Jahanzaib Shafique

Early life and background

Shafique was born in New York and spent his first nine months there. His family moved back because of family concerns, and he was raised in Lahore. [1]

Education

Shafique studied at the Beaconhouse Garden Town campus, an all-boys school. He joined LUMS in 2005 for a BSc Honours in Economics and Mathematics. His father paid his first semester at LUMS, after which he decided he could pay his own fees. [1]

He describes himself as a good student until he started working. He says his class attendance and participation at LUMS were weak. He reports a CGPA of 3.43 at LUMS. He graduated from LUMS while also working during college. [1]

Career

Shafique registered a company within two months that ran LUMS events. He worked with 27 of the 50 clubs at LUMS. He never applied for a job and chose to build his own path from the start. His aim was to become a solution provider for brands instead of working for them as an employee. [1]

He was about 16 when he and his friends ran their first events. He and his friends took on a school event as third-party organisers. At one event, the students knew that teachers were present, which solved crowd management. He and his team held an event at Kinnaird College's amphitheatre, which seats about 2,500 people. They ran four events, of which one was profitable, two broke even and one made a loss. [1]

Shafique created about 100 nodes and gave each a target of 10 to 15 people. He met a person at that time who is still his partner. His partner's company was named Jaws Productions, while he operated under the name JB Productions. They had become somewhat specialised in concerts and were moving into corporate work. [1]

An office with two partners ran out of funds within six months. Another office also ran out of capital and had to close. For the rest of that time the company existed in KFC and McDonald's. They went into negative within four to five months. His work was mostly operational, getting things done. [1]

An emergency during a 2007 event cancelled their NOC. He says events were the lowest priority for corporates and government at that time. People broke a venue gate in front of him and flooded in, and the event was interrupted. [1]

Their biggest win was a Samsung project in 2010. They took on a brand activation for that project without any prior experience in brand activation. For an Atif Aslam concert they put up about 15 billboards in Lahore. [1]

Cartel Media and PR

A client engaged a PR company in front of them, and they found the work interesting. They founded Cartel Media and PR in 2016 as a strategic expansion. They dedicated an office room to Cartel Media and PR and registered it. Shafique mostly takes the lead at Cartel Media and PR. [1]

Shark Talent was added in 2021. Shafique says the co-founding team has stayed the same since the start. [1]

Events and client work

The company booked a venue for a summer bash lasting two or three days. They took sponsorship from Warid and held the event. They ran the Hyundai Tucson launch. [1]

They moved to virtual launches, which were not an economic replacement for event income. They lost no one from the team and told the team they would cut salaries by a small percentage. PR work and content creation work increased a great deal at that time. [1]

Approach to business

The company has never run a wedding event. Shafique says they wanted to focus on one area and master it. He says they kept client relations good and avoided repeating mistakes. He says they learned from every mistake and tried to minimise the damage. [1]

Views

Shafique says public management is probably the biggest challenge in Pakistan. He says there are few purpose-designed venues in Pakistan. He says consumers in Pakistan, especially in Punjab, do not have a mindset of paying. He says events have two main revenue sources, attendee tickets and sponsors. [1]

He says 60% of the ticket money used to go to excise. He says an import ban was completely unexpected, since many of the brands he works with bring their products from abroad. He says political instability and a rising dollar keep major foreign artists away. [1]

He estimates that a smaller international artist costs at least 2 to 3 lakh dollars. He says top local artists have started asking around 10 million for a single performance. He says the two years of Covid were wasted. He lists terrorism, floods, political uncertainty, Covid and economics as challenges for events. [1]

Shafique says he does not see Pakistan breaking up. He sees Pakistan catching up with regional countries, perhaps by about 2035. He says he plans his future in Pakistan, though he could move abroad easily. He says Pakistan has a large youth population that is studying and building new ideas. He believes a critical mass will arrive, after which growth will accelerate. [1]

Personal life

Shafique's parents worried about how late he came home, and he had a curfew. His father was the most supportive family member about his work. He describes his family as educated. [1]

He describes himself as someone who takes risks. He describes himself as a generally positive person. He agrees that he is more of an introvert. [1]

Timeline

2005

Joined LUMS for a BSc Honours in Economics and Mathematics.[1]

2007

An emergency during an event cancelled the company's NOC.[1]

2010

Worked on a Samsung project, the company's biggest win.[1]

2016

Founded Cartel Media and PR as a strategic expansion.[1]

2021

Shark Talent was added.[1]

Appearances

Frequently asked questions

References

1. The event manager who paid his own LUMS fees . Thought Behind Things , 2022-12-12.