# Talk To Ali

> A podcast about the honest side of startups and entrepreneurship in the UAE. Real conversations with the people building the ecosystem — no pitch decks, no highlight reels.

## About

Talk To Ali is hosted by Ali Khawaja, an educator with more than twenty years of experience who has watched his students go on to build remarkable things across the UAE startup ecosystem. The show launched in 2018, took a six-year gap, and returned in 2026 with Season 2.

The podcast features long-form conversations with founders, entrepreneurs, and ecosystem builders in the UAE. Guests share the full journey — what they built, what went wrong, and what they learned. Topics include startups, venture capital, mental health in entrepreneurship, sustainability, and more.

## Host

- Name: Ali Khawaja
- Website: https://alikhawaja.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aliabuzoha
- Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talktokhawaja/

## Pages

- Homepage: https://talktoali.com/
- Episode Archive: https://talktoali.com/archive.html
- RSS Feed: https://anchor.fm/s/9e610adc/podcast/rss

## Listen

- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2FCYFM5rZQELehIjgyNX41
- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talk-to-ali/id1437178589
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@talktokhawaja
- Castbox: https://castbox.fm/channel/Talk-to-Ali-id5419699
- Goodpods: https://goodpods.com/podcasts/talk-to-ali-732212
- Pocket Casts: https://pocketcasts.com/podcast/talk-to-ali/1488cca0-ab59-0136-7b93-27f978dac4db
- RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/9e610adc/podcast/rss

## Episodes (Season 2)

- S02E02: MindMe — Nokhez Usama (June 2026). Founder of Mind Me, a mental health startup in Dubai. Topics: clinical psychology, B2B SaaS, pivots, female founders, wellbeing.
- S02E01: Parfumery — Ibrahim Asif (June 2026). Founder of Parfumery. Topics: scent, corporate gifting, AI in entrepreneurship, first customers, pivots.

## Season 1 Episodes

- S01E05: Grace Karim — Bookends (February 2020). Sustainable book resale platform in the UAE.
- S01E04: Ansar Babu — Who Took My Breath Away (September 2019). Personal journey through Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.
- S01E03: Simran Chowdhry — BluPhin (February 2019). Ocean cleanup hardware startup.
- S01E02: Badar Farooq — Sustainability & You (December 2018). Sustainimate, digital media for sustainability.
- S01E01: John Katsos — Sustainability & Tesla (October 2018). Business ethics and sustainability with AUS professor.

## Contact

- Email: aliskhawaja@gmail.com
- Website: https://talktoali.com/