FarQuest Fariha's Quest: Finding an answer to the question "Why can’t Utopia be a reality?" Wish to add some colors of Utopia to this world because I dare to dream and strive to turn my dreams into reality!

Are you bored of your mundane job/ academic life? Are you sick’n'tired of being with people having no dreams and passion? Do people call you a nerd, a geek or a freak looking at your alacrity for something? or if nothing else does life look boring for some reason and u want to spice it up? 

If yes, then probably it’s time for you to be infected by this disease called entrepreneuria (if that’s the word for it). Attend any one session from the most energizing, motivating and constructive series of Startup Insiders Sessions being organized in three major cities (Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad) every month since January 2008.

The purpose of these sessions is to spread this virus called "Entrepreneurial spirit" as shown in the image below:

But hey hey…..don’t worry…noone is going to sneeze in your face to transfer this disease Rather, a few patients/carriers are going to infest you just by the magic of words they choose to narrate their entrepreneurship experiences and also the charisma of their personalities.

Luckily, I got a chance to attend the fourth Startup Insiders Session sponsored by Alchemy Technologies and held at Marriot, Karachi. I’m glad to say that it was a wonderful experience. Since Jehan Ara, Jawwad, Osama(Green & White) and Ammar Yasir(PakMarkaz) have already come up very nice write ups of the event so, I would just quote a few bits and pieces that I remember from each speaker’s narration:

So, here is the list of the patients for the evening (who have reached to an uncurable stage of enterpreneuria)and the tips and tricks they shared about how to be successful entrepreneuria patient

Zia Imran - CEO Vahzay Pvt Ltd came up with the successful start up formula that is:

 1 Successful Startup = 1/3 Luck+1/3 Hardwork+1/3 Product Idea

Salim Ghauri - CEO Netsol Technologies considered honesty and sincerity to be the most important elements in building strong and long-lasting relationships with customers.

Amer Hashmi - Founder and CEO, SI3 said that perceiving IT as means of providing services is opening and can further open new avenues for us. He further added that to be successful in the coming IT age, we ought to develop a pro-Pakistani attitude and believe in the fact that opportunities are now shiffting towards east which certainly includes Pakistan as well.

Adnan Agboatwala - Co-Founder, PixSense said that when you are out to sell your product the first time, "Be ready to be humiliated" However, what I learned from his experience is that perseverence matters the most as it helps u keep hunting for the right customer.

Jawwad Farid - CEO Alchemy Technologies said, "Product baicho izzat na baicho". Other than this what I personally liked about him is his dogmatic nature, which according to him always helps him fight through the tough times.

Certainly, Allah(SWT) is the one who makes our tasks easier for us.

Faisal Qureshi - CEO Kolachi Advanced Technologies – “Con”, be flexible and shift constantly to turn things your way and if things still don’t seem to work out between you and your customer, walk out to fight another day.

If you want to get money keep the advice of angraiz always in mind, “ Be successful and money will follow but until you be successful, look successful” Look good, smell good, speak well and follow Islam not Pakistani version of Islam.

Jehan Ara – President P@SHA- According to her support from parents is also very important.

Here’s the pic that I have stolen from Jehan Ara’s blog for one selfish reason (you can see moi in it somewhere and no this smart young lady sitting on the first seat is not me)

In the end, I would really like to thank P@SHA and all those who are taking time out from their busy schedules to guide and help all the young and aspiring entrepreneurs. You all are doing a great service to this country. Keep it up!

And all those who haven’t yet attended any of these sessions…guys/girls…u really are missing something great. I would strongly recommend you all to gear up for the upcoming sessions!

Image Credit: The sneeze image was taken from here whereas the concept was based on what I saw in Adnan’s presentation on enterpreneurship at the "SZABIST Examining Enterpreneurship " event.