The Big Falafel - ep 02 seg 04 - Map-Me(1)

From Jerusalem to Herzliya, we met up with Vice-President of MapMe, a new startup, Ahmad Younis, to learn more about what they are doing, and who he is. We are sitting here at the MapMe headquarters in Herzliya. With me, I have Ahmad Younis. You are the - fancy title - vice-president... Vice-President of Product Management. And MapMe is... MapMe is a tool that gives people the ability to create maps without having to code or have a technical background. So what you said is someone like me who doesn't get how to use her iPhone could still make a map. And not just a map like about "I want to go from here to here," but maps that can also be very creative. Yeah. So, who is Ahmad, who are you? I'm an Israeli-Arab, born in Jerusalem. I have a Master's Degree in Human-Computer interaction. And I'm currently here at MapMe doing work in the Israeli high-tech. I think it's really interesting online, you made it important two things that you're a meme expert, and that you're a food lover. You're so skinny I have a hard time believing you. Yeah, like in Herzliya Pituach, where MapMe is located, there is a lot of restaurants, international restaurants so every day is an adventure for a foody person. So, you could take this adventure going back to MapMe, you could actually map out the whole thing Yeah, it's going to be a big map though. In terms of if you were to map this office, I think it's very interesting because it's a very family-oriented office the founder was a father and a son, and you've also brought your own brother into this so what is it like working here? It's pretty diverse, although it is family oriented. So it's really interesting is that most of the time, when you think about Israel in the news obviously you see a lot of terrorism or bloody kind of stuff. Yeah, usually when it comes to co-existence and how people are working together it's never on the news. And here it is, it's happening, you're doing it, every single day, What is it like for you, being an Arab-Israeli and working here? I don't feel like any difference. In the end everybody is doing his work, everybody is doing his best, it's like, it's a normal life, what can I say? Where's MapMe going? We're building a new product which is MapMe Stories which is sort of a new media type, where you tell stories through maps. Cool. Can you tell me Ahmad through a map? Born in Jerusalem. It all started in Jerusalem Baby Ahmad, yeah. I studied my Bachelor's Degree in Amman in Jordan That was a big skip, just 18 years passed and that happened So the next place on the map is Tel Aviv where I started to attend meet-ups, events, conferences, to get into the tech scene. And then I worked for several companies, I started my Master's Degree in London, sometimes I had to go back and forth and then I worked for MapMe and I finished my degree from London. Mazal Tov! And these maps have also been used like in a terrorist attack for example in Paris, or here in Tel Aviv where people were able to figure out what was happening, where they could go, or how they could be safe a lot of different maps, I assume, could be created in those situations. Yeah, exactly. This is one of the MapMe Stories' goals. So if people want to make their own MapMe Stories or just make a map, how can they do that? Very simple. They go to MapMe.com Create Map, and in three simple steps you have a map. Thank you so much Ahmad for letting us in. Thank you to MapMe for letting us bother them while they're working hard at becoming a great success, and mapping the story. Thank you. That's it for the Big Falafel I've been Molly Livingstone you've been great. Get yourselves some high heels, learn how to defend yourselves check us out online at Full Frame Media on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram Snapchat, Periscope, Paris Hilton, whatever. That's it. Good night. See you later.