“Going into a new market requires humility. You don’t know the market well, and you have to accept that.”

In this year-in-review episode, Hashem looks back on 2025 and what it actually took to open two restaurants in Riyadh in one year.​ It’s a conversation about going up the learning curve fast, staying humble, and why consistency always outlasts hype.​​ Chapters: 0:00 Coming up... 6:13 Navigating Expansion into Saudi Arabia 10:01 Understanding Local Market Differences 13:44 The Impact of Social Media 21:19 The Role of Technology in F&B 25:12 Seeking Balance in a Digital World 35:43 What comes next? 39:19 Keith McNally's book

You can listen to “Going into a new market requires humility. You don’t know the market well, and you have to accept that.” online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

“Going into a new market requires humility. You don’t know the market well, and you have to accept that.” is an episode from The Lighthouse Conversations by The Lighthouse.

This episode is 44:43 long.

This episode was published on Jan 12, 2026.

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