I had planned to come in early to see things right from the start after hearing about the turnover in Islambad but due to weekend and clients weekly updates due, etc i came almost at the end of the coffee break.

Only after hearing a few questions after the break i was able to visualize what kind of questions must have been asked earlier (Fahad Akhtar btw gave me a little overview of the questions before the break as well) and it seemed like everybody wanted to know the recipe of a good product, recipe of becoming hit over night, recipe of becoming a Million Dollar company, etc.

Please don’t take me wrong some of the questions asked there were really good but most of the questions were really not up to the par of the people you had called.

After the end i was left with one big question what was achieved by all of this. Did the young entrepreneur learn something or did they just got to see the CEOs they always wanted to see in person?

There were a number of other questions in my mind as well but i rather not delve into it, its a long list.

Following are some of things i wanted to share in particular:

1. I was under the impression that the focus of the meeting was Young Entrepreneurs but all the guests invited didn’t really start young or in recent times. If you wana give everybody the real taste you should have called in Raza from Confiz and Yasir from Netrasoft, etc. These are people to whom the crowd can really associate coz they are around 25 – 26 of age and doing very very well.

2. I believe answering questions the way they were coming can’t be really helpful. If i were to really learn from these CEOs then there should be a case study on these CEOs and their companies telling what kinda conditions the went through, what were their experiences in different things, etc rather than firing questions at them.

The last question asked “The mistakes made by these companies” i think was the most pertinent question. Telling how one became successful is something that wouldn’t help much but knowing what things to avoid, what problems to foresee, what pitfalls to be careful of are far more important.

3. If you still wana keep the same Questions and Answer session then maybe it would be more feasible if you do some prior homework on the CEOs and their companies and prepare a list of very pertinent questions yourself that you ask them so everybody could benefit from it, you can always have a small open question time if some got missed.

4. As Ali pointed out in one of his earlier posts that meetings / gatherings like these are not meant to fire questions at the panel but rather they acts as a platform where Young Entrepreneurs give a brief presentation of their idea / product and then get feedback from the panel on their ideas. Maybe a few pointers on how to position, recommendation on changes, or even better VC funding.

I guess thats about it for now. Overall i am happy with the initiative but the direction need to be corrected.

Ahsan.

Osama,

We are waiting for a coverage of Startup Insiders Lahore event. Is it coming?

@ Usama,

I think you didn’t understand what i was trying to say. I don’t have any questions. I think the current format that you are following is much helpful and the above points where my suggestions.

P@SHA and G&W have been organizing the Startup Insiders workshop together. We have had 3 so far – one each in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. We can be contacted at: president@pasha.org.pk OR osama@coreframeworks.com OR jawwad@avicena.com

Hi Jehan,
Thank you for the info..i am very interested in the initiative and wonder if it will be progressed to include workshops…
and ultimately semi annual conventions ?

Ian

If you are based in Singapore, I am in Singapore for the next few days. Let’s connect and chat. You can reach me at jawwad@avicena.com

Jawwad