Paras Barot has sat on both sides of the table, from Goldman Sachs, HSBC, UniCredit, and Marshall Wace, and now outside, as an angel investor who’s backed by more than 20 startups and mentored founders across the UAE. That combination gives him a pretty rare view: he knows what corporate discipline looks like, and he knows exactly why most of it needs to be unlearned the moment you start a company.
On the latest episode of Impact Makers by MoneyPetrol, powered by RG Group, Paras got specific about what actually separates fundable founders from the rest and it wasn’t a pitch deck.
Why He Left Goldman Sachs to Bet on Founders Instead
Paras didn’t frame his move from banking to angel investing as some dramatic escape from corporate life. It was more of a natural pull toward being closer to where value actually gets created — in the messy, early stages of a business, before anything is proven. Dubai’s startup scene, still young compared to Silicon Valley or London, gave him a place to apply that experience where it could make an outsized difference.
Corporate Habits That Quietly Kill Startups
Here’s something most first-time founders don’t expect: the instincts that make you good at a corporate job can actively work against you as an entrepreneur. Paras pointed to the habit of waiting for consensus, over-planning before acting, and needing approval before making a call, all standard in a big bank, all fatal in a startup where speed and instinct matter more than process. Unlearning that is step one for anyone coming from a corporate background.
The No.1 Red Flag That Makes Investors Walk Away
Every investor has a dealbreaker. For Paras, it’s a founder who isn’t coachable, someone who is unwilling to hear feedback, question their own assumptions, or pivot when the evidence says they should. Skill and vision matter, but if a founder can’t take input and adjust, Paras made clear that’s usually where his interest ends.
Networking Matters More Than Funding, Especially in Dubai
This one might surprise founders obsessed with chasing investors: Paras argued that in Dubai specifically, building real relationships matters more than raising money early. The UAE’s startup ecosystem runs heavily on trust and warm introductions, so founders who invest in genuine networks, not just cold outreach to VCs, end up with better access to capital, partnerships, and opportunities down the line.
Execution Beats a Great Idea, Every Time
A recurring theme in the conversation: ideas are cheap, execution isn’t. Paras has seen plenty of strong ideas go nowhere because the founder couldn’t actually build, sell, and iterate fast enough, and mediocre ideas succeed because the team behind them executed relentlessly. For investors evaluating founders, execution track record tells them far more than the idea on the slide.
AI Startups: Where the Real Opportunity Is
With AI dominating every pitch deck right now, Paras offered a grounded take: the opportunity isn’t just in building another AI wrapper — it’s in applying AI to solve specific, unglamorous problems in existing industries. He also pointed to opportunities beyond AI entirely, a reminder that chasing whatever’s trending isn’t the same as chasing what’s actually valuable.
You Can Start a Business in Dubai With $10,000
One of the more practical moments in the episode: Paras broke down how founders can realistically get a business off the ground in Dubai with a relatively modest budget, proof that the barrier to starting isn’t always capital, it’s clarity and discipline about where that capital goes.
His Final Advice: Build Real Human Connections
Paras closed the conversation the way he had opened it, returning to relationships. Behind every successful business, he said, are genuine human connections built over time, not just transactions. For founders trying to raise money, find customers, or build a team, that principle doesn’t change no matter how much the tools and trends around startups do.
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