Muhammad Fahad Tanveer

chief executive of Edkasa

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

Muhammad Fahad Tanveer is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Edkasa. After graduating, Tanveer decided against a job and planned to start a newspaper. He started a company that made and sold notebooks.

Early life and background

Tanveer was born in Lahore. His parents were both doctors in the army, and both served as majors in it. He has said his grandmother was orphaned at 13. He finally settled in Lahore, where he attended Lahore American School. [1]

Education

Tanveer studied social sciences at LUMS as an undergraduate, with political science and development economics. In 2002 he was one of the founders of the LUMS Model United Nations society. He has said he wanted to be an architect and that he had been admitted to a New York University program. [1]

He went back to LUMS for an MBA after about two years of building a small company. He completed the MBA between 2008 and 2010. Tanveer believes no institution is better than LUMS for learning business. He says the LUMS MBA differs from others because it uses the case method. [1]

Tanveer described his Harvard program as his second master's degree. It was an ALM, run through the School of Continuing Education, and it led to a master's degree from Harvard University. The program required him to finish three courses with a score of 3.7 or above. His main interest was behavioral finance. [1]

Career

After graduating, Tanveer decided against a job and planned to start a newspaper. He started a company that made and sold notebooks. Within a couple of years, he has said, about 140 stores were buying his product. [1]

Tanveer has said he ended up in sales by choice. He has said he had about 13 or 14 offers at one point, and that he was convinced to take a job at half the next best offer. He has also said he joined as a management trainee. [1]

Tanveer has said he moved on to Telenor's Easypaisa. He has also said he moved to Islamabad and got married at around the same time. [1]

Tanveer's job was to be the brand manager for Milo. He has said the role carried P&L responsibility for the brand. He has also said Nestle Pakistan was the third market in the world to replace commercial sugar with natural sugar. [1]

Edkasa

Tanveer has said that when he returned in 2016, there were no venture capital funds of the kind that exist today. He and his colleagues went back to their alma mater, LUMS. The team visited about 800 households across Pakistan. Early on, the team had a third co-founder. [1]

Tanveer has said his team proposed teaching students daily through Facebook Live. He has said 40 schools signed up within a year. They were charging 15,000 rupees a month at the time. The team then went into an accelerator programme. [1]

The team made about 1,000 lectures in eight to nine months. It put its lectures on YouTube to see what would happen. Tanveer has said the YouTube lectures drew about 100,000 unique viewers a month. The team realized it needed to build a proprietary platform. [1]

Tanveer has said his company raised a pre-seed round. He has said the team built the full science syllabus for Pakistan high school within six months. Users download the app and select their board, and everything then follows according to that board. Tanveer has said 150,000 people downloaded the app within three months of its launch, and that about 30,000 people download it each month. [1]

Tanveer has said his company was approached by National Bank of Pakistan to help with its e-learning for regulations. He has said procurement required seven years of account history. [1]

Views

Tanveer says money is a tool to make things happen, not the end goal. He says education is the bridge between the world we have and the world we want. He says his company is educators first and a technology company later. He has said its number one value is student success, and that it wants to take exams off the table. [1]

Tanveer says his company is not building the app first and then trying to sell it to people. He says Edkasa would build something else if users rejected its product. He describes the product as an MVP, not a Formula 1 car. He says people should galvanize around a purpose, and the product will improve. [1]

Tanveer says thousands of students take the same quizzes. He says his company offers an add-on rather than an alternative. He has said more than 10 million children are in this space. He says Pakistan offers the right mix of opportunity that can be executed. [1]

Tanveer expects Pakistani learners to become more independent learners. He says the ultimate goal is for children to spend less time and acquire more knowledge. He says the processes for working with government are quite obsolete. He also says government has been really forthcoming, regardless of who is at the helm of affairs. [1]

Timeline

2002
One of the founders of the LUMS Model United Nations society.[1]
2008
Began the MBA program at LUMS.[1]
2010
Graduated from the MBA program at LUMS.[1]
2016
Returned and found no venture capital funds of the kind that exist today.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2022-06-03 The EdTech founder who left Nestle for a scholarship Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Muhammad Fahad Tanveer?

Muhammad Fahad Tanveer is the chief executive of Edkasa. He was born in Lahore and studied social sciences at LUMS. He completed an MBA at LUMS between 2008 and 2010.[1]

What does Muhammad Fahad Tanveer do?

Muhammad Fahad Tanveer is the chief executive of Edkasa. Tanveer says his company is educators first and a technology company later. His team has made about 1,000 lectures and an app that users download and set to their board.[1]

Where did Muhammad Fahad Tanveer study?

Muhammad Fahad Tanveer studied social sciences at LUMS as an undergraduate and completed an MBA there between 2008 and 2010. He also earned a master's degree from Harvard University through an ALM run by the School of Continuing Education.[1]

Where is Muhammad Fahad Tanveer from?

Muhammad Fahad Tanveer was born in Lahore. His parents were both doctors in the army. He finally settled in Lahore, where he attended Lahore American School.[1]

What did Muhammad Fahad Tanveer study at Harvard?

Muhammad Fahad Tanveer described his Harvard program as his second master's degree. It was an ALM run through the School of Continuing Education. Tanveer has said his main interest was behavioral finance.[1]

What has Muhammad Fahad Tanveer said about Edkasa's approach?

Tanveer says Edkasa is not building the app first and then trying to sell it to people. He says the company offers an add-on rather than an alternative. He describes the product as an MVP, not a Formula 1 car.[1]

References

  1. The EdTech founder who left Nestle for a scholarship . Thought Behind Things , 2022-06-03.
Show the source passages (68 statements)
  1. Fahad Tanveer is the CEO of Edkasa. He is the CEO of Edkasa.
  2. Fahad was born in Lahore. So, I was born in Lahore.
  3. Both of Fahad's parents were doctors in the army. My parents are both doctors, but dono army mein doctor thay
  4. Fahad finally settled in Lahore, where he attended Lahore American School. and then finally settled in Lahore at LAS, Lahore American School
  5. Fahad's mother and father both served as majors in the army. meri walida fauj mein major thin, jab mere walid bhi fauj mein major the
  6. Fahad's grandmother was orphaned at 13. my dadi was an orphan at 13
  7. Fahad studied social sciences at LUMS as an undergraduate, with political science and development economics. actually studied social sciences at LUMS, political science and development economics in my undergrad.
  8. Fahad wanted to become an architect. I wanted to be an architect.
  9. Fahad had been admitted to a New York University program. So I had gotten into an NYU program, NYU, shayad jin ko jante honge, New York University.
  10. Fahad was one of the founders of the LUMS Model United Nations society in 2002. we started that as LUMS Model United Nations in 2002. I was one of the founders of that society.
  11. After graduating, Fahad decided against a job and planned to start a newspaper. as soon as I graduated, I felt ki mujhe job nahi karni aur mujhe ek akhbar nikalna hai
  12. Fahad started a company that made and sold notebooks. Maine ek company start ki jo phir copiyan bana ke bechti thi.
  13. Fahad has said that within a couple of years, about 140 stores bought his product. within a couple of years I had about 140 stores buying my product
  14. Fahad went back to LUMS for an MBA after about two years of building a small company. that's why I actually went back to LUMS after two years of building a small company
  15. Fahad completed his MBA at LUMS between 2008 and 2010. I went in 2008 and graduated 2010 from the MBA program.
  16. Fahad believes no institution is better than LUMS for learning business. toh LUMS se behtar I think institution nahi hai
  17. Fahad says LUMS's MBA differs from others because it uses the case method. LUMS is very different from other MBA programs. It's a case method
  18. Fahad described his program as his second master's degree. because it was my second Master's
  19. Fahad's Harvard program was an ALM run through the School of Continuing Education. So, it's called an ALM. It's a it's done through the School of Continuing Education.
  20. Fahad's program required him to finish three courses with a score of 3.7 or above. my program required ke I had to come and finish three courses and score 3.7 or above to stay in that program.
  21. The program led to a Master's degree from Harvard University. But it's a Master's degree that Harvard University gives you if you complete the requirements.
  22. Fahad's main interest was behavioral finance. So mera interest tha behavioral finance, right?
  23. Fahad has said that when he returned in 2016, there were no venture capital funds of the kind that exist today. jab hum aaye the 2016 mein toh koi VC fund type cheezein nahi thi.
  24. Fahad has said that he and his colleagues went back to their alma mater, LUMS. we went back to our alma mater LUMS.
  25. Fahad has said the team visited about 800 households across Pakistan. So we went to about 800 different households across Pakistan, right?
  26. Early on, Fahad's team had a third co-founder. hamara us waqt ek third co-founder hota tha Sohail
  27. Fahad has said his team proposed teaching students daily through Facebook Live. Hum Facebook live se aapko rozana padhayenge subah jaise school se padhate hain.
  28. Fahad has said 40 schools signed up within a year. ek saal mein 40 school signed up
  29. Fahad has said they were charging 15,000 rupees a month at the time. Hum us waqt 15,000 rupay mahine ka charge kar rahe the.
  30. Fahad has said his team then went into an accelerator programme. Toh phir hum ek accelerator program tha Spring Accelerator. Hum usme gaye.
  31. Fahad has said the team made about 1,000 lectures in eight to nine months. humne koi takreeban aath nau mahine mein koi 1,000 lecture banaye
  32. The team put its lectures on YouTube to see what would happen. we said ke let's put it on YouTube and see what happens
  33. Fahad has said the YouTube lectures drew about 100,000 unique viewers a month. we were getting about 100,000 unique viewers coming every month watching our content
  34. Fahad has said his company's number one value is student success. our number one value is student success
  35. The team realized it needed to build a proprietary platform. we realized ke humein iske liye ek proprietary platform banana padega
  36. Fahad has said his company raised a pre-seed round. we raised our pre-seed round, right?
  37. Fahad has said the team built the full science syllabus for Pakistan high school within six months. within six months, we had built out the entire science syllabus for Pakistan High School.
  38. Users download the app and select their board, and everything then follows according to that board. you just download our app, select the board and as per your board, everything happens
  39. Fahad has said his company wants to take exams off the table. we want to take exams off the table
  40. Fahad says thousands of students take the same quizzes. hazaron students hain jo same quizzes ko take karte hain
  41. Fahad has said more than 10 million children are in this space. aapke 1 crore se zyada bache is space mein hain
  42. Fahad says Pakistan offers the right mix of opportunity that can be executed. Pakistan is the right mix of opportunity that is executable
  43. Fahad says his company offers an add-on rather than an alternative. Hum alternate to nahi provide kar rahe, yeh aapko bhi pata hai. Hum add on provide kar rahe hain.
  44. Fahad expects Pakistani learners to become more independent learners. you will see Pakistani learners becoming more independent learners
  45. Fahad says the processes for working with government are quite obsolete. our processes for working with government are quite obsolete
  46. Fahad has said his company was approached by National Bank of Pakistan to help with its e-learning for regulations. we were approached by National Bank of Pakistan to help them with their e-learning for regulations
  47. Fahad has said procurement required seven years of account history. procurement required seven years of history of accounts
  48. Fahad has said his brand manager left about three months into the job. my brand manager left like I think three months into the job
  49. Fahad's job was to be the brand manager for Milo. Job was to be the brand manager for Milo.
  50. Fahad has said the role carried P&L responsibility for the brand. you had the P&L responsibility for it
  51. Fahad says Nestle Pakistan was the third market in the world to replace commercial sugar with natural sugar. Nestle Pakistan was the third market in the world jisne uske andar se uh you know, jo commercial sugar hai woh nikaal ke natural sugar ko replace kiya.
  52. Fahad moved to Islamabad and got married at around the same time. I did. I did. I moved to Islamabad. I actually got married at the same time.
  53. Fahad ended up in sales by choice. I ended up in sales by choice
  54. Fahad was convinced to take a job at half the next best offer. he convinced me to take a job at half the next best offer
  55. Fahad had about 13 or 14 offers at one point. I had about 13, 14 offers at that time
  56. Fahad joined as a management trainee. So, I joined as a management trainee.
  57. Fahad moved on to Telenor's Easypaisa. Uh and then I moved on to uh Telenor's EasyPaisa.
  58. Fahad says money is a tool to make things happen, not the end goal. money is not the end goal. It's a tool to make things happen that you want to see in the world.
  59. Fahad says education is the bridge between the world we have and the world we want. the bridge between the world that we have and the world that we want is education
  60. Fahad says his company is educators first and a technology company later. We are educators first, technology company later.
  61. Fahad says his company is not building the app first and then trying to sell it to people. We're not building the app first and then trying to sell it to people
  62. Fahad says Edkasa would build something else if users rejected its product. if users don't want to use our product, we'll build something else
  63. Fahad describes the product as an MVP, not a Formula 1 car. yeh woh uh MVP hai, you know, it's not the Formula 1 car.
  64. Fahad says the ultimate goal is for children to spend less time and acquire more knowledge. ultimately kids should spend less time and acquire more knowledge
  65. Fahad has said 150,000 people downloaded the app within three months of its launch. jab April mein humne last April mein app launch ki to 3 mahine mein 1.5 lakh logon ne download kar li na
  66. Fahad has said about 30,000 people download the app each month. har mahine 30,000 log download karte hain us app ko
  67. Fahad says people should galvanize around a purpose, and the product will improve. you galvanize around a purpose. Product will improve.
  68. Fahad says government has been really forthcoming, regardless of who is at the helm of affairs. I think government has been really forthcoming uh regardless of whoever's uh at the helm of affairs