“Where do you see yourself in ten years?” A question that Ebrahim ElSafadi found himself answering in the interview for every job he applied for. While most of his friends’ answers included reaching senior positions in the corporate ladder, ElSafadi had a different answer.
To achieve his dream of launching his own “un-annoying” advertising agency, ElSafadi created “After 10 years I Will Be”, a website that will host brand logos for EGP 100 each.
ElSafadi was inspired by Alex Tew, a 21-year old British student who launched “The Million Dollar Homepage” in 2006, where he sold the website pixels for 1 dollar each to pay for his tuition fees.
After moving between unsatisfying jobs, ElSafadi decided to take a step towards doing what he wants to do. “I finished my university studies two years ago and I have been devastated ever since,” said ElSafadi, who has a degree in Information Technology. “I thought if I did not do this idea, I will keep standing still.”
“I got the idea for the advertising agency for three years ago, but had no resources to do it,” he said, “I want to launch an agency with new ideas that adds value to both the company and the consumer.”
Traditional advertising techniques, which involve “squishing” dull advertising content in the media, lowers the value of an advertisement, he said. Commercials should be designed in a creative way that makes them “bear a value”.
ElSafadi, who has launched a website with a description of the idea early this month, explained that his project involves several stages.
After he introduces his idea, he hopes people will start talking about it. This feedback will generate traffic and visibility to the website and consequently the hosted logos.
“I am not asking for money at this particular time, I just want people to spread the word,” he said. “If my idea reached an investor who is willing to help, I will achieve my goal.”
