As most of you know, I am the co-founder of Woopra (iFusion Labs, LLC), a start-up that was developed in Lebanon and was released in the United States. iFusion Labs, LLC is now based in Dallas, TX.

I heard from so many people that Obama will affect businesses and investments by having them pay even more taxes! Now that he’s the next president of the United States, I decided to read Obama’s Blue Print Of Change because this is one of the factors that may affect my future.

Here’s what he said about startups and entrepreneurs:

Provide Tax Relief for Small Businesses and Start-Up Companies: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will eliminate all capital gains taxes on start-up and small businesses to encourage innovation and job creation. Obama and Biden will also support small business owners by providing a $500 “Making Work Pay” tax credit to almost every worker in America. Self-employed small business owners pay both the employee and the employer side of the payroll tax, and this measure will reduce the burdens of this double taxation.

Lower Health Care Costs with a New Small Business Health Tax Credit: Obama and Biden will create a new Small Business Health Tax Credit to help lower the costs for small businesses to offer health insurance to their employees. The Obama-Biden Small Business Health Tax Credit will provide a refundable credit of up to 50 percent on premiums paid by small businesses on behalf of their employees. To be eligible for the credit, small businesses will have to offer a quality health plan to all of their employees, and cover a meaningful share of the cost of employee health premiums. The credit would be fully available to small firms, and would be phased out for medium-sized firms. It would also be phased out for small firms with high-income employees.

Create a National Network of Public-Private Business Incubators: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will support entrepreneurship and spur job growth by creating a national network of public-private business incubators. Business incubators facilitate the critical work of entrepreneurs in creating start-up companies. Obama and Biden will invest $250 million per year to increase the number and size of incubators in disadvantaged communities throughout the country.

I was watching yesterday the elections in the US. I admired the final speeches and the democracy in this country. Having a Lebanese political background, I would say that I really envy the Americans for what they’ve got!

Obama reminds me of Dimyanos Kattar, a Lebanese wise man, who was a candidate for the Lebanese presidency. Will we ever make a similar change in Lebanon?

Yes we can!

This is something I couldn’t expect to be done anytime soon by either Google Maps or Live Maps. It’s exciting that I can finally see the Maps of Lebanon, even the small village where I live got a label!

The question is now, will I be able to use the GPS/Google Maps on my iPhone in Lebanon? That would be awesome, especially that I always get lost in beirut :D.

Speaking about Google Maps and iPhones, I have a big surprise for the Woopra community who got iPhones! I’ll talk about it in the right time.

Thank you Google.

Update: iPhone updated their maps to show Lebanese Maps! I can’t wait to test it in few days (Thanks ElieDH and Wadih)

PS: Wadih Ghsoubi pointed me out to this Google Maps update.

Overcoming the odds, Lebanese software gurus enter internet eminence

The world’s most popular internet applications, including Yahoo, Google, Facebook and YouTube, share several interesting characteristics. Nearly all were developed by students enrolled in American universities and nearly all were aided by an American venture capital injection to successfully enter the market. Lebanese-born Elie Khoury and Jad Younan have followed more or less the same path, yet with one major difference: they developed their Woopra program in Lebanon. Against all odds, some may argue, as the Land of the Cedars can hardly be described as an IT incubator.

Both Khoury and Younan graduated from the Lebanese American University in Byblos in 2007 with a degree in Computer Science and Computer Engineering, respectively. They spent many hours in class, but they spent many more nights working late on Woopra, a live tracking and analytics service that aims to send market leader Google Analytics into oblivion.

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During his years at the Lebanese Red-Cross, Dimyanos Kattar (Damien) developed a structure for national emergency and first aid action. He gave a special attention to the quality of volunteer recruits, their selection and training.

After only few years spent as head of First Aid Teams, Kattar had already set solid organizational foundations as well as advanced training programs for team and sector leaders.

The young leaders’ program comprised courses on problem solving, decision making, leadership, negotiation, communication, group dynamics, organization and planning, in addition to Red-Cross humanitarian principles. Kattar used to deliver this course personally over a full weekend seminar. That’s how many volunteers got to know him better in the late eighties.

With his high stature and imposing presence, Kattar was generous in sharing his knowledge with everyone. His exceptional charisma commands respect. His attention to the response of participants made him unveil the potentials of the young benevolent members and prepare them for higher responsibilities. Kattar wanted all participants to know that if they are selected to assume a leadership role, that doesn’t mean they will keep this role forever. At the end of every seminar he used to write on the board:

That very same sentence is engraved today at the entrance of “Grand Serail”, the siege of Lebanon’s Prime Minister.

In the early nineties, Damien had to hand-over his responsibilities to another qualified volunteer as he was getting ready for a professional career path abroad. He was mainly concerned about preparing qualified trainees to continue disseminating the leadership program he had developed. All seven people selected for this mission had the opportunity to get to know Damien much better as a mentor, a role model and a leader by example.

Few years later, and after climbing the echelons of hierarchy in private enterprises, Kattar chose to come back to Lebanon. Before leaving the organization he had successfully grown and developed he made sure one more time to secure a smooth transition over several months.

At that stage of his life, Dimyanos Kattar felt it was time to start an academic and public service mission while continuing to provide economic and private business consultations on selected projects as a mean to maintain a respectable living standard for his family.

New challenges, managing change, diversity and sense of duty are the driving forces of Kattar. As he has declared publicly on several occasions, the role of competent individuals in any organization should be specific and time bound. The day individuals in the public or private sectors start thinking of maintaining their jobs and positions, they loose all their capability to produce change, reform and make a difference.

This is the last topic in the series of “Dimyanos Kattar Daily Topic”. At the eve of presidential elections, May all the goodwill and good intentions of citizens all over Lebanon who believe in this nation, act silently and peacefully to bring to an end all the tensions we have been going through for months and years.

On behalf of all your friends and supporters: “Good Luck Damien…”

Hady Nassif

From mid-April to mid-July 2005, Dimyanos Kattar was serving as Minister of Finance as well as Minister of Economy and Trade in the Mikati government. Despite the heavy load of the various political and economic responsibilities he had to fulfill. Kattar found the time to promote
consumer awareness and put in place an ambitious consumer protection program.

After few days in office, and with the help of the highly qualified General Manager of the Ministry of Economy and Trade, Kattar had already promoted a positive team spirit among the various employees and consultants working at the Ministry. The whole team was engaged in putting together a consumer awareness campaign that was on the TV screens and billboards within few weeks.

The impact was remarkable. Lebanese consumers became conscious about their basic rights. They felt for the first time in years that their State was there to protect their privileges as buyers. A small booklet was issued and distributed massively. There was a phone
number for complaints. Citizens started calling. The team at the Ministry was there to respond professionally and initiate corrective actions. The system was working like never before.

Sellers quickly understood that by enhancing the value of the goods they are offering, they would be gaining faithful customers on the long run. Traders, that were looking at the Lebanese market as a dump yard for items that are rejected elsewhere in the world, had to change their approach and give the Lebanese consumers more consideration. Local manufacturers of quality products were rewarded as their home market was not longer subject to unfaithful competition.

It is remarkable how Dimyanos Kattar always refers to examples from family life in most of his speeches. By doing so he illustrates the ideas he is trying to convey especially when he addresses himself to the young generations. In many talks and debates he recognizes the important role of his mother and father in forging the principles and value system he has followed.

Kattar is 47, married and the father of four children. He met his wife during the years of benevolent service at the Lebanese Red Cross – First Aid Teams. They were both dedicated to humanitarian and relief labor for many years. They still are in many ways.

In one of the conferences on “How to Become a Leader” in February 2006, Kattar started his speech by quoting his own son: A leader “is someone good and nice and works a lot,” who is “able to accomplish things, which depend on self-discipline and empowering others”.

When asked why he gives that much importance to family, he replied that the Lebanese family is practically the only social ring that was kept intact during and after the years of war. Despite the tremendous pressures and suffering that every Lebanese family had to go through, Lebanese families remained bonded together. There is probably not a single family that did not loose a dear member during the days of violence. In every neighborhood, you can find persons living with permanent disabilities; they are supported by their families. In every household you will find one or more member that had to separate from their family homes seeking employment abroad in order to preserve their families’ standard of living. All those families have a story to tell to their children and grand-children. They are all ready to sacrifice for giving their children better education and better days. They all care to build bridges with other families and communities.

For Kattar, family is indeed the safety net for all Lebanese communities and for Lebanon as a nation. As long as Lebanese families remain united and rooted for better and for worse, and as long family values are well preserved, there is no threat on Lebanon’s future.

In one of his recent TV interviews Dimyanos Kattar was very successful in not only describing the “Corruption Phenomenon”, but also in presenting guidelines for dealing with this complex and difficult issue.

Corruption is a vicious phenomenon in all societies. It is a global problem encountered by all the nations. In Lebanon, this problem has a bigger dimension due to a weak central state and due to the fact that this matter was never a top priority for consecutive governments. It takes more than declarations to put anti-corruption and reform plans into action.

Kattar defines several levels of Corruption. Tips (Bakh-shish) are the most primitive form of corruption. Bribery (Al Rashwah) is a more complex form of Corruption where the beneficiary of the service is ready to give sums of money to the party facilitating his formalities. The most sophisticated form of Corruption is Blackmail (Al Istifzaz). It is a situation where public officers do not allow a citizen to have access to a service or formality unless the citizen pays them important rewards. This is the most dangerous form of corruption as it hinders economic activity.

The young generations are ”antibiotics” against corruption according to Kattar. The youth carries a high level of ideals and values. Government should have well studied civic educational programs that promote the development of an anti-corruption culture.

On the other hand, the Lebanese state should reinforce its central control and audit organizations to ensure that all public spending is properly controlled with respect to laws and regulations. Public officers will also be recruited based on the competence criteria and the Council for Civil Service will have the upper hand in that process.

In parallel, the government shall gradually tackle reforms in various sectors over the coming period. Each sector shall be studied at a time. All citizens will have access to their rights through corrupt free channels in a continuing manner. The first sector to address is Health Care.

In his description of Lebanon’s political landscape, Dimyanos Kattar refers to the accumulated political heritage as being an important element of political life in Lebanon.

Over the years, Lebanese in different demographic agglomerations have gathered around traditional political families that represent the interests of their respective confessions and areas. Some of those families have founded political parties around which public life continues to evolve. In the recent years, some new political movements started to emerge next to traditional currents.

Kattar believes that, not all the Lebanese talent interested in public life should seek to find a place for itself in traditional political currents or emerging political movements.

It is very important for some of the young people, with public service ambitions, to find their role in building respectable central state governance. The central state should be responsible for developing policies that serve the long term development objectives and interests of Lebanon namely; economic policies, environmental policies, educational policies, etc…

Those civil servants will come into government for limited terms and shall be committed to specific reform plans. They will practically carry no interest to defend any long term political interest of their own.

According to Kattar, state authority shall also be accountable for creating enough room for political ideals to evolve and progress. The harmonious interaction between traditional political heritage and emerging political movements on one hand, and a competent central state on the other, should provide an ideal framework for Lebanon’s social welfare and economic progress.

The role of the President is central in that process as he carries the responsibility of sponsoring national dialogue and facilitating negotiated settlements for all current and future conflicts.

Although Lebanon is a tiny country and counts a little more than 4 Million citizens, the size and reach of the Lebanese Diaspora are much bigger. Dimyanos Kattar, considers that the unique human capital of Lebanese emigrants and expatriates can be utilized to stimulate a rapid economic recovery.

Emigrants are those Lebanese natives that have left their motherland for good to settle in countries where they can stay and acquire civic and naturalization rights. They count more than 12 Million today. The emigration phenomenon started in the early 20th century mainly to the American and Australian continents. Some of those Lebanese emigrants have achieved spectacular successes in their countries of immigration. They are a real asset for Lebanon.

Expatriates are people who move to another country seeking employment or entrepreneurial openings mainly in the Gulf countries, Africa and Europe.

A large number of the Lebanese people in this group are ready to come back, work and invest in Lebanon provided the country offers them stability and business opportunities.

Around 6 Billion US Dollars are injected into the Lebanese economy by the Diaspora every year, says Kattar. Most of this income is in the form of family support, as nearly every Lebanese family has one or more of its members working abroad. No wonder how Lebanese families have been able to overcome the successive economic crises for past 30 years or so!!

According to Kattar, the government should have policies that encourage emigrants to strengthen their ties with Lebanon by giving them the chance to restore their civic rights. The central state should also be accountable for giving all the Lebanese a minimum level of stability and equal opportunities. This will not only attract expatriates to return, but it will also stop the drain of Lebanon’s youth, skill and talent now leaving the country.

In various debates, Dimyanos Kattar refers to the Middle Class as being an important constituent of the Lebanese society. Middle class does not only describe those households with medium income. It mainly illustrates a social status of self-depending families with initiative and the ambition to progress by seeking a respectable living standard and fine education for their children.

In the second half of the 20th century and until the war started in 1975, Lebanon’s development and growth relied mainly on a growing Middle Class. This demographic group exceeded 60% of Lebanon’s population at one point. Out of the Middle Class segment came brilliant professionals, entrepreneurs, executives and public officers that made the country’s years of economic prosperity.

As per Kattar, the Middle Class was the most affected by the years of war. Some of the Middle Class families drowned into poverty, others left the country and the remaining ones are struggling to preserve their living standard.

As a result the country’s wealth was redistributed unevenly with the majority of population now in poverty, the wealthy growing richer and the Middle Class shrinking to less that 25% today.

It is on Kattar’s agenda to address a structural socio-economic reform that favors the re-creation of an active and motivated Middle Class.