Our first week in Dubai taught us more than we expected, about ambition, connection, and storytelling. Here’s what we learned from Expand North Star, and our journey growing Thinking Hat Media in the Middle East
If you’ve ever been to Dubai, you’ll know, it’s not a city that does things halfway. Skylines stretch higher, ideas move faster, and there’s an energy that makes you feel like the future is being built right in front of you.
Earlier this month, we were on the ground at Expand North Star, one of the world’s biggest startup and tech events, and our first major project since Thinking Hat Media officially opened its doors in Dubai.
It was a whirlwind week of conversations, panels, late nights, and far too many cups of coffee.
We also hosted a group of brilliant international journalists from around the world, from Brazil to France, Ghana to China, for a week of exploring Dubai’s startup scene and hearing stories from founders, innovators, and investors.
Between the press trip and the event itself, we learned a lot, not just about Dubai, but about people, storytelling, and what it means to grow in new places.
Here are a few of the lessons that stuck with us:
- Dubai doesn’t wait for the future – it builds it
At Expand North Star, every conversation felt like a glimpse into what’s next. From robotics to AI, founders weren’t just predicting the future, they were already living it. We sat in on a fireside chat with H.E. Omar Sultan Al Olama, the UAE’s Minister of State for AI, who spoke about how innovation isn’t just about tech, but about mindset, how Dubai’s real advantage is its willingness to do rather than talk.
That spirit runs through everything here. You can feel it in the way people work, collaborate, and dream.
- The world meets in Dubai
On any given day at the event, you could bump into a founder from Nairobi, a journalist from Toronto, and an investor from Singapore, all in one conversation. We saw deals discussed between startups that had never met before that morning. We watched journalists discover local stories that deserved a global audience. It’s cliché to call Dubai a “hub,” but it really is a crossroads, a place where different parts of the world actually talk to each other.
- Connection beats perfection
Between the early morning shuttles, shared coffees, and sprinting between pavilions, we found the best part of the week wasn’t the schedule, it was the people. There was laughter, learning, and the kind of conversations you can’t plan for, unexpected facts about people’s lives, random chats with founders in crowded halls, and genuine connections that reminded us why we love this work. Those moments are what make every
6 AM start worth it.
- Stories travel further than strategy
You can have the best product in the world, but if you can’t tell your story, it gets lost in the noise. The founders who stood out weren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest booths, but the ones who could tell you, simply and passionately, why they started. That’s what we do at Thinking Hat every day, help people find their story. And in Dubai, we saw that storytelling still matters more than ever, even in a world obsessed with algorithms and AI.
- Expansion isn’t just geography, it’s a mindset
Opening an office in Dubai isn’t just a pin on a map for us. It’s a reminder to stay curious, to keep learning, and to push ourselves into new conversations. This city has a special kind of ambition that’s not just loud, but relentless. You see it in every founder, every organiser, every person hustling to make something new. That’s the kind of energy we want to bring into everything we do next, in Dubai, London, and wherever else our stories take us.
So what now?
As we unpack from one whirlwind week and look ahead to what’s next, we’re feeling grateful for the people we met, the stories we heard, and the chance to be part of something genuinely exciting. Here’s to new beginnings, bold ideas, and the caffeine-fuelled chaos that makes it all possible.
