25.04.20 — v2
NamatOS
They Wanted a Demo. I Built a System.
I spent nearly a decade building software in South Korea, disciplined systems, deep stacks, and quiet engineering. I wasn’t chasing hype. But I was ready to build something real, if the problem was real.
When I came back to Saudi Arabia on a family visit, I met someone.
He had capital. I had conviction. Or so I thought.
He wanted an AI venture — fast, flashy, and undefined. I agreed to build. Minimum wage until launch, with a promised contract and visa, and equity on handshake terms. No paperwork. Just trust.
I honored that deal. For a full year. Pure R&D.
No product. No team. No noise. Just me, grinding alone, trying to make AI agents actually work. And failing—beautifully. Not because I was wrong. But because the whole category was.
While others chased prompts and personas, I chased structure. While he wanted demos, I was building clarity. While the industry inflated “AI workflows,” I was drowning in their fragility.
Then I took a holiday.
Somewhere in the quiet, the product clicked — fully, cleanly, irreversibly. NamatOS made sense now. The system was real.
But when I came back, I was met with something else.
The contract? Still missing.
The visa? Still a promise that I don't want to take anymore.
My equity? Confrontationally cut — right to my face, with a smile and a pitch deck.
An investor had been made co-founder. Engineers were hired behind my back. And I was told to deliver something — anything — in three months.