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Azhar has authored the book, “Entrepreneuring Pakistan-27 stories of struggle, failure and success’. His masterpiece highlights the challenges of 27 mentee organizations, achieving the dedicated success. In the areas of technology, social, research and education, these companies have successfully broken barriers by achieving 10X+ growth annually. The stories of these 27 Pakistani entrepreneurs have deliberately impacted youth. As, they followed their great ideas and determined a great future of their country. Keeping up their spirits high, they never let their courage down for a while and successfully built various distinct enterprises resulting into number of employment opportunities.
Over the last decade, motivational and inspiring stories have impacted the ordinary people doing some extraordinary things. This books is the need of hour to let people follow their passion and this passion leading ways to their success. Interestingly, these all 27 entrepreneurs were personally mentored and coached by Rizvi. Rizvi has documented these stories perfectly to prove his landmark in the world of executing entrepreneurship. The book has amalgamated four distinct aspects upon which the successful nations depend, first being the Technopreneuers manifesting technology, second Socialpreneurs the social activists shaping a better future, third the Silverpreneurs with magnanimous experience and lastly the Futurepreneurs as future innovators.
The book is available in 32 stores nationwide. Click the link below to order the book online:
Anyone with a set of successful careers would have called it a day and opted for a comfortable retirement. However, Brigadier Saleem continued to work hard and established a software firm. I first met him in 2012, when he came with his team to participate in an acceleration program organized by us. During the program, they were always eager to discuss new ideas, operational issues, market potential and almost all aspects of running a successful business. We helped him give a global approach to his strategy. This interaction provided him and his team a fresh perspective on running the business and enhancing the organization. The results were amazing. From revenues of US$ 2.0 million in December 2012, his firm closed at US$ 10 million in December 2014. That is an almost 500% growth. The journey has not stopped here. Secure Tech continues to grow, creating more jobs and adding to the economic growth of the country.
Farhan Masood was a young teenager when he had his first taste of success. Today, he is currently founder and CTO of SoloInsight, Inc, a fastest growing biometric company working on advanced technologies. From a revenue of US$ 100,000 in 2012, his company grew exponentially and by 2016 it is valued at US $30 million. Farhan eventually went to the finals in Turkey and his firm was ranked amongst the top 10 at the competition. Later, in 2012 he came to participate in the MITEFP-BAP (Business Acceleration Program) and won it with distinction, against extremely tough competition. He also went to the MIT Entrepreneurship Center to attend the EDP (Entrepreneurship Development Program), and the rest is history. In just three years, the firm has gone from being worth under a million dollars, to a valuation of US$ 15 million with US$ 3 million in investment and with offices in US, Pakistan and China.
Khurram Samad’s potential was unmistakable from the very first time I had met him. Therefore, when he could not make the shortlist for MITEFP-BAP at first, for the reason that his firm was generating less than US$ 100,000 in annual revenue, I had to do something. For the first and the last time in eight years, I waived that precondition for entry. His technical skills, business plan and hard work were fantastic, but what really impressed me were his human skills and humility, which he maintains despite the success he has achieved in the past six years. Today, he has gone global and is running two successful ventures: GenITeam from Lahore–a BPO and software firm–and Tapinator, a mobile game development firm based in New York. Both firms have a combined valuation of US$ 30 million.
Anwar Khan started his IT services firm in 2000 with a vision to enabling and modernizing the local industry through technology. In 15 years, prudent partnerships and customer management have allowed this venture to bring in over US$3 million in annual revenues with a total valuation of US$11 million.
Anwar is a true entrepreneur who makes quick decisions, takes risks and changes plans as and when required. Evamp & Saanga’s rise is a great example of growth through mergers and alliances. Together, we worked on broadening their vision, enhancing their product lines and securing a more international focus. Their perspective and marketability were areas that demanded attention. With emphasis on proper team building, they benefited from taking their products and services to new markets, while acquiring new skills to serve their initial market segments.
After completing her education and refusing jobs from ICI, Engro and other blue chip firms, she chose to join Schlumberger in Colombia (Latin America) as a Field Rig Engineer. As the only woman on the rig, her 18 months there were a nightmare for her parents and myself as she used to call in case of emergencies, sometimes twice and even thrice a day. But hats off to Maha for her persistence! She attended the trainings and was again top of her class at the company. Soon she was given the sensitive task of handling radioactive substance for drilling etc.
Her Aha! moment came when she went to the US for a conference and later to Draper University for a three-month training program in entrepreneurship. She did well in the program, by pitching her social entrepreneurship project. When Draper University offered her investment for her project, she declined it and instead requested to spend a day with her ideal, Sheryl Sandburg of Facebook, which she did. Now Maha is at Stanford University doing research for a project funded by a major automobile manufacturer. She is finally happy with what she is doing and totally focused on her work—a fact I can well assume based on the number of phone calls I used to get from her. They have dwindled from several in a week to once every couple of months.
Unemployment forced Saad Jangda to start an e-commerce company in 2006. Started with an initial investment of PKR10,000, Saad now runs one of the largest e-commerce portals in the country, selling 40,000 products in ten different categories to more than three million clients across the country. Saad Jangda is another great visionary and symbios.pk can be considered a pioneer in Pakistan’s e-commerce sector. He came to us in 2013, won the BAP competition and went to the MIT entrepreneurship center for the EDP program.
Initially, the company had restricted itself to the local market. We trained them in collaborating and creating joint ventures with international partners and primed them to take advantage of regional growth opportunities. I am pleasantly surprised to see the change in his vision and capabilities in the past year-and-a-half. He is now moving ahead with global partnerships and investor interests. Symbios.pk is in perfect position to be a major e-commerce engine in Pakistan. Saad’s story is a testimonial to his hard work and marketing skills. I recommend that all startups read and learn from his wisdom. Saad gives priceless advice in simple language and is a great source of learning.
Humaira began the process of change in her community in 2001 while just 12 years old. She started a quality school in one of the poorest areas around Karachi and became a social entrepreneur. In 15 years, she has moved from a makeshift afternoon school operating out of her home into a three-storey, 1,500 sq. ft. purpose-built building with trained teachers and state-of-the-art facilities. Today, alongside the Dream School Foundation, Humaira runs a micro-financing scheme called Asan Rozgar and a clinic for the community. Over 1,200 students study at the Dream Model Street School in four shifts.
Humaira has received numerous international awards and accolades, including theof Impact Award 2013, Coca Cola’s Savvy and Success Award, the 2016 Trailblazer Award, the Chime for Change award, and the Asia Foundation’s Asia 21 Young Leader award. Humaira has been profiled in The Economist and Forbes.
