
We recently had the privilege of interviewing Michael Gale, Group CEO of The Entrepreneurs Group, an advisory firm based in Abu Dhabi. Michael is a tech entrepreneur turned investment banker and wealth manager. He has been a significant part in leading the successful globalization of many Silicon Valley companies including Macromedia, HAHT, F5, Akamai, and Apple.
At The Entrepreneurs Group, Michael leads the entire team, which is a first-of-its-kind capital platform to provide financial services to entrepreneurs across their entire growth journey. In this interview, Michael shares the beginning of his career path, offerings at his organization, visions for future growth, and offers suggestions for aspiring professionals in this field.
The Beginning
We first asked, “How did you get started, and what led you to where you are today?”
Michael Gale shared, “I started my first business when I was 15 out of curiosity and a desire to earn money. After leaving school at 16 and home not long after, I was an entrepreneur out of necessity and I found it exceedingly difficult. So, I took jobs in restaurants but the pay wasn’t enough for survival. Once I became a father at 18 and had no qualifications, I became an entrepreneur again. The experience shaped me into who I am today, an investor and entrepreneur at the core.”
Current Offerings At The Entrepreneurs Group
We were interested to learn more about the services offered by The Entrepreneurs Group. So, we asked, “Can you share more about your current role and the business you lead? What are the core services/products you provide?”
“I am the CEO of The Entrepreneurs Group, an Abu Dhabi-based provider of advisory services for family offices and high-net-worth individuals in the GCC region. It is a unique boutique space that addresses global asset planning and allocation needs. Our core offering is built around a multi-family office model and covers a wide spectrum of services, including advice and strategies relating to business management and growth, for portfolio investments. We support entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey, with a human-centered approach..” Michael mentioned.
Impact Of AI In Transforming Businesses
AI has been transforming businesses across industries. So, we asked, “How do you see technology, especially AI, impacting your industry? Are there any innovative practices you’re implementing?”
Michael Gale reflected, “I have been in business through many bubbles and crashes including the dotcom and crypto/ICOs so I can safely say AI is another bubble with so much over-investment that valuations will of course fail to live up to the reality and a lot of investor funds will be wiped out. At the same time, there are fundamental businesses that will emerge from the AI splurge just like they did from the dot-com bubble.
And our clients are keen to invest so we need to find ways to invest in either fundamental technology which is very difficult in AI because of the land grab by major players or we need to find clear ancillary businesses that can sneak between the major players and carve out niches that can be monetized.”
Envisioning The Future, we asked Michael Gale
To gather Michael’s perspective on the future of his industry, we asked, “What are your views on the future of the industry you’re associated with?”
Michael Gale asserted, “Considering that businesses and entrepreneurship focus on people, I believe there will be more and more necessity of ‘humanitarian capitalism and finance’ In this regard AI will take away a lot of the transactional and information gathering and reporting aspects of finance and also risk. This should enable the financial industry to work to the benefit of society better but this also requires a rethink on some of the tenets of capitalism.”
Insights For Aspiring Professionals
Addressing the beginners in his field, we asked, “What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs or leaders looking to make an impact in your industry?”
Michael Gale responded, “Based on my learning and development of my pattern recognition around startups, which is based on a large number of failures, I have a dual-track approach. On one hand, I use a very prescribed format to build out a business strategy along with capital, exit, and go-to-market plans. On the other hand, I shoot from the hip at opportunistic targets.
The way I think of it is in terms of the ancient Indian board game ‘Snakes & Ladders.’ What we need to do is, find a way to start playing the game of building the startup and then immediately try to hook onto the bottom rung of a ladder, particularly a big one, while avoiding any snakes or chutes.”
Embracing the pressure
We ended the interview by asking, “How do you maintain a work-life balance while managing a business?”
“To answer this, I would love to quote tennis icon Billie Jean King – ‘Pressure is a privilege, that what makes you and mistakes are not failures, perceive them as feedback. Do not take things personally and do not let others define you. We are most productive and successful when we are our authentic selves.’
At my age and this stage in my life, I am truly comfortable in my skin, and I have never been better. I do care that any entrepreneurs feel the same, at any stage of their career and any age. Ultimately, it is about never giving up on your dreams and finding the right mentor, channels, and team who can help you achieve them.” Michael ended.
Follow Michael Gael on LinkedIn.
Find The Entrepreneurs Group on LinkedIn and visit their website https://www.teg.co.ae/
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