How many years of your life have been wasted standing in queues? Actually, when all is said and done, between one and two. Now there’s a better way.
Thank you for this opportunity. Could you briefly tell us about yourselves and what you do?
Zaman: My name is Zaman Abdulhameed Zaman, and I’m CEO of Level Z, the first startup factory in the MENA region. With me here, I have my partners: our chief products officer, Ali Mohsen, and our chief operating officer, Alharith Alatawi.
What is Level Z?
Zaman: Level Z is a startup studio aka startup factory. It operates on the concept of sharing resources between companies. Instead of acting as a holding company and assigning resources to each company’s startup, we share those resources, test the products, and launch them. Once a product has been tested, we roll it out as a company of its own—and with it, one or two of our employees, to grow the company organically.
What is a startup factory?
Alharith: Instead of investing in a company, you only invest once—in the resources. Once you have the resources, you bring in developers, designers, marketing, finance, etc. This way, you can simultaneously roll out multiple products. We don’t focus on just one—we’re actually developing more than one at any given time.
Is this a first in Bahrain?
Zaman: Yes, in the MENA Region.The concept already existed, but there are currently just 60 startup studios worldwide. The best-known is eFounders, financed by Richard Branson in the U.K.
SKIPLINO IS THE WORLD’S MOST INTELLIGENT QUEUE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, BECAUSE IT PUTS ALL FACTORS INTO CONSIDERATION BEFORE IT GIVES YOU A QUEUE OR A SLOT.
If I were a startup, would I be able to join your team?
Alharith: You could tell us your ideas, and we could consider them. However, since the resources are ours, we prefer to work on our own projects, manufactured by our ideas. We are currently in the process of launching our first product.
What is your product, and how did it come to be?
Zaman: I walked into a bank and took an e-ticket from reception to stand in a queue. As I was looking at the number, I thought to myself, “There has to be a better way.” I ended up waiting for an hour and 45 minutes, the day before Eid. I went to a friend and pitched the idea of creating a directory of queuing systems in one application with service providers, like branches of banks or telecoms.
What does it do?
Zaman: Skiplino is the world’s most intelligent queue management system, because it puts all factors into consideration before it gives you a queue or a slot. It calculates your distance from the service provider (if you’re using the app) and calculates both the traffic inside the service provider and their average speed of service.
Alharith: You can book your slot before arriving at your destination. In the past, you had to go there, press a button, and take your ticket. It was very simple, yet outdated. No one was talking about how the queuing system needed to change. Skiplino literally disrupts the way queuing works. Service providers get the queuing system and an Apple TV connected to a TV that gives people the required information: their ticket number and where to go (to which desk). People in the virtual queue get a text message with their ticket number, the time they should show up at the desk, and their time slot. Because the whole solution is in the cloud, people can download the app and book remotely. Before leaving their homes, they can input their time of arrival at the location (e.g., 45 minutes), and the slot will be booked. The app calculates your wait time, and gives you an estimate of when you should arrive.
Zaman: And if you’re running late, which happens a lot, you can just tell the app, and it gives you another slot.
That’s very clever.
Ali: Because people are engaged on the app, we can ask them about quality of service. They can give real-time feedback. A bank/ telecom manager can access a dashboard with employee performance results.
Can you tell our readers what’s in it for service providers?
Alharith: Skiplino is free to service providers. The waiting area can now be used for a different purpose.
Zaman: Service providers can also get access to real-time monitoring and any sort of reporting. It’s eco-friendly, too, as the printing of paper is scrapped in the process. The app can also prevent the customer from going to a different service provider if they are frustrated with constant queuing.
Do you think retail shops and physical branches will still be around in 10 years?
Zaman: Yes. In the end, there will always be a few steps you need to do on your own: buying a house, registering your land, getting a new number or passport. There are certain things you would need to be physically present to get.
Did you develop for both iOS and Android at the same time?
Zaman: We started with Android first, because we knew, based upon research, that the market requirement for Android was higher. Still, we had to ensure that during the launch phase, it would be available for both devices.
This is very exciting—congratulations! I feel like this is a real problem being tackled, not just a superficial demand. Why haven’t you thought of selling this solution to companies?
Zaman: We’re a technology company. We want to help improve the quality of service providers in the region and in the world. We’re also not the first to come up with a queuing solution. There are others who provide it, but for a large lump sum up front. The average queuing solution costs a ridiculous amount: between $100,000 and $2 million.
THE STARTUP SCENE IN BAHRAIN IS VERY SLOW. PEOPLE STILL UNDERVALUE DIGITAL STARTUPS IN BAHRAIN AND IN THE REGION.
Now let’s talk about the startup scene in Bahrain. What do you think is happening, and what do you think should be happening?
Zaman: Basically, the startup scene in Bahrain is very slow. People still undervalue digital startups in Bahrain and in the region, however, the acquisition of Talabat was the spark that will hopefully ignite the change in mentality we need,
Ali: Tech companies are the fastest-growing, and the most popular brands in the world are digital. Many will fail, but if one works and you hit the jackpot, you’ll have a company that employs Gulf nationals.
Alharith: …and these are white-collar jobs. At Level Z, we are a 100% Bahraini company. We have talent here, and we should maximize it.
We agree that startups are the way of the future, economy-wise. Do you feel that we are painting this picture too beautifully?
Zaman: Of course, especially in this part of the world. By estimation, it is three times harder to make it here. Something I admire about Dubai is that any SME owned by a local gets the opportunity to get any corporation that is owned by the government as a client. The governmentally-owned clients would have to buy 5% or 10% of the products/services that go to the SMEs.
Ali: I think the reason we don’t have a lot of startups is because we don’t know where to go or what to do next. Who will help you? Guide you? Mentor you? And most importantly, fund you? Recent statistics show GCC countries as the lowest in terms of investment in startups.
Do you expect a unicorn in the Middle East in the next three years?
Zaman: There are a few unicorns in the Middle East that haven’t gotten enough attention yet.
Can you name one?
Zaman: Souq.com is about to officially become a unicorn, by definition.
Innovation is not just inventing something new. You’re taking something that exists and making it better, and that’s exactly what Skiplino is doing. There is mobile queuing now—it’s just not done right.
Ali: We have Jack Dorsey, the founder and CEO of Twitter, who said that simplifying what people currently do while making it simpler, faster, and easier—that’s what you should do.
Thanks again for this.