Omer Aslan Gurel could have easily followed the path that was laid out for him – go to university and eventually join his family business. But he rebelled. Inspired by Richard Branson’s autobiography, Gurel decided to become an entrepreneur and launched his first venture in Dubai during his gap year.

The success of his startup inspired him to continue and now, Gurel is on his seventh venture, Repeat, a smart loyalty platform for restaurants.

In this podcast, Gurel discusses the lessons he has learned along the way, the timeline every startup should follow and why the Middle East has the potential to become the foodtech hub of the world.