I have just set up a new company, Morefish it is called. Among other things, we connect companies with marketing communications and digital marketing talent. Priority 1 for us is getting new business. In an average week I call on five to seven potential clients. In the last one month I have met about 20 companies at fairly senior levels. That’s a decent enough sample to get a fix on market conditions.

The good news is, hiring is gathering pace. Of these 20 companies, 7 are hiring through us or will be shortly, another 8 have promised a JD (job description) and 5 have been non-committal. That’s pretty good going and it says as much about the state of the economy as it does about our value proposition.

When you run a small company, your professional network starts to include other owners of small businesses. Feedback from all of them is the same; my friends who own small ad agencies are seeing more business, a financial services company in our building is doubling office space, the contractor who did our office is too busy to take my calls now, the licensing authority is taking two weeks to issue new work permits and many of my friends are again displaying signs of irrational attachment to real estate.

Everything points to a surge of optimism. What could be the reason? The neighborhood continues to be stressed out. The Euro crisis shows little signs of resolution (don’t be fooled by what is happened in Greece). America’s recovery is weak, an election is coming and Uncle Sam’s structural challenges are simply too many. China remains a growing enigma and India seems to be growing despite itself. Still, Ch-India is too not enough of a factor to pull up everyone else.

Dubai has always tended to buck the trend. It could be because the city is a global turnpike of sorts, connecting geographies, capital, opportunity and talent. That’s a potent combination, in any market conditions.

Have a good weekend!