Haroon Yasin

education figure associated with Taleemabad

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

Haroon Yasin is the co-founder & CEO of Taleemabad. Yasin sold his university engineering books for about 21,000 rupees. He recalls that the first day of a day care was around November 2011.

Early life and background

Yasin was born in Saudi and moved to Pakistan at about age four. He grew up in a middle-class family. His father worked as an accountant in Pakistan. Yasin was one of five children, and his parents wanted all of them in good schools. [1]

He failed English and maths in grade six. He says he lost interest in school because he did not understand why he was learning. [1]

Education

Yasin attended Beaconhouse school. He took many subjects while trying to work out what he liked and did not like. He received a distinction in A-level Literature in English. His parents urged him to become an engineer. He was admitted to the University of Waterloo. [1]

He studied at Georgetown, starting in Qatar and also spending time on the DC campus. The program he studied was the Bachelors in Foreign Service. He completed a four-year Georgetown program in three years. He also completed an executive education program. [1]

Career

Yasin sold his university engineering books for about 21,000 rupees. He recalls that the first day of a day care was around November 2011. He says he ran a school for two years. [1]

He says his team started building a school in an informal settlement. He says his team eventually bought a 70cc motorcycle. He says he got a call from Buckingham Palace asking whether he could be there. [1]

Taleemabad

Taleemabad produced its own content during lockdown and delivered it through one central platform. According to Yasin, his organisation reached its five-year mark in 2020. He says his team would build an aggregator for the entire market segment. [1]

Yasin says his organisation told schools it would give them a platform. He says some schools are gold standard, some silver standard and some bronze tier. He says his team has talked to thousands of school owners. [1]

He says his team threw away about 4,000 videos or content pieces over two years. He says his team began teaching English as a second language, first strengthening the child's Urdu. He says that when a new information minister took up the post, his team got a chance to meet with her. [1]

Taleemabad has raised and spent about 2 to 2.5 million dollars. Yasin says his organisation has already raised close to a million dollars for the next year. He says that at 1,000 schools, the annual recurring revenue is half a million dollars. He says his organisation does not need to raise capital to survive. [1]

Views

Yasin says the north star is to bring great teaching to every corner of Pakistan. He says the idea that poor Pakistanis do not care about education is a myth. He says 48% of children in Pakistan cannot do division. He also says half of those who complete primary school cannot read a single sentence. [1]

He says teachers in low-fee private schools earn about 3,000 rupees on average. He says there is no teaching licence in Pakistan. He says Urdu is the mother tongue of only 8% of the population, and that there are about 200,000 schools by some estimates. [1]

Yasin describes a method called CPA: Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract. He says the team learned what it meant to truly deliver contextualized education. He says the goal is to become the brain of the education system, using data. [1]

He says a "Yelp for education" needs to exist in a country like Pakistan. He says the first franchise in Pakistan was started by Jamaat-e-Islami in the early 1990s. He says the brand lives through its actions more than its visuals. [1]

On funding, Yasin says venture capital financing is short-sighted. He believes companies can reach sustainability without venture capital. He says the right kind of capital matters, and it matters at the right stage. He says the entrepreneur getting rich is the first priority, and that the goal is to scale in a way that does not get stuck at 10,000, 50,000 or 60,000 schools. [1]

Yasin envisions Pakistan exporting education by 2050. He says Pakistan will have ended its out-of-school children problem. [1]

Timeline

2011
Around November, the first day of a day care he recalls.[1]
2020
His organisation reached its five-year mark.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2022-09-23 The ed-tech founder who started in a slum at 19 Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Where did Haroon Yasin study?

Yasin attended Beaconhouse school and received a distinction in A-level Literature in English. He was admitted to the University of Waterloo. He also studied at Georgetown, starting in Qatar and spending time on the DC campus.[1]

Where is Haroon Yasin from?

Yasin was born in Saudi and moved to Pakistan at about age four. His father worked as an accountant in Pakistan.[1]

What did Haroon Yasin study at Georgetown?

The program Yasin studied was the Bachelors in Foreign Service. He completed a four-year Georgetown program in three years.[1]

What does Haroon Yasin think about venture capital?

Yasin says venture capital financing is short-sighted. He believes companies can reach sustainability without venture capital. He adds that the right kind of capital matters, and it matters at the right stage.[1]

What does Haroon Yasin expect for Pakistan by 2050?

Yasin envisions Pakistan exporting education by 2050. He also says Pakistan will have ended its out-of-school children problem.[1]

References

  1. The ed-tech founder who started in a slum at 19 . Thought Behind Things , 2022-09-23.
Show the source passages (55 statements)
  1. Haroon Yasin was born in Saudi and moved to Pakistan at about age four. I was born in Saudi and then I moved to Pakistan when I was about four.
  2. He grew up in a middle-class family. I belong to a middle-class family.
  3. His father worked as an accountant in Pakistan. Mere abba Pakistan mein job karte the, ek accountant the.
  4. He was one of five children, and his parents wanted all of them in good schools. Unki khwahish thi, paanch bachche the, unki khwahish thi saare achche schoolon mein jayein.
  5. He attended Beaconhouse school. We went to Beaconhouse.
  6. He failed English and maths in grade six. chhati grade mein ja ke maine apne do subjects fail kar diye. Angrezi bhi fail kar di, maths bhi fail kar di.
  7. He says he lost interest in school because he did not understand why he was learning. not knowing the why behind why you were doing all of this stuff, uski wajah se I just lost interest.
  8. He took many subjects while trying to work out what he liked and did not like. maine bahut dher saare subjects bhi liye because I was trying to figure out mujhe kya pasand hai ya nahi pasand.
  9. He received a distinction in A-level Literature in English. Literature in English in in A-levels. And I had a distinction in that.
  10. He was admitted to the University of Waterloo. I had reasonable grades toh main University of Waterloo mein admit ho gaya
  11. His parents urged him to become an engineer. mujhe mere parents ne kaha yaar engineer bano tum.
  12. He sold his university engineering books for about 21,000 rupees. koi meri university ki engineering ki kitabein 21,000 rupaye ki biki thi
  13. He recalls that the first day of the day care was around November 2011. And aur yeh I think this was around November 2011, first day of the day care.
  14. He says he ran a school for two years. Yeah, so I ran this school for for two years.
  15. He studied at Georgetown, starting in Qatar and also spending time on the DC campus. I started at Georgetown in Qatar but then I also spent time in the campus in DC.
  16. The program he studied was the Bachelors in Foreign Service. The program was called the Bachelors in Foreign Service, which is basically Econ-Pol.
  17. He completed a four-year Georgetown program in three years. It was a four-year program, I did it in three
  18. He completed an executive education program. I did an executive education program with him.
  19. He says his team started building a school in an informal settlement. Humne ek kachchi basti mein school banana shuru kiya
  20. He says the north star is to bring great teaching to every corner of Pakistan. Hamein bas ek north star pata hai ki hamein Pakistan ke kone kone mein like great teaching pahunchani hai.
  21. He says his team eventually bought a 70cc motorcycle. Toh eventually humne kya kiya ki humne ek motorcycle le li aur motorcycle 70cc
  22. He says the idea that poor Pakistanis do not care about education is a myth. Yeh ek complete myth ke Pakistan mein ek aam aadmi ko, ek gareeb aadmi ko taleem ki fikr nahi hai. This is an absolute myth.
  23. He says 48% of children in Pakistan cannot do division. Now 48% of kids in Pakistan ko division ka sawal nahi karna aata.
  24. He describes a method called CPA: Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract. it's called CPA, Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract.
  25. He says the team learned what it meant to truly deliver contextualized education. So, we learned what it meant to truly deliver contextualized education over there.
  26. He says teachers in low-fee private schools earn about 3,000 rupees on average. Zyada tar teacher ki tankhwah on average in in in low fee private schools for example is 3,000 rupees.
  27. He says there is no teaching licence in Pakistan. there is no teaching license in Pakistan.
  28. He says his organisation told schools it would give them a platform. Humne in schoolon ko jaake kaha, aap, aapko hum ek platform denge.
  29. He says a "Yelp for education" needs to exist in a country like Pakistan. Yelp for uh education needs to exist in in a country like Pakistan.
  30. He says the goal is to become the brain of the education system, using data. it's really just about becoming the brain of the education system and using data to solve that problem.
  31. He says his team threw away about 4,000 videos or content pieces over two years. Humne koi 4000 videos jo hain, content pieces, trash kiye un do saalon mein
  32. He says that when a new information minister took up the post, his team got a chance to meet with her. when Firdous Ashiq Awan became the information minister, toh we got a chance to meet with her
  33. He says his team began teaching English as a second language, first strengthening the child's Urdu. Toh English as a second language humne padhana shuru kiya. Pehle Urdu uski bahut strong karte hain bacchay ki
  34. He says Urdu is the mother tongue of only 8% of the population. Urdu sirf 8% abadi ki madri zaban hai
  35. He says his organisation reached its five-year mark in 2020. So we we hit our hit our five year mark in 2020.
  36. He says his team would build an aggregator for the entire market segment. hum banayenge yeh pure ke pure market segment ke liye ek aggregator.
  37. During lockdown, Taleemabad produced its own content and delivered it through one central platform. Taleemabad ne is lockdown mein saara content jo hai khud hi produce karke ek centralized platform ke through deliver kiya tha
  38. He says the brand lives through its actions more than its visuals. it has less to do with the visuals of it. More of like the brand lives through its actions.
  39. He says some schools are gold standard, some silver standard and some bronze tier. koi gold standard hai aur koi silver standard hai aur koi bronze tier hai
  40. He says his team has talked to thousands of school owners. we have talked to thousands and thousands of school owners now.
  41. He says the first franchise in Pakistan was started by Jamaat-e-Islami in the early 1990s. pehli franchise Hira School thi, Jamaat-e-Islami unhone shuru ki thi in the early 90s.
  42. Taleemabad has raised and spent about 2 to 2.5 million dollars. Taleemabad has raised and spent down about 2, 2.5 million dollars so far.
  43. He says his organisation has already raised close to a million dollars for the next year. we've already raised close to a million dollars uh for next year.
  44. He says venture capital financing is short-sighted. VC financing is also incredibly incredibly short-sighted.
  45. He believes companies can reach sustainability without venture capital. You don't need VC financing to achieve sustainability.
  46. He says the right kind of capital matters, and it matters at the right stage. So I think it's it's also about the right kind of capital at the right stage.
  47. He says the entrepreneur getting rich is the first priority. the entrepreneur getting rich is the first priority.
  48. He says that at 1,000 schools, the annual recurring revenue is half a million dollars. At 1,000 schools, we are at an ARR of half a million dollars.
  49. He says his organisation does not need to raise capital to survive. we don't need to raise capital to survive.
  50. He says the goal is to scale in a way that does not get stuck at 10,000, 50,000 or 60,000 schools. So our goal is very much to do that, but to do so also in a manner in which we don't get stuck at 10,000 schools or 50,000 schools or 60,000 schools.
  51. He says half of those who complete primary school cannot read a single sentence. aadhe primary jamaat mukammal karke ek jumla bhi nahi padh paate.
  52. He says there are about 200,000 schools by some estimates. there's about 200,000 schools by some estimates.
  53. He says he got a call from Buckingham Palace asking whether he could be there. And we just call got a call from Buckingham Palace and they said uh they said, can you be here?
  54. He envisions Pakistan exporting education by 2050. I think in 2050, Pakistan will be exporting education
  55. He says Pakistan will have ended its out-of-school children problem. Pakistan ne apna out of school children problem khatam kar liya hoga.