in beirut’s first attempt to create a valley - style accelerator .

the conference was also attended by some heavy hitters from the financial and political world including marianne hoayek , director of the executive office at banque du liban , riad salameh , governor of the central bank of lebanon , francois bassil , chairman of the association of banks in lebanon , mohamed choucair , chairman of the federation of the chambers of commerce , industry and agriculture in lebanon , and tom fletcher , ambassador of the united kingdom in lebanon .

but one heavy hitter that didn’t attend was abdel menhem youssef . and perhaps it’s best that he stayed away . let me explain .

unfortunately , it’s his policies which stand in the way of beirut motoring ahead .

the current average internet speed in lebanon is 3 . 11 mbps , far lower than the gulf countries such as the united arab emirates , which enjoys an average 27 . 9 mbps .

it’s been estimated that doubling lebanon’s bandwidth could improve gdp by 0 . 6 percent . that’s a healthy amount for an emerging market economy which currently has a war on its doorstep and a refugee crisis .

to improve the speed , in 2011 the country was connected to the india - middle east - western europe ( imewe ) maritime cable . but while an improvement was felt . , lebanon still sits at 177th out of 200 countries on the ookla list for internet speed .

the reasons for this are simple . it’s entirely due to local politics . youssef , the head of the public - private organisation ( ogero , set up by the late rafik hariri ) has blocked the utilisation and distribution of the imewe and other cables that have been hooked up .

as of today , less than 10 % of the available capacity of the already operational internet cables is made available to the market . it’s scandal which ought to have those at the highest levels of government fuming with anger .

even former telecommunications minister nicolas sehnaoui ( pictured above ) estimates it would take only a year to organise fibre to the home to every lebanese citizen . if they could just connect up the imewe .

the finger has therefore been pointed at ogero , run by youssef . the company is responsible for distributing the boosted internet capacity enjoyed from the imewe to different internet service providers as well as building the network . it also sells internet access direct to consumers . but , in a bizarre twist , ogero’s chairman is not only the state regulator of the telecommunication industry , but also in charge of ogero itself .

so the body charged with widen gin broadband internet , is directly hindering the development of lebanon’s internet economy and ultimately the development of the country .

indeed , marwan kheireddine , the chairman and general manager of al - mawarid bank , has been quoted as saying that there is a conflict of interest within the telecommunications ministry , given that the general director is also the chairman of ogero . “that doesn’t work . it is designed to fail , ” he recently told the beirut daily star .

certainly the implication is that youssef is either incompetent ( hence my ‘idiot’ remark ) or worse .

all this , despite a law drafted in 2001 which recommended that lebanon fully privatize its telecoms industry .

but this never happened . it never happened because the government at the time completely destroyed the telecom infrastructure in the hope of privatising it cheaply to cronies , and then reaping the benefits a couple of years down the line . for example , dsl deployment in lebanon was actively stalled until 2006 in the hope that this privatisation would occur . this would partly explain why ogero behaves in the way it does .

the current uk ambassador to lebanon ( pictured above ) and former private secretary for foreign affairs to the prime minister , tom fletcher , is powering a new initiative – a uk lebanon “tech hub” would be formed to bridge the startup communities between lebanon and the uk .

the private sector initiative begins this year , with the support of lebanon’s central bank . as the ambassador says , the idea is to bring “british expertise and investment and connect them with lebanon startups . ”

but time is a - wasting . lebanese startups need access to regional and international markets , as their success depended largely on their ability to sell products and services abroad . in that respect their fate matches many other smaller middle eastern countries . on lebanon’s side however is it’s relatively liberal culture , it’s multi - language society and its reputation as a cultural engine of the middle east .

so far three venture capital firms have established funds that have raised decent amounts of money . middle east venture partners ( mevp ) , berytech fund and leap ventures have each raised at least $ 50 million .

mevp has $ 75 million in capital and is growing . so far it’s invested mainly in lebanon - based startups , but also in jordan , saudi arabia , the emirates and egypt . one of the first vc firm across the arab world , it’s been investing since 2010 , putting between $ 200 , 000 up to $ 5m per startup . in addition , wamda capital ( recently spun out of a company best known as a media site , wamda platform ) has also built a $ 55m fund . a newer player is y venture partners ( yvp ) , a new , early stage investment and advisory firm created by brothers abdallah and ghaith yafi , who founded lebanese ecommerce site scoopcity as well as canadian ecommerce site thevolts .

henri asseily ( above ) , managing partner at leap ventures , a growth fund , is amongst the biggest supporters of the lebanon tech scene and a former founder of shopzilla which was sold for $ 500m . ( he also happens to be a cousin of alexander asseily the co - founder of jawbone ) .

and these investors have been boosted by circular no . 331 . this announcement was issued by lebaon’s central bank in august 2013 , and it encourages commercial banks to invest in startups . the central bank now guarantees up to 75 percent of the value of a commercial bank’s investments into a startup . that move opened up a potential of $ 400 million that could be invested into venture capital funds or directly into startups . over 15 lebanese banks have already taken part in the scheme .

one of the first startups to benefit from this scheme is presella , founded by walid singer and louay al kadri , which is aiming to become the “eventbrite for the middle east” . presella has so far raised in the region of $ 400 , 000 and expanded out of lebanon into dubai , and is rapidly growing its user - based across the middle east .

angel investors are thin on the ground , but are gradually being herded by beirut angels ( an initiative by samer karam and ex - telecoms minister nicolas sehnaoui ) .

in addition there are two large organisations of the considerable lebanese diaspora in the us who are starting to impact the eco - system . there is lebnet ( based in the bay area ) . and then there daher capital , a lebanon - based family office that only invests in the us market and has had a few successful exits and ipos . there’s also lisa ( the brainchild of mark haidar ) and thelist ( lebanese entrepreneurs and investors network ) . other players include hala fadel , chair of the mit ef arab , also angel investor ; fadi ghandour , founder of aramex and chair of wamda capital , also angel investor .

on the debt side , lebanon is home to more than 50 retail banks with $ 140 billion us ( three times its gdp ) in deposits . the reputation of beirut being the switzerland of the middle east is well - earned . these banks are fueling debt financing to tech companies through a subsidised government loan program named kafalat – a very innovative public sector initiative . circular 331 has of course taken that up a notch by encouraging venture financing .

as well as being spaced around the city , beirut’s tech clusters include the “beirut digital district” . this is not state sponsored , but rather is afforded benefits like cheaper internet connectivity , and some favourable legislation around company formation . unfortunately , most of these are not operational as the politicians that supported the creation of the bdd are now no longer in power . in addition the rental prices remain too high for the average startup .

but office space is far cheaper in beirut than in dubai , where sales , marketing and business development offices are often put .

lebanon has one of the best educational sectors ( and engineers ) in the arab world . beirut has more than 18 universities / tech campuses . it places like this which are fuelling the rise of the startup ecosystem .

lebanon is also producing a number of successful entrepreneurs . force of nature entrepreneur hind hobeika ( pictured above ) created the instabeat health tracking hardware and app for swimmers which was a smash hit on kickstarter . elie habib is the founder of anghami — the first to start a music streaming platform in the mena region which now has over 11 million users . paul salameh created pou , a game making millions on the app store .

ayah bdeir ( pictured above ) founded littlebits , an award - winning library of electronics dubbed “legos for the ipad generation . ” karim safiedine founded cinemoz , which is aiming to become the hulu for the middle east .

and lebanon is also sending entrepreneurs to the valley . elie khoury founded woopra , but has since relocated to san francisco . as has paul saber who founded etobb , a q & a platform to allow doctors to meet patients virtually in the mena region . then there is roadie , the automatic guitar tuner and app featured on stage at techcrunch disrupt new york last year , and created by bassam jalgha and hassane slaibi .

beirut is also producing new startups at a lively rate . these include ki an enterprise mobile app that eliminates the need for usernames and passwords . zoomaal is also quickly becoming the arab region’s main - kickstarter - style startup . sohati , a content website and interaction platform providing health information and services to patients across the arab world

feedeed , a marketplace for services that give talented people the opportunity to transform their skills & services into a viable business . and saily a second - hand local marketplace . there is even an app for real - time traffic conditions , not unlike waze , called tari’ak .

the wider ecosystem is also buzzing with accelerators and events . these include co - working 961 ( co - working ) ; startup bootcamp ( pre - accelerator bootcamp ) ; startup megaphone ( international promoter of lebanon startups ) ; sett ( a think tank based out of beirut that is working on a 20 year plan for lebanon’s startup ecosystem ) ; speed lebanon ( a community accelerator ) ; lfe ( ngo ) ; and arabnet ( a large regional digital and tech conference ) .

there’s also the bader young entrepreneurs program run by fadi bizri ( pictured above ) . and altcity , the co - working and startup hub started by david munir nabti has also made waves as an enthusiastic supporter of the scene .

lebanon is also host to many startup events . these include berytech’s yallastartup weekend ; bader’s networking 961 event ; and the mixnmentor events put on by wamda platform , which also has an accelerator , combined with consulting and research arms ) . the mit enterprise forum also organises a huge event for their award ceremony .

so the building blocks are all there . beirut is using its culture of freedom , its diversity , its low - cost high fun living standards and its location to its advantage in the arab region .

hopefully its politicians will begin to realise that its emerging internet startups need and require decent internet access . ( and , that i’ll sail through immigration next time ) .

note : items marked with ( * ) link to content on our global website .

one of mena’s top priorities in the coming years is job creation for a youthful population whose size and energy could either catapult economic activity at home , or be lost to better opportunities abroad .

while capitalizing on the potential talent of the youth generation is no small task , it may prove an essential move for countries in mena if they are to retain said talent for the benefit of the economy . according to the world economic forum , 75 million jobs must be created by 2020—but how can the region , in just nine years , create 40 per cent more jobs than are currently ?

the middle east and north africa ( mena ) has one of the world’s youngest workforces , with more than half of its population under 25 . this situation poses both enormous opportunities and challenges ; a large , motivated generation of young working people can propel grown and prosperity for entire countries , as was seen in the west post - world war ii and is currently happening in china . the challenge comes in providing enough jobs and opportunities to keep the youth engaged and , most importantly , to prevent loss of talent due to emigration . experts from the world economic forum , young global leaders , and booz & company say that one way to tackle this seemingly mammoth task is by nurturing start - ups . these experts have outlined concrete recommendations to accelerate entrepreneurship within the region : 10 imperatives ( detailed below ) that all stakeholders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem can follow .

“we believe that the key to accelerating job creation will be fostering a business environment in which entrepreneurs can easily start new companies , spread innovation and spur economic activity in general , ” said joe saddi , chairman of the board of booz & company . “to do so , policymakers and business leaders must first identify what motivates people to start businesses ; they must understand the elements of a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem , and which of those elements are lacking or immature in the mena region . ”

saddi continues to say that those elements which could be lacking include entrepreneurial culture , regulatory framework , infrastructure , equity investors , financing for small and medium - sized enterprises and formal education about entrepreneurship . an entrepreneur , within this article , is a person or company who starts or owns a new business .

“there are myriad benefits to fostering a start - up friendly environment , ” said habib haddad , ceo wamda . “not only do start - ups employ their owners , but the spillover benefits for the larger economy can be significant . as start - ups mature into small and medium - sized enterprises ( smes ) , they become significant contributors to employment and gross domestic product ( gdp ) . ”

an initial glance at entrepreneurial activity in mena suggests that it is robust ; arab countries average out at 13 per cent of the region’s working population engaged in entrepreneurial activity , which is considerably higher than ( more than doubly so in some cases ) the usa ( 8 per cent ) , uk ( 6 per cent ) or japan ( 3 per cent ) .

however , the statistics are deceptive ; such high percentages are driven by necessity as low - end merchants seek to satisfy their basic needs . this type of entrepreneur deserves government support , but governments must focus their efforts on those high - value entrepreneurs who are truly innovative , or who are able to recognise and seize an opportunity in the market . this type of startup activity has positive spillover on job growth and economy development , and is worth encouraging ; indeed , some governments have established targeted initiatives ( qatar’s science and technology park , oman’s sanad programme and tunisia’s centre des jeunes dirigeants d’enterprise ) to do just that .

“governments in the region must start thinking creatively and active decisively about spurring job creation , ” said soraya salti , senior vice - president , middle east and north africa , injaz . “encouraging entrepreneurship is one way to go—start - ups attract bright , innovative young people , whose determination for success drives economic activity , creates jobs and opens up new opportunities for others . ”

there are 10 imperatives that all stakeholders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem , including but not limited to governments , ngos , companies and entrepreneurs themselves , should follow to influence and improve the overall atmosphere and create an entrepreneurial culture .

offer a helping hand . established entrepreneurs should give time , advice and seed funding to aspiring entrepreneurs

. a successful predecessor is often the biggest source of inspiration to the next generation of business owners . established entrepreneurs can become involved in a number of ways , including counselling and collaborating with ngos to create conferences and programmes that aspiring entrepreneurs can benefit from . to encourage start - ups , linda rottenberg and peter kellner established endeavour , a non - profit organisation , in 1997 , which is active in more than 10 emerging countries with further plans to expand in the coming years .

change behaviours and evolve the culture . discuss entrepreneurship every day , and generate hype around a handful of success stories

. public figures have the power to promote and even glamourize entrepreneurship , and can use their status to alter popular opinion about the value of launching a start - up . this is especially important in the middle east , where it is more acceptable to maintain a steady government job than to venture into entrepreneurism . those who might be reluctant to explore this path can be persuaded if they are made aware of the benefits to both individual and country that come with being an entrepreneur . the private sector should also play a part by becoming more public in its activities ; ngos should invite the media to conferences and forums , and individuals should grant more interviews to further broadcast their successes .

bring entrepreneurship to the classroom . everyone in high school and university should learn entrepreneurial principles

. ministries of education across mena should collaborate with the arab league educational , cultural and scientific organisation ( alesco ) in a regional joint effort to promote curricula that include entrepreneurship . educating teachers is the first step , so that they are able to pass on their knowledge to their students and encourage the idea of entrepreneurship at an early stage . universities can then create more specific goals to provide students with the desire , skills and knowledge to start a company . for example , they can establish degrees and courses in entrepreneurship that cover the subjects core to creating a successful business ( such as business planning and risk management ) , with coursework consisting of specialised seminars in which students create business plans to be presented to angel investors or venture capitalists . beyond the classroom , universities can offer support to entrepreneur clubs .

bring entrepreneurship to the office . companies should encourage employees to unleash their own talent

. corporate entrepreneurship must ultimately rely on the individual employees for entrepreneurial inspiration , but corporations can help unlock that potential . companies can tap into this by creating an internal process to assess and fund entrepreneurial ideas generated by employees , as well as offering time to work on them—either during the day or as paid leave , with the offer of further support once the start - up is created . saudi aramco , for example , has set up an entrepreneurship centre to provide networking , regulatory facilitation , funding , mentoring and education to saudi start - ups .

. while the norm is to emulate the success that silicon valley has become , governments , ngos and private groups should realise that the inspiration - spawning hub evolved from a series of intertwining factors—and a healthy dose of luck—that cannot be recreated . instead , members of the entrepreneurship ecosystem should focus on the mena - specific advantages , which may not lie in it but in natural resources ( oil and gas , fruits , vegetables , water or fish ) , strategic position ( such as a hub between trade regions , point of access from one region to another , or proximity to a religious or tourist attraction ) , climate ( which could support the cultivation of specific plants , such as coffee or mangos , or be good for tourist activities , such as surfing , snorkelling and diving ) or human resources ( such as date farming expertise in saudi arabia and hospitality training in egypt ) .

. immigration and naturalisation laws hinder the free flow of talent and expertise into the region , which puts local entrepreneurs at a disadvantage and discourages foreign entrepreneurs from setting up shop . streamlined immigration rules should give start - ups access to the expertise that they need . governments should also review rules that restrict real estate , business and stock ownership by foreigners since these also discourage foreign participation in local ventures .

. good ideas can come from anyone , anywhere , any time—not just from the entrepreneurial stereotype of a young , brilliant kid with a hot it idea , which is enforced by the success of the founders of google and facebook , as well as yamli and woopra . likewise , not all start - ups need to be it - related to be a success . governments and ngos should encourage entrepreneurial initiatives that leverage a country’s best resources , without fixating on the it industry ; they would be wise to create non - technology incubators that provide mentoring , financial assistant and support to entrepreneurs in various fields . likewise , venture capital firms should establish funds aimed at non - technology industries , such as consumer goods , retail and education .

. the middle east has been losing talent for years as regional talent seeks opportunities abroad , where stable governments and more developed legal and economic systems exist . however , these individuals tend to retain strong familial and emotional ties to their homeland . mena governments and ngos would be wise to tap this enormous network of business expertise for advice and insight . the lebanese business council is an example of a global business organisation and association ( boa ) that hosts networking events for lebanese communities across the globe .

. governments should centralise , streamline and shorten the administrative steps necessary to set up a business ( and lower the legal costs ) . they can change rules to make it easier for start - ups to get funding , and lend their support to forums where entrepreneurs and investors meet . subsidized management training has proved successful in singapore , with the economy growing by 14 . 7 per cent in 2010 ; mena’s governments can look to singapore’s successor inspiration .

expand the venture capital model . vcs need to go beyond funding and provide a support structure for entrepreneurs

. venture capital firms must proactively seek out likely start - ups rather than waiting for entrepreneurs to come to them . entrepreneurial networks can help to source promising ideas , but there are other creative ways to search for the next big thing—vcs could also seek out young companies that have been denied bank loans , for example . once vc firms have invested in a start - up , they need to take a more active role—for instance , by assign a team of industry experts to mentor entrepreneurs , or providing help with tactical decisions and long - term planning .

ahmed youssef , partner at booz & company concluded ; “creating an entrepreneurial culture will take time , especially in a region where entrepreneurial aspirations are not well understood or , necessarily , respected . everyone with a vested interested in job creation and economic growth must make a concerted , coordinated effort to develop an entrepreneurial ecosystem , as success will depend upon everyone taking ownership , taking action on their own , and cajoling others to act . ”

mena is in dire need of a fully - fledged entrepreneurial ecosystem to provide the necessary jobs for its rapidly growing working - age populations , and in order for its society to fully benefit from talent and ideas of people of all ages and backgrounds . the recommendation is for stakeholders to act now to lay the groundwork for the mena region’s youth , so that their full capacity is harnessed to the benefit of their countries .

we are a global team of practical strategists . we are collaborative by nature and committed to our clients’ success .

we can help you create a strategy that works . strategy that starts with your greatest strengths and builds in execution at every step .

a few differentiating capabilities drive identity and success . foresight is essential to building strategies that last . value is delivered by smart strategies , well executed .

strategy & is a global team of practical strategists committed to helping you seize essential advantage . we do that by working alongside you to solve your toughest problems and helping you capture your greatest opportunities . we bring 100 years of strategy consulting experience and the unrivaled industry and functional capabilities of the pwc network to the task . we are part of the pwc network of firms in 158 countries with more than 236 , 000 people committed to delivering quality in assurance , tax , and advisory services .

pwc refers to the pwc network and / or one or more of its member firms , each of which is a separate legal entity . please see urltoken for further details .

donors should reevaluate how best to encourage entrepreneurship in the middle east and north africa .

the arab uprisings have unleashed a new entrepreneurial spirit in the region , particularly among younger entrepreneurs who feel emboldened to launch new small - and medium - sized enterprises ( smes ) . the international donor community has long supported smes as they create jobs , greater domestic income ( especially among lower - income groups ) , economic growth , and social stability in emerging markets . yet , donor activities have sometimes been misguided—however well - intentioned—and the current environment provides an opportunity to reevaluate the best ways to encourage entrepreneurship .

many multilateral programs and international ngos in the region focus disproportionately on female participation in smes . for example , the development assistance committee within the oecd designated over 4 . 6 billion us dollars towards women’s economic and productive sectors between 2007 and 2008 .

the limited involvement of women in smes in the region cannot be doubted ; the sme sector is characterized by low rates of female ownership and few female workers—in stark contrast to the participation of women in the informal sector . in the middle east and north africa , smes comprise the most substantive part the economy : there are 12 million smes , which make up 95 percent of the private sector . even so , only about 300 , 000 of those are women - owned “formal” smes . in egypt , these enterprises account for about 75 percent of total employment and 80 percent of the gross domestic product—yet women own less than two percent . even with that disparity , it is important to remember that this trend is not unique to the middle east ; globally , women own only one - third of smes in emerging market economies ( between eight and ten million ) .

to address this disparity , many programs try to level the playing field through microcredit loans to women . although well intentioned , this focus on unequal access to credit ignores the real difficulties of doing business in the middle east . women’s rights activists in the region often stress this and argue that the core obstacle to doing business in the middle east is the failure of governments to create regulatory environments that facilitate access to institutional capital and knowledge and that are conducive to entrepreneurship for everyone , regardless of gender .