TIE gets an impressive turnout in Islamabad
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The TIE Islamabad Launch event the past Saturday had Marriott packed with literally the whos-who of the IT industry in one place. From investors, veterans, senior industry professionals, young emerging leaders, academics and dozens of startups no one had heard of before filled the hall to mingle. Anyone that you couldve thought of was there, although the particular setting and program made it pretty hard to network.
Considering it just started with a simple letter to TIE Global and request to open a local chapter, the TIE guys seem to have gained a lot of weight in attracting the industry together. Also impressive was the management and security which was a top-notch effort by Channel7.
Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani was the chief guest of honor, while Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman (HEC) was the guest of honor. The Prime Minister had some interesting things to say to show that he is aware of the state of entrepreneurship in the country (he mention the TIE Lahore Band of Angels group and their work in attacting angel investment in the country).
One speech among all the ones made that really stood out was by a veteran entrepreneur belonging to the engineering sector. While he admitted he was from the old generations of business, he was surprisingly very well versed with new internet-based businesses – mentioning wikinomics, social communities and more in his speech.
While its too early to tell whether or not TIE Islamabad will have a lasting impact on entrepreneurship support, but they certainly do have the pull leverage to get the top brass to take notice and show up. Lets see how the rest of their events unfold.
2:20 pm
I am usually leery of programs, which launch with a Bang and then fall silent.
Promoting entrepreneurship is the need of the Day, but there should be a kind of collaborating / coordinating body, which brings together all the activities being undertaken by different organizations under one roof and synergize them for a multiplier effect.
Hope TIE does better than ALL the other programs, which launched with attention from CE / PM and now are dormant.
12:44 am
As a charter member of TIE in Silicon Valley, I know that TIE has grown as a volunteer, grass-roots organization of mostly Indian entrepreneurs in the valley. It has created a critical mass and good role models and done well in promoting and supporting entrepreneurs of Indian origin here in the valley. While TIE has worked with governments, it fundamentally remains a business NGO that brings together the entrepreneurial talent with mentors, investors, lawyers and accountants to do its magic. TIE in Pakistan should take a page from TIE Silicon Valley to ensure its success.
8:50 am
There is another Volunteer Driven Organization called ADP (Association for Development of Pakistan – http://www.developpakistan.org/).
These guys don’t do much of advertising, but they do seem to do a lot of work, especially considering the fact, that they don’t have much money etc.
I personally feel, they are doing a much better job of attracting quality volunteers.
9:29 am
Hi everyone, Faisal here from TiE Islamabad. I am a co-founder of TiE Islamabad along with Mr. Mansoor Malik from NUST. Our group now consists of a core team including senior executives at Mobilink, Oracle, Telenor, PSEB, and others. I understand that previous organizations have launched with a big bang and then fallen silent. Here’s why I think this won’t happen to TiE Islamabad: we have a very dynamic core team, and each team member genuinely has a sense of ownership over one or more role within TiE. For example, Masud from Channel7 is Chair, Marketing, and he will go out of his way to promote TiE even when there is no push from the others. I am Chair, Membership, and I am genuinely interested in attracting more of you guys because we need more young budding and aspiring entrepreneurs to contribute to our efforts in creating an entrepreneurship-friendly local ecosystem. While I understand that there are plenty of reasons to be cynical about new groups, I recommend that, this time, leave behind your reservations/inhibitions and get involved with TiE Islamabad. You’ll rapidly expand your professional network and be part of an entrepreneurship-promotion movement that’s just getting started in Islamabad in a big way. If you guys feel we need to start a new program within TiE such as, for example, “Strategic Thinking for Student Entrepreneurs”, come to a meeting, voice your opinion, champion that cause, and make it happen. This is an example of how you can take ownership of a cause within TiE, get the others on board, and make a difference. You can contact me at faisal.butt@islamabad.tie.org for questions and info.
10:02 am
Faisal when is the next event coming up?
And another question if I join TIE what are the benefits other than getting passes to events? Are there any by default mentoring programs available?
10:10 am
Faisal,
One becomes cynical after a while. I wish you the best though. Please do let me know, if I can do anything (I am a member – of inactive standing – of TIE – Lahore Chapter though).
Ujmi makes a good point though about mentoring program, you might want to consider having an online / email based mentoring program.
Ujmi,
I joined TIE, because I wanted to help. The feeling of satisfaction arising from helping people is the only return, one can expect from TIE.
Regards
10:27 am
@Ujmi and Kamran: We will announce the next meeting on our website, so please check periodically http://www.islamabad.tie.org. Online/Email-based mentoring sounds great and may be a very convenient feature for our mentors, who are of course, busy industry leaders and our prospective mentees who are likely to be busy budding entrepreneurs. My recommendation: if there is a group of you who want to attend our next meeting and voice your thoughts, email me and I’ll ask our coordinator to add you to the meeting invite. more likely than not, you will be asked to champion the cause and “make it happen”, in line with the spirit of volunteerism at TiE. Benefits of membership include event invites, mailing list, networking opportunities, mentoring with senior entrepreneurs, and taking part in creating and participating in entrepreneurship education related initiatives.
5:47 pm
Kamran, I have a very long and painful experience with volunteerism, but I am never the less still willing to try something new anytime.
Faisal. Well I have already sent in a request for this last event, but I think I was late and you had all seats out. I instead got a membership form.
I will be most probably sending that in soon, but I will still prefer if I can see first hand how things work.
9:42 pm
Ujmi, A volunteer is someone, who misunderstood the question. I also have had similar painful experiences. But hope springs eternal, so onwards to a better future.
12:09 pm
Kamran, well said