My Morning Routine: Mohamed El Feky, founder and CEO of Sympl

Mohamed El Feky, founder and CEO of Sympl: Each week, My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. Speaking to us this week is Mohamed El Feky (LinkedIn), founder and CEO of consumer finance player Sympl and, previously, part of the team that helped create EFG Hermes’ valU. Edited excerpts from our conversation follow:
My name is Mohamed El Feky, I am originally an engineer, but I’ve never worked in the field. I’ve always been fascinated with marketing and sales and, over the years, I developed a passion for it. I did a marketing diploma and later an MBA in marketing and spent 20 years in corporate life, 11-12 of which were in the banking sector. It wasn’t planned at all, but I ended up in this industry. I moved around a lot between banks, doing roles in product development and segment management.
We don't acquire the customer, we acquire the purchase. Many customers have the money and the need, but they don’t have to pay it all at once in this single transaction. This was especially true after the pandemic, when we all went to a phase of uncertainty. So what Sympl tries to do is give customers control over their spending by approaching them at checkout and offering the pay later option. They’ve already made their decision about what they want to buy, so we give them the option of how to pay it off depending on their employment status and how they are paid.
Right now, my morning routine revolves around work and numbers and responding to emails. I stopped having a personal daily routine when I quit my banking job. I used to have a morning routine and go for a jog before going to the office, but this stopped six or seven years ago. It is not good, but it happened.
My responsibilities include managing the team, making sure that we have the right calibers for the model and for the challenge. In a startup, you need people who believe in value creation, people who want to disrupt the market. I’m not looking for typical employees who are looking for a 9-5 job, so it’s all about the team and how they can work in sync together. I work very hard to make sure that they are compatible to avoid disputes or conflicts. Secondly, I give a lot of attention to our marketing services and I usually respond personally to customers on social media because their voice is very important to me.
The easiest part of my job is staying focused and organized — I think this comes easy to me because I’m an engineer, so I’m already very structured. The challenge is that not everyone else understands or appreciates what it means to be organized. It means that you are sequential, you don’t make impulsive decisions, which some people see as a waste of time, so I have to put in extra time and effort to educate them on why we have to follow this route.
I like going to the sea to relax and switch off. Sitting on the beach is my ultimate goal. That would be my retirement plan. I wouldn’t even mind being a beach boy. Anything that brings me closer to the sea is very fulfilling. On a day-to-day basis, I like listening to Omm Kolthoum concerts on Rotana Classic at 10pm. If I manage to go home early, I like to watch black-and-white Egyptian movies.
I don’t usually watch TV shows because I like to start and finish things in one sitting, but during the pandemic I watched the Good Doctor and I really liked it.
On a personal level, after making sure that the company is going well, I’d like to give more time to my kids, because I only see them once or twice a week right now. On a professional level, if this company is successful, I’d like to help other young people who have ideas but don't have funding or connections to realize their dreams. I do it now informally, so people send me messages over LinkedIn asking me about certain things, but I want it to be much more structured so that they can feel the return.
I was very fortunate to meet a lot of good people in my life, so I borrowed bits and pieces of advice from everyone. But the main piece of advice that I would share with others is to say yes to the things that God gives you and not to overthink things. You can think things while you’re in the experience itself.