Blog: Qatar Startup
Episode two from the newly launched podcast - Qandid Qatar got published on all platforms lately, the episode features Yasser El-Sayed, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Meddy. Meddy is a GCC-based application that focuses on booking medical appointments, it allows users to research more about the doctors by reading reviews and information about them so they can come to well-informed decisions that relates to their health. ElSayed talks about his journey in this podcast, from graduating with a Computer Science Bachelor from Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, to becoming the CTO of Meddy by the age of 24. He joined Meddy when it was “just a couple of guys, literally the two founders,” so he joined in 2016 when Meddy was not launched yet, even the application was not ready! With his expertise in coding and computer science he worked on building the application from scratch, and he would sleep in the office with the founders as there was constant work to do. So, when ElSayed reflects on the journey, it feels surreal to be in the current position, him being the CTO, having a team to lead, and getting 2.5 million in funding in 2019. The punch on the wall that happened when Meddy was not launched seems to have been worth it. ElSayed mentions that it was not all butterflies to reach this point, even the pandemic in 2020 did hit them in the beginning. However, they regrouped and worked on an idea that they had even before COVID-19 was a thing, they thought about adding virtual appointments to the application, but due to the cultural restriction, the idea was scratched off. The pandemic made them go back to their original idea and try to work things out, as the need for it grew larger and the cultural restriction was lifted due to the harsh circumstances that faced most people, they worked extra hard and built the whole virtual appointment feature in one and a half month only! ElSayed mentioned more details in Episode Two of Qandid Qatar, tune in to learn more about him, and his unique journey.
Written by: Shaikha Alkubaisi