Interview with Fadi Ghandour, interviewed by Geoffrey Jones, Dubai, UAE

In this interview, Fadi Ghandour, Founder and Former CEO of Aramex, describes his impressive career as an entrepreneur, discusses his beliefs about the nature of leadership, and reflects on his ongoing efforts to give back to his country and his community through education and youth engagement. Ghandour begins the interview by describing his unlikely path as an entrepreneur, and recounts how his small, start-up courier company in the Middle East eventually came to compete with industry giants like FedEx, Airborne Express, and DHL. The key to Aramex's success, Ghandour says, was a combination of "being in the right place, at the right time, in the right industry," as well as his relentless search for a niche market that could set Aramex apart from its competitors. In the interview, Ghandour describes some of the strategies that Aramex used to compete with FedEx and DHL--most importantly, what he calls the wholesale model. Aramex became the regional partner of major companies like Airborne Express, FedEx, Burlington Northern, and Purolator--handling business for each one individually, using their specific procedures, protocols, and letterheads. This symbiotic relationship, he explain