Jul 15, 2020The Fahim Saleh I KnewIt’s been a rocky day, to say the least. Fahim Saleh, investor/founding member of the Pathao team was murdered in NY. I heard this 12 hours ago and was in denial. Having spent the entire day with close friends, distracting myself, it’s time I put this (and myself) to bed. …Tribute4 min readTribute4 min read
Published inBuild Bangla·Jun 10, 2020Forget Scalability, Focus on FitThis weekend, I was invited to speak at a startup boot camp, supported by FB Developer Circle. The audience was early-stage founders. I mention this because when imparting advice, Context is everything. I was asked to talk about (How to) build products that scale. At first glance, this seems like…Startup2 min readStartup2 min read
Published inBuild Bangla·Jul 14, 2019EP #1 Seeam Shahid — Harvard, Constant Learning and Public SpeakingSeeam Shahid Noor goes to Harvard University, where he’s pursuing an undergraduate degree in Applied Mathematics. During admissions, he was accepted to Harvard, Princeton and IBA, DU. Seeam went to high school at a military school aka Mirzapur Cadet College, which was formative years for him. …Podcast4 min readPodcast4 min read
Apr 15, 2019Backpacking Cambodia in 5 days under $550Conditions are never perfect. “Someday” is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you. — Timothy Ferriss “Who goes to Cambodia?” the immigration officer sarcastically asked us at DAC airport on the night of 10th April, even before started our journey. …Cambodia3 min readCambodia3 min read
Dec 24, 2018Why We Taught High School Kids About Startups — And What They Taught MeWe often find insights were we least expect them — This past weekend, as a mentor at the Young Founders School, I taught high school students aged 12–17 years old about all things Startup — starting from the problem identification and market sizing to business models and fundraising. On Friday morning, instead of sleeping in for the weekend, they came…Startup4 min readStartup4 min read
Published inGlobal Shapers Dhaka Hub·Nov 18, 2018Meet the Leader: Iqbal HabibOn 18th October, 2018, Global Shapers of Dhaka hub sat down for a roundtable “Meet the Leader” chat with Iqbal Habib, one of the most known environmental activists and architects of Bangladesh. He is the Managing Director and one of the principal architects of the award-winning architectural firm VITTI Sthapati…Global Shapers3 min readGlobal Shapers3 min read
Published inThe Boring Letter·Jun 28, 2018Usage is oxygen for ideas.Every month, I pick a question from readers and answer it as honestly and helpfully as I can. This month, something interesting happened. This is a chat I’ve been having with a friend, working on a tech product in Montreal. We’ve been exchanging updates on our work quite often, and…Startup2 min readStartup2 min read
Published inThe Boring Letter·May 22, 2018Job Interviews seem like Arranged Marriage — How do you get it right?Every month, I pick a question from readers and answer it as honestly and helpfully as I can. Last month, a reader asked me How do you hire a good engineer, or a great marketer off a 30 minute interview? Doesn’t that sometimes feel like an arranged marriage? Our team…Hiring5 min readHiring5 min read
Published inGlobal Shapers Dhaka Hub·Apr 17, 2018Shape South Asia 2018World Economic Forum Global Shapers South Asian regional conference was organized by the Dhaka Hub to showcase the best of Bangladesh to the world. It is 2am and I just got back from Shape South Asia. Between April 11 -15, one hundred World Economic Forum Global Shapers from 30 countries…Global Shapers7 min readGlobal Shapers7 min read
Published inThe Boring Letter·Apr 5, 2018Done is better than perfect.This was first published on my mailing list The Boring Letter. Done is better than perfect.* All our lives, we’ve been taught not to fail and always play safe. Our social/cultural norms are risk averse. In 2015, when we were starting out and were experimenting with a number of business…Pathao2 min readPathao2 min read
