Tweet

Faizan Siddiqi

8 Feb, 11 tweets, 5 min read

The Punjab government has been working to establishing an insurance company following the good performance of the insurance sector. Can't make this stuff up. What's next vaccine production? Or Education? They've already done tech in prev govt. thenews.com.pk/print/784826-p…

Instead of working on streamlining regulation and promoting enforcement to support the growth of the sector the govt decides to use our tax payer money to compete with private enterprises in a highly regulated space where it makes the laws. Yes u read that right. Epic stupidity.

By this count soon nothing will be left in the fee enterprise space. Between having provincial govts having banks & formerly the Punjab govt competing with startups by copying their ideas and launching its own startups & building software vs buying locally we have witnessed all.

When public servants running on tax payer money can't get corporate jobs they come up with these visions of grandeur becz it's so easy to win when u are the judge jury & executioner.Winning in free markets its tougher so we create our own ground rules.These guys won't be the 1st

In other news we already have non Pvt sector hold cos running the largest listed companies on the PSX & beyond. Add the provinces to now get into biz & doing R&D on tax payer money is a systemic flaw in our DNA that will further disincentivise foreign $s from entering biz in pk

If govt is scouting Pvt enterprise due to good sector performance can the citizenry get into building a parallel govt due to the current ones failure? Yup its as crazy as it sounds. But that's never stopped us from nationalizing. This too is ME2 style copy cat nationalization.

In the rest of the world aspirant startup founders copy other successful startups, a phenomenon known as me2/copy cat startups. In our parts the govt does the same but to local biz. They see an oppty in banking, real estate, food what ever else,they get in and compete.Fair u ask?

Truth is stranger than fiction. With 1000s jobless these are dis incentives to free enterprise. Instead of using public money for vocational training or launching infra projects to create mass employment our govt and the powers be, work to ensure their own economic stability.

Soon there will be nothing left. Govt will control access to natural resources, make all policy, work on allocation & assign it self the right to compete with citizens & regulate the free market hurting the free market . 20yrs later still be deciding to move pso/pia off 2 isloo.

We didn't get here in a day, it's the concentrated effort of bureaucrats & the short sightedness of the ruling elite compounded by institutional & governance failure that has allowed us to go from bad to worse, economically. If we don't course correct now

@rogueonomist

The economic power base will move from the so called merchants of free enterprise to the babus of each province.Nationalization by an other name. @rogueonomist @Huk06 @fmsheik @rebootdude @raza_matin @Ash_Kalim @YusufJan @TalhaIzhar @owaisz @ShahidM99 @babushka99 @grandpafintech

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More from @faizansiddiqi

Faizan Siddiqi

@faizansiddiqi

10 Feb

Our univ & startup curriculum are broken. Most treat education like buying vegetables so long as u generally do ok no one will worry about the specifics. Visiting faculty is akin to educational malpractice(see this nugget floating around that got fwded) some one with 3yrs of exp

Teaching others their craft. The odds of that skill existing and then transferring is as low as u getting diabetes from watching some one else eat a cake. Worse is when these visiting clowns teach u entrepreneurship or courses on startups. Given u saw their own intake is corp exp

Here's what they don't teach u in school & after meeting 100s of founders if not more n working with them, I wish they did teach. If you are willing to invest 4 mins of ur time vs 4yrs to give this a quick read u may walk away better informed. No guarantees but it's worth a shot

Read 18 tweets

Faizan Siddiqi

@faizansiddiqi

7 Feb

Time is the most valuable and finite resource we have. "Free for coffee so I can pick your brains?" I’m giving you permission to create a “pick your brain” session people can pay for. You heard that right.knowledge & experience were not free to obtain,so they aren't free to give.

Requests to “pick your brain” or “just grab coffee” might not always seem like a big deal, but when you take into account the value of your time and the lost productivity and income, it becomes a different story. Its a struggle to respond to these requests, esp if you are some 1

Who operates in the knowledge economy & if your business relies heavily on how you use your time to make money. As you take stock of your time,coffee dates with new people is the least bang for your buck. Esp when the purpose of the meeting is for them to intellectually mine u

Read 30 tweets

Faizan Siddiqi

@faizansiddiqi

5 Feb

You don't need to be an entrepreneur to win.Entrepreneurship is hard.But you need an entrepreneurial mindset to re-set the the dependency on shiny things and instant gratification. Not every one can be an entrepreneur, but we can and must "want less" & "Invest More" & make more.

A job is a job is a job. But options are also limited, its mostly a mind set thing. We have to have a job, a job provides security, quality of life, access. All creations of the corporate industrial complex essentially to make others rich by paying u just enough...

This "just enough" problem has most folks in a ball & chain.Because we write off doing some thing on our own as not just being worth it & giving up a sure bet.This mental comfort in OPM(Other Peoples Money) is what gets us in the long run. Rich businesses are owned by rich ppl

Read 18 tweets

Faizan Siddiqi

@faizansiddiqi

14 Jan

@StateBank_Pak

IBFT fees down to 0 has helped the average Pakistani see the value of "transacting digitally" without fear. When you remove the barrier to entry you enable many in the ecosystem that were left out prior. @StateBank_Pak good on you for putting citizenry first. Regulation is hard

Esp as viewed by the private sector. So we must all come together to build on the success/rails/supportive regulator to figure out"what fees for what value"should remain in the system.Most things cant work with 0 fee, so use cases for incumbents who have invested must evolve too

This cant be a winner take all game or a zero sum game. The truth is some where in between.Without early market players & investments, digital systems would have not existed. Without infra from telcos/banks we wouldn't be here either esp not without a progressive regulator in tow

Read 5 tweets

Faizan Siddiqi

@faizansiddiqi

14 Jan

Transitions are good. Current state of play has given us a seat at the table. Online communities are the new equalizer &not geographies.
In-person inefficiency of doing biz is out due to remote.We have the momentum to gain from the insights & discussions across networks anywhere

As all things go virtual, the only thing that matters is brand. Now more than ever, investors, partners, customers & prospect emp, will meet & engage with your content/web presence before they meet you, if ever. Brand is every startups super power or kryptonite. Build wisely.

As we go more location neutral and virtual, rely more on online channels for sourcing, growth sales, hiring etc., your online presence will matter more than ever before. It is the new 10 second interaction to make a good impression.

Read 10 tweets

Faizan Siddiqi

@faizansiddiqi

13 Jan

Realize this: no permission required to change careers, start something new perhaps a hobby or learning how to code.The launch date to the above is ur willingness to enact change.B4 u set out to build a vc backed dream,build a small biz 50/100k annual rev. I assure u it's tough

Small changes like starting a hobby or burning a bridge to move the f* on teach u life's biggest lessons. Always over index on small data vs big data till u cant. Unless you can perfect your skills at a small scale not many can last perfecting skills at a large one. Start today.

Hustle culture 24/7 is reductive. If you are always complaining of too much going on you are likely already loosing the battle. Focus, wins; concentrated execution wins all the time. Don't start something unless u genuinely believe in impact and outcomes of teams vs $s only.

Read 14 tweets

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