Jawad Berrada

Hello, my name is Jawad. I’m the founder of Nektar, a pan-African social-first media sharing a more nuanced narrative of the continent through stories of innovation, creativity and talent.

Before Nektar, I spent four years as a Senior Product Manager at UpSlide, a B2B SaaS that scaled from 40 to 165 people across five countries. I build Nektar with a PM’s lens: starting from user needs, thinking in jobs-to-be-done, and exploring how AI can streamline operations.

I want to share with founders this double perspective: product experience in a rapid-growth environment, and the journey of building and operating an Africa-focused business. Areas where I can add value: founder storytelling and narrative, social media presence, product thinking, and building with AI as a non-technical founder.

I’m curious to learn about the problems founders are tackling, the business models they’re testing, the specifics of building and operating in Africa, and the ways they’re leveraging AI.
I believe the 21st century will be African, and that the continent will produce global champions in every category, not just local alternatives.

The first reason is personal. When I was a data scientist at Attijariwafa Bank, a pan-African bank, entrepreneurship wasn’t on my horizon. Four years at UpSlide working alongside the founders day-to-day demystified that, and I felt empowered and ready to take the entrepreneurial leap. I believe in the power of encounters to change trajectories and lead to unexpected places.

The second reason is curiosity. I’m building a media that covers Africa through the lens of innovation, so talking to founders about what they’re building, the problems they’re solving and the challenges they face is directly aligned with what I do at Nektar. As an entrepreneur, I’m also curious about how other founders operate, especially how they leverage AI both in their companies and on a personal level.

The third reason is connections. Mentoring is one of the best ways to meet and have genuine conversations with founders and operators, and to stay close to the ecosystem.