Ibad ur Rehman Ahmed & Syed Maz Hashmi

Early life and background

Ahmed was born and raised in Karachi and lived there for his first 27 years. He says he is an only child and was very sheltered and protected. [1]

Hashmi was born in Karachi and lived there until about class four. His father was a textile engineer. Hashmi says his father moved to Bangladesh because textile was picking up there at that time. He says he became as fluent in Bangla as a Bengali within two or three years, and that, as the only son, he had to support his family. [1]

Education

Ahmed completed his schooling and matriculation at a secondary school, and completed his intermediate studies at a higher secondary school. He studied electronic engineering at GIKI. He says his father being an electrical engineer was one reason he chose electronics, and that he enjoyed instrumentation and controls more than other electronics fields. Ahmed completed two semesters of an MBA and says he scored better in it than in his engineering degree. He also did an MBA at INSEAD after about five years at Shell. [1]

Hashmi completed his schooling, O-levels and A-levels in Bangladesh. He says he has been an accountant since his O-levels. He opted for ACCA and then completed it. [1]

Career

Ahmed worked mostly on plant maintenance, materials management (procurement) and project engineering. He managed all maintenance for oil terminals in Pakistan, and says a task had to be completed in the UAE and Oman through frequent travel. [1]

Ahmed had a stint in business development in Eastern and Southern Africa and says the company thought he was very good at go-to-market. He did corporate strategy and M&A for close to one and a half to two years. He says a business was grown from nine stores to 33 stores. He held a very short role of about five months as Chief Operating Officer of a company. [1]

Ahmed says his father retired in 2018 and had moved to Pakistan. He says some of the people who were very close to him as mentors started to transition out, and that he was trying to follow his parents. [1]

Hashmi was part of the process of getting a company listed. He worked at a sister concern known as DGS, Digital Global Services. [1]

foodpanda

Ahmed says his core job at that time was to launch Pandamart. He says he was excited for shops, which did not work out, and that he is now all about Pandamart. He says prescription upload is one of the things in the works because pharmacy is planned, and that grocery is not the core because it is already low margin. He says there are places where basket size is equivalent to that of Karachi or Lahore, and that the generation being targeted is the younger lot, the teenagers. [1]

Ahmed says foodpanda Pakistan is one of Delivery Hero's innovation labs, especially for quick commerce. He says they are first focusing on the 25,000 restaurants already on their platform, and that they can provide raw materials to restaurants and to companies and make money from that as well. He mentions trading hubs in Dubai and potentially Singapore later on. [1]

Hashmi says he joined in 2018, and that he thought it was either going to be something big or he would be jobless after maybe six months or a year. He says that from two people he now has a team of around 60 people under him. He recalls a rider base growing from 150 riders to around 10,000 to 15,000 everyday active riders. [1]

Hashmi says COVID accelerated them a lot, and that they felt that by providing last mile delivery they would have more control over the experience they provide the consumer. He says 2020 was the year when they went into dark kitchens, which are the ghost kitchens they have. He says that when 2019 and 2020 came, they started burning even more money, and that the culture they have been able to still maintain is that startup culture. [1]

Views

Ahmed says adoption has been faster than in many other markets. He says it is not just population size but age, and that youth really matters. He advises people to remain connected to their roots, and says to go for the long haul, and that 27 years out he thinks they would have sorted themselves out. [1]

Hashmi says that life should not have regrets and that hardcore accounting, or the accountant, is a dying profession. He says he thinks this country has huge potential and that he thinks everyone is going to be part of that correction. [1]

Timeline

2006

Hashmi returned to Pakistan.[1]

2018

Ahmed's father retired, and Hashmi says he joined.[1]

2019

Hashmi says they started burning even more money in 2019 and 2020.[1]

2020

Hashmi says they went into dark kitchens.[1]

Appearances

Frequently asked questions

References

1. How foodpanda became an innovation lab for delivery hero . Thought Behind Things , 2023-03-17.