Human behavior is an incredibly complex thing. Mark Zuckerberg spent around $80 billion trying to understand and reshape it.
He had everything—billions of users, unlimited funding, and some of the best talent in the world.
Yet even after all that, users didn’t adopt the metaverse the way he expected.
That’s why I have massive respect for the companies in the UAE that have successfully changed human behavior.
At the top of that list is Careem.
Think about it—getting into a car driven by a complete stranger and trusting them to take you to your destination. Before Careem (and similar services), this wasn’t something people were comfortable with.
But today, it feels completely normal.
Another strong example is e& money (formerly Etisalat Wallet).
Convincing people to shift from cash to digital payments—especially in a region where cash was dominant—is a massive behavioral change.
Most startups don’t fail because of technology.
They don’t fail because of funding.
They fail because they couldn’t successfully change user behavior.
So whenever you’re building a startup or business that requires a shift in user behavior, don’t just focus on product development.
Design how you will communicate that behavioral change.
When I teach entrepreneurs about branding, I emphasize communication and customer behavior more than anything else.
Because if you fail at that, even with millions of users, unlimited funding, and world-class talent—just like Zuckerberg—you will still fail.