Don’t be afraid to change course early in the process if a decision does not seem to be the right one.
Alex Gemici is an accomplished finance industry professional. With over 30 years of vertical experience in placement, debt restructuring, private banking, risk management, commercial and residential real estate, and portfolio management, he has proven he is an expertise across many fields.
A longtime entrepreneur, banking executive, and business development expert, Alex Gemici has established and managed numerous firms both locally and internationally. He is currently the CEO and Founding Partner of MENA-focused investment and advisory firm Greenstone Equity Partners and the Chief Revenue Officer and Managing Director of World Business Lenders.
Over the last few years, Alex and his team have worked diligently to grow Greenstone Equity Partners into the largest fund placement firm in the Middle East. They have raised over $2.5 billion for their clients and pride themselves on their ability to foster close relationships with various institutions and family offices across the region. This includes corporate offices, valuable high net worth individuals, financial entities, sovereign wealth funds, and many more.
One vision that Alex Gemici has for Greenstone is that it continues to emphasize sector and geographic differentiation in client selection to provide investors with diversified investment options. Greenstone Equity Partners has been positioned to follow the changing landscape of GCC investors and, thus, continuously finding new pools of capital. Change among social and political landscapes, combined with current underweighted allocations in the GCC, provide great potential to international investors.
Before Greenstone, Alex served as the Managing Director and the Head of Deutsche Bank’s real estate finance, mortgage origination, trading and warehouse lending businesses in the Middle East and Africa from 2007 to 2011. He became interested in the financial promise of the MENA region after relocating to Dubai to open their new division. Since then, he has created a “Bridge to Middle Eastern Capital” via Greenstone Equity Partners and is frequently sought out as a thought leader on finance.
Alex Gemici is interested in the gradual transformation of legacy business practices in the Middle East to more Westernized methods.
Where did the idea for Greenstone Equity Partners come from?
There was an acute need for a Middle East-based institutional grade fund placement firm.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
Most of my day is consumed by meetings and conference calls, but I make sure to schedule free time to catch up on emails, review reports, and work that needs to be done for special projects.
How do you bring ideas to life?
Through extensive vetting by my associates and advisors and upon validation through a thorough but aggressive process.
What’s one trend that really excites you?
AI/Machine Learning and Industrial Robotization
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
Breaking long lead projects into smaller and more quickly achievable subcomponents. That allows me to complete them on a more aggressive timeline than if I would have attempted to tackle the larger project all at once.
What advice would you give your younger self?
“Break less glass.”
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on?
Five years from now, email will continue to be more important and effective for business communications than texting or chat apps.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Don’t be afraid to change course early in the process if a decision does not seem to be the right one.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business? Please explain how.
Spend a lot of capital early to have a proper regulatory and operational backbone.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
I have had many failures. That is to be expected, especially as an entrepreneur who seeks to bring all of their ideas to life. The key is to persevere and never give up.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
The Salesforce.com revenue model is predatory to their customers. There is a tremendous opportunity for someone to disrupt that company.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
Contributed $100 last week to a congressional candidate. I think it is important that the citizenry get more involved in our government.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
1Password. Securely keeps my login details for all the websites I visit so that I never forget any important information.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
The biography of Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance. Musk is arguably the most consequential living American business leader.
What is your favorite quote?
“If there is no way, we will make a way.” – Hannibal
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Greenstone Equity Partners on Twitter: @GSEquity
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Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.