Lifestyle

Entrepreneur Shares Secrets to Success: How Rami Alame’s Digital Platforms and Workshops are Educating the Next Generation of Founders

Published

4 years ago

January 19, 2022

Rami Alame is a lawyer and serial entrepreneur with years of experience in the worlds of finance, entrepreneurship, and most recently, the emergent fields of NFTs and cryptocurrency. More significantly than this, perhaps, is Alame’s long time dedication to education and informative collaboration. A firm believer that education should and must continue long after graduation, the young founder and crypto expert has apportioned much of his energy towards establishing educational platforms that bring together leading thinkers and experienced entrepreneurs to lend their knowledge to the next generation of founders and innovators.

Among these platforms, one finds the Akylles Startup School, a community of accomplished, seasoned business people whose individual stories and experience shed light on the inevitably varied trajectories that define the world of entrepreneurship, offering a plethora of personal anecdotes as well as tangible, real world lessons aimed to guide emergent entrepreneurs in the founding, growing, and maintaining of their enterprises. The school represents the largest digital hub of its kind, boasting an impressive breadth of knowledge from a broad range of sectors and fields.

Essentially, the community works collectively to simplify the founding and scaling processes so that entrepreneurs can spend more time doing what they do best: leveraging their unique skill sets to corner market niches and establish successful startups. The Akylles Startup School functions as an ideal platform for extant enterprises seeking to maintain momentum and adapt strategies or approaches to consistently dynamic, often turbulent business ecosystems. In a world wracked by changes brought on through the proliferation of blockchain technology, Alame’s school offers to educate founders on the risks and opportunities presented by the ever growing world of NFTs, smart contracts, and cryptocurrencies.

Alame’s commitment to education extends far beyond the tech oriented digital platforms he’s worked to establish, however, and reaches into the more traditional educational spaces of universities, where a number of institutions have welcomed him as an honored speaker. His lectures have historically covered a broad range of subjects, including, but not limited to the navigation of dynamic cryptocurrency ecosystems, founding and maintaining startups, legal literacy and strategy, and self motivation. Alame has presented at the Lebanese American University, the American University of Beirut, Notre Dame University – Louaize, and Universite Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth, among others.

An accomplished author in addition to his other roles, Alame’s most recent book, ‘Startup Kudos’, functions as an intricate ‘how to’ guide for anyone looking to enter the world of entrepreneurship. Through a myriad of real life stories and examples, Alame demonstrates an intimate understanding of what it takes to found a successful business. The lessons presented in the book offer readers invaluable knowledge that they can deploy in any future entrepreneurial endeavors, delivered in a clear, easy to comprehend format by an experienced expert.

Education often serves to illuminate opportunity. Rami Alame’s persistent commitment to sharing his experiences and expertise with others who might wish to follow a similar path achieves just that: an understanding of opportunities they may have never come to appreciate otherwise. Whether through digital platforms, informative books, or public lectures, Alame has proved himself a capable educator as much as a successful entrepreneur.

To explore the Akylles Startup School community, visit: https://akylles.teachable.com/

To order your own copy of ‘Startup Kudos’ or to reach out to Alame, visit his website: https://ramialame.com/

Lifestyle

Confronting Propaganda: Street Smart Documents Honest Reactions to Gaza Indoctrination Footage

Published

5 days ago

November 6, 2025

Michelle Langton

Photo Courtesy of: Street Smart

Byline: Michelle Langton

In a recent project, the Street Smart team gathered 20 strangers and presented them with propaganda footage from Gaza that has circulated widely online but remains largely unfamiliar to many audiences. The aim wasn’t to provoke outrage or test media literacy in a classroom setting. It was to capture raw, unfiltered emotional reactions to material that reveals how narratives are formed at the source. The resulting video offers a candid look at how people process shocking content and how their perceptions shift when they see what is rarely shown on mainstream platforms.

The Structure of the Experiment

The format was simple. Participants were seated and shown a series of clips from Gaza, including children’s programming and broadcasts containing intense ideological messaging. No background information was provided, and viewers were not instructed on how to interpret what they were seeing. After watching, they were asked for immediate reactions.

The footage elicited a wide range of emotions. Some viewers were stunned by the content, admitting they had never seen anything like it before. Others expressed disbelief, questioning why this kind of material isn’t more widely discussed. A few were visibly shaken, saying the experience fundamentally altered their understanding of the situation.

By presenting the footage without narration or added commentary, Street Smart allowed participants’ genuine responses to emerge. The experiment revealed how propaganda can affect an entire generation. It can shock, unsettle, and force people to reconsider their assumptions.

Why This Project Matters

Sage Fox and Dorani aligned the purpose of this experiment with Street Smart’s broader mission of challenging prevailing narratives and encouraging critical thought among younger audiences. In an environment where footage spreads rapidly across digital platforms, propaganda can shape public opinion long before context catches up.

By showing the Gaza Indoctrination footage in a controlled setting and recording uncoached responses, the team aimed to expose the emotional and cognitive impact of this type of content.

“The first reaction is often the most revealing, because it shows how powerful images can be without context.”

The Range of Reactions

While each participant brought their own perspective, several themes emerged. Some expressed sympathy with the imagery itself, saying it was emotionally powerful.

One participant said, “It makes me question what I see online every day. How much of it is shaped this way?”

Their comments highlight how propaganda resonates differently depending on prior knowledge and exposure. Many viewers have simply never encountered such footage directly.

Street Smart’s Approach

This project continues a pattern established by Sage Fox & Dorani’s earlier videos. Rather than relying on experts or lengthy analysis, Street Smart focuses on real people and their honest reactions. The approach is simple but effective. Present potent material, listen to what people say, and share those moments with a wider audience.

The Gaza Indoctrination footage experiment fits this model. It doesn’t attempt to draw final conclusions or offer political commentary. Instead, it documents how people respond when they’re exposed to narratives that are usually filtered through intermediaries.

Implications for Media Literacy

Beyond its viral potential, the video raises broader questions about how people interact with powerful imagery online. Propaganda operates on emotional reflexes. As this experiment shows, those reflexes are often unexamined until they’re brought to the surface.

Sage Fox & Dorani hope that projects like this push audiences to think more critically about what they see and share.

“The purpose is not to tell people what to believe. It is to remind them that every image comes from somewhere, and that source matters,” they said.

Next Steps for Street Smart

As Street Smart’s platform grows, Sage Fox & Dorani plan to conduct similar experiments in different contexts. They intend to use their direct, street-level approach to highlight how people react when presented with challenging material.

The Gaza footage project is one piece of a larger mission. The team uses simple methods to shed light on complex issues. By focusing on authentic reactions, they continue to build a unique space in online media that blends cultural investigation with raw human response.

A Window into Unfiltered Thought

“We showed 20 strangers real propaganda footage from Gaza — and filmed their unfiltered reactions” is not a dramatic exposé or academic study. It is a clear, unmediated record of how individuals respond when confronted with material designed to persuade. In that restraint lies its strength.

By documenting these moments, Street Smart shows how awareness can begin with a pause. A brief space between seeing and believing.