Bruce (Baruch Meir) Gurfein makes his home in Dubai and has established dozens of startups throughout his career, with many based in the UAE (United Arab Emirates).
Bruce’s first exposure to the region was when he was in his 20s—when he was tasked with opening a dental pharmaceutical distribution company. Since then, he has started or partnered with dozens of startups ranging from telecommunications to producers of bandages to treat wounded soldiers.
Today, Bruce is the chief executive of Connect LLC, a technology investment firm owned by Abdullah Al Naboodah, one of the UAE’s wealthiest men. Bruce selectively advises and assists other companies looking to make inroads in the region.
We spoke about a number of topics, including how he manages so many different projects at once, his advice for someone looking to bring their business to the UAE and his methods for starting so many different businesses.
As if Bruce wasn’t interesting enough, he was running (yes, running) for most of the interview. Oh, and he claims to host the best Kiddush in Dubai. I will need to check this out for myself one day. Enjoy! —Nesanel
I was born in 1976 to two American parents in New York. My family is seven generations American on my mother’s side and eight generations on my father’s side. I’m the oldest of nine children, and while my father worked, my mother stayed home to raise us. Besides being involved in kiruv, my father was a script writer for a time.
“Throughout my childhood, we moved back and forth between Israel and America. My father was one of the founders of the “Discovery” program at Aish HaTorah. He wanted to go to yeshivah when he wasn’t working, so in order for him to learn, we would go to Eretz Yisrael for different periods. When he was working, we would live in the US. One of the nice things about being a kid is you never have to ask your parents where they make their money, so I honestly don’t know how we could afford this dual lifestyle.
“Growing up, I went to yeshivahs in Switzerland and Israel. In Monsey, I went to the local cheder. It wasn’t difficult moving around often; I have no childhood trauma. After my bar mitzvah, I went to Rachmastrivka, and then I learned by Rav Kopelman in Lucerne when I was 14. I didn’t go to high school or college, but I can speak 11 languages and read and write in six. So I don’t think it made a difference.
“I was a troublemaker in yeshivah. I was always hyperactive, always getting thrown out of class, but I was loved by everyone, and I did know all of Shishah Sidrei Mishnah by heart when I was a teenager. I loved to explore. I once hitchhiked all the way from London to Sweden when I was 16 years old. Of course my parents didn’t know about that until I came home.
“I went to Australia when I was 16 and ended up staying there for two years. I got myself into a Chabad yeshivah and ended up getting smichah from Rav Groner, zt”l. During my time there, I had some odd jobs. Among other things, I worked for the butcher in Melbourne, cutting meat, and I cleaned cars at a rental company. I wasn’t scared of hard work.
“When I left, I moved to Israel to live with my mother. By then, my parents had gotten divorced. I started learning self-defense for a couple of months, and then I got arrested by the Israeli police. I was charged with the attempted murder of three policemen at a Shabbos demonstration. How’s that for a sentence?
“Here’s what really happened: I was walking back from the Kotel on a Friday night, and I saw a group of cops beating up a kid. I walked up to them and told them they should try beating up someone their own size. So they did. It became a huge fight; some guys from the Or Hachaim yeshivah nearby came and grabbed one of the policemen and then I was handcuffed. It became a whole big thing. I spent two weeks in prison, five months on house arrest and then they let me go.
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