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#15: Escaping Dictatorship, Hacking the Internet, and Building a World-Class AI Platform

2025/6/18

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Waseem Alshikh

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Waseem Alshikh: 我17岁在叙利亚创办了我的第一家公司，但政府想以一美元的价格夺走它，所以我拒绝了。他们把我关进了监狱，这让我非常愤怒。为了报复，我决定黑掉整个国家的互联网，并成功地关闭了两周。之后，我逃到了黎巴嫩，并在那里开始学习英语和计算机科学。这段经历充满了挑战，但也让我变得更加坚强和有决心。

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Chapters

Waseem Alshikh's entrepreneurial journey began in Syria, where he built a successful digital mapping startup. His defiance of the government led to imprisonment, internet hacking, and eventual escape to Lebanon. He then learned English, mastered computer science, and eventually transitioned into the world of AI, creating open-source NLP tools.

Founded a digital mapping startup in Syria at a young age
Imprisoned by the Syrian government for refusing to hand over his company
Hacked the Syrian internet in retaliation
Escaped to Lebanon and learned English
Created open-source NLP tools and transitioned into AI

Shownotes Transcript

How do you build an AI company trusted by the world's top enterprises, while surviving political oppression, hacking a country's internet, and rewriting the future of work?

In this episode, Waseem Alshikh, co-founder and CTO of Writer, shares his extraordinary story. At 17, he launched his first startup in Syria — only to be imprisoned when the government tried to steal it for one dollar. In retaliation, he shut down the country's internet and fled to Lebanon. From there, he taught himself English, built groundbreaking NLP tools, and eventually launched one of the world's most trusted AI platforms.

We explore how Writer built its own LLMs to serve enterprises like Uber, Deloitte, and Spotify; how AI agents are replacing outdated internal tools; and how a new generation of founders is reshaping pricing, trust, and innovation in the AI era.

This episode is a masterclass in surviving chaos, scaling with focus, and building AI-first from Day One.

Follow Waseem Alshikh - X (Twitter): https://x.com/waseem_s)

Follow Derek Andersen - X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/derekjandersen)

Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction to the Syrian Regime Collapse

00:49 - Early Success with Digital Mapping

01:42 - Government Takeover and Jail Experience

04:00 - Hacking the Internet for Revenge

05:36 - Escape to Lebanon and New Beginnings

06:44 - Learning English and Computer Science

08:08 - Transitioning to AI and Open Source

09:22 - Building Generative AI Models