![[123] Building Dubai's LARGEST Tech Conference w/ Ray Dargham](https://s3.castbox.fm/78/26/7c/19a42f1db3dc7d4a03a8a30459f505b0cb_scaled_v1_400.jpg "[123] Building Dubai's LARGEST Tech Conference w/ Ray Dargham")
[123] Building Dubai's LARGEST Tech Conference w/ Ray Dargham
Description
Ray Dargham is the mastermind behind Dubai's largest tech conference, STEP. STEP has hosted thousands of startups that have raised over $1.5 BILLION in funding. STEP is one of the largest tech events in the world, hosting hundreds of thousands of attendees. We sit down to unpack how he brought his vision to life, and what he’s learned about startup success along the way.
We cover all this and more:
[00:03:48 ] Ray’s early success with bootstrapping a tech business
[00:07:21 ] Multiple ways to transition into entrepreneurship.
[00:13:16 ] Keys to Fundraising Success for Young Companies
[00:17:08 ] Unplanned journey led to successful startup growth.
[00:22:46 ] How Ray capitalized on personalized email marketing
[00:27:28 ] Leveraging Emerging Markets for growth at STEP"
[00:33:36 ] How Ray maximizes value for Startups at STEP
[00:39:54 ] Importance of fun and culture in business.
[00:43:22 ] Optimize for fun to build a better culture.
Join us as we explore the journey of building Dubai's largest tech conference from scratch on this episode of ELEVATE.
More From Ray:
More from Delaney:
![[141] Shikha Kapoor's Insights on AI, Innovation, and Career Growth at Meta](https://s3.castbox.fm/0b/35/46/92c5a5ebd511c45831805f4f307e44c94d_scaled_v1_400.jpg "[141] Shikha Kapoor's Insights on AI, Innovation, and Career Growth at Meta")
![[140] Worlds #1 YouTube Ad Expert: Aleric Heck on Scaling to 8 figures with YouTube Ads](https://s3.castbox.fm/e6/c0/38/d22fab2016724f7aeca8ba5254fa9324a8_scaled_v1_400.jpg "[140] Worlds #1 YouTube Ad Expert: Aleric Heck on Scaling to 8 figures with YouTube Ads")
![[139] Founder of Bloom Nutrition on Lessons Scaling to $23M w/ Greg LaVecchia](https://s3.castbox.fm/71/c3/c9/53123583029c37cc8101e11f441fdff594_scaled_v1_400.jpg "[139] Founder of Bloom Nutrition on Lessons Scaling to $23M w/ Greg LaVecchia")
![[138] Facebook's Head of Product on Scaling Tech, Startup Lessons & Selling Your Idea w/ Yu-Kuan Lin](https://s3.castbox.fm/83/ba/9d/2f153ac64d5282db5bc225b9357e40190a_scaled_v1_400.jpg "[138] Facebook's Head of Product on Scaling Tech, Startup Lessons & Selling Your Idea w/ Yu-Kuan Lin")
![[137] Oracle’s Head of Design on Customer-Centricity, Leadership & Team Building w/ Jod Kaftan](https://s3.castbox.fm/28/67/e8/ab3039370791b5285d08607e5b427dedf8_scaled_v1_400.jpg "[137] Oracle’s Head of Design on Customer-Centricity, Leadership & Team Building w/ Jod Kaftan")
![[136] Amazon Alexa Visionary Anish Kannan on Product Strategy, Team Building & Mass Adoption](https://s3.castbox.fm/5b/48/dd/970f8837a2f55fe54c46a371d829383d40_scaled_v1_400.jpg "[136] Amazon Alexa Visionary Anish Kannan on Product Strategy, Team Building & Mass Adoption")
![[135] Neuroscientist’s Top High Performance Tips w/ Emily McDonald](https://s3.castbox.fm/e1/f3/37/65ee75dd33486e4a0b27f2f5c7c67b0c13_scaled_v1_400.jpg "[135] Neuroscientist’s Top High Performance Tips w/ Emily McDonald")
![[134] Scaling Million-Dollar Sales Success with Navid Momeni](https://s3.castbox.fm/23/ea/a0/4640b16f4f0f5000c00c8ff026fba36da2_scaled_v1_400.jpg "[134] Scaling Million-Dollar Sales Success with Navid Momeni")
![[133] Links Between Gut Health, the Nervous System & Entrepreneurial Success with Chelsea Haines](https://s3.castbox.fm/4e/1c/e8/38bb66281860b407c66665764fb1cd2b2b_scaled_v1_400.jpg "[133] Links Between Gut Health, the Nervous System & Entrepreneurial Success with Chelsea Haines")
![[132] Adobe’s Multi-Million Dollar Product Strategy w/ Brent Rudewick](https://s3.castbox.fm/f8/e3/23/a862f5b9a8e12a0ad0abbad19932950266_scaled_v1_400.jpg "[132] Adobe’s Multi-Million Dollar Product Strategy w/ Brent Rudewick")
![[131] Amazon’s Innovation Strategy w/ Michelle Dayan](https://s3.castbox.fm/e6/04/44/2ec1c040553528d7bb0d83c373f3961c5c_scaled_v1_400.jpg "[131] Amazon’s Innovation Strategy w/ Michelle Dayan")
![[130] How Google Builds Products & Scaling Angular to 3 Million Developers: Minko Gechev, Google](https://s3.castbox.fm/6d/cd/2e/56605e9354d1b8a71be9a81c240d7ecea9_scaled_v1_400.jpg "[130] How Google Builds Products & Scaling Angular to 3 Million Developers: Minko Gechev, Google")
![[129] She got her Program into 1300 Gyms Nationwide: CEO of OptimizeMe Nutrition, EC Synkowski](https://s3.castbox.fm/bb/46/47/2e91d43af839f50c182747495e53e3dbd4_scaled_v1_400.jpg "[129] She got her Program into 1300 Gyms Nationwide: CEO of OptimizeMe Nutrition, EC Synkowski")
![[128] 7-Figure Content Strategy w/ Lindsey Bomgren](https://s3.castbox.fm/43/1d/c6/01b6b8304b83e2dfb10f9c23720625794d_scaled_v1_400.jpg "[128] 7-Figure Content Strategy w/ Lindsey Bomgren")
![[127] The Man behind $1 BILLION in Product Launches: Derek Osgood, CEO of Ignition](https://s3.castbox.fm/e1/ef/90/bcab97610b423a1ab8bc095fa9677a4b31_scaled_v1_400.jpg "[127] The Man behind $1 BILLION in Product Launches: Derek Osgood, CEO of Ignition")
![[126] Building a Massive Social Platform by Helping Others w/ Lindsey Elmore](https://s3.castbox.fm/e4/7c/be/ecac61ffb13b249376efaa83ead833ef83_scaled_v1_400.jpg "[126] Building a Massive Social Platform by Helping Others w/ Lindsey Elmore")
![[125] How to Build a Successful Tech Startup in a Competitive Market: Mona Akmal, Founder of Falkon AI](https://s3.castbox.fm/64/bb/e7/c5365aa48403c0645a1fd7c456e6f9e443_scaled_v1_400.jpg "[125] How to Build a Successful Tech Startup in a Competitive Market: Mona Akmal, Founder of Falkon AI")
![[124] 500,000+ Followers in 12 months, Finding Purpose & Holistic Health w/ Jake Whan](https://s3.castbox.fm/96/c4/83/1a34fd4252d9aa437fbcda499ab0393dcb_scaled_v1_400.jpg "[124] 500,000+ Followers in 12 months, Finding Purpose & Holistic Health w/ Jake Whan")
![[122] Organically Growing a Health Brand to $40k/month with Instagram: Maddie Miles, founder of Peace Love Hormones](https://s3.castbox.fm/eb/83/40/dae7d73d613c79bb2d68fa180010577f20_scaled_v1_400.jpg "[122] Organically Growing a Health Brand to $40k/month with Instagram: Maddie Miles, founder of Peace Love Hormones")
United States
