Mohammad Hadi

banker and co-founder of EzBike

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

Mohammad Hadi is a former Credit Suisse banker and co-founder of EzBike. He worked at Credit Suisse from 2002 to 2017 and moved from investment banking to private banking. Hadi was born in Kuwait, and his family moved to Islamabad when he was six.

Early life and background

Mohammad Hadi was born in Kuwait. His family moved to Peshawar and lived there for a few years. The family later moved back to Kuwait, and then moved to Islamabad when he was six. [1]

His father was a doctor, and his father's family background is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. His mother is English. [1]

Hadi described Islamabad in the 1990s as very quiet. As a boy he cycled in F-11, from age 10 to 12. He has said that he came to feel that he belonged to Islamabad. [1]

Education

Hadi attended Beaconhouse and another school mostly. He completed A-levels at the end of the 1990s, taking business, economics and law. [1]

He went to college in Minnesota in the United States as a scholarship student. He studied liberal arts in the United States. He switched from international relations to business economics because he saw that nobody gets a job in it. He has said that he studied a lot and had a very high GPA. [1]

Hadi has said that he went to the UK because he did not expect to get a visa very easily. He spent a year studying abroad at the University of Warwick in England. He found the academics difficult, more difficult than in America. He has also said that his economics course was much more mathematical than theoretical, and that he struggled with this. [1]

Career

During college Hadi completed two internships at banks. He has described a back office job as not very intellectually stimulating but a foot in the door. He chose one job offer because he wanted a permanent role from which to build a career. [1]

Hadi spent 15 years at Credit Suisse, from 2002 to 2017. He has said that he moved from London to New York after two years, and that he spent most of his time in New York and one year in Chicago. He also said that he did not like London and found it too inconvenient. [1]

Hadi proposed adding risk weighting to understand how much a trade was worth and presented the idea to his bosses. He then entered a management training program and later worked on a trading floor. He has said he could see a path to becoming a managing director within a couple of years. [1]

Hadi left Credit Suisse and joined Citibank. He moved from investment banking to private banking. He has said he chose to move closer to home, within about a flight's distance of family. [1]

EzBike

Hadi has said that ride-hailing could not be priced for the common consumer in Pakistan while paying drivers. He said owning a fleet is capital intensive, but that the cost of providing the service is a fraction of what a two-wheeler ride-hailing service can offer. [1]

He has said that they operate in F6, F7, F8, F9, F10 and F11, and will launch in Bahria Town soon. According to Hadi, they buy backup batteries, charge them in various locations and run a 24-hour schedule of swapping them out. He said a charge gives about 75 km, which is about the distance riders cover in a day. [1]

Hadi has said that they raised a million dollars from a network of angels and venture capital firms, and that a lot of the investment came from the United States. He said they will look to raise more capital to expand. [1]

He said they were forced to vertically integrate into assembly. He said duty is very high, so the product has to be brought in as CKD parts and then assembled, and that batteries and motors, for example, are only 1% in duty terms. He said they started assembling their own scooters, put them on the road and modified them, and that they are the only company in Pakistan to have done this at scale. He said they are now building their own scooters for their scooter sharing business. [1]

Hadi said they would sell EzBike scooters in the summer. He said the scooters look like a regular scooty but are a little bit bigger. Batteries are rented on a daily basis, not through a subscription, and he said they source batteries at 60% of the cost of regular batteries. [1]

He said the scooter would cost roughly 70 to 80% of leading motorcycle brands, and that operating cost would be about half that of leading motorcycle brands. He said financial partners had been lined up to offer installment plans to buyers. [1]

Hadi said lithium-ion cells are not made in Pakistan right now. He said battery pack assembly can be indigenized and that they are doing so, but that sourcing the cells will always be external. [1]

He said theft has not really been a factor for them, and that they have proprietary hardware, proprietary software and operational resources to prevent theft. He expects theft to rise as electric scooters become common. [1]

Hadi said the main plan is a summer pilot of a delivery scooter with battery swapping stations. He said women are a big part of the riders. He said the goal is to disrupt transportation so that it is more convenient, affordable and environmentally friendly. [1]

Views

Hadi has said that he liked American culture, convenience and opportunity, and that people in New York are very driven, whatever their field. He argued that most parts of Wall Street add a lot of value to society. He said he wanted work that was high risk and high return, and wanted to do something entrepreneurial. He also said that being a banker was not what he wanted to retire on. He has said that success lies in living according to one's values. [1]

Hadi said returning to Pakistan had always been his plan. He said he believes in Pakistan, which is why he lives there, and that Pakistan is complex, with amazing and terrible things happening at the same time. He said he believes in the demographic story and in what this country can do with its potential, and that there is a lot of need for structural change to realise some of that opportunity. [1]

Hadi expects electric vehicles to reach price parity with petrol engines by 2030. He argued that two-wheelers are a better route than four-wheelers for cutting air pollution. He said that within transport there are 22 million motorcycles versus 4 million cars, and that transport causes 65% of air pollution in Pakistan. He said electric vehicle registration is supposed to be free in Islamabad. He said an EV policy should first define its goals, and that interest-free financing should be given for the purchase of electric scooters or electric cars. [1]

Personal life

When his family moved from Dubai to Islamabad, they had a third child as well. Hadi speaks Pashto well. [1]

Timeline

2002
Began working at Credit Suisse, where he stayed until 2017.[1]
2010
Married.[1]
2015
Had met the person who became his co-founder in EzBike.[1]
2017
Ended his period of work at Credit Suisse.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2022-05-13 The man building Pakistan's electric mobility revolution Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Mohammad Hadi?

Mohammad Hadi is a former Credit Suisse banker and co-founder of EzBike. He worked at Credit Suisse from 2002 to 2017. He was born in Kuwait.[1]

What company did Mohammad Hadi found?

Mohammad Hadi is a co-founder of EzBike. He has said that he and others started a company to work on launching a scooter sharing service. He has said that by 2015 he had met the person who became his co-founder in EzBike.[1]

Where did Mohammad Hadi study?

Mohammad Hadi attended Beaconhouse and another school mostly, and completed A-levels at the end of the 1990s. He went to college in Minnesota in the United States as a scholarship student. He also spent a year studying abroad at the University of Warwick in England.[1]

Where is Mohammad Hadi from?

Mohammad Hadi was born in Kuwait. His family moved to Peshawar for a few years, later moved back to Kuwait, and moved to Islamabad when he was six. His father's family background is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.[1]

Where has Mohammad Hadi worked in banking?

Mohammad Hadi spent 15 years at Credit Suisse, from 2002 to 2017. He left Credit Suisse and joined Citibank, and he moved from investment banking to private banking. He has said that he spent most of his time in New York and one year in Chicago.[1]

What does Mohammad Hadi say about electric vehicles?

Mohammad Hadi expects electric vehicles to reach price parity with petrol engines by 2030. He argued that two-wheelers are a better route than four-wheelers for cutting air pollution. He said that transport causes 65% of air pollution in Pakistan.[1]

References

  1. The man building Pakistan's electric mobility revolution . Thought Behind Things , 2022-05-13.
Show the source passages (98 statements)
  1. Mohammad Hadi was born in Kuwait. So, I was born in Kuwait and shortly after I was born, my family moved to Peshawar.
  2. His family moved to Peshawar and lived there for a few years. my family moved to Peshawar. We spent a few years there.
  3. His family later moved back to Kuwait. Wahan se phir hum wapas Kuwait chale gaye.
  4. His family moved to Islamabad when he was six. On and off, and then we moved to Islamabad when I was six.
  5. His father was a doctor. Mere walid sahab doctor thay
  6. His father's family background is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. phir um mere father ka background KP se hai
  7. His mother is English. I traveled a lot to England. My mother is English.
  8. He said he came to feel that he belonged to Islamabad. I realized ke I belong to Islamabad and I think Islamabad belongs to me.
  9. He described Islamabad in the 1990s as very quiet. Islamabad was quiet. Very quiet.
  10. He cycled in F-11 as a boy, from age 10 to 12. Aur F11 mein main cycling kiya karta tha 10-12 saal ki umar pe.
  11. He attended Beaconhouse and another school mostly. I went mostly to Beaconhouse, aur BMI.
  12. He completed A-levels at the end of the 1990s. 90s, I graduated at the end of the 90s, A-levels.
  13. He took A-levels in business, economics and law. Toh A-levels I did in business and economics and law.
  14. He went to college in Minnesota in the United States. Yeah, I went to the States, went to Minnesota for college.
  15. He was a scholarship student at his US college. I was a scholarship student, so I got a scholarship to go there.
  16. He switched from international relations to business economics because he saw that nobody gets a job in it. I did actually, I think I started with international relations. Lekin then I saw that nobody gets a job in it, toh maine socha chalo business economics hi kar lete hain.
  17. He said he studied a lot and had a very high GPA. I studied a lot, aur mera bahut high GPA tha.
  18. He spent a year studying abroad at the University of Warwick in England. I went to University of Warwick in England for a year study abroad.
  19. He found the academics difficult, more difficult than in America. the academics were very difficult. Acha. They were more difficult than America.
  20. He said his economics course was much more mathematical than theoretical, and that he struggled with this. Uh economics mein for example, it was much more mathematical than sort of theoretical, which I struggled with.
  21. He studied liberal arts in the United States. The thing I liked about the US was I did liberal arts.
  22. He went to the UK because he did not expect to get a visa very easily. Toh I knew that I wasn't going to get a visa very easily, toh I went to the UK.
  23. During college he completed two internships at banks. college ke doran I had done two internships at banks.
  24. He described a back office job as not very intellectually stimulating but a foot in the door. I mean it was uh like a back office job, lekin within back office it was also like nothing very intellectually stimulating basically, but it was a foot in the door.
  25. He chose one job offer because he wanted a permanent role from which to build a career. So I chose the CSFB one because maine kaha ke mujhe permanent ek you know role chahiye taake wahan se I can build a career.
  26. He proposed adding risk weighting to understand how much a trade was worth and presented the idea to his bosses. I realized we should actually add risk weighting to understand how much the trade was actually worth. Toh I presented that to my bosses.
  27. He then entered a management training program. So I went into a into a management training program from there.
  28. He later worked on a trading floor. ended up working um in uh in on the trading floor.
  29. He spent 15 years at Credit Suisse. Yaar Credit Suisse, uh I was at uh for 15 years.
  30. He worked at Credit Suisse from 2002 to 2017. 15 years at Credit Suisse. Um that's what 2002 to 2017. Ji.
  31. He moved from London to New York after two years. So I moved after two years, I moved from London to New York.
  32. He spent most of his time in New York and one year in Chicago. I spent most of my time in New York, bech mein ek saal Chicago mein guzara hai maine.
  33. He said he did not like London and found it too inconvenient. Mujhe London nahi pasand aya. I don't know. It was just too inconvenient.
  34. He said he liked American culture, convenience and opportunity. I liked the US culture. I liked the convenience. I liked the opportunity.
  35. He said people in New York are very driven, whatever their field. New York mein log bahut zyada driven hote hain, whatever field they're in, as a generalization.
  36. He argued that most parts of Wall Street add a lot of value to society. But most parts of Wall Street, you can make a very strong argument that they actually do add a lot of value to society.
  37. He said he could see a path to becoming a managing director within a couple of years. there was definitely a path ahead of me where I knew that in a couple of years I'd be a managing director
  38. He said he wanted work that was high risk and high return, and wanted to do something entrepreneurial. Number one was professionally, I wanted something that was high risk, high returns. I wanted to do something entrepreneurial.
  39. He said being a banker was not what he wanted to retire on. And to me, being a banker was not what I wanted to retire on.
  40. He said returning to Pakistan had always been his plan. I think that mera hamesha se yeh plan tha ke main Pakistan aaunga wapas.
  41. He said success lies in living according to one's values. Success lies in living our life according to our values and actually being able to identify what our values are
  42. He married in 2010. I got married in 2010.
  43. His wife is of desi background and was born and raised in the United States. No, she's uh desi background but she's American born and raised.
  44. He met his wife when she was studying at NYU. Met her when she was at NYU.
  45. He said his wife has been very supportive of his entrepreneurial ambitions. I've been lucky because my wife is tremendously supportive of my entrepreneurial ambitions.
  46. He left Credit Suisse and joined Citibank. I I I quit Credit Suisse and then I found a job at Citibank and I started working there.
  47. He chose to move closer to home, within about a flight's distance of family. Um and it was really because I wanted to come closer to home. Mere parents bhi yahan par the. I wanted to be at least within you know, a flight's distance.
  48. He moved from investment banking to private banking. No, I moved from investment banking to private banking.
  49. When his family moved from Dubai to Islamabad, they had a third child as well. Now when we moved from Dubai to Islamabad, um we had a third kid as well.
  50. He speaks Pashto well. I can speak pretty good Pashto, yeah.
  51. He said he believes in Pakistan, which is why he lives there. But overall, I'm a believer in Pakistan, and that's why I'm here, right?
  52. He said Pakistan is complex, with amazing and terrible things happening at the same time. Pakistan is like this, uh, complex, wonderful country, right? Where there's amazing things happening and terrible things happening all at the same time.
  53. He said he believes in the demographic story and in what this country can do with its potential. I'm a believer in the demographic story and what this country can do in its potential.
  54. He said there is a lot of need for structural change to realise some of that opportunity. But I think there's a lot of need for structural change to to manifest some of that opportunity to actually have things uh work.
  55. He said the State Bank has done tremendous work to help startups raise capital. the State Bank has done tremendous work to make it more easy for startups to raise capital
  56. He said the pace needs to pick up because the world is moving ahead very fast. I think we need to pick up the pace because haqeeqat yeh hai ke duniya bahut tezi se aage badh rahi hai.
  57. He said that as a system, it needs to become more business friendly. So I'd say like as a system, I think we need to become more business friendly.
  58. He said that by 2015 he had met the person who became his co-founder in EzBike. By 2015, I had met uh Ali Moin who became my co-founder in EasyBike um uh in the US
  59. He saw shared mobility developments in India and other parts of Asia while he was in Dubai. I had happened when I was in Dubai to come across uh some really interesting things going on in uh India and in other parts of Asia around mobility.
  60. He said that he and others started a company to work on launching a scooter sharing service. and we started a company, we started working on on launching a scooter sharing service
  61. He said ride-hailing could not be priced for the common consumer in Pakistan while paying drivers. You can't price a ride for the common consumer in Pakistan whereby you can actually pay someone for their time and their car.
  62. He said owning a fleet is capital intensive, but that the cost of providing the service is a fraction of what a two-wheeler ride-hailing service can offer. yes, it's capital intensive, but our cost of providing the service is a fraction of what, you know, a uh two-wheel ride healing service can provide at.
  63. He said they wanted to do something new that would be the first self-drive service in Pakistan. we wanted to do something new that was going to be the first self-drive service in Pakistan.
  64. He said they operate in F6, F7, F8, F9, F10 and F11, and will launch in Bahria Town soon. Abhi to we're in F6, F7, F8, F9, F10, F11. Acha. So, we're in the F segment. Uh we'll be launching inshallah in Bahria Town soon.
  65. He said they buy backup batteries, charge them in various locations and run a 24-hour schedule of swapping them out. you buy backup batteries, you keep charging them in various locations and you just run a 24-hour schedule, which is what we do, of swapping them out.
  66. He said they raised a million dollars from a network of angels and venture capital firms. So we raised a million dollars from uh a network of angels and VCs.
  67. He said a lot of the investment came from the United States. Um a lot of our investment came from the States.
  68. He said they were forced to vertically integrate into assembly. So, we had to majboor ho ke we vertically integrated into assembly.
  69. He said duty is very high, so the product has to be brought in as CKD parts and then assembled. Duty bahut zyada hoti hai. So, you have to bring it in CKD uh in parts and then you have to assemble it.
  70. He said batteries and motors, for example, are only 1% in duty terms. So, uh, for example, batteries and motors are 1% only.
  71. He said they started assembling their own scooters, put them on the road and modified them, and that they are the only company in Pakistan to have done this at scale. We started assembling our own scooters, put them out on the road, modified them. We are the only company in Pakistan that's done that at scale, right?
  72. He said they are now building their own scooters for their scooter sharing business. we're now building our own scooters for our ride uh sharing business, for our scooter sharing business.
  73. He said they would sell EzBike scooters in the summer. We're going to sell EasyBike scooters this summer, inshallah.
  74. He said the scooters look like a regular scooty but are a little bit bigger. They're a little bit bigger. Uh they look like a regular scooty.
  75. He said batteries are rented on a daily basis, not through a subscription. For the batteries, you rent on a daily basis, not subscription.
  76. He said they source batteries at 60% of the cost of regular batteries. We are sourcing batteries which are 60% the cost of regular batteries.
  77. He said the scooter would cost roughly 70 to 80% of leading motorcycle brands. the cost of the scooter which you will purchase will be 80% roughly of leading motorcycle brands, 70 to 80%.
  78. He said operating cost would be about half that of leading motorcycle brands. Plus the operating cost will be about 50% of leading motorcycle brands.
  79. He said EasyBike has lined up financial partners to offer installment plans to buyers. we've already lined up financial partners to provide installment plans to purchasers.
  80. He expects electric vehicles to reach price parity with petrol engines by 2030. by 2030, um expectation yeh hai ke EVs will become price par, price parity with petrol engines
  81. He argued that two-wheelers are a better route than four-wheelers for cutting air pollution. And if you're going to make the EV transition in Pakistan and you're going to have a a change on air pollution, you're going to do it with two-wheelers, not four-wheelers.
  82. He said that within transport there are 22 million motorcycles versus 4 million cars. Doosri baat yeh hai ke within transport, 22 million motorcycles versus 4 million cars.
  83. He said transport causes 65% of air pollution in Pakistan. 65% of the air pollution in Pakistan is caused by transport.
  84. He said electric vehicle registration is supposed to be free in Islamabad. in various places, like Islamabad, for example, it's supposed to be free to register an electric vehicle.
  85. He said lithium-ion cells are not made in Pakistan right now. Jo cells hain, woh Pakistan mein nahi bante is waqt, available bhi nahi hain
  86. He said battery pack assembly can be indigenized and that they are doing so, but that sourcing the cells will always be external. Toh usko indigenize kiya ja sakta hai aur usko hum indigenize kar rahe hain. Um, but actually, you know, sourcing the cells will always be external.
  87. He said theft has not really been a factor for them. theft really hasn't been a factor for us.
  88. He said they have proprietary hardware, proprietary software and operational resources to prevent theft. So we have proprietary hardware, proprietary software and operational resources to prevent that from happening.
  89. He expects theft to rise as electric scooters become common. theft will increase when it becomes a common product of this type of vehicle, no doubt.
  90. He said the main plan is a summer pilot of a delivery scooter with battery swapping stations. So, the main plan is to launch a pilot in the summer, uh, with our first version of our delivery scooter, and to run that with our battery swapping stations.
  91. He said they will look to raise more capital to expand. We'll look to raise more capital to expand it.
  92. He said a charge gives about 75 km, which is about the distance riders cover in a day. per jo charge takreeban 75 km hogi, which is about the amount they do in a day.
  93. He said women are a big part of EasyBike's riders. how many girls ride our scooters? It's a big part of our business.
  94. He said the goal is to disrupt transportation so that it is more convenient, affordable and environmentally friendly. what we're looking to do is disrupt transportation in the country such that we make it more convenient, affordable, and environmentally friendly for people to travel, right?
  95. He said that as a nation, a shared vision needs to be developed. And as a nation, we need to develop like a shared vision.
  96. He said a massive export industry that rivals India's could be built. we just build this massive export industry that rivals India.
  97. He said an EV policy should first define its goals. So, if we're trying to achieve certain things, we need to define what those are.
  98. He said interest-free financing should be given for the purchase of electric scooters or electric cars. Give interest-free financing for the purchase of electric scooters or electric cars.