Meet Ryan Sturgill
Meet Ryan Sturgill, who will be joining the Tech For All Panel.
Since 2015, Ryan has led Gaza Sky Geeks, a Google-backed tech hub, start-up accelerator, and the first full-stack coding academy in Palestine. Previously, he helped establish a start-up incubator in Afghanistan and advised small businesses on operations and financial strategy in Palestine, Iraq, Pakistan, and the UAE. He is interested in optimizing cross-border investments and online payments structures for the next generation of MENA tech entrepreneurs.
Get to know Ryan below!
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Why did you want to participate in Young Tech Leaders of the Middle East?
I've had a lot of twists and turns in my career and am eager to support anything that helps people feel more confident in their career choices by sharing what I've learned. Especially with tech now, it's easier to start a business or career online than ever before in human history, so the possibilities are really infinite. But infinite opportunity can also be kind of overwhelming.
What did you do in your previous role as Director of Gaza Sky Geeks (GSG)?
I was essentially the CEO of a non-profit tech community and education hub that helps lead the transformation of Palestine's tech economy into a globally competitive force. We began as and still are a pre-seed tech startup accelerator, but have grown over the past six years to include co-working spaces, daily curated events, Palestine's first intensive, full-time code academy, and some of the best online freelancing and digital marketing education programs in the region.
My role evolved a lot from when I took over in 2015. Early on, I just tried to execute a relatively modest start-up education program and really absorb as much as I could about the strengths and weaknesses of Gaza and Palestine's tech ecosystem. By mid-2016, I had developed a clearer vision for GSG's strategy and growth areas to pursue. My job then became to sell that vision and fundraise.
At the same time, I also had to ensure we used what flexible funding we did have to launch pilots for the initiatives I thought we should be pursuing and fundraising for. Once we were successful in developing the partnerships needed for growth, I tried to spend more time ensuring that our programs were the highest quality that they could be and managing the growth of a team from 5 people to about 55 people today. That involved developing a lot of documentation, policies, and procedures in order to scale and delegate things I may have done directly myself, as well as coaching and cultivating new managers.
What experiences prepared you for that role?
I have a pretty atypical but really well-suited background for GSG. At university, I got deeply involved in history and politics of the Middle East, specifically Palestine. I worked on a book and then wrote a thesis on the elections and turmoil in 2006 that led to Gaza's present-day isolation. But I then did a total 180 and went to work on Wall Street. I was committed to working on economic empowerment and supporting employment in the Middle East in some capacity and knew that I needed to understand finance and investment to be more credible in that field. Plus pay off some loans. :)
While working in New York, on the side I volunteered doing pro bono work for the Education for Employment Foundation and other microfinance projects through the Grameen Foundation.
When I decided to leave Wall Street, I took a job assessing the potential to recapitalize then derelict state-owned assets to support foreign investment into Iraq. After that, I spent a few years in Afghanistan leading economic development projects from repaving roads to starting a small business incubator with support from Google. I decided grad school would be a good way to reflect and regroup after those initial forays into how to best support economic growth and entrepreneurs, so I got an MBA at MIT and also a degree focused on investment in frontier markets at the Harvard Kennedy School.
My time at the Kennedy School reignited my passion to support equal opportunity and justice in Palestine, and MIT was an amazing opportunity to immerse oneself in one of the best tech innovation/start-up ecosystems in America. I took a huge amount of what I saw at MIT to my approach at GSG in terms of creating an environment that is supportive for innovators and, most importantly, building a passionate community for tech sector growth.
What was your first job?
My first real job was working on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange as a runner. Online trading was already a thing, but open-outcry trading (yelling at the top of your lungs and using hand signals in a big “pit”) was still prominent. I would work for a few traders on the floor trading futures on bonds and other interest rates. That entailed taking orders from clients or trading desks, keeping track of their trades, ensuring settlement, doing research and looking up economic data, etc. That's when I first really began to understand the power of markets.
What's your leadership style?
I guess I'd describe it as, “Generally, do whatever you think is best within the lines that I set out.” Those “lines” entail setting a very clear (ideally objectively measurable) goal and making sure that team members really get how what they are doing is actually important for the bigger overarching mission we're trying to achieve. I think one of the most demotivating things is not being able to connect the dots of how what you do at work is contributing to a bigger purpose, be it social, economic, whatever.
I have a very open door policy and want junior team members to feel they can question, speak up, and offer up ideas. I probably do that to a greater extent in GSG because there is a greater tendency in the region we work in to have more hierarchical management structures. I also like to listen to my team members debate, and then make a decision. I think it's important to ensure our employees and our community members have a voice, but also to make it clear that there is an executive decision at the end of the day. I also think trying to keep things as simple and clear as possible—something critical for any user-centered design, which is so key in start-ups—is important.
What was the best advice you've ever received?
In leadership/management, I think that clarity and purpose is one of the most important things for team members. Even if you yourself are unsure of what to do, when you do something, be very clear about the objective. There's a quote I hear Ross Baird from Village Capital repeat a lot (I can't remember if it's his quote or attributable to someone else): “It's better to be specific and wrong than vague and right.” The idea is that with specificity and clarity, people can react to things, and clarity makes all sorts of things fall into place, from how your team should spend their time to general morale. Lack of clarity spawns anxiety in an organization and can very quickly hurt morale.
Personally, the Annie Dillard quote, “How we spend our days is how we spend our lives” is something I think about every day. Basically, be present in the here and now.
What advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?
Don't worry about what everyone else is doing work or career-wise, or what everyone else is doing after finishing school. Really try to listen to the little signals your subconscious sends you about what makes you happy or truly passionate. It's very easy to get caught in a herd mentality of trying to get great grades just for the sake of recognition, or get a certain job because people around you think it's prestigious. Gold stars or prestige are nice, but don't lose sight of what excites you in an attempt to make others happy. And if you see everyone you know all trying to do the same thing, be a contrarian—that thing is probably overvalued.
What's a fact about you that not many people know?
I was an emergency medical technician (EMT) for a brief stint. I toyed my whole life with becoming a doctor (still do, occasionally, though the door has closed). I took the training at night while I worked a summer internship in grad school. Then rode around on fire trucks and in ambulances on the weekends. It was a great experience.
What's the last television series you binged on Netflix?
Mad Men (many years ago, but I just restarted season 1 last month).
If you could be an Olympic athlete, which sport would you compete in?
Moguls downhill skiing. I wanted to be this guy after seeing this gold medal run during the Olympics in Nagano. My family is from the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. and I've always been really into sky/snowboarding.
