Geet Bhalla is the chief executive and co-founder of HolidayMe.com, a platform offering travel services such as flights, accommodation and activities to customers in the Middle East. Mr Bhalla, from India, set up the business in August 2013 following a career in finance and banking technology working for companies such as Thomson Reuters and Misys. A resident in Dubai for 14 years, the 38-year-old currently lives in the Meadows.
How do you spend your weekend?
Fridays I usually cook breakfast for my daughters, who are 11 and six, or take them out for breakfast. If the weather is nice, we head to the beach. Late afternoons I also try to get some of the well-deserved rest and sleep that I don’t manage during the week. On Saturday mornings I engage in some kind of sport or a bit of yoga. I read in the afternoon, I catch up with friends or arrange for casual meetings with my staff. Saturday evenings are usually at home or at a nice place for dinner. It’s a mix of relaxation, spending time with family, reading, working out and meeting friends.
How did you become a chief executive?
I co-founded the company, so it all happened together. I worked in the corporate world which got monotonous after a while, and starting the company was always in my cards. I felt I had gathered considerable corporate experience and wanted to put some of that learning into action. I’m still in the process of becoming a good chief executive. I’m still learning new things every day. Becoming a CEO, in my view, is a process and it has just started for me. More than that, my plan was to start a company and improve every day at running it.
What is your go-to gadget?
It’s my iPhone 7 Plus. It takes care of my urge to be at work, keep updated on news and be connected socially. It also has my music, which helps me relax.
What was the lowest point of your career?
I think there have been challenges, rather than low points. In my case, it was almost a year back – where we had to convince a lot of people to back us and believe in our story while we were still out there trying to achieve it. I think the vision, execution strategy and the team got us there in the end. But ensuring the growth of the company, which needed fundraising, did take a lot of perseverance and sleepless nights. It was an extremely humbling and learning experience though.
What advice would you offer others starting out in your business?
Be sure of what you want to do. Spend some time thinking about what is it that you really enjoy doing, what drives you.
Do your research. Study all nuances of not only the market, but also how the business is done, how much capital is needed, where you want to be in the first year of operations, what’s your plan after that. It’s absolutely essential to plan it before actually doing it.
Go for it. Once you think the plan is achievable, just go for it. There might be many detractors around to pull you down. Don’t listen to them, believe in yourself.
Perseverance. This is the most important one. Don’t give up. Absolutely be at it. And while doing so, make sure to keep taking stock of the plan you initially set out to achieve.
What is your most indulgent habit?
Food. Being a Punjabi (North Indian), food is in our DNA. I love all cuisines and enjoy food.
What do you have on your desk at work?
My laptop, phone, a notepad, a picture of my daughters and my Kindle to catch up on some reading whenever I get free time at work.
What can’t you live without?
I absolutely need my cup of tea every morning to kick-start my day. And my phone.
What car do you drive?
A Porsche Cayenne S.
How do you achieve a work-life balance?
I try to switch off for at least an hour once I get home, until my kids go to sleep. I have dinner with them and wake up to see them off to school when I’m in Dubai. If I’m travelling, I speak to them at least once a day. I spend a lot of time with family over the weekends, cook for them or go out for a nice meal. At least one day a week is reserved for them.
If you could swap jobs with anyone, who would it be and why?
I thoroughly enjoy what I do. In a few years, I wouldn’t mind running a casual restaurant by a scenic beachside.
lgraves@thenational.ae
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Prop idols
Girls full-contact rugby may be in its infancy in the Middle East, but there are already a number of role models for players to look up to.
Sophie Shams (Dubai Exiles mini, England sevens international)
An Emirati student who is blazing a trail in rugby. She first learnt the game at Dubai Exiles and captained her JESS Primary school team. After going to study geophysics at university in the UK, she scored a sensational try in a cup final at Twickenham. She has played for England sevens, and is now contracted to top Premiership club Saracens.
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Seren Gough-Walters (Sharjah Wanderers mini, Wales rugby league international)
Few players anywhere will have taken a more circuitous route to playing rugby on Sky Sports. Gough-Walters was born in Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai, raised in Sharjah, did not take up rugby seriously till she was 15, has a master’s in global governance and ethics, and once worked as an immigration officer at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi. In the summer of 2021 she played for Wales against England in rugby league, in a match that was broadcast live on TV.
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Erin King (Dubai Hurricanes mini, Ireland sevens international)
Aged five, Australia-born King went to Dubai Hurricanes training at The Sevens with her brothers. She immediately struck up a deep affection for rugby. She returned to the city at the end of last year to play at the Dubai Rugby Sevens in the colours of Ireland in the Women’s World Series tournament on Pitch 1.
Racecard
6pm: Mina Hamriya – Handicap (TB) $75,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
6.35pm: Al Wasl Stakes – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (Turf) 1,200m
7.10pm: UAE Oaks – Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,900m
7.45pm: Blue Point Sprint – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,000m
8.20pm: Nad Al Sheba Trophy – Group 3 (TB) $200,000 (T) 2,810m
8.55pm: Mina Rashid – Handicap (TB) $80,000 (T) 1,600m
The%20Roundup
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UAE Falcons
Carly Lewis (captain), Emily Fensome, Kelly Loy, Isabel Affley, Jessica Cronin, Jemma Eley, Jenna Guy, Kate Lewis, Megan Polley, Charlie Preston, Becki Quigley and Sophie Siffre. Deb Jones and Lucia Sdao – coach and assistant coach.
Bullet%20Train
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Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammed%20Alnamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMicrofinance%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E16%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFamily%20offices%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
