How An App Is Solving The Global Epidemic Of Loneliness | Michael Askew

In this episode of In the ARENA, I am joined by Michael Askew, Co-Founder and CEO of the Belong App. Michael and his co-founder recognized the large number of people who suffered from loneliness, including himself.  With a mission to help others, the Belong App was born and has seen significant success in the last 2 years.  Key podcast topics: The importance of community How to raise capital Challenges of being an entrepreneur Michael’s biography: Michael moved from London to Riyadh in his early twenties to work as a Project Manager. He traveled there alone and quickly realized that meeting new like-minded people was very challenging, to say the least. After living in Riyadh away from his family and friends, Michael began to notice a negative impact on his emotional and mental wellbeing. He then moved to Dubai and believed that it would be easier to meet new people. In reality, it wasn’t and it became apparent that others were facing similar challenges. As a result of this, Matt and Michael came together to bring this concept to life that is needed in today’s world.  Podcast highlights: 00:00 Introduction 03:20 Life in Saudi 07:02 The importance of community in combating loneliness 09:30 Entrepreneurship from a young age 12:05 The beginning of Belong24:55 Raising capital 31:31 The Gladiator Mindset 32:51 The challenges of being an entrepreneur 38:24 How to find a founder 40:49 The feature that pivoted Belong’s success 52:03 The value Belong provides 59:00 Expanding to the United States 1:05:31 Activating cities and events 1:13:59 Plans for the future 1:15:01 Investing in startups and business advice 1:35:30 Boxing and traveling Stay Connected: For more enlightening interviews featuring Gladiators and titans of the industry, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube Channel. You can also connect with me on the following social platforms: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dariushsoudiofficial/ Threads: https://www.threads.net/@dariushsoudi Twitter: https://twitter.com/dariushspeaks TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dariushsoudiofficial Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DariushSoudiOfficial LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dariushsoudi/ Website: https://dariushsoudi.com Gladiator Mastery: https://gladiatorsmastery.com