JEDDAH: “I love difficult; you tell me this is the most difficult choice, I go for it.”
“In high school, I was told that King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) is the toughest in the country, that is why I am a KFUPM graduate.
“Then at university, I was told that electrical engineering is the most difficult major. This is why I am an electrical engineer.”
This is how Moosa Al-Rasheedi, CEO and co-founder of Aqar, the app listing land and property in Saudi Arabia, described his motivation to succeed.
After working in the oil industry, Al-Rasheedi became interested in information technology. “My interest in IT was motivated by my childhood friend, Yousef, who founded the country’s pioneering classified ads startup @haraj and also by my early positions at work as an automation engineer,” Al-Rasheedi said.
He was told that as the Saudi real estate market was very random, it was impossible to make it organized and that many big players had failed in their attempts to improve the situation. He kept this new challenge in mind while he went to the US to pursue his master’s degree in electrical engineering.
Once in the US, Al-Rasheedi needed to find an apartment near the campus. “I went through a couple of websites and apps that were in their early stages. Although I did not find what I wanted online, one idea stuck in my mind — placing the real estate listings based on their geographical position using mature apps such as Google Maps.
“A few months later, when Yousef visited me in the US, that was the real beginning. We discussed the idea along with a few others. That was in 2013 where the market still needed a lot of ideas. Eventually, we decided to go for Aqar, which means real estate in Arabic.”
The two friends set about gathering the team they would need to start up the venture and Moosa quit his job to begin developing Aqar alongside the new team.
The journey was challenging, not least because he had left a successful career. There was social pressure as many people found it difficult to understand why a qualified engineer would leave a good job to work full time to start up an app.
He made a big commitment to starting up the company in terms of time and money, but at times, the pressure got to him, and even he started to wonder whether he had taken on too big a challenge.
“There were times when I applied for other jobs feeling it’s time to quit, especially when I heard rumors about investors who failed after investing SR250 million ($66 million) on the same business concept.”
After all, the real estate market and application development market had seen a few trials in this field, which made it difficult to sustain the belief that @aqarapp could be successful.
But despite this pressure, the development phase faced no technical difficulties, something that he attributes to the great team that they had carefully selected.
“The main lesson I learned from Aqar is that in every business journey, you have to pass through the following stations: Dreams, how to take the first step, a long wait where you need to adjust, going through constant ups and downs, and finally success.”
The Aqar app has changed the real estate market in the Kingdom. Realtors in Saudi Arabia no longer have to rely on traditional marketing avenues to promote locations, villas and apartments. As a result, 30,000 realtors have been able to use the app.
Putting Saudi real estate on the map
Putting Saudi real estate on the map
- Realtors in Saudi Arabia no longer have to rely on traditional marketing avenues to promote locations, villas and apartments
- The Aqar app has changed the real estate market in the Kingdom
Related
British explorer completes epic walk across Kingdom
- Alice Morrison’s journey marks a historic first, while Saudi explorer Shaya Al-Shaya finishes close behind
JEDDAH: British explorer Alice Morrison has become the first person to walk the entire length of Saudi Arabia from north to south, completing a 2,200 km journey entirely on foot.
The 62-year-old from Edinburgh reached Najran on the Saudi-Yemen border at 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 15, concluding a 112-day expedition that began on Jan. 1. Accompanied by a specialist support team, Morrison crossed six provinces — Tabuk, Madinah, Makkah, Al-Baha, Aseer and Najran — passing through the UNESCO World Heritage sites of AlUla and Hima and traversing the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve.
The expedition was sponsored by the Royal Commission for AlUla, the Saudi Tourism Authority, and Gym Nation.
Speaking to Arab News, Morrison reflected on the moment she reached the border.
“When I reached the end point of our adventure, the border with Yemen, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride that I had accomplished this dream of mine. I was so full of happiness and also a feeling of achievement. One of the things I am proudest of is the way me and my support team from MAD Adventures worked together.”
Morrison said the idea for the journey was inspired by her father, who once gave her Wilfred Thesiger’s “Arabian Sands,”
While Morrison was the first to complete the crossing, Saudi explorer Shaya Al-Shaya, from Zulfi, finished close behind her, becoming the second person overall, the first Saudi, and the first man to walk the route.
Morrison said Al-Shaya joined during the first stage of the expedition, missed three days due to illness, then returned to complete the full distance, including all of stage two.
Al-Shaya reportedly told Morrison: “They are so proud of what I’m doing. This is one of the great things in my life to become the first Arab to walk north to south of Saudi Arabia.”
Describing the physical toll of the journey, Morrison said: “This is definitely one of the hardest adventures I have ever done. It was 112 days and we faced heat, sand and headwinds. Also, I got blisters on the first stage which gave me a lot of pain.”
Knowing she had a goal to reach kept her going when she was “exhausted, in pain or just fed up,” she said.
“Walking is a way to see and feel every detail of the path you travel. An exploration but also a meditation,” Morrison explained. “This expedition has exceeded my expectations in every way.”
She noted that the journey challenged her mentally and physically, and shattered her “preconceptions” of Saudi Arabia.
“I’ve walked across a country full of wild landscapes, history ready to be discovered and the most hospitable people in the world. One of the revelations has been the women I've met who are instigating a quiet cultural revolution,” she said.
Accompanied by camels Juicy and Lulu who brought “endless entertainment” in their search for snacks, and supported by a multinational specialist team, Morrison highlighted the generosity she encountered along the way.
“The Saudis I met on the way have been overwhelmingly kind and hospitable. Everyone wanted to help.”
Despite the challenges, Morrison found the journey shaped just as much by the warmth of the people she met on the way.
In every village and wild-camp stop, the first question offered was always the same: “How can I help you?”
Saudi hospitality, given freely and without hesitation, became an essential part of the expedition’s rhythm: navigation advice, weather warnings from shepherds, shared tea, the gift of two live sheep, and even a marriage proposal.
The expedition also recorded archeological observations, including ancient rock carvings, ancient tombs and tools, as well as remnants of the Hejaz Railway, all documented by the team.
Her route followed some of the Kingdom’s earliest pathways of trade, pilgrimage and settlement.
Stage one ended in AlUla, an ancient crossroads of civilization, and stage two passed through Hima and the old caravan trails of the Elephant’s Road, and intersected with Darb Zubayda, the Abbasid-era pilgrimage route once travelled by thousands.
After months on the trail, Morrison said: “I am going to encourage my relatives and friends to visit to experience it for themselves and if there is a new project offered, I will come back definitely.”
