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Everywhere you go in the Middle East you hear the buzz of entrepreneurship. You feel the pulse of the generation of doers. In each of the ten countries I visited in the Middle East, there are mandates, endowments, funds, funds of funds, grants, free loans and hundreds of other efforts to try and support the growth of the overall entrepreneurial ecosystem. In total between all these countries I think over $20 billion has been allocated to build knowledge-based economies so that when the oil runs out and real estate crashes again, the people of these countries still have jobs.

Just in the past month, I have heard of a $7 billion fund to support Kuwaiti entrepreneurs. The Central Bank of Lebanon has allotted $400 million in a bold move to secure banks, who then funnel the money to funds to invest in Lebanese companies. In Saudi Arabia there is a $2 billion dollar endowment to sector-specific incubators. Over $1 billion has been pledged to Emiratis to start businesses. Doha is supporting 11 different ecosystems with a $300 million endowment. And the list goes on.

While all this is great, everyone seems to be missing one very important issue: nobody is trying to fix the support mechanism. In Turkey an investor is investing his own money and giving companies growth capital by investing in them and their future. He has deployed millions in an effort to do his part to fix the ecosystem and to generate returns for himself. He’s not doing this because he is bored out of his mind and donating money is his favorite pastime. But critics worry that “he is giving the too much money and artificially inflating their valuations." Others simply prefer to sit and wait to see what happens, betting “he is going to lose millions.” In my opinion, as these people “sit and wait,” they will miss the bus. Unless they weren’t serious about taking the bus in the first place.

So here is the low down: fix the (terrible) terms entrepreneurs are given, fix the cap tables, fix valuations, and implement better laws to make it actually easy to set up and get started. Don't take 30% for $30k. Don't be asked for board seats in companies if you have no clue how to bring value as a board member. Don't force entrepreneurs to give up too much too early. Bring value, answer emails, be on time, respect people’s time. If you offer to help, actually do it and don’t say Inchallah and then never respond! Syndicate with as many other investors as possible. Share deals. Believe in the entrepreneurs and empower them to follow their dream. Give them the ammunition to fight another day.

Along the way, I have come across only a handful of individuals who actually believe in the ecosystem and their country as a market. More times than not, I hear "the entrepreneurs are not ready or committed" or "there are no exits and there is no way there can be IPOs." Again the naysayers out way the believes 10 to 1. The funny thing is that the market is there and after bringing 12 teams to Silicon Valley for PITME Labs, the biggest feedback we got from the 147 mentors was: "I can't believe that there are this many smart, committed, passionate, educated, knowledgeable and humble entrepreneurs in the Middle East."

More often than not, I have heard a US or global credible investor say after looking at a deal coming from the Middle East: "I would not touch this with a ten foot pole," not because the entrepreneur wasn't committed or the market opportunity was not there but because the terms given in the previous round have destroyed any chance of anyone ever wanting to invest.

The Middle East is the final frontier of a market that has no dominate player on any vertical. Over the next 5 years, there are tons of opportunities for startups to build solid businesses, but only if the investors start realizing that if they continue to strong arm the entrepreneurs and continue giving the terms they are giving, all they are doing is sabotaging themselves and the entire ecosystem.

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More about Nima Adelkhani

Nima AdelKhani is the founder of PITME. He and others who share his views have started a petition on Change.org called "Better Terms in MENA".