Social Impact Tech: Sami Khoreibi & Sebastien Wakim of Wisewell On How Their Technology Will Make An Important Positive Impact
SK: Wisewell requires no installation and provides the most robust filtration technology. Our sleek Model 1 gives insights into your water quality, filter life, and sustainable savings.
In recent years, Big Tech has gotten a bad rep. But of course many tech companies are doing important work making monumental positive changes to society, health, and the environment. To highlight these, we started a new interview series about “Technology Making An Important Positive Social Impact”. We are interviewing leaders of tech companies who are creating or have created a tech product that is helping to make a positive change in people’s lives or the environment. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sami Khoreibi, Co-founder, Executive Chairman and Sebastien Wakim, Co-founder, CEO of Wisewell.
Sami Khoreibi is a seasoned entrepreneur who is focused on sustainability and renewable energy. Passionate about solutions to climate change, prior to founding Wisewell, Khoreibi founded the solar energy company Enviromena Power Systems. During his eleven-year period as CEO, Enviromena built one of the largest teams of solar experts across MENA and was awarded over USD$700 million of projects in nine countries. In 2017, Khoreibi led the sale of the company to a UK-based Pension Fund.
Khoreibi previously founded Candax Energy, a Toronto headquartered energy company that had a successful IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2006.
The Canada-native who now lives in Dubai has been lauded with awards including being named by MIT Technology Review as one of the “top 5 Arab innovators under 35”, by Arabian Business Magazine as one of the “Top 40 under 40” business leaders in the Middle East, by Inc. Magazine as one of the “51 Powerful Middle-Eastern Businessmen You Should Know”, as well as being appointed a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
Sebastien Wakim, Co-founder, CEO
As co-founder and CEO of Wisewell, Sebastien Wakim builds on years of experience in the circular economy and disruptive technologies. Wakim sees Wisewell as the next great disruptor company, with the potential to harness cutting-edge technology and great design to solve the crucial global issue of water safety and sustainability.
As an early employee of Uber, Wakim was a General Manager, responsible for the launch and operations of the innovative ride-sharing company in several markets in the Middle-East and North African region. Later at the global online marketplace platform OLX, he rose to Regional General Manager in the Middle East and Africa. A native of France, Wakim lives in Dubai.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory and how you grew up?
SK: I am of Palestinian heritage and grew up in Toronto, Canada. I grew up in a loving household with four siblings — Toronto is an extremely multicultural city and we had the pleasure of being immersed in many cultures through friends and surroundings. My parents were both very entrepreneurial and resilient, having moved countries and cultures a few times in their lives, and they instilled that in their children.
SW: I am of Lebanese heritage and was born and raised in Paris, France, except for several years spent in Beirut, Lebanon. I was immersed in a multicultural environment from a very young age. My father is a surgeon and my mother was a nurse trainer, so we basically had a full hospital at home! I had a happy childhood — I was very close to my family and played a lot of sports. My parents pushed me to excel academically, so that was my hobby: to get good grades!
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
SK: My previous solar company was awarded a project to build 17,000 solar home systems for the last 2% of Morocco’s population without electricity, and our survey of the sites missed out on a few dozen homes that were on a mountain range with virtually no road access. Our team had to figure out innovative ways to deliver the solar panels and supplies to these remote areas and turned to the local community for ideas, which included delivering the equipment on donkey back. We designed a comfortable saddle for the donkeys that held a solar panel on either side and made our way up the mountain. The marriage of old techniques and modern technology, something that sustainability often brings to individuals and communities, is something that sticks with me to this day.
SW: Launching the Uber service in several middle eastern markets was a great experience for me. It was humbling to see riders and drivers loving the service. Uber had a very positive impact on drivers’ earnings while providing safe rides to our customers: This made us proud.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
SK: My parents relentlessly promoted entrepreneurship throughout my life. Any time I had an idea (no matter how crazy), they would support me through the successes and failures. I recall setting up a used bookshop outside of my house in Toronto when I was eight years old. All the books came from our home library, and when I wasn’t gaining traction from the neighbors, my parents bought back most of the display! A few months ago, I was going through a box of childhood memories with my 3- and 1-year-old boys and found one of the books with my homemade price tag on it!
SW: I would say that my parents had a very positive influence on my career and instilled in me an inherent optimism which helped me grow personally and professionally. They encouraged me to challenge myself and explore different paths.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
SK: “People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.” — George Bernard Shaw, playwright.
In startups — as in life, many people will try to blunt your goals and ambitions by claiming things can’t be done. At an early stage, it is important to ignore those opinions and sprint forward.
SW: I am a big believer in the “Ubuntu” philosophy. It has its roots in humanist African philosophy, and its concept can be described as the profound sense that we are human only through the humanity of others; that if we are to accomplish anything in this world, it will be due in equal measure to the work and achievements of others. Ubuntu is the concept of common humanity and oneness.
Sustainability is key to our common humanity, and Wisewell is a sustainable solution that contributes to protecting our shared environment.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
SK:
1. Impatient: As a start-up founder, you need to push things forward quickly and often things need to be done yesterday. Patiently waiting for people to get back to you or accepting comfortable deadlines will often leave you in the dust of your competition.
2. Iterative: You have to be able to build, refine, and improve constantly as an early-stage leader. In all of my ventures to date, we have made dozens of little steps and improvements that are in some ways a slow and steady pivot or improvement to business or product ideas.
3. Self-aware: Very few people can do it all, and understanding and building around your weaknesses is critical to success. I am very much right-brained and am able to clearly see the forest through the trees, which allows me to define strategy and understand the market. However, I greatly benefit from working with left-brained partners who are planned and orderly!
SW:
1. Resilience: When launching a new service or company, you will inevitably face roadblocks and the only way to move forward is to keep pushing in the face of adversity.
2. Good listener: Listen to your team, your customers, and your environment. So many times, this trait is overlooked, yet it allows you to build strong trust internally and externally, solve real problems, and have a positive impact on your community.
3. Execution: It is all in the delivery. Focus and detailed execution will allow you to succeed.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about the tech tools that you are helping to create that can make a positive social impact on our society. To begin, what problems are you aiming to solve?
SK: The way we drink water is broken. Tap water is mostly tainted and bottled water is expensive and completely unsustainable.
SW: When it comes to drinking water, the fact that we take fresh water from a remote location, place it in a plastic container, and ship it across the world makes no sense. Bottled water is expensive and unsustainable. On the other hand, tap water is contaminated. Wisewell is here to fix this.
How do you think your technology can address this?
SK: Wisewell requires no installation and provides the most robust filtration technology. Our sleek Model 1 gives insights into your water quality, filter life, and sustainable savings.
Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?
SK: I was the founder and CEO of a company that built and operated massive solar plants, which was delivering clean energy to hundreds of thousands of individuals. Although our plants were positively benefitting the planet, the end user barely ever realized they were interacting with sustainability when charging their phones or watching their TV! With Wisewell, we wanted to have consumers engage with sustainability on a daily basis in an enjoyable and impactful way.
How do you think this might change the world?
SW: Every day, 1.5 billion plastic bottles are being purchased globally, which has an enormous cost to the environment. Wisewell allows consumers to significantly reduce their carbon footprint by not consuming bottled water.
Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
SK: It’s hard to find drawbacks to providing clean and sustainable water to people… perhaps it will have a long-term impact on the bottled (and canned!) water businesses that (despite all their claims) are all harmful to the environment. We should not be shipping (energy intensive!) containers halfway across the world with one serving’s worth of water, storing them, and consuming them weeks or months later. Future generations will view this behavior as completely irresponsible, and we are here to fix it.
Here is the main question for our discussion. Based on your experience and success, can you please share “Five things you need to know to successfully create technology that can make a positive social impact”? (Please share a story or an example, for each.)
SW:
1. Identify the problem we need to solve for: For Wisewell, it was realizing that the way that we drink water is broken. Tap water is mostly tainted, and bottled water is expensive and completely unsustainable. Current tap water filtration systems are either inconvenient or ineffective. For example, pitcher filters don’t work against all contaminants and can often look cheap. Full-house systems or under-the-sink reverse osmosis are also an eye sore, meant to be hidden. Additionally, they aren’t an option for some people who rent their homes, and they waste a lot of water (they can produce up to 5 times more wastewater than usable water).
2. Come up with a solution: We worked to develop a system that was sustainable, installation-free, insights-driven, and design-led. We collaborated with an award-winning design studio called Shape Products and began building something that would revolutionize the water industry. We called it Wisewell.
3. Obtain early customer feedback: We developed our first prototype and tested it extensively. We got feedback from test users and asked ourselves how we could improve the user experience.
4. Iterate on your solution: We had 3 iterations of our prototype. We played with functionality, shape, color, and small design details. We made sure that we were really proud of the results before launching with the final prototype version.
5. Launch your product and be prepared to quickly make improvements: We have just launched our product in the US and the UAE, and we are gathering feedback so that we can keep improving and adjusting.
If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?
SK: Sustainability is a practice, many little actions go a long way and ultimately become a habit.
SW: Earth’s resources are finite. By having a positive impact on our environment, we can improve the quality of our lives, we can protect our planet, and we can preserve our resources for our children and future generations.
We are already seeing the impact of global warming. We need to increase our efforts. It is our duty towards humanity.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
SK: James Dyson. His ability to build a better and more beautiful mousetrap has been a real source of inspiration when developing Wisewell.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
SK:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samikhoreibi/
Twitter: @samikhoreibi
SW:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastienwakim/
Twitter: @sebwak
Wisewell:
@wisewellwater on all social media
Wisewell.com
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success in your important work.
Social Impact Tech: Sami Khoreibi & Sebastien Wakim of Wisewell On How Their Technology Will Make… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.