A tech entrepreneur turned investment banker and wealth manager, Michael Gale is the Group CEO of The Entrepreneurs Group, an advisory firm based in Abu Dhabi. Over his professional journey, Michael Gale has played a crucial role in successful globalization of some of the top global brands, including Apple, Macromedia, and F5. At The Entrepreneurs Group, Michael leads an amazing team, where they offer advisory services to entrepreneurs across their entire growth journey.
Filling the gaps entrepreneurs come across in their journey while switching between financial services and their providers, The Entrepreneur Group comes to the rescue. By leveraging the incredible opportunity provided by proprietary capital and being based in Abu Dhabi, the newest financial capital, Michael is empowering entrepreneurs and start-ups to build a global presence.
The Beginning Of Michael’s Professional Path
Michael Gale is a cross-border entrepreneur who grew up in Adelaide, South Australia and entered the nascent PC industry in 1983. His work experience spans across Asia and then he moved to Silicon Valley in the late 80s.
Michael Gale grew up in a household that valued travel, culture and the desire to improve the world in which we live. His mother was a prominent professor of Social Anthropology, and her position took enabled travel to both the US and the UK which provided profound insights into different cultures at a young age. His father was a Methodist minister which provided the desire to help others. As a young father at age 18, he became an entrepreneur. “The experience shaped me into who I am today, an investor and entrepreneur at the core, grounded by my cultural up brining.” Michael Gale adds.
His strong entrepreneurial spirit pushed him to become an early entrant to China, where he set up a JV for Macromedia and later, became one of the first westerners to sit on the Board of a Xinhua News Agency company. In the 2010s, Michael spent considerable time in Switzerland and the Middle East working in asset management, particularly Sharia compliant investment. And, till current times, he is an active asset manager in Switzerland and continues to travel extensively for his portfolio companies.
“I am currently working as a Chief Executive Officer of the advisory firm, The Entrepreneurs Group, where I am bringing my expertise to Abu Dhabi and I am aiming to mentor and support entrepreneurs who venture in the GCC area, thanks to my experience in Silicon Valley.” He adds, “I have experienced all the cycles of the industry to date as it morphed from PCs to dotcom and now tokens. My key asset is the entrepreneur spirit and the awareness of an investment banker. I now specialize in high growth companies with global ambitions.”
Regional Presence Of The Entrepreneurs Group
An Abu Dhabi-based provider of advisory services anchored to family offices and high-net-worth individuals in the GCC region, The Entrepreneurs Group is a unique boutique space that addresses global asset planning advisory and allocation needs. With their core offerings built around a multi-family office model, the company covers a wide spectrum of services, including advice and strategies relating to business management and growth, for portfolio investments. Michael mentions, “We support entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey, with a human-centered approach. We have a truly global network and a keen understanding of many different business cultures, and we focus on bringing this awareness in the GCC Region.”
Qualities Defining Successful Leadership
“To me, one of the best qualities in an entrepreneur is resilience. We analyze only our mistakes; therefore, I try to consider overall how many trials and errors someone can go through and still get back up. Success is built by this key element, which is typical of an entrepreneur. Creativity is also essential to succeed as an entrepreneur. You must have the courage to be flexible and only a creative mind-set will allow you that flexibility as it requires grit and a bold sense of purpose.
To achieve your dreams, you must stick with your number one goal, be it to be a successful entrepreneur or a wealthy individual or whatever that is that long term vision you have for yourself and your business.” Michael Gale shares.
Impact Of Tech-Driven Innovations
The Entrepreneurs Group thrives on thrives on strong knowledge and research by the team within themes such AI and newest entrepreneurial pitches. The team is constantly networking, meeting with some of the newest entrepreneurs and investors as well as season serial entrepreneurs and executives from the fortune 500. Although the group fosters technology as a tool, they still prefer to prioritize the people they do business with. Michael believes strongly in “humanitarian capitalism and finance.”
Michael Gale reflects, “In this regard AI will take away a lot of the transactional and information gathering and reporting aspects of finance and risk. This should enable the financial industry to work to the benefit of society better, but this also requires a rethink on some of the tenets of capitalism. I do prefer that The Entrepreneurs Group becomes a reference for our focus on Emotional Intelligence and not just for our technology and innovative approaches.”
Michael Gale was a pioneer of the digital era and still is. Michael Gale believes, importance should be placed around values first, the ability to listen and to take time for clients, not only on technological advancement or AI expertise. “On that, considering current trends, I do believe we are pioneers.”
Message For Aspiring Entrepreneurs
Based on his 40-year experience with startups, Michael believes he has a dual-track approach. “On one hand, I use a very prescribed format to build out a business strategy along with capital, exit, and go-to-market plans. On the other hand, I shoot from the hip at opportunistic targets,” Michael Gale adds.
“I think of it in terms of the ancient Indian board game ‘Snakes & Ladders.’ What we need to do is find a way to start playing the game of building the startup and then immediately try to hook onto the bottom rung of a ladder, particularly a big one, while avoiding any snakes or chutes. My biggest advice is to find the right mentor, the person or company which aligns with your values and understands your vision. The Entrepreneurs Group wants to be known for its focus on the human qualities of innovation creativity that create change and opportunity in the world and not the tools that humans deploy like AI,” Michael Gale mentions.
Follow Michael Gale on LinkedIn & https://www.michaelgale.com/
Find The Entrepreneurs Group on LinkedIn and visit their website https://www.teg.co.ae/
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