Dubai duo's friendship recipe for success: Trailblazing Middle East dining and ‘making money while you sleep'

What could be more fun than building a business?

Building it with a friend.

After speaking with the upbeat founders of Supper Club, Mehreen Omar and Muna Mustafa, you might just be tempted to grab your close friend and start something of your own. The two are each other’s ‘Yin’ and ‘Yang,’ wearing their story on their sleeves: A journey that began at a corporate company, evolved into their own startup, traversing the ups and downs, the learnings and un-learnings—and finally led them to launch another venture armed with all the lessons they had gathered.

With smiles, laughter, and plenty of cheer, they recount their beginnings, many beginnings, in fact, and how far they’ve come.

How do you know you’ve found the person you’re meant to build a business with?

Sometimes, it’s a series of little revelations.

Omar was the director and head of sales at Groupon UAE when Mustafa walked in—clearly not feeling her best. As Omar recalls, she gave her a playful test: Sell a pot of tea. Mustafa’s confidence was so impressive that Omar knew she had found someone distinct.

An interview had already foretold the future of a close partnership.

Once hired, the two quickly discovered that together, they worked like magic. “We just grew as a team, broke records, and did so well together,” Omar says. There was an automatic synergy between them. And while disagreements naturally happened, they always found a way to succeed.

 As we would say, they just “crushed it” together.

Watching them is a delight, they laugh through the highs and lows, often finishing each other’s sentences. It’s a testament to how perfectly they complement each other.

There’s drive. Conviction. And above all, trust. What do they like about each other? Many things. “Mehreen is a hustler,” Mustafa adds. Both have a strong fight in them.  Perhaps that’s exactly what startup ideas need: rigor, solid concepts, a hunger to execute, and the willingness to brainstorm relentlessly—even when a solution seems impossible.

With their fiery, unstoppable energy, the two realised they needed to do more. Neither had envisioned entrepreneurship before, though perhaps both shared a ‘dream of earning’ while they sleep. So, they set out to create something that not only worked for them but made life easier for others. And with that vision, they launched their first startup: NoQ.

NoQ- Why Wait was a dream for coffee-lovers. It enabled users to pre-order, pay for coffee ahead, and pick up without waiting.

But, while it was good in theory, the practicalities of a startup began to weigh on them. “It was too operationally heavy,” explains Omar.

They went all out and ‘jumped off the cliff’, as they say.  Signed on partners, paid high salaries and chased perfection. “We didn’t delegate and did everything ourselves,” she adds. It’s the ‘my-baby’ syndrome, she explains and that’s something that can prove harmful in the long run in startups. They carried every email, every meeting and every decision themselves.

Inevitably, they burned out. In cash, and in mental health. “Instead of building momentum, we built bottlenecks. We lost sight of the bigger picture. The pressure mounted, and ultimately, we had to shelve the business. It wasn’t sustainable, not financially or for us as founders,” adds Mustafa. 

But they didn’t give up. It might have been gutting and painful, but sometimes, you just pick up the pieces and build something new, as much as it hurts.  Fighting back disillusion and fatigue that would normally hinder many, they pressed on.

They had learnt that chasing perfection was just destructive for progress, and those who try to do everything themselves, just standing in their way.

With a new spirit, they decided to go the 'opposite way' for their next venture.

And that’s where SupperClub comes in.

They ‘jumped off the cliff’ in freefall, but this time, they assembled the plane on the way down, as Mustafa says.

And, they flew.

For starters, the path to SupperClub in 2020 had been there all along. It wasn’t born in a boardroom—it was born out of frustration. Both of them were tired of “dining benefits” that didn’t deliver real value. They wanted something more seamless, generous, and human.

While working closely with 5-star hotels, they noticed recurring challenges: premium venues were often listed alongside fast-food chains and faced prohibitive partnership costs. Delivering the luxury experience they promised proved difficult. The disconnect was clear—and it sparked the vision for something better. Many discount platforms have enjoyed success over the years, but their systems often overlook a key social factor: clients want to enjoy benefits seamlessly and discreetly, without drawing attention.

So, they built SupperClub to bridge that gap. It’s part of their philosophy: build what you wish existed. Why wait for the perfect solution?

And so, the seeds of the platform were sown: a membership platform designed for those who value experiences. Members enjoy access to 5-star dining and leisure with easy booking and no codes, while venues benefit from a model that protects and elevates their premium positioning.

The idea was simple but powerful: solve a real problem, build it with heart, and keep going when it gets hard.

Learning from their previous startup, they decided to approach things differently. “We started lean, kept the team small, focused on value instead of vanity, and learned to delegate early. That shift changed everything, and it’s why SupperClub has thrived where the first business didn’t,” explains Omar.

No doubt, it's a journey rich filled with lessons. So, what learnings can be drawn from their journey?

You want to be an entrepreneur? Start yesterday, as Mustafa says. Both of them have words for aspiring founders: Go out there. Go to markets. Start as lean as possible. Start small and carefully. Don’t keep signing on everyone in sight. Moreover, choose your business partner well and wisely. If your business needs to thrive, you need to find someone who balances you out.

And if it’s anything like Omar and Mustafa, you might just be sorted.