Qumber Hussain

founder and CEO of Virtue Xolutions

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

Qumber Hussain is the founder and CEO of Virtue Xolutions, a company he has built over the past 10 years. He was born in Karachi and spent his whole life there. He completed a BS in Mass Communications through Karachi University, and he started the company on 22 May 2015.

Early life and background

Hussain comes from a middle-class family, and his father worked a 9 to 5 job. He says he is the first in his family to take an initiative, and that relatives worked for others. [1]

Education

Hussain scored 89 per cent in matric and was the first in his family to get an A-one grade in matric. He attended a college after school. He has said communication has always been something he wanted to do. [1]

He dropped his previous university and moved into Mass Communication, where he chose advertising as his major. He did internships at multiple channels as a reporter and as a producer. He has said he graduated in 2016. [1]

Career

Hussain worked for three years as a chapter administrator for the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO). He was the only employee of that YPO chapter. His YPO role included managing 32 CEOs and their global communication, and he received his first laptop, a brand new one, from the organization. [1]

He accepted an offer to work as a Public Relations Officer. He says he did not have a permanent office and used to sit in another office. [1]

Virtue Xolutions

Hussain started the company while still a university student, and he resigned from a job to start his own business. He says he did not add CEO to his name until about four years ago and that he doubted he could do the CEO role. He first took the title managing director, saying the CEO title would come later. [1]

He says the business repeatedly fell to zero or into negative. He says the company borrowed money and struggled to pay staff on time in hard periods, and that his biggest regret or problem was salaries not going out on time. [1]

He says the company hired designers and animators, and outsourced photography. He did not hire a CFO or in-house lawyer early on. He says a dedicated hire would have cost him 100,000, so he told someone to take 25,000 rupees. [1]

He says they looked up phone numbers on Google Maps and Yahoo directories, and that he and another person combined a marketing agency with a call centre. He says no one had taught them cash management. He says several close friends left when he began to manage the money, and that when the company put controls on spending, people close to him were upset. [1]

He says the company then stopped serving local clients, and then stopped working in the Pakistani market. He says the company chose to focus only on international markets, where cash flow was less of a problem. He says some intermediaries took a percentage of client payments to wire them to Pakistan. He says Western clients often pay 50 per cent in advance, and many pay in full, because of trust, and that they can charge back payments, so they spend without fear. [1]

He says the company has 14 to 15 departments, with heads for areas such as finance, legal and HR, and that his head of HR previously worked in HR at PwC. He says some senior team members are friends who joined on professional terms. He says he once chose the wrong leader, and long-serving staff left as a result. He says he sits behind clear glass where people walk and work, so everybody can see him and he can see everybody. He says he is not a developer, but learns from his development team. [1]

He says the company has strategy, creative, design, animation and content teams, and also mobile app teams and teams working on Web3, AI and the metaverse. He says most of the work is technology work, including website development, mobile apps and ERPs, and that US client work includes design, creative, animation, website development and CMS-based websites. He says the company has run campaigns for clients in the US, Canada and the Middle East. [1]

He says the company approaches clients from the tech side, offering to build their idea first, and that as trust builds, full marketing campaigns come to the company. He says one client began with a basic website, and the work grew as the client's sales did. He says the company keeps its customers because it delivers its work, and that it uses Stripe and PayPal as its main merchant accounts. [1]

He says COVID helped the company, because the whole world was at a halt, and he describes 2020 to 2023 as a booming period. He says the company reached 40 to 50 per cent profitability. He says the company has just launched a chatbot, and that its tagline is 'making things easier'. He says the company needs to sell solutions, because it currently sells a service. [1]

Views

Hussain says universities teach academic book knowledge that does not help in the real world, and that education means exposure, learning and experience, not only degrees. He says Pakistani society has made English a standard of education, and that some team members who never finished matric speak fluent English. He says clients should understand his English, because they know he is from Pakistan. He says that where he lives, people tell graduates to start working as soon as they leave college. [1]

On business, he says a good business generates 30 to 35 per cent a year. He says investors would not buy equity in a very small services company, and that banks would not lend to a business that has no money. He says freelance platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr are hard to scale a business on. [1]

He says a business needs structure, built over time rather than all at once, and that some founders hand out fancy titles to friends before those friends can do the work. He says marketing and tech companies run on culture, and that they need independent people who are good at their work. He says one should ask a client what their business is, what their market size is and whom they are targeting. [1]

He says AI will make work easier and will not end human jobs, and that work that once took about a month can now be done in 15 days. He says Pakistan could become one of the top five global economies if it keeps its current pace for 25 years. [1]

Personal life

Hussain has done photography as a hobby, which he still does. He says he was strongly supported by his father, his mother and his brother, and that his father gave him full confidence. [1]

Timeline

2015
Hussain started the company on 22 May 2015.[1]
2016
Hussain has said he graduated.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2025-06-11 Pakistanis think too small — and the language barrier is the smallest part Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Qumber Hussain?

Qumber Hussain is the founder and CEO of Virtue Xolutions, a company he has built over the past 10 years. He was born in Karachi and spent his whole life there.[1]

What does Qumber Hussain do?

Qumber Hussain is the founder and CEO of Virtue Xolutions. He says most of the company's work is technology work, including website development, mobile apps and ERPs. He says the company has run campaigns for clients in the US, Canada and the Middle East.[1]

Where did Qumber Hussain study?

Qumber Hussain completed a BS in Mass Communications through Karachi University, with advertising as his major. He dropped his previous university before moving into Mass Communication. He has said he graduated in 2016.[1]

Where is Qumber Hussain from?

Qumber Hussain was born in Karachi and spent his whole life there. He comes from a middle-class family.[1]

When did Qumber Hussain start his company?

Qumber Hussain started the company on 22 May 2015. He started it while still a university student.[1]

What was Qumber Hussain's role at the Young Presidents' Organization?

Qumber Hussain worked for three years as a chapter administrator for the Young Presidents' Organization. He was the only employee of that YPO chapter. His role included managing 32 CEOs and their global communication.[1]

What does Qumber Hussain say about AI?

Qumber Hussain says AI will make work easier and will not end human jobs. He says work that once took about a month can now be done in 15 days.[1]

References

  1. Pakistanis think too small — and the language barrier is the smallest part . Thought Behind Things , 2025-06-11.
Show the source passages (87 statements)
  1. He was born in Karachi and spent his whole life there. Well, I was born in Karachi. I spent my whole life in Karachi, studied in Karachi.
  2. He attended a college after school. I went to the College NCR
  3. He completed a BS in Mass Communications through Karachi University. I have done my Mass Comm, like BS in Mass Communications, Karachi University se
  4. He has said he graduated in 2016. I graduated in 2016. 15 end, you can say, yeah.
  5. He has done photography as a hobby, which he still does. I used to do photography, that's, I still do it as a hobby.
  6. He has said communication has always been something he wanted to do. communication is a thing that I always wanted to do
  7. He dropped his previous university and moved into Mass Communication. dropped the previous university and get into Mass Communication
  8. He chose advertising as his major in Mass Communication. So, I studied that and then I choose Advertisement as the major.
  9. He did internships at multiple channels as a reporter and as a producer. They keep sending us for the internships. So, I go to multiple channels as a reporter, as a producer
  10. He says universities teach academic book knowledge that does not help in the real world. The problem, universities, they all teaching you just the academic, book stuff. Yeah, book stuff. That does not help you.
  11. He worked for three years as a chapter administrator for the Young Presidents' Organization. Young Presidents' Organization. So, I worked there as a chapter administrator for three years
  12. He was the only employee of that YPO chapter. And I was the only single employee of that organization, a chapter administrator.
  13. He received his first laptop, a brand new one, from the Young Presidents' Organization. I got my laptop, first laptop from them, it's a brand new
  14. His YPO role included managing 32 CEOs and their global communication. The work was to manage all 32 CEOs, the global communication with YPO Global
  15. He accepted an offer to work as a Public Relations Officer. So, I said, 'Yes, I would love to do that.' To I joined them as a Public Relation Officer to them.
  16. He says he did not have a permanent office and used to sit in another office. I used to sit in that office because I don't have a permanent office
  17. He resigned from a job to start his own business. Sir, mujhe resign karna hai.' To he was like, 'Reason?' Maine kaha, 'I'm starting my own business.'
  18. He started the company on 22 May 2015. I started the company on 22nd May 2015
  19. He started the company while still a university student. I started my company while I was in the university
  20. He says the business repeatedly fell to zero or into negative. and bohat baar to aise bhi aaye k all finished, like on to the zero or into negative
  21. His father worked a 9 to 5 job. My father used to do a 9 to 5 job
  22. He comes from a middle-class family. I belong to a middle-class family
  23. He says he is the first in his family to take an initiative, and that relatives worked for others. they all have worked for someone else, sabne jobs ki hain. My brother, to like in my whole family, I am the first one who took an initiative
  24. He says he was strongly supported by his father, his mother and his brother. I was way much supported from my father and mother in that because and my brother
  25. He says his father gave him full confidence. From my family as well, from my father as well, so he is the one who gave me a full confidence
  26. He scored 89 per cent in matric. bhai A-one grade, 89 percentage hai
  27. He was the first in his family to get an A-one grade in matric. Acha jab I passed matric, to I was the first one in the entire family jiska A-one grade aaya tha
  28. He says education means exposure, learning and experience, not only degrees. Education ka matlab degrees nahi hain, exposure hai, learning hai, experience hai
  29. He says Pakistani society has made English a standard of education. hamari society mein English ko ek standard of education bana diya gaya hai
  30. He says some team members who never finished matric speak fluent English. I have people in my team jinhone matric bhi nahi kiya hua, but they speak very fluent English
  31. He says clients should understand his English, because they know he is from Pakistan. They know I am from Pakistan, Urdu is my like mother language, to unko samajh mein aana chahiye
  32. He says that where he lives, people tell graduates to start working as soon as they leave college. Hota yeh hai hamare yahan ke log paison ke peeche itna bhaag rahe hote hain ke as soon as koi college pass out karke nikalta hai, usko bolte hain, 'Start working.'
  33. He says his biggest regret or problem was salaries not going out on time. sabse bara mera regret ye hota tha ya problem ye hoti thi k if salaries are not going out on time
  34. He says the company borrowed money and struggled to pay staff on time in hard periods. Bohat saara bura time aaya, cash drain huay, udharoon mein gaye, employees barhaye, salaries nahi time pe de paye
  35. He says the company hired designers and animators, and outsourced photography. humne designers hire kiye, humne animators hire kiye, humne phir outsource pe photographers hain
  36. He says investors would not buy equity in a very small services company. You go to an investor, equity aapki wo buy kare ga nahi, you are a services company, a very small scale services company
  37. He says banks would not lend to a business that has no money. If you don't have money, bank won't give you money.
  38. He says a good business generates 30 to 35 per cent a year. mere bhai, a good business generates 30 to 35% yearly
  39. He says the company reached 40 to 50 per cent profitability. humne 40, 45, 50% tak profitability laaye hain
  40. He says freelance platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr are hard to scale a business on. As a business using those platforms is very difficult, although people are running, they have made a very successful business model out of Upwork and Fiverr and all, but mujhe na kabhi wo lagta nahi tha kyunki usme scale, scalability nahi hai
  41. He says they looked up phone numbers on Google Maps and Yahoo directories. Number-wumber dhoond k Google Maps se, Yahoo ki directories se idhar udhar na
  42. He says he and another person combined a marketing agency with a call centre. To we combined k yaar dekho mujhe marketing agency chalani hai, tumhein call center bhi chalana hai
  43. He says some intermediaries took a percentage of client payments to wire them to Pakistan. Hume kuch log milna shuru hue jo unka business hi yeh tha ke they charge a specific percentage, they take your money and then they wire you money to Pakistan
  44. He says Western clients often pay 50 per cent in advance, and many pay in full, because of trust. woh 50% advance dega. Majority toh 100% bhi de dete hain because there is a trust factor
  45. He says Western clients can charge back payments, so they spend without fear. agar main kaam karke nahi dunga na, they always have a option to chargeback, theek hai? Toh woh isliye they spend openly, sukoon se, bagair darre
  46. He says no one had taught them cash management. Accha, end of the month woh cash management toh aati nahi thi, kisi ne sikhayi nahi thi
  47. He says several close friends left when he began to manage the money. jab maine thoda sa paison ko manage karna shuru kiya ke yaar yeh payments yahan aayi hain toh idhar use hongi aur idhar udhar hongi, that's the time jab mere bahut saare so-called jigri dost mujhe chodh ke chale gaye
  48. He says that when the company put controls on spending, people close to him were upset. Jaise hi humne un paison par control lagaya, apno ko bure lagne shuru ho gaye
  49. He says the company then stopped serving local clients. uske baad phir humne local clients ko bilkul cut off kar diya
  50. He says the company then stopped working in the Pakistani market. That's the time when we put a stop to Pakistani market
  51. He says the company chose to focus only on international markets, where cash flow was less of a problem. Restrict to the international market because cash flow ka masla nahi aata
  52. He says US client work includes design, creative, animation, website development and CMS-based websites. US market se kaam aa raha hai design ka, creative ka, animation ka, website development ka, CMS-based websites ka aa raha hai
  53. He says a business needs structure, built over time rather than all at once. you need a structure, but you need it after some time. You need to build it along with the time on the way
  54. He says some founders hand out fancy titles to friends before those friends can do the work. aapne fancy fancy fancy positions saare doston ko define kar di, jinko kaam hi nahi aata woh wala
  55. He says he did not add CEO to his name until about four years ago. takreeban char saal pehle tak maine apne naam ke aage CEO nahi lagaya hua tha
  56. He says he doubted he could do the CEO role. mujhe khud nahi pata tha ke main CEO hoon bhi ya nahi hoon, ya main woh kar sakta hoon ya nahi kar sakta
  57. He first took the title managing director, saying the CEO title would come later. main managing director ho gaya yani, CEO ka baad mein dekhenge
  58. He says a dedicated hire would have cost him 100,000, so he told someone to take 25,000 rupees. Hiring a dedicated person would gonna cost me 100,000. Maine bande ko bola yaar 25,000 rupay le lena
  59. He did not hire a CFO or in-house lawyer early on. maine CFO hire nahi kiya, maine legal ka banda hire nahi kiya
  60. He says marketing and tech companies run on culture. companies ab, especially marketing and tech companies, company ke culture pe chalti hain
  61. He says tech and marketing companies need independent people who are good at their work. Aapko chahiye azaad log, aapko chahiye woh log who are good at what they do and without any limitations
  62. He says he once chose the wrong leader, and long-serving staff left as a result. I chose a wrong leader and that gave me a lot of losses. People who were working with me for like three four years, they left the company because of that one specific person I chose
  63. He says he sits behind clear glass where people walk and work, so everybody can see him and he can see everybody. Where I sit, the people walking, working and I sit behind a clear glass, so everybody can see me, I can see everybody
  64. He says the company has 14 to 15 departments, with heads for areas such as finance, legal and HR. we have 14 to 15 departments in the office, we have heads of everything from finance to legal to HR
  65. He says his head of HR previously worked in HR at PwC. Mera HR head PwC ke HR mein tha
  66. He says some senior team members are friends who joined on professional terms. woh sab mere dost hain, we all work together, we party together, but woh sab professional capacity mein connect hue
  67. He says most of the work is technology work, including website development, mobile apps and ERPs. wo zyada tar jo kaam hai, wo hai tech ka. To website development, mobile apps, ERPs, to ye saari cheezein, like custom development ho gayi
  68. He says the company has run campaigns for clients in the US, Canada and the Middle East. We have done multiple campaigns for the US client, for the Canadian clients, and for the Middle East clients
  69. He says the company has strategy, creative, design, animation and content teams. I do have a strategy team, I do have a creative team, I do have a design team, animation team, content team
  70. He says the company has mobile app teams and teams working on Web3, AI and the metaverse. we do have mobile application teams, we do have team working on Web3 and AI and Metaverse
  71. He says the company approaches clients from the tech side, offering to build their idea first. ke hum log approach karte hain from the tech side. "You have an idea? We can build it."
  72. He says that as trust builds, full marketing campaigns come to the company. wo ek trust build up karte karte karte, wo marketing campaigns, poori poori campaigns, wo saari cheezein aapke paas aa jati hain
  73. He says COVID helped the company, because the whole world was at a halt. COVID helped us a lot. Because the whole world was at halt.
  74. He says the company keeps its customers because it delivers its work. because we delivered, to we have all those customers working with us
  75. He says the company uses Stripe and PayPal as its main merchant accounts. bro, we have Stripe and PayPal as a main merchant.
  76. He describes 2020 to 2023 as a booming period. that 2020, 21, 22, 23, wo ek booming period tha
  77. He says one client began with a basic website, and the work grew as the client's sales did. Matlab ek customer aaya tha ke yaar meri ek basic si website bana do, usne website banwayi, phir humne usko marketing pitch ki, uski sales aana shuru huin
  78. He says the company needs to sell solutions, because it currently sells a service. we need to be very much focused on selling the solutions. What we are selling right now is a service
  79. He says one should ask a client what their business is, what their market size is and whom they are targeting. "sir, what is your business, right? What is your market size? Aap kin logon ko target kar rahe ho?
  80. He says he is not a developer, but learns from his development team. Theek hai, I'm not a developer. But main apni development team ke sath baithta hoon, unse poochta hoon, unse seekhta hoon.
  81. He says the company has just launched a chatbot. launching that bot, Zoya, we just launched
  82. He says the company's tagline is 'making things easier'. let's make it "making things easier"
  83. He says AI will make work easier and will not end human jobs. It's not like that humans ka kaam khatam ho jayega ya aapki jobs khatam ho jayengi, nahi. Haan, easy ho jayega.
  84. He says work that once took about a month can now be done in 15 days. Jis kaam ko karne mein chaar log lag rahe the pehle ya hamare paas chaar log bhi nahi, hum yeh bolte hain mahina lag raha tha karne mein pehle, woh ab hum 15 din mein kar sakte hain
  85. He says Pakistan could become one of the top five global economies if it keeps its current pace for 25 years. if we keep on the same track with even with the same speed we are at right now, the next 25 years, we will be uh we will be into like top five global economies
  86. Qumber Hussain is the Founder and CEO of Virtue Xolutions. Joining us today is Qumber Hussain, the Founder and CEO of Virtue Xolutions
  87. He has built the company over the past 10 years. a growing tech company he has built over the past 10 years