From Investment Banking to Building Celebrity Brands | Bilal Mekkaoui | Paradigm

In a recent episode of Paradigm, Bilal Mekkaoui, Founder of Oui Collab, shares his journey from a successful career in investment banking to building culturally relevant consumer brands with some of the world’s most recognisable names.

The conversation explores Bilal’s early career advising technology companies at Deutsche Bank and UBS, where he developed deep experience across capital markets, fundraising, and strategic growth. He later took on leadership roles at Rocket Internet and Delivery Hero, gaining first-hand insight into scaling global technology businesses and navigating major growth milestones, including billion-dollar IPOs.

Bilal also reflects on the transition from finance to entrepreneurship, and how those experiences shaped the foundation for Oui Collab. The venture studio was created to partner with celebrity talent in building authentic consumer brands from the ground up, combining cultural influence with strong product positioning, operational discipline, and long-term business fundamentals.

Throughout the episode, Bilal discusses what makes a brand genuinely culturally relevant, why authenticity has become one of the most valuable assets in modern business, and how celebrity-led ventures can succeed when they are built around real founder involvement rather than surface-level endorsement.

The discussion also looks at Oui Collab’s expanding opportunities across the Middle East and India, as well as Bilal’s broader perspective on leadership, failure, team-building, and redefining success throughout a career.

His story reflects the core philosophy behind Oui Collab: building consumer brands that are not only culturally visible, but strategically designed to last.