The Journey Collection

A curated collection capturing people, experiences, and turning points that shape the deal-making path. 

Explore the entire Journey audio series in English & Arabic here.

About the Journey Collection by Amr Zain, the author

Explore the audio episodes in English  and Arabic .

Purpose

Ace is putting together the Journey collection to be accessible and resourceful for everyone on their journey. A few key reasons for preparing this collection follow:

• Strengthening genuine people-to-people connections

• Set benchmarks for best practice and motivate other dealmakers

• Give back to people that taught us key lessons along the journey

• Build a compass for business owners, investors, and friends as we navigate the deal-making journey to overcome challenges and appreciate the right opportunities

• Share range of experiences from the highs and lows of investment cycles and events, the pains and the gains, and from the range of people—the greedy and the generous, the optimist and pessimist, etc.

• The pieces only scratch the surface, triggering immersive and progressive conversations.

• What goes around comes around. By sharing useful lessons, one’s journey is enriched with new lessons.

Architecture

The individual pieces were first published in December 2022, and new pieces are going to be written as the author walks the journey. There is no limited number to the number of pieces created as the journey continues. 

Due to the wide range of paths around topics, regions, sectors, and market cycles, the content has been summarized to touch upon some aspects while leaving room for immersive discussions with the author through 1-to-1 conversations.

Ace Navigator

• The content for Ace Navigator (guides and expriences) does not address a specific place, event, or time; it is designed to provide guidance on any point on the deal-making journey. 

• The series is built through a reflection of learned lessons around a certain topic that has been visited frequently by business owners, investors, and dealmakers who cross paths.

• There is no specific sequence to follow. The series are independent and interrelated. Each piece can be read on its own without relying on other pieces, and different pieces can be combined to build greater wisdom. Readers can relate to the topic when it meets them on their journey.

Ace Compass

The Compass points to emerging regions and sectors through an investment thesis, signals, opportunities, and challenges. As markets shift, its directions — and the ways the content is used — are likely to evolve.

Publication or use by third parties 

The series is made available for free, and no party is permitted to monetize its content. We encourage anyone to share its content and intend for anyone to make use of the lessons learned.

Professional advice 

The content cannot be used on its own for professional advice on specific deals, and decision-makers should resort to professional advisors.

Inspiration 

The author, Amr Zain, started his investment banking journey in 2006, walking through several paths with investors, business owners, and people across more than 50 countries and many industries. The journey has been filled with challenges and rewards as he reflects on lessons learned from close people he encounters at a young age from an inspiring family and as he explores paths during his current journey. The success of this journey—and the lessons it brought—has been shaped by an invisible force [1] that moves markets and people in unpredictable ways; by the unwavering support of my lifelong partner, Gehad Ali, who embraces our story fully; by the warmth of an inspiring family; and by a diverse network of friends and colleagues from many cultures and industries who continue to enrich this path. Inspired by people-to-people.

Amr Zain, the author.

[1] Explore this concept in the book The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel, which touches upon this nicely. Markets and successful people always face invisible forces that shape them through unpredictable events