Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Fouad Assaf, Managing Partner of Nucleus Ventures, located in Paris, France.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Nucleus Ventures is a leading entity in Corporate innovation & Venture building advisory. With a track record of several ventures built, managed, and delivered to our clients, more than seven incubators & accelerators successfully created, 140+ start-ups graduated, $280+ Million USD raised, and 2000+ jobs created, we can proudly state that we are today leaders in the innovation Venturing advisory. Nucleus Ventures' role is to work, hand in hand, with its clients, to bring to life their innovative ventures, leading to growth in the institutions or missions. #NucleusVentures is based in Cyprus, with offices in France, the US, and Beirut, servicing the EMENA region. Our customers range from Start-up founders to corporations, governments, universities, Funds, and family offices.

Tell us about yourself

It's an amazing feeling to wake up excited and inspired to go to work. My playground, where I feel at ease, is the kind of work that requires continuous adaptation and new challenges, add some adrenaline on top of all this, and you get my dream job. Think of my ideal job as if you are riding a roller coaster, same rush; only the end game is to end your tour on a high note. And what job can make you feel more alive than the Innovation venture job? And that is how my adventure started by creating a digital start-up back in 2000 when not so many people knew what a start-up was all about; from there; I quickly understood that I wanted to work in the Entrepreneurship arena, and the love story began. My playground is a place where innovation and creativity are the game and where as a team, we can impact the lives and work of others.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I can list a few numbers that can portray my 20+ years of career accomplishments, but it won't really make any difference to the reader; they are just numbers. Instead of stating some accomplishments as a business owner that translate to success stories (as perceived by some ), I would like to list some not-so-successful accomplishments that I felt are more important than the accomplishments themselves;

  • Failure, and trust me, there are so many, especially when you work in the Innovation entrepreneurial world. And my biggest accomplishment was, and still is, to turn every single one of them into a lesson and an opportunity. It might seem cliché to some but trust me, when you can achieve this, you can achieve anything.
  • Realization of the hard truth about entrepreneurship and Innovation. It is a world that is far from being all rosy and unicorns. Most of the founders come in and think it's all going to be beautiful, and the hard truth is that it's not, not even close. The sooner you accept this truth, the higher your chances of success.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

That's a tough one as the list a long, very long! I would say the hardest one is the responsibility. the responsibility of your fellows in the company, the responsibility of delivering to clients, the quality, the standards, the growth, the unknowns, and the uncertainty. All this responsibility can cripple you, your decisions, and thus your business activity.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Be creative.
  2. Stay focused.
  3. Keep an open mind.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://nvgroup.ltd/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thenucleusventures
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nucleus_ventures/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nucleus_venture
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fouadassaf/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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