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Jawwad Farid

@rebootdude

14 Feb

1/ Unit economic for founders thread.

Despite being a founder and a student of the subject, I missed out on a key point growing up.

Length of relationship with your customers, order frequency, product usage and utility matter.

They didn't teach me this in business school.

2/ Structured right, products used daily vs weekly vs monthly vs yearly lead to different profitability and scalability paths.

Quiz. Which business would you pick?

a) Enterprise software - US$ 250k one time license
b) Enterprise software - US$ 30k/month recurring subscription

3/ Sound's obvious? Which one did you pick?

Twice in my life I picked A. They were both great businesses, but they didn't compare to B. Especially in the long run.

Looking back, with hindsight, I know I should have picked B.

Why?

Read 12 tweets

Jawwad Farid

@rebootdude

6 Jan

1/ Recent discussion with a CS undergraduate student about career choices.

The choice between being an employee vs being a founder right out of school.

My view has changed over the year and have sat on both sides of the table. Apparently the answer is not quite simple.

2/ My current view?

If you are interested in being a founder, try your hand at running a business while still in school.

Zero obligations. Minimal chances of triggering a critical reaction. Think of it as an extended internship.

Most likely outcome. Type I Failure.

3/ But priceless in terms of education, self awareness and bragging rights.

If you do fail, less likely to leave a big hole in the ground given the amount of dry powder you started off with.

Your first failure will teach you a great deal about yourself and your choices.

Read 8 tweets

Jawwad Farid

@rebootdude

10 Dec 20

1/ Nothing every really goes to waste.

You would be surprised what you could build on foundations of your original failures as a founder.

A few years after Avicena, I came back home to Karachi and started Alchemy, I had a head start.

I already knew the path to starting up.

2/ Our first real success as a new business.

A training engagement that opened many doors in future years.

We had gone to pitch something else to a customer. He didn't want it.

But given my background he asked if I could do a product specific risk training for his team.

3/ A younger pre-Avicena me would have said no. This wasn't the model. This wasn't the way.

The older me said yes. Listen to him. Give the customer what he wants. Take the money and do what he asks.

We did. It required us to change our focus but we were already in the space.

Read 14 tweets

Jawwad Farid

@rebootdude

8 Dec 20

1/ A thread on my first startup, venture number one. With pit stops in NYC, LA, DC, Dubai & Karachi.

Avicena. Mar '99. May '01. E-Education.

Analyst and Associate training programs for Wall Street. Continuing professional education (CPE) for actuaries and accountants.

@Columbia_Biz

2/ By the time I landed at @Columbia_Biz I had already been blessed by outstanding teachers. But nothing had prepared me for the hidden rock stars in the program.

My 3 electives that term were International Marketing, Emerging Financial Markets and Continuous Time Finance.

3/ I had exempted out of 3 course to take the 3 electives, was auditing accounting, had Micro and Marketing with my batch.

By March I had started thinking of ways that I could share what I was learning with friends and students back home. Level the playing field, somehow.

Read 20 tweets

Jawwad Farid

@rebootdude

10 Oct 20

1/ I had 3 dreams as I grew up.

a) Run the NYC Marathon
b) Write a book
c) Produce a play on Broadway

For a kid who used the G-3 bus to get to Regal chowk for high school and W-18 to get to campus on Bhains colony, these were all moon shots.

2/ I knew they weren't real and it would take more than an alignment of planets to get me to a stage where these would become more than wishful thinking.

But I continued to dream and added more to the list.

Might as well be a traveler of the world, in business class, no less.

3/ The NYC marathon was an evolved version of an earlier dream.

One that involved running track for the national team.

Once I figured that I was too old for that to happen, I accepted a simpler version. I would be happy running a marathon. NYC would do just fine.

Read 21 tweets

Jawwad Farid

@rebootdude

9 Oct 20

1/ To my students and friends in the industry.

This is not the first time we have been blind sided. This is not going to be the last time.

This is also not the end. Yes it hurts. Yes you have a right to feel miserable and depressed.

But remember, you are stronger than this.

2/ Stability and continuity of policy has been a national weakness since our very beginning. We are not new to this.

Handling this is programmed into our DNA. We always figure a way out. Takes time but we crack the code or get through to saner voices on the other side.

3/ In the mean time focus on your work, on what you can and do control. Don't waste your breath or time wallowing in self pity or darkness beyond tonight.

Yes it is a lousy hand, but you can't change the cards. Move on.

There is always work to be done. Get it done.

Read 7 tweets

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