How Saying No Saved My Startup (with Roger Zaccar)
Description
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 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.🔔 Never miss an episode! We’ve got fresh, unfiltered conversations dropping every other week with the HR innovators and career champions you won’t hear anywhere else. Subscribe to BaytCast and ring the bell so you’re always in the room: / @baytcom 🎧 Listen on:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7sTLIVz8cTQBgCqSdxrZLb?Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4jJu4wmAnghami: https://open.anghami.com/x3F7yekycTb00:00 – Intro01:11 – From family insurance roots to regional tech play06:19 – Insur tech 101: simpler buying, true price transparency09:23 – Flipping the sales model: selling to employees, not HR16:28 – 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 home38:57 – Stay or leave? Finding opportunity at home45:16 – Hiring for AI: iterate, measure, learn47:18 – Get mentors, then knock until they open#BaytCast #Entrepreneurship #Startups #FamilyBusiness #Insurtech #AI #Lebanon #Egypt #ScalingStartups #CareerGrowth