Parvez Abbasi

telecom executive, Mobile Zone co-founder

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

Parvez Abbasi is a project director at National Incubation Center (NIC) Pakistan. Abbasi started off as an engineer. His job was to identify when an alarm went off, find what was wrong and fix it.

Early life and background

Parvez Abbasi was born in a small village in Murree. At about one and a half years old, he moved with his family to London. His father had already moved there for work as an economic migrant. Abbasi said his father believed the family would get a better life and better education in London. [1]

His father said he would provide food and education, and that the rest was up to him. At about age 13, Abbasi ran a school tuck shop, which he called his first investment. He lived in London from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s. [1]

Education

Abbasi completed his primary and secondary education in London. He graduated as a telecom engineer. [1]

Career

Abbasi started off as an engineer. His job was to identify when an alarm went off, find what was wrong and fix it. He later worked on what was then known as leased lines, used to connect offices. [1]

Move to Pakistan

Abbasi's father felt he had become too westernised and wanted him to understand Pakistan. Abbasi came to Pakistan as a student, he thinks in 1985. He said he fell in love with Pakistan. He also said he did not feel very comfortable in London and had an urge to go to Pakistan. [1]

Abbasi became the commercial distribution head for a dealer sales program. He helped set up Mobilink, which is now known as Jazz. He worked with Mobilink as a consultant between 1992 and 1994 and joined it formally in 1994 or 1995. At Mobilink he was the chief commercial officer, looking after sales, marketing, distribution and customer care. [1]

Abbasi said he was fired from Mobilink in 2001. He said the majority shareholders were Motorola, an American company, and that the shares were purchased by Orascom, an Egyptian company. He said he did not see eye to eye with another person who had a seat on the board, and that this person fired him. [1]

He said that on that day he realised he had nothing of his own in life. He resolved that he never again wanted to see himself in that situation. He said that since then he has never applied for a job. [1]

Mobile Zone

Abbasi said that he and others started a company called Mobile Zone in December 2001. He was told by others that they wanted to sell phones and knew him but could not come to Pakistan. He brought a letter back to Pakistan and sought investment from people there. He said the investors financed the business and also ran the operations, while he managed the relationships and traveled. [1]

Abbasi said Mobile Zone became a billion-dollar revenue company within three years. He said it held about 70% of the market, which he credits to its warranty. Mobile Zone introduced a 12-month manufacturer's warranty backed by the manufacturers. It expanded into Afghanistan and Bangladesh. [1]

Abbasi sold his shares in Mobile Zone to his partners. He said the dollar went from 60 rupees to 90 rupees in less than 100 days, and that the company lost about 20 million dollars at that time. He said he decided not to continue that line of work because it needed a lot of investment, he had no money at the time, and the margin was low. [1]

Consulting

Abbasi said he then started a business that had a 95% margin and no investment whatsoever. He said his consulting work covered large telcos on the commercial side, banks, organisational transformation and digitisation. He said his consulting arm provided consulting for large organisations. [1]

National Incubation Center

Abbasi said the family went back to London because the children were going to university and, given the family's heritage in the UK, he thought it the best place for them to study. He said that within three months he started to become depressed. He split his time between Pakistan and London, spending about six weeks in each. He said he would live in Islamabad, depending on whether it was summer or winter. He also caught up with an old colleague and friend who was a former CEO of Mobilink Jazz. [1]

Abbasi started meeting the former colleague every other week for coffee, and in those conversations they asked what they would do for the rest of their lives. He said that he and others thought of a plan to give back to Pakistan. He said the reason Pakistan was in its state was his generation or the generation before it. He said that he and others believed a lot in the youth, having worked with young people at Mobilink and Jazz. He said that he and others joined hands with the government and conceived and built Pakistan's first National Incubation Center (NIC). [1]

Abbasi said most of the funding comes from the Ministry of IT. He said the model has been replicated across the country, with five centres and two more coming up. He said the NIC normally incubates between 40 and 50 startups. He said each startup has maybe three or four people, and that startups are incubated for 12 months. [1]

Abbasi said the NIC has an open door policy. He said one of their key performance indicators was job creation. [1]

Abbasi said the NIC is a globally recognised, award-winning facility. In his opinion the NIC programme has been very successful. He said startups have raised 50 billion rupees in investment and revenue. He also said startups had more revenue and investment in the last two years than in the previous 20. [1]

Views

Abbasi said the optimum number of founders they have found is three. He said that with time, learnings increase and requirements also change. He said the service the NIC provided two or three years ago is no longer relevant. He said more than 40% of students would like to run their own business. He said one of the biggest benefits of incubation is other founders in a similar position. [1]

Abbasi said Pakistan is going to be a completely different Pakistan. He predicts Pakistan is going to emerge as a very large economic superpower. [1]

Personal life

Abbasi's wife moved back to Pakistan with him. He said he had three children at the time. [1]

Timeline

1985
Came to Pakistan as a student, by his recollection[1]
1992
Began working with Mobilink as a consultant, joining it formally in 1994 or 1995[1]
2001
Fired from Mobilink[1]
2001
Started Mobile Zone with others in December[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2022-06-29 The man who built Pakistan's startup incubator from scratch Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Where is Parvez Abbasi from?

Parvez Abbasi was born in a small village in Murree. He moved with his family to London at about one and a half years old. He lived in London from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s.[1]

Where did Parvez Abbasi study?

Parvez Abbasi completed his primary and secondary education in London. He graduated as a telecom engineer.[1]

What company did Parvez Abbasi found?

Parvez Abbasi said that he and others started a company called Mobile Zone in December 2001. Mobile Zone introduced a 12-month manufacturer's warranty backed by the manufacturers. It expanded into Afghanistan and Bangladesh.[1]

What is Parvez Abbasi known for?

Parvez Abbasi is known for helping set up Mobilink, now known as Jazz, and for starting Mobile Zone with others. He also says he joined hands with the government to conceive and build Pakistan's first National Incubation Center.[1]

What was Parvez Abbasi's role at Mobilink?

At Mobilink, Parvez Abbasi was the chief commercial officer, looking after sales, marketing, distribution and customer care. He worked with Mobilink as a consultant between 1992 and 1994 and joined it formally in 1994 or 1995.[1]

Why did Parvez Abbasi leave Mobilink?

Parvez Abbasi said he was fired from Mobilink in 2001. He said he did not see eye to eye with another person who had a seat on the board, and that this person fired him.[1]

References

  1. The man who built Pakistan's startup incubator from scratch . Thought Behind Things , 2022-06-29.
Show the source passages (72 statements)
  1. Parvez Abbasi was born in a small village in Murree. I was born in a small village in Murree. Acha. Uh a place called uh Nergoli.
  2. He moved with his family to London at about one and a half years old. at the age of about one, one and a half, um I relocated with my family to London.
  3. His father had already moved to London for work as an economic migrant. my father was already working there. Uh he was an economic migrant.
  4. His father believed the family would get a better life and better education in London. he felt that uh you know, his family would be able to get a better life, hopefully better education, and he was absolutely right.
  5. His father said he would provide food and education, and the rest was up to him. my dad was very straight, strict on, you know, I'll feed you, I'll educate you, the rest is up to you.
  6. He ran a school tuck shop at about age 13, which he called his first investment. my first uh investment was even earlier than that. Acha. Uh so, I I ran the tuck shop, the school tuck shop. I was around 13 years at the time.
  7. He lived in London from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s. So, basically, I was there from uh 19, mid 1960s to the early 1990s.
  8. He graduated as a telecom engineer. I graduated as a telecom engineer and I worked for British Telecom.
  9. He completed his primary and secondary education in London. all of my primary, secondary education uh was all done there
  10. He started off as an engineer. So, I started off as a engineer.
  11. His job was to identify when an alarm went off, find what was wrong and fix it. my job was to first of all identify when the alarm goes off and go and see what was wrong and then fix it.
  12. He later worked on what was then known as leased lines, used to connect offices. At that time, it was known as lease lines. So, they wanted to connect their offices.
  13. His father felt he had become too westernised and wanted him to understand Pakistan. my father kind of insisted that I was perhaps being too westernized and he wanted me to have a little bit of uh an understanding of Pakistan.
  14. He came to Pakistan as a student, he thinks in 1985. I think the year is now 85 as a student when I came here.
  15. He said he fell in love with Pakistan. I fell in love with Pakistan.
  16. He said he did not feel very comfortable in London and had an urge to go to Pakistan. I really didn't feel very comfortable in London. I had this urge that I want to go to Pakistan.
  17. He became the commercial distribution head for a dealer sales program. So, I became the commercial distribution head for InstaPhone for the dealer sales program.
  18. He helped set up Mobilink, which is now known as Jazz. And uh then also uh helping to set up uh what is now known as Jazz. Earlier it was called Mobilink.
  19. He worked with Mobilink as a consultant between 1992 and 1994 and joined it formally in 1994 or 1995. So, I worked with them as a consultant between 92 and 94 and then 94 formally, you know, 95 joined them formally.
  20. At Mobilink he was the chief commercial officer, looking after sales, marketing, distribution and customer care. I was basically the chief commercial officer looking after sales, marketing, distribution, customer care.
  21. He said he was fired from Mobilink in 2001. I left uh actually I was fired. I think it was 9 2001.
  22. He said the majority shareholders were Motorola, an American company. the majority shareholders were Motorola. It's an American company.
  23. He said the shares were purchased by Orascom, an Egyptian company. And uh the shares were purchased by a company called Orascom. Egyptian company.
  24. He said he did not see eye to eye with another person who had a seat on the board, and that this person fired him. me and Al didn't see eye to eye. Uh and he, as he said, he had a seat on the board and I didn't. And he fired me.
  25. He said that on that day he realised he had nothing of his own in life. Us din mujhe ehsas hua ke mere paas toh apna kuch hai hi nahi zindagi mein.
  26. He said that since then he has never applied for a job. And Alhamdulillah, since then, I've never applied for a job.
  27. He resolved that he never again wanted to see himself in that situation. I thought in my mind that never again would I like to see myself in a in this situation.
  28. His wife moved back to Pakistan with him. So, my wife was kind enough to come back to Pakistan with me.
  29. He said he had three children at the time. So, I had uh I had two kids, three kids actually at the time.
  30. He said that he and others started a company called Mobile Zone in December 2001. So we started a company called Mobile Zone in 2001, December.
  31. He was told by others that they wanted to sell phones and knew him but could not come to Pakistan. we want to sell phones, we know you, but we can't come to Pakistan.
  32. He brought a letter back to Pakistan and sought investment from people there. So I had the letter, I brought the letter back to Pakistan, and then I went to people and I sought investment.
  33. He said the investors financed the business and also ran the operations, while he managed the relationships and traveled. They financed it, they also did the operations. I managed the relationships, traveled,
  34. He said Mobile Zone became a billion-dollar revenue company within three years. within three years, we became a billion-dollar revenue company.
  35. He said Mobile Zone held about 70% of the market, which he credits to its warranty. hamare paas 70% market share hota tha, and the reason for that is we introduced something which was known as warranty.
  36. Mobile Zone introduced a 12-month manufacturer's warranty backed by the manufacturers. We came in, we introduced a 12-month manufacturer's warranty, we had back-to-back support from the manufacturers
  37. Mobile Zone expanded into Afghanistan and Bangladesh. we went into Afghanistan. Same thing happened, we went to Bangladesh.
  38. He sold his shares in Mobile Zone to his partners. I sold my shares to my partners, and they tried to revive it
  39. He said the dollar went from 60 rupees to 90 rupees in less than 100 days. the dollar went from 60 rupees to 100 rupees, sorry, 60 rupees to 90 rupees in less than 100 days.
  40. He said the company lost about 20 million dollars at that time. Taqreeban 200 crore ka humein nuksaan hua tha us waqt, 20 million dollars we lost.
  41. He said he decided not to continue that line of work because it needed a lot of investment, he had no money at the time, and the margin was low. maine socha ke main yeh kaam nahi karna chahta jismein bahut zyada investment hai aur mere paas paise the hi nahi us waqt, aur margin itna kam ho.
  42. He said he then started a business that had a 95% margin and no investment whatsoever. So then I started a business which had a 95% margin and no investment whatsoever.
  43. He said his consulting work covered large telcos on the commercial side, banks, organisational transformation and digitisation. For large telcos, again, commercial side ke upar, banks, organizational transformation, digitization
  44. He said his consulting arm provided consulting for large organisations. So Excelcom was our consulting arm where we provided consulting for large organizations
  45. He said he would live in Islamabad, depending on whether it was summer or winter. I would live in Islamabad, um on, depending if it was summer or winter
  46. He said the family went back to London because the children were going to university and, given the family's heritage in the UK, he thought it the best place for them to study. they were going for university. Because we have a heritage in the UK, we thought that that would be the best place for them to go back and study.
  47. He said that within three months he started to become depressed. within three months, I basically started to become depressed.
  48. He split his time between Pakistan and London, spending about six weeks in each. I'd spend six weeks in Pakistan and six weeks in London.
  49. He caught up with an old colleague and friend who was a former CEO of Mobilink Jazz. I also caught up with my old colleague and friend, Zouhair Khaliq, former CEO of Mobilink Jazz
  50. He started meeting the former colleague every other week for coffee, and in those conversations they asked what they would do for the rest of their lives. So I started meeting Zouhair every other week for a cup of coffee, just to catch up, how things, and during those conversations, we thought, what is it that we're going to do for the rest of our life?
  51. He said that he and others thought of a plan to give back to Pakistan. And we thought of a plan of how we can perhaps give back to Pakistan.
  52. He said the reason Pakistan was in its state was his generation or the generation before it. And giving back, the reason why Pakistan was in the state itself in because of our generation or the generation that was before us.
  53. He said that he and others believed a lot in the youth, having worked with young people at Mobilink and Jazz. we believed a lot in the youth, because we'd worked with them in Mobilink and Jazz
  54. He said that he and others joined hands with the government and conceived and built Pakistan's first National Incubation Center. we joined hands with the government, and we conceived and built Pakistan's first National Incubation Center.
  55. He said most of the funding comes from the Ministry of IT. So, our majority of funding comes from the Ministry of IT, the Ignite Fund.
  56. He said the model has been replicated across the country, with five centres and two more coming up. It's been replicated across the country. Now we have five and two more coming up.
  57. He said the NIC is a globally recognised, award-winning facility. Alhamdullilah, you're probably aware, it's a globally recognized, award-winning facility.
  58. In his opinion the NIC programme has been very successful. And also the program itself has, in my opinion, been very successful.
  59. He said startups have raised 50 billion rupees in investment and revenue. 50 billion rupees of investments and revenues have been raised by the startups.
  60. He said startups had more revenue and investment in the last two years than in the previous 20. the last two years, we've had more revenue, investments in startups than the last 20 years
  61. He said the NIC has an open door policy. Uh we have an open door policy.
  62. He said the NIC normally incubates between 40 and 50 startups. So, normally we incubate somewhere between 40 to 50 startups.
  63. He said each startup has maybe three or four people. And each startup has maybe three or four people.
  64. He said startups are incubated for 12 months. Like how long are they incubated for? 12 months.
  65. He said the optimum number of founders they have found is three. So the optimum number of founders we've found is three.
  66. He said that with time, learnings increase and requirements also change. I think definitely waqt ke saath saath na um learnings hoti hain aur requirements bhi badal jaati hain.
  67. He said the service NIC provided two or three years ago is no longer relevant. the delivery of service that we were providing two, three years ago is no longer relevant.
  68. He said more than 40% of students would like to run their own business. more than 40% of students would like to run their own business.
  69. He said one of their key performance indicators was job creation. I recall one of our key uh KPI was creation of jobs.
  70. He said one of the biggest benefits of incubation is other founders in a similar position. But I think one of the biggest benefits is that you have other founders there who are in a similar boat to yours
  71. He said Pakistan is going to be a completely different Pakistan. Main samajhta hun ke Pakistan is going to be a completely different Pakistan.
  72. He predicts Pakistan is going to emerge as a very large economic superpower. I think Pakistan is going to emerge as a very large economic superpower.