How Saying No Saved My Startup (with Roger Zaccar and Rabea Ataya)

How do you challenge an industry that hasn’t changed in a century, and still come out stronger after every setback? In this episode of BaytCast, Rabea Ataya, CEO of Bayt.com, sits down in Beirut with Roger Zaccar, a third-generation insurance entrepreneur. From turning down early investors and building a team of dreamers, to expanding into Egypt and Europe, navigating Lebanon’s financial freefall, and now harnessing AI to reshape insurance, Roger shares the real highs, lows, and lessons of disruption.

For anyone building a business, leading through uncertainty, or curious about the future of insurance, this conversation is packed with raw insights, tested strategies, and the mindset it takes to scale when the odds are against you.

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🎧 Listen on:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7sTLIVz8cTQBgCqSdxrZLb?
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4jJu4wm
Anghami: https://open.anghami.com/x3F7yekycTb

00:00 – Intro
01:11 – From family insurance roots to regional tech play
06:19 – Insur tech 101: simpler buying, true price transparency
09:23 – Flipping the sales model: selling to employees, not HR
16:28 – How to hire dreamers (and spot them)
30:58 – The three tests of a real disruptor (disrupt/scale/legal)
36:55 – Advice to grads: fail early, learn elsewhere, bring it home
38:57 – Stay or leave? Finding opportunity at home
45:16 – Hiring for AI: iterate, measure, learn
47:18 – Get mentors, then knock until they open

#BaytCast #Entrepreneurship #Startups #FamilyBusiness #Insurtech #AI #Lebanon #Egypt #ScalingStartups #CareerGrowth