Breaking Down Barriers
Welcome to "Breaking Down Barriers," a podcast dedicated to uncovering the untold stories and invaluable insights from the visionary minds shaping the Middle East's vibrant technology landscape where we sit down with the region's most innovative Chief Technology Officers and Chief Product Officers, and executives from thriving startups, game-changing unicorns, high-growth scale-ups, and groundbreaking IPO companies.
Each episode will take you on an immersive journey through the personal experiences and hard-won wisdom of these extraordinary leaders. Discover the secrets behind their success in building and scaling companies that not only disrupt industries but also redefine the boundaries of what's possible.
Join us as we break down barriers and delve into the minds of the Middle East's most influential tech, product and executives on "Breaking Down Barriers."
We've made Breaking Down Barriers with our Supporting Partner AWS, and our Investment Partner Shorooq.
Breaking Down Barriers
How Stake reached 1.3B invested and 50M+ in rental payouts.
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Stake has quietly become one of the most powerful fintech + real estate platforms in the world.
- 1M+ users.
- AED 1.3B+ in transactions.
- 250,000+ investments across 500+ properties.
- AED 50M+ in rental income paid out.
- Now expanding across the US, KSA, and beyond.
In this episode, we sit down with Manar Mahmassani, Co-Founder & CEO, and Ricardo Brizido, Co-Founder & CTPO of Stake to unpack how they built a category-defining product, navigated brutal regulation, engineered trust at scale, and are reshaping global real-estate ownership through tokenisation and digital assets.
We go deep on product strategy, liquidity design and what it really takes to scale a regulated platform to millions of users.
Breaking Down Barriers - Hosted by Ricci Putnam, Chief Growth Officer @saltdigital
We cover:
- Is real estate finally becoming liquid?
- Can tokenisation unlock global access to institutional assets?
- What does the future of property ownership actually look like?
- How Stake reached AED 1.3B invested and 50M+ in rental payouts.
- Balancing regulation, user experience, and financial reliability.
- What decentralised, global property fintech means for investors and renters.
- Plans, innovations, and what the growth trajectory reveals.
- How scaling fintech with real estate differs from traditional startups.
Subscribe now to hear more stories from founders building at scale, and learn the secrets behind the platforms shaping the future of money and property.