Freedom is hard

Why do I live where I live?

I live in London. I moved here in 2018 after a two-year stint in Amsterdam, a year in France, and, before that, my hometown: Damascus, Syria.

Now, why London? Quite simply, because—along with Berlin—it’s the best place in Europe for startups and for taking risks (Whether Europe itself is losing its edge is a discussion for another time.)

Outside the continent, the obvious hubs are the United States and China.

So why London specifically? For me, the one-word answer is freedom.

A quick timeline to understand the back story:

• 2013: Completed a five-year bachelor’s degree in Information Technology and AI in Syria.
• 2014-2015: Moved to France for an M.Sc. in Ubiquitous Computing and AI.
• 2018: Worked in Amsterdam at the ed-tech startup Squla. (I love Amsterdam and the Dutch. They are hard-working like the Germans yet playful like the Italians, at least in my experience.)
• 2018 – present: Moved to the UK with only my Syrian passport—i.e., as a non-EU citizen.

Where does freedom enter the picture?

For non-EU or non-UK citizens, residency in most European countries is tied to being a student or holding an employment contract. In Germany, the Netherlands, and France that meant I had to stay as an employee; starting my own company was effectively off-limits.

The UK’s Exceptional Talent visa (now the Global Talent visa) changed everything. It grants a five-year residence permit with no employment restrictions. I can be an employee or an employer—and over the past six years I’ve been both:

• Employee #5 at Neurofenix
• Founder of Almeta (later pivoted to Alphazed TheAlphazed.com)
• Head of Engineering at Noon
• CTO co-founder of SpatialX, working to help cure cancer

Freedom is precious and hard-won; it should be cherished above all else. That, more than anything, is why I chose the UK 7 years ago.

Salam. Peace.