I am Talal Al Hammad. I chose trust over speed in media

Talal Al Hammad does not speak about media as a product or a trend. He treats it as a system, one that either earns trust over time or collapses quietly. His path into entrepreneurship and technology did not begin with ambition or strategy. It began with observation, and with an early understanding that tools matter less than the behaviours they reshape.

When asked about his earliest years, Al Hammad traces the roots of his thinking to an internet café job during his final years of study. He was surrounded by devices, but his attention stayed with the people using them. He noticed how access to technology altered decisions, habits, and opportunity itself. That insight, that technology reshapes behaviour before it reshapes markets, became the foundation for everything he later built, in both media and technology.

When the conversation turns to his first entrepreneurial experience, Al Hammad describes a business that operated almost entirely through clarity and written communication. Discovering VoIP through online forums, he and a partner positioned themselves as a link between global service providers and clients. A provider could be in Madrid, a client in New York, and the entire relationship ran through email.

There were no meetings and no personal relationships. Only value. The lesson stayed with him. Capital is not the starting point. Understanding, discipline, and trust are. Often, that trust is built through words rather than presence.

Asked to reflect on the experience that recalibrated his standards, Al Hammad points to Cointelegraph Arabic. The project began almost accidentally. He noticed the absence of an Arabic edition for a major global cryptocurrency platform and reached out. The first answer was no. Months later, it changed.

He and his partner started with translation, editing, and publishing, then slowly built a team. The real challenge was not linguistic. It was ethical. Cryptocurrency is a sensitive financial sector, and errors carry consequences. From that phase came a rule he still holds. Speed without accuracy is dangerous, and specialised media cannot afford recklessness.

Pressed on what working inside a global newsroom revealed, Al Hammad is direct. Media is not opinion. It is process. Verification, sourcing, review, then publishing. Emotion has no place in the workflow, and haste is a liability.

Any platform without an editorial system, regardless of reach or popularity, is built to fade. Process, not personality, is what keeps media standing.

On the question of why he founded entArabi, Al Hammad frames it as a matter of perspective. The region did not lack platforms. It lacked platforms that genuinely understood the local market and treated it seriously. After five years at Cointelegraph Arabic, the experience, network, and team were already there.

entArabi was never designed to compete on breaking news. It was built to become a reference. In a short time, it became a trusted media partner at major regional events. Its focus remains on overlooked stories, told with depth and context. Entrepreneurs deserve more than headlines. International companies entering the region also need visibility rooted in trust, not surface-level exposure.

Asked about the balance between management and editorial leadership, Al Hammad refuses to separate them. Management exists to serve the editorial mission, not the other way around. Any commercial decision that compromises credibility is rejected.

Numbers matter, but trust matters more. A media platform that sells credibility to survive one month loses itself for years.

When asked when it became clear that media is not a trend game, his answer is structural. Media attracts attention quickly and monetises slowly. Trends create visibility, not relationships.

Real media functions like infrastructure. It is not always visible, but it carries everyone. Those who think in campaign cycles burn out. Those who think in continuity arrive later and stay longer. At entArabi, trust is treated as a long-term cost worth paying. When founders say an article led to investor interest, it confirms the role media should play, enabling the ecosystem rather than exploiting it.

On the difference between media and technology management, Al Hammad draws a clear line. In technology, mistakes are part of progress. In media, one mistake can end everything.

Technology is governed by efficiency. Media is governed by trust. Every operational decision at entArabi passes a single filter. Does this serve the reader and protect credibility. If not, the decision has no value, regardless of financial upside.

Asked to assess the regional media landscape, Al Hammad acknowledges real progress. Initiatives by the Saudi Journalists Association, SRMG, and the Saudi Media Forum have created an environment that did not previously exist. Saudi Arabia is no longer only consuming media. It is producing it.

When the conversation shifts to gaps in coverage, Al Hammad points to geography. Too many local stories go untold. Entrepreneurs in Sudan, Libya, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon remain underrepresented, despite being integral to the ecosystem.

Telling these stories is not charity. It is investment, in awareness, continuity, and hope. In this sense, media becomes a form of real soft power.

Pressed on common founder errors, Al Hammad lists them without drama. Rushed decisions. Poor partner choices. Neglecting documentation and cash flow. Many leave stable jobs driven by excitement rather than calculation. Others rely on personal trust without legal structure. Businesses are not built on intention alone.

Asked to offer one piece of advice, he chooses balance. Passion is powerful, but unmanaged passion is destructive. Delaying personal life in the name of building a future is an illusion. The cost always appears later.

On what lies ahead, Al Hammad explains that entArabi has followed a deliberate roadmap. The first year focused on foundations and editorial systems. The second on partnerships and trust. The third on expansion, reach, and influence.

The next phase moves beyond publishing. entArabi aims to become an ecosystem enabler, offering tools, visibility, and insights that help startups grow while connecting founders, investors, and operators across the region.

His role remains consistent. Amplifying founders’ stories, guiding investors towards overlooked potential, and equipping young entrepreneurs with the insight needed to make informed decisions. Media, when done properly, does not chase attention. It builds understanding.