1//LilianAbouZeki//TELOS//GSVC2014

*****Pleasenotedocumentcontainspicturewhichamountto~4pagesinspace

I.BusinessOverview

Companydescription

Telosisaplatformbothofflineandonlinemadeupofafulleditorialteamthatisdedicatedto
producingbusinessorientedDAC(digitalarabiccontent)VIAenablingandempowering
retiredprofessionalstoactivelysituatethemselveswithinthecurrentbusinessecosystem.

Seasonedretirees(fromallknowledgebasedsectors)willberecruitedbytheteamand
immersedinanenablingenvironmentsupplyingthemwithtoolkitswhichallowthemto
disseminatetheirknowledgeandexpertiseonthewebintheirnativelanguage.Eventually
givingthemachancetonotonlyenrichthebusinessecosystemintermsofcontentbutalso
intermsoftalent,exposingtheirprofilestoSMEsaroundLebanonandtheregionandgiving
themthelibertytoreinventtheirprofessionalselvespostretirementandaddressthemarket.

2//LilianAbouZeki//TELOS//GSVC2014

Thisinvolvesasubscriptionmodelwhereretireespayafeetosubscribetoourseminars,
workshopsandtrainingsinordertoproduceonlinecontentthatisrelevanttothemand
readersofourtime.Moreaboutthebusinessmodelwillbeexposedlateroninthis
document.

Valuepropositionfinancial

Thefinancialvalueofsuchaplatformbodesimmensepotential.Asmoreandmore
technologytycoonsinvestinDACandwiththelikeofgoogle,yahooandtwofour54dedicating
substantialprojectsfortheproliferationofDACitiscertainthatinvestinginDACisprofitable
especiallyonethatislinkedtoastorysuchasTELOS.

Advertising,subscriptionmodels,syndication,andconsultingwillbethemaindriversof
revenueforTELOS.

II.Valuepropositionsocial

AfterindepthresearchIcanconfidentlysaythatahealthyandthrivingbusinessecosystem
isheavilyreliantontheknowledgecultureitresidesin.DAC(digitalArabiccontent)only
makesup3%oftheInterneteventhoughArabicisthefifthmostcommonlyusedlanguagein
theworld.IfwecomparethatwithEnglish(rankingasthirdmostspokenworldwide)which
occupiesmorethan55%oftheinternetscontentwecanclearlyseeahugegapthatneeds
tobeaddressed.(Vainikka,ElissaandHerkman,Juha,2013)

ThischallengeisevenharderforLebaneseinspecificbecauseofseveralsocioeconomic,
historicandpoliticalcurrentsthatpushededucationtobeconductedinEnglishorFrench
thusknowledgeproductioninArabicislessprominent.Youngadultsarelargelyresponsible
formostonlinecontenthowevermostArab/Lebaneseareproducingtheircontentinforeign
languages.

ThegapprovestobewidestwhenitcomestoprofessionalandSMEorientedcontentas
mostonlineportalstalktoforeignmarketsorstartupculturesbutneglecttherealityof
everydaybusinessandtheLebanesebusinessecosystem.Thecurrentonlinelandscape
eithertalkscorporateorgrassrootbutSMEsmakeup97%ofthebusinesslandscapein
Lebanonandalmost60%ofthemprefertobespokentointheirnativetongueaswellas
withintheirownbusinesscontext.

III.TheMarketOpportunity(theproblem,thepain)

IseethelackofDACatthisspecifictimetobemoreofanopportunitythanachallenge.This
incidentoccursconcurrentlywithawaveofretirement(thelargesttotime)2pains.
Howevertodaysretiringortoretireprofessionalsarethebabyboomersofourregion.Even
thoughsomeliteraturesitesourregionsbabyboomersasthesilentgeneration,theyare

3//LilianAbouZeki//TELOS//GSVC2014

certainlynotthatintheprofessionalworld.Peoplelikemyfatherforexample(soontobe64),
havenavigatedthebusinessecosystemattimesofwarandeconomiccrisisandarestill
doingagreatjob.Retirementinitselfasconcepthasnoplaceintodaysknowledge
economy.ThisconceptwascreatedbyBismarkin1883asaploytoovercomeMarxistsin
Europeandhasstuckwithussincethen.Todayretiringskilledtalentmeanslosingyearsof
knowledgeandexperience.

TheretiredinLebanonmakeupalmost10%ofthepopulation(worldbank,2013).This
numberisaconsiderableone,almostthreequarterofretireestodaybelievethattheir
retirementwillinvolveworkorwishittodoso(RetiredExecutives:TheuntappedResource,
2012).ThesethousandsoftoptierprofessionalsareagoldmineofknowledgeandTELOSis
theplatformthatwillextractanddisseminatethisknowledgetotheworldandmore
importantlyLebanonandtheregion.

IV.ManagementTeam
Founder
LilianAbouZeki//MAinBusinessdesign(innovationanddesignmanagement)

Mentor
PaoloLorini//IndependentdesignconsultantandformerDesignManageratSDMSamsung
DesignMilano

Industryexperience,Education
Ihave4yearsinMarketinganddesignexperience,IalsorecentlycompletedanMAinBusiness
design.Aprogramdedicatedtocreatingvalueinbusinessviausercenteredresearchthrough
innovativeuseoftechnology.PaoloisanIndustryleaderinMilanandhassupervisedtheDesign
processesofSAMSUNGforover7yearsbeforeheventuredonhisownandhasacurrent
portfolioofvariablebusinessclientele.

Boardofadvisors(IdonothaveaboardofadvisorsbutifIweretoproposeIwould
proposethefollowing):
CyrilHadjiThomasCEOofkeeward(otherventuresaswell)giventherelevanceofhis
experiencetotheareaofmyproject.

IdeallytheteamofTeloswouldneedtogrowintoafullyfunctioningandunorthodoxeditorial/
trainingteam.

4//LilianAbouZeki//TELOS//GSVC2014

Attheendofthefirstyearwewouldhopetohaveenabledatleast56contributors
whichhasthepotentialofpublishingover20piecesofvaluablecontentamonthfrom
videosinterviews,articlesandmore.

5//LilianAbouZeki//TELOS//GSVC2014

1) EmpowermentandEnabling:

2) knowledgeproductionandpublishing

6//LilianAbouZeki//TELOS//GSVC2014

V.TheMarket(publishing)

Thereisnosystemsetinplacetoretainretiredknowledge,thelikesofEYandMckinseyhave
spentyearsonperfectingasystemtoretainretiringconsultantswhicharebroughtinon
specificprojectsandareoftencalleduponforseminarsandsuchHowever,thissystemhas
notbeenemployed.Hencethisisstillasomewhatnichebutvirginmarket.

YEARONE

Contentstrategyandrevenuedrivers

TherealityisthatespeciallywithinthebehavioralpatternsofpeopleintheArabregionnoone
iswillingtopayforcontentonline(orevenproductsonline)(Deek,Gabriel,2013).Thisreality
surelyposesachallengetoTelosastowherewewillbemonetizingourplatformandhowwill
weincreaserevenue.

Teloswillneedtopartnerupwithotherkeystoneinitiativesintheecosystemsuchascontent
aggregators(tasharuk.com)andotherpublications,wewillevenbepublishingcontentin
offlinemediasuchasnewspaperstoattractmorecontributorsanduserstoourwebsite.

Forthefirstyeartheplatformwillheavilydependonfundersandinvestors,howeveroncewe
establishasteadyflowofqualitycontentonlineadvertiserswillactasourmainrevenue
structureatthatpoint.

Wewillassumethatourwebsitewillreceiveatleast250,000uniqueusersfromtheregion
atthattimereadingourcontent.Wewillalsoassumethatgiventheproductofferofour
websitewewillattractnicheadvertisersthatwouldliketospeaktootherbusinessor
professionalusers.

Teloswillalsooffer:Custompublishing//Paidcontent//Subscriptionforaccesspremium
contentisalsoapossiblesourceofrevenuehoweveritwillhighlydependonthechanging
natureofonlinepurchasepatternsintheregioninthecoming2years.
AswellasSyndicationatlaterstagesmaybeafter3to4years,maybechargingothersfor
publishingourcontentcouldbepossible(TheNewPublishingBusinessModel,2014).We
roughlyestimaterevenuefromthePUBLISHINGendofTELOStogrowto$40,000bythe
secondyearby(advertising,workshopsandmembershipfees.)

7//LilianAbouZeki//TELOS//GSVC2014

VI.TheMarket(Consulting)

YEARTWO

Reinventingretirement

MidsecondyearTeloswillhaveestablishedaseriesofcontributorsandusersfrom
Lebanonandtheregion.Theconceptwouldhavesettledwithusers,andhopefullythe
platformanditspublishedcontentwillbeactingasakeystoneorganizationinthebusiness
ecosystem.

Ourcontributorswouldhaveestablishedtheirvalueandthevalueoftheirexperience.Atthis
pointTeloswilllaunchitsconsultingservices,ourcontributorwillbeaskediftheywishto
offertheirservicesforanhourlyrateattheirowncomfortanddesire(meaningperhour/per
week/monthorevenproject).Thosewhowishtodosowillhavetheirprofileupdatedwitha
bookingcalendartoillustrateIamavailablefordropdown(Consulting,board
member,visitingprofessor)seeFig1.0below.

Fig1.0

ThisisadirectandappropriateexpansionofthenewHRlandscapeneededin
todaysbusinessecosystem.Thenewknowledgeeconomyandthetalentgapin
Lebanon(causedbymigration)andtheregionmakethisthemostnatural
progressionandexpansionofthesite.Thisalsoistheonlywaytotrulyenableand
empowerretireestoreinventtheirprofessionalself,yattendingourworkshopsand
exchangingdiscoursewithyoungfreshmindsthevalueexchangewillgotoboth
theyoungTelosmembersandtheretirees.Theywillbeabletoworkparttime,per
projectandlivewithintheworkfulfillmentexpectationsthatwemillennialsexpect
fromanyroleweoccupy.

TheTeloswebsitewillmanagetheircalendarsandofferothermanagementservicesata
feewhichis15%to30%oftheratesthecontributorsarecharging.Thisisahostingand
managementfeeandtherangedependsonthecontributorsdigitalaptitudeandneed.

8//LilianAbouZeki//TELOS//GSVC2014

Thetarget:

Publishingcontentfromcontributorsnotonlymakesthemmorerelatablebutitgivesevery
useranideaoftheirmethodology,skillsetandpreviousexperience.Oncethatisavailable
moretrustwillbeendowedinourcontributors.Enablingretireesviapublishingisthereason
whyTelosservicesarefundamentallydifferent.Throughallowingourcontributorsthe
agencytochoosethetimeandthespecialtiestheywishtogethiredforweareallowing
themtoreinventtheirprofessionalself.

PlatformslikehourlyNerdandEdenMcCallumdisruptedtheconsultingfieldinamanner
thatwillmoveconsultancyintoanewage.AserviceassuchisvaluableinLebanonwhich
iscomposedofover90%SMEs.Consultancyhaslongbeenaluxuryofthebigcorporate
firms,withbudgetsof50to$150,000perproject,makingitnotonlyunattainablebutalso
unthinkableinanSMEecosystem.Todaythisredefinitionofconsultancycangivethe
businessecosysteminLebanonahugepush,allthewhileallowingtoptierretireesreinvent
theirprofessionalselves.

Theoverallprocessoffersasenseoftransparency,whereallcardsareonthetablewhere
allfeesarestatedandstakeholdersarerepresented.MarketplaceslikeElanceandoDesk
workinasimilarmanner.inConclusionthisisaprojectwithhighsocialimpactandhigh
revenuepotential,IrealisethisisnotthemostnumberorientedBusinessplanbutthisis
exactlywhyIamapplying.

JustlikeAmazonPrimedeliversyouaninflatablemattressthedaybeforeyour
friendsarriveatyourhouse,theseonlineworkplatformsletbusinesses
Especially small businesses get theskillstheyneedwhentheyneedthem,without
having to bring someone on fulltime. Being able to get all of that justwhenyouneed
it, only for as long as you need it, explains the relentless growth of freelancer
earnings.(Baer,Drake,2014)

LilianAbouZeki//lb.linkedin.com/in/lilianabouzeki/
9613917274
lilian.abouzeki@gmail.com

RESOURCES:

9//LilianAbouZeki//TELOS//GSVC2014

Carbone,Peter,2009TheEmergentPromiseofbusinessecosystem,Technology
innovationmanagementreview.

CrackingthecodeofscaleforLebaneseSMEs,2013,msmenewnetwork.com

Hurley,Brian,2009,Enablingthecreativeentrepreneur:BusinessEcosystems,Technology
InnovationManagemnetReview,timereview.ca

Deek,Gabriel,2013,BusinessmodelsfordigitalArabiccontent,ESCWA

Globalcompetitivenessreport20112012,WorldEconomicForum

PeterFeuilherade,2014,OnlineArabiccontentsoars,
Themiddleeastmagazine.com

DigitalContent:TheNeedtoBoostDigitalContentinArabic,2012,ITUnews.itu.int

Arabicandtheinternet,SurfingtheShabaka,2014,Economist.com

Birkinshaw,Julian,2014,BewaretheNextBigThing,Harverd
BusinessReviewMay2014.

Vainikka,Elissa and Herkman, Juha , 2013, Generation of contentProducers?Thereadingand

mediaproductionpracticesofyoungadults,UniversityofHelsinki,Vol10issue2

MENAhumancapitaldevelopmentlagsbehindinWEFindex,2013,Zawya.com

Rahal,Maya,2013,Beirut'sSMEXlaunchesanaggregatortosupport
Arabiccontentonline,Wamda.com

MENAhumancapitaldevelopmentlagsbehindinWEFindex,2013,Zawya.com

Leberecht,Tim,2014,HowtheKnowledgeEconomyisRedefining

Work,Fastcompany.com

TheNewPublishingBusinessModel,2014,ideoplatform.com

RetiredExecutives:TheUntappedResourceforTacklingTough
BusinessChallenges,2012,excecbraintrust.com

Baer,Drake,2014,Freelancerscanmake$930in2014Thankstothis

Economicshift,Businessinsider.com

Zimmerman,Eilene,2013,StartingaMcKinseyforSmallBusinesses