Arzish Azam

owner of Ijad Labs, Startup Grind Pakistan

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Arzish Azam is a startup Grind chapter operator in Pakistan. Azam tried to build a price comparison engine startup. He dropped it after about a year because it was not working, and he calls that a good decision.

Early life and background

While still at school, Azam was already doing some e-commerce. In 2016 he went on a US government programme, which was his first trip abroad. [1]

Education

Azam did his FSC in pre-engineering at a boys' college in Islamabad. He has never enrolled at a university. After the FSC he took a break to pursue entrepreneurial ambitions. His family supported his decision to skip university while his venture was working. [1]

Career

Azam tried to build a price comparison engine startup. He dropped it after about a year because it was not working, and he calls that a good decision. He says he and his team tried 10 to 12 things before focusing on the one that gained some traction. He says his team is probably better at community building and events than at other things. [1]

Azam joined Founder Institute, a pre-accelerator that opened in Islamabad in 2016. He joined because he saw it as a place to learn how founders are made. [1]

Startup Grind

Azam says he represents Startup Grind in Pakistan, and he runs the Startup Grind chapter locally. He says he got the chapter around 2018. In 2018 he was going to the Startup Grind Global Conference, and the group travelling with him grew to 22 people. That trip was later structured into a program. [1]

He says the trips to the US have run since 2018 and will run again in February. He says government officials, private sector staff and bankers have travelled with the group. The City of Oslo hosted the group in Norway, with about 50 people there. The group has also been to Turkey after quarantine rules were lifted. He says about 200 people from Pakistan attended the group's event. [1]

The group held a Startup Grind conference in 2019 with about 40 international speakers. Its last event before COVID was in February 2020. He says more than 250 people now form a close-knit community spread across many organisations, and that about 10,000 people attended Connected Pakistan. He says events play a critical role in helping people grow. [1]

Role as a connector

Azam says a super connector is someone who connects everything to everything else. He says the role of ecosystem builders is to connect people who have talent with people who have capital. He says his super connector positioning came over time, helped by Islamabad and the Founder Institute network. He says the group's value proposition is connecting people, and that the group set a mission to discover, highlight and invite Pakistanis abroad to its events. [1]

Planned events

Azam says a festival is being organised as a 10-year initiative, to be held over the next 10 years. He says about 30 topics should be discussed, including e-commerce, developers, startups and investments. He says an event on January 21 to 23 will have more than 100 speakers from outside Pakistan, and that an event will be held in a stadium. He hopes to hold Pakistan's largest conference ever. He also says a tech summit in Silicon Valley is planned for March 4 and 5. [1]

Views on mindset and growth

Azam feels the gap between people and their results is only in mindset. He says action matters more than motivation. He says his own growth comes from being around very successful people all the time. [1]

Views on the diaspora

Azam says many Pakistanis who went abroad have built billion-dollar companies, and that the diaspora abroad supports training programmes, companies and universities. He says Pakistan would benefit from this even without effort, perhaps within five to ten years. He says people who succeeded abroad should be made into role models so the positive path is shown. [1]

He says most investment into Pakistan has come primarily from the Bay Area. He says Pakistan has the largest Muslim diaspora in Silicon Valley, and that Pakistanis are roughly the third or fourth most influential diaspora. He says the fault lies with people in Pakistan, who did not try hard enough. [1]

Views on government and skills

Azam says the government has the biggest loudspeaker in the country. He says if the government acted, it could achieve much in a month, which the private sector takes years to do. After the minister for science and technology was appointed, the minister asked him to come and tell the government what it could do. He wants government to stay out of the way and facilitate growth rather than block it. [1]

He says there should be a national emergency so that every university teaches software engineering or digital skills, and he feels the country is not doing enough on tech skills. He says companies in Pakistan offer double salaries because demand for software engineers is very high. He says Pakistan should aim to train one million engineers. He estimates that a million engineers earning $20,000 each would add up to about $20 billion, and argues that six months of training at about $10,000 per engineer would pay back within six months. He says 78 to 80 percent of university graduates are not employable, and that high-value skills such as AI are needed. [1]

Azam says the EVM is an analogue machine that cannot be hacked. He says a startup based at NUST built the EVM, and that the EVM should be made in Pakistan, not imported. [1]

Views on remote work and the IT sector

Azam would add remote workers as a fourth category of Pakistan's IT sector. He describes remote workers as people in Islamabad who work remotely for American companies and draw American salaries. He says Pakistan has no way of telling whether remote workers' income counts as IT exports, and that Pakistan does not give recognition to remote workers or freelancers. He personally believes remote work is the future of work. He says Pakistan should attract digital nomads to return home, and that companies saw remote work as a cost saving after COVID. [1]

Views on the future of work

Azam says upskilling is very important. He says new freelancers usually start in low-value work and should upskill toward high-value work. He says graphic design will be automated within three to five years, and that content writing will disappear. He says a personal shopper is one of the new jobs appearing as other work is automated, and describes social media feed curator as a new job that pays about 20 to 25 dollars an hour. He says digitisation is creating very new forms of work. [1]

Outlook

Azam calls himself a hyper-optimistic person, and he believes the outcome of these changes will be positive. He says technology puts a lot of power in ordinary people's hands. He says the concept of nation states may be challenged 30 years from now. He says the people of this region are very hardworking, and that he has seen this across many countries. He says a person needs only internet and a laptop to reach the whole world. [1]

Timeline

2016
Went on a US government programme, his first trip abroad[1]
2019
Held a Startup Grind conference with about 40 international speakers[1]
2020
Held the last event before COVID, in February[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2021-12-20 Pakistan has the largest Muslim diaspora in Silicon Valley Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

What company does Arzish Azam own?

Arzish Azam says he owns Ijad Labs, which he calls his company. He says the work of his organisations is to build the IT and startup industry.[1]

Where did Arzish Azam study?

Arzish Azam did his FSC in pre-engineering at a boys' college in Islamabad. He has never enrolled at a university. After the FSC he took a break to pursue entrepreneurial ambitions.[1]

When did Arzish Azam get the Startup Grind chapter?

Arzish Azam says he got the Startup Grind chapter around 2018. In 2018 he was also going to the Startup Grind Global Conference, with a group that grew to 22 people.[1]

What does Arzish Azam think about remote work?

Arzish Azam personally believes remote work is the future of work. He would add remote workers as a fourth category of Pakistan's IT sector. He says Pakistan should attract digital nomads to return home.[1]

References

  1. Pakistan has the largest Muslim diaspora in Silicon Valley . Thought Behind Things , 2021-12-20.
Show the source passages (97 statements)
  1. Arzish Azam says he owns Ijad Labs, which he calls his company. kaam saara jo hai hum Ijaad Labs se karte hain, which is my company, which I own.
  2. Arzish Azam says the work of his organisations and his personal role is to build the IT and startup industry. the work we do collectively, either these organizations or my personal role, jo bhi mera personal hai, that is to build the IT industry or the startup industry.
  3. Arzish Azam says he represents Startup Grind in Pakistan. main Pakistan mein represent karta hoon
  4. Arzish Azam runs the Startup Grind chapter locally. Toh main iska chapter chalata hoon locally
  5. Arzish Azam says he got the Startup Grind chapter around 2018. So I got the chapter around 2018-ish, I think.
  6. Arzish Azam did his FSC in pre-engineering at a boys' college in Islamabad. So I did my FSC in pre-engineering from Islamabad Model College for Boys, F-10/3
  7. Arzish Azam has never enrolled at a university. University aaj tak nahi gaya. Visit karne gaya hoon, join kabhi nahi kiya.
  8. After FSC, Arzish Azam took a break to pursue entrepreneurial ambitions. thoda sa maine gap liya ke yaar kuch entrepreneurial ambitions hain
  9. While still at school, Arzish Azam was already doing some e-commerce. Main kar raha tha already bhi high school mein, thoda e-commerce mein tha.
  10. His family supported his decision to skip university while his venture was working. thodi family ki support thi, unhone kaha theek hai na jao university, yeh chal raha hai.
  11. Arzish Azam joined Founder Institute, a pre-accelerator that opened in Islamabad in 2016. But I joined Founder Institute. So it's a pre-accelerator, ek international idara hai, Islamabad mein open hua tha, 2016 ki baat hai.
  12. He joined Founder Institute because he saw it as a place to learn how founders are made. Maine kaha yaar achi opportunity hai, yahan seekhte hain ke aap founder kaise bante hain.
  13. He says he and his team tried 10 to 12 things before focusing on the one that gained some traction. Toh jis you know 10-12 cheezein try ki, jahan par laga ke thodi si traction mil gayi, humne kaha yaar yahin saari zor lagana hai
  14. He says his team is probably better at community building and events than at other things. yaar yeh community building mein, yeh events wagera, in saari cheezon mein hum shayad thode behtar hain
  15. Arzish Azam tried to build a price comparison engine startup. ek startup banane ki koshish kar raha tha, ek price comparison engine tha
  16. He dropped the price comparison startup after about a year because it was not working, and calls that a good decision. Aur saal ek baad maine kaha ke yaar yeh wala kaam nahi chal raha, kuch aur karte hain aur I feel that was a good decision
  17. He says a super connector is someone who connects everything to everything else. Aur jo har cheez ko har cheez se connect kar deta hai, woh super connector hai.
  18. He says the role of ecosystem builders is to connect people who have talent with people who have capital. kuch log hote hain jinka paas talent hota hai, kuch logon ke paas capital hota hai. Essentially, inko connect hi banana hota hai aapas mein.
  19. He says his super connector positioning came over time, helped by Islamabad and the Founder Institute network. Islamabad mein tha, Founder Institute ka aise network ban gaya, toh ahista ahista woh super connector wali positioning khud hi aa gayi
  20. He says his current work is largely focused on Pakistan. Hamara abhi bhi kaam jo hai woh bada Pakistan focused hai
  21. He says more organisations need to enter the space, because there is much more to do. more organizations need to come into this space and and there's just so much more to do
  22. In 2018 Arzish Azam was going to the Startup Grind Global Conference. So 2018 mein I was going for the Startup Grind Global Conference.
  23. The group travelling with him to that conference grew to 22 people. toh bolna shuru kiya ke main ja raha hoon, ja raha hoon, hote hote 22 log ho gaye
  24. That trip was later structured into a program. Aur usko we we crafted it into a program, we call it the Pak-US Tech Exchange.
  25. He says the trips to the US have run since 2018 and will run again in February. Toh US hum 2018 se kar rahe hain, abhi dobara karenge February mein InshaAllah post-COVID.
  26. He says government officials, private sector staff and bankers have travelled with the group. even government ke bahut se log hamare saath jaate hain, private sector se bahut log jaate hain, banks and everything
  27. In 2016 he went on a US government programme, which was his first trip abroad. main 2016 mein ek dafa gaya tha US government ka ek program tha us pe aur mujhe bada maza aaya ke yaar bada kuch seekha hai, zindagi ka pehla travel tha
  28. The City of Oslo hosted the group in Norway, with about 50 people there. Norway gaye, wahan par City of Oslo ne hamein host kiya, koi 50 log udhar thay
  29. The group recently went to Turkey after quarantine rules were lifted. Recently we went to Turkey. Toh COVID khatam hua, Turkey ne quarantine remove kiya
  30. He says about 200 people from Pakistan attended the group's event. Toh shayad koi total 200 log thay jo Pakistan se gaye. Acha. Kuch log khud ja rahe thay, kuch logon ko hum lekar gaye, lekin essentially hamare event pe 200 log Pakistan se aaye
  31. He says events play a critical role in helping people grow. And events play a critical role in helping you grow.
  32. The group held a Startup Grind conference in 2019 with about 40 international speakers. 2019 mein humne ek conference ki Startup Grind ki, kuch 40 international speaker aaye.
  33. He says the group's value proposition is connecting people. Hamara main jo value proposition hai woh toh connecting hi hai
  34. He says more than 250 people now form a close-knit community spread across many organisations. We've we've done more than what 250 people now and they're kind of a very close-knit community who are everywhere in all organizations at all places
  35. He says about 10,000 people attended Connected Pakistan. hum connected Pakistan pe gaye wahan koi 10,000 log aaye hue thay
  36. He feels the gap between people and their results is only in mindset. I feel the gap is only in in the mindset right?
  37. He says action matters more than motivation. So motivation is very important but the second thing is more important ke us pe action bhi lena hai na
  38. He says his own growth comes from being around very successful people all the time. shayad meri bhi growth isi wajah se hai ke itne kamyab logon ke around har time rehta hoon
  39. He says many Pakistanis who went abroad have built billion-dollar companies. Hamare bahut se log gaye hain, unhone billion dollar companies bana li hain.
  40. He says the diaspora abroad supports training programmes, companies and universities. Acha wo bade well connected bhi hain, wo apni capacity mein madad kar rahe hain, log training programs chala rahe hain, companies bana rahe hain, universities ko donations de rahe hain
  41. He says Pakistan would benefit from this even without effort, perhaps within five to ten years. Hamein fayda to iska hoga. Matlab hum koi effort na bhi karein, to shayad ye 5-10 saal mein ho jayega.
  42. He says people who succeeded abroad should be made into role models so the positive path is shown. hamein in logon ko star banana hai jinhone positive cheezon mein success li hai, jo bahar gaye, jinhone kaam kiya, inki story showcase karein
  43. He says the government has the biggest loudspeaker in the country. sabse bada jo jo loudspeaker hai na wo government ka hota hai
  44. He says if the government acted, it could achieve much in a month, which the private sector takes years to do. lekin jitna bada unke paas loudspeaker hai na, agar kal wo faisla karein to wo mahine mein hi bahut kuch achieve kar sakte hain, jo hum private sector wale saare badi der laga ke achieve karenge
  45. He says a festival is being organised as a 10-year initiative, to be held over the next 10 years. So we're doing something called Pakistan Future Festival and we'll do it over the next 10 years also, it's a 10-year initiative.
  46. He says about 30 topics should be discussed, including e-commerce, developers, startups and investments. yeh koi 30 topic hain jispe baat honi chahiye, so e-commerce, developers, uske andar jo sub-categories hain, startups, investments, everything
  47. He says an event on January 21 to 23 will have more than 100 speakers from outside Pakistan. January 21, 22, 23 ko wahan par we'll also have more than like 100 speakers from outside Pakistan
  48. He says an event will be held in a stadium. Aur yahan par ek stadium mein karenge
  49. He hopes to hold Pakistan's largest conference ever. we'll do hopefully Pakistan's largest conference ever
  50. He says a tech summit in Silicon Valley is planned for March 4 and 5. on March 4th and 5th we'll do Pakistan Tech Summit in Silicon Valley
  51. The group's last event before COVID was in February 2020. aakhri wala humne kiya tha corona se bilkul pehle, woh bhi February 2020 ki baat hai
  52. He says most investment into Pakistan has come primarily from the Bay Area. bahut si jo investment Pakistan aayi hai, that's primarily from the Bay Area, right?
  53. He says Pakistan has the largest Muslim diaspora in Silicon Valley. so Pakistan has the largest Muslim diaspora in Silicon Valley.
  54. He says Pakistanis are roughly the third or fourth most influential diaspora. Pakistanis overall are like the third, fourth most influential diaspora, right?
  55. The group set a mission to discover, highlight and invite Pakistanis abroad to its events. we set our mission ke yaar we'll discover these people, we'll highlight them, we write blogs and we host interviews with them, we invite them to events
  56. He says the fault lies with people in Pakistan, who did not try hard enough. galti at the end jo hai na hamari hai, hum jo yahan baithe hain ke we we did not try hard enough, right?
  57. After the minister for science and technology was appointed, the minister asked him to come and tell the government what it could do. when he was appointed the minister for science and technology to unhone kaha yaar tum aao batao ke kya hum kar sakte hain as government
  58. He says there should be a national emergency so that every university teaches software engineering or digital skills. I feel there should be a national emergency ke saari jo university hain na wo software engineering ya digital skills padhayen.
  59. He feels the country is not doing enough on tech skills. Uh jo shayad mera thoda sa gila hai overall uh ke we are not doing enough right?
  60. He says companies in Pakistan offer double salaries because demand for software engineers is very high. Pakistan mein itni demand hai ke companies are offering double the salary
  61. He says Pakistan should aim to train one million engineers. Hamara goal hona chahiye ke yaar humne jo hai na 1 million engineer banane hain right?
  62. He estimates that a million engineers earning $20,000 each would add up to about $20 billion. 1 million engineer agar 20,000 dollar kamayein I think kya 20 billion dollar bante hain jo bhi.
  63. He argues that six months of training at about $10,000 per engineer would pay back within six months. Use bithaate hain 6 mahine train karte hain 10,000 dollar laga dete hain. To uski to ROI 6 mahine mein aa jayegi.
  64. He says 78 to 80 percent of university graduates are not employable. jis mulk ke andar 78 80 percent bacha jo hai jo university se nikal raha hai wo essentially you know uh employable employable nahi hai.
  65. He says high-value skills such as AI are needed. wo you need high value you need AI you need you know us tarah ki skills and uh wo us pe nahi hai.
  66. He says the EVM is an analogue machine that cannot be hacked. Yes so it's a it's an analog machine. It can't be hacked right
  67. He says a startup based at NUST built the EVM. EVM yeh ke ek ek startup ne banayi hai jo nust mein baithta hai
  68. He says the EVM should be made in Pakistan, not imported. machine Pakistani honi chahiye foreign machine to nahi
  69. He wants government to stay out of the way and facilitate growth rather than block it. humein jo hai na government door chahiye wo side pe rahe facilitate kare roke na aake
  70. He would add remote workers as a fourth category of Pakistan's IT sector. agar mein ek fourth add kar doon, which I would say is remote workers, right?
  71. He describes remote workers as people in Islamabad who work remotely for American companies and draw American salaries. wo ek banda hai jo baitha hai Islamabad kisi ghar mein aur wo America ki company mein ek remote job karta hai aur American salary draw karta hai
  72. He says Pakistan has no way of telling whether remote workers' income counts as IT exports. aur hamare mulk ka koi tareeqa hi nahi hai ke wo pata kar sake ke ye amount jo hai ye IT export hai ya kya hai
  73. He says Pakistan does not give recognition to remote workers or freelancers. Na hum usse recognition dete hain, theek hai, wo baitha hai aur freelancers ke sath bhi yehi hai ke freelancers ki recognition nahi hai
  74. He says Pakistan missed the wave of IT outsourcing. We have missed out on the wave of IT outsourcing, unfortunately.
  75. He says the Philippines and India moved far ahead in outsourcing. Philippines bahut aage nikal gaya, India nikal gaya
  76. He feels the growth in Pakistan's IT is in products. I feel jo growth hai wo products mein hai
  77. He says startups raising funds in Pakistan are mostly solving local challenges. ab jo startups hamare funding raise kar rahe hain, primarily ye wo hain jo local koi challenge solve kar rahe hain
  78. He personally believes remote work is the future of work. To mera personally ye perspective hai ke this is the future of work, right?
  79. He says Pakistan should attract digital nomads to return home. We should be attracting these digital nomads ke yaar aao apne mulk wapas aa jao
  80. He says companies saw remote work as a cost saving after COVID. Post-Covid to companies ne kaha yaar fayda hi iska hai, cost saving hai
  81. He says upskilling is very important. Upskilling bahut important hai
  82. He says new freelancers usually start in low-value work and should upskill toward high-value work. low value chain mein bada important hai ke naya banda low value chain mein hi aayega, but udhar se log upskill hokar constantly high value ki taraf jayein
  83. He says graphic design will be automated within three to five years, and that content writing will disappear. graphic design aur content writing saari ki saari khatam ho jayegi. Pakistan mein bahut bada ek wo hai ke graphic design wo agle 3 se 5 saal ke andar jo hai na saari automate ho jayegi
  84. He says a personal shopper is one of the new jobs appearing as other work is automated. wahin par maine dekha ke ji jobs nayi create kya ho rahi hain? Personal shopper.
  85. He describes social media feed curator as a new job that pays about 20 to 25 dollars an hour. Social media feed curator. Ke wo dekh rahe hain ke algorithm ye ho gaya, wo kehte hain ji bande ko 20-25 dollar per hour denge
  86. He says digitisation is creating very new forms of work. Ke digitization is creating these very very new forms of essentially work
  87. He calls himself a hyper-optimistic person. mein bada ek hyper optimistic insaan hoon
  88. He believes the outcome of these changes will be positive. mujhe lagta hai ke saari cheez ka result jo hai wo positive hi hona hai
  89. He says technology puts a lot of power in ordinary people's hands. awaam ke haath mein bahut power aa jati hai technology se
  90. He says the concept of nation states may be challenged 30 years from now. 30 saal baad jo hai na the concept of nation states will be will have been challenged
  91. He says the people of this region are very hardworking, and that he has seen this across many countries. So it's amazing that the people of this region, they are very hardworking, I have traveled so many countries
  92. He says a person needs only internet and a laptop to reach the whole world. bas ek internet chahiye aur ek aadha laptop chahiye aur puri duniya aapke kadmon pe
  93. He says about 120 million people in Pakistan lack internet access. hamare 120 million log hain jinke paas internet nahi hai
  94. He says Pakistan's IT export sector moved properly toward growth for the first time. Tab aap ja ke IT export sector pehli dafa properly ek growth ki taraf gaya right?
  95. He says a software engineer's return for the country is about $25,000 a year, which a textile worker or farmer does not match. Jo ek ROI hai, ek tech exporter ki, ek software engineers ki is mulk ke liye, jo ke 25,000 dollar per year hai, woh ek textile worker ki nahi hai
  96. He says the industry has grown in Pakistan on its own. is industry ne bada grow kiya hai Pakistan mein on its own
  97. He says global factors have aligned for the sector, and the timing is good. to global factors bhi align hue hain thoda covid bhi tha thodi saari cheezein jo hai na wo it's just good timing