Ahmed Alkhatib, the Founder and CEO of MarkaVIP, is responsible for the overall strategic direction and management of the company. Ahmed established MarkaVIP in November 2010, adapting the tried-and-tested flash sales model to suit local consumers and retailers in the Middle East. With 10 years’ experience living and working in Silicon Valley, Ahmed brings a wealth of expertise in developing business and technology solutions and applying them to augment, improve, and transform e-commerce environments. A Jordanian American, Ahmed moved to the Middle East from the United States in 2009, leaving his role as the Director of Infrastructure and Operations at Zazzle.com. There he developed the worldwide content delivery of Zazzle.com’s e-commerce application platform to an online audience of millions. Prior to this, Ahmed held management roles in IT Infrastructure and Operations at two leading software development companies in the United States, CAST and Certain Software. In his early career, Ahmed gained valuable experience working on some of the world’s most recognised online brands during their start-up years, including eBay and Amazon. Ahmed graduated from the University of California in 2001, with a degree in Information Management Systems.