Balancing the Grind with Mo Moubayed, Co-Founder & Co-CEO at Veridooh

Mo Moubayed is the Co-Founder & Co-CEO at Veridooh, a company on a mission to grow out-of-home advertising through transparency.

1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?

I started working as a lawyer after finishing university and while the experience has given me valuable skills I’ve used throughout my career, it’s not what I was passionate about. After meeting Veridooh co-founder Jeremy Yang we found both of us shared similar interests and we’ve gone on to launch, fail, and succeed on a number of businesses together.

In 2017, Jeremy and I began looking into launching a digital out-of-home (DOOH) network when we realised the sector desperately needed independent verification for DOOH campaigns. So in 2019, after endless meetings and hours of product development we launched Veridooh to provide this solution. We were lucky enough to exit one of our previous businesses and pour the proceeds into this new venture. 

As one of the cofounders, I focus on growth and business development at Veridooh and have been spending time in the UK to set up the company’s first team outside of Australia! I now work closely with the team in London, building our relationships here which has been a great journey.

2) What does a day in your life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?

While I am in the UK, my schedule looks vastly different than when I am back home. 

6am – Wake up + get ready + black coffee + stretch, meditate or take a quick walk.

7am – Two hours dedicated to meetings in Sydney. This is made up of at least 30 min with my co-founder Jeremy, 30 min with a direct report and 1 hour left for anyone else in the business who would like to catch up with me. 

9am – Take a breath and recalibrate to be ready for the UK. Check Slack and emails and create a to-do list for anything that I cannot respond to immediately. Plan out my day and my goals. 

10am – Catch up with the UK team for our daily stand up. This is also a good time to share new ideas with each other and see how we can support each other. Most times we are prepping for the new clients and stakeholder meetings for the day. 

10:30am – Usually a good time for external meetings via video call or in person, peppered with knocking some stuff off my to-do list. 

1pm – Lunch 

2pm – Deep work: Everyone in Sydney is sleeping and the UK team is in motion. I try to allocate at least 2 hours of deep work a day – the more the better.

3pm – Coffee break for 15 minutes. This time an oat cappuccino. 

5pm – Get back in and check emails and finish smaller tasks. 

6pm – Functional weights training or yoga (Yin is my favourite style to balance out the intense functional weight training I do on other days). 

7pm – Try to log off and enjoy some of London. 

9pm – Sometimes in the weeknights I will log back on if I get inspired and work on parts of Veridooh that need absolute silence – this is usually on a project that I really enjoy. 

3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?

Now that I’m in the UK my role is completely remote. Even though Veridooh has had a flexible work policy in place since the pandemic, I was usually going into the office every day when I was in Sydney. I love the energy that my team brings and I value human connection and collaboration. It inspires me to be better when I am with my team in person. 

In London, I either work from home or use a shared office space with the rest of the team here when we need to work together. This way we don’t miss out on the collaboration that can only happen when you’re in the same place. On the other hand, when I’m working from home it means I have those extra hours in the morning that I need to catch up with the Sydney team before they clock off for the day.

4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?

I understand that to perform your best at work (and in life for that matter), you must value and invest in your mental, physical, family, and social health. If you focus on those things, you will be better at work.

Secondly, if you are passionate about your work, is it really work? And if it’s not work, then what is work/life balance? Without getting too existential, I love working on Veridooh and enjoying committing the relevant time for it to grow as long as I can also have some deep time for myself, family and friends.

5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?

My routines and habits have totally been flipped on their head. In Sydney, my mornings were my sacred time. I would wake up at 6am, meditate, go for a swim or hit the gym and have a coffee with my wife prior to my work day starting.

After a morning like that I felt invincible and could tackle any challenge. Now I have had to challenge myself to rethink my routines where my mornings are dominated by meetings because of my timezone. I am still working on finding the right routine while I am in London but I believe that change is inevitable and I will form new routines where I can perform at my best. 

If I think about the biggest habit that changed my life over the past 12 months to perform better, it’s getting to bed earlier and having a wind-down routine prior to bed to ensure my sleep was optimal. 

6) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?

Newsletter: Tom Tunguz Newsletter

Book: Zero to One by Peter Thiel 

7) Are there any products, gadgets or apps that you can’t live without?

Notes to capture my ideas and Calendar to ensure I am where I need to be and on time. 

8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be? 

Muhammad Ali.

9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?

We are all striving for equilibrium, but at any one point in micro time you may be leaning more towards work or life. As long as you are living in the moment, value yourself and your work then at a macro level work-life balance should be achieved. Also, things change, so be flexible and evolve with them, what works for you today may not work for you tomorrow. 

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