EUROPE: Finnish CEO fired for Selfies.
I am writing this article to highlight a very disappointing experience with one of my new startups just a few days ago. I often invite alumni from my French Business School IAE Aix, KEDGE Marseille and IBA Karachi to become part of our team in South America, Europe, Middle East & South Asia (500+ million consumers, growing fast). So far the partnerships had been immaculate and both sides gained a lot of experience, insight and affluence. Everyone invited from outside Pakistan gets a 10-30% stake even if they don’t have any financial resources. That’s the best you can do as a successful IAE & IBA Karachi Alumni. Thats me in the front at the IBA Farewell 2007, and the MBA Change & Innovation Class of 2009 at IAE Aix Graduate School of Management.
Thats me leading the charge of the IBA Hostelites, best time of my life until then CGPA 2.59, Fastest Bowler, Wicket Breaking, FoosBall Champion, Amateur Table Tennis Enthusiast, Red Alert 3 Hostel Champion, One of the 13 guys who put the internet in the hostel by collecting funds. Muazzin of the Masjid, Imam of the Masjid, with GAT Score 97+ Percentile & GMAT SCORE 700, ToeflIBT 113/118. Already employed at Kolson Foods with the CEO Mr. Shahbazkar (xCEO Phillips Pakistan) at 45K/month working from home shukarAlhamdillillah.
Thats me in the top right, I'm 23. the average age of the MBA class was 37. They gave me a 25k Scholarship ShukarAlhamdullillah. Also I own being Pakistani other guys say Pakistanis are cool. Here is my best friend Nick from Belgium wearing my Pakistani Cricket Shirt. Thats Coke by the way in my plastic cup. I'm a chainsmoker, my kryptonite.
Unfortunately, this is no longer the case and all partnerships from Europe are off the table until summer 2018. In this article I site reasons with verifiable and witnessed proofs that can stand up in any court of law (Europe & Asia). Please note I hold no personal grudges even if someone wastes my time, money and manpower to exhaust my patience. I just don’t have time to spare, move on fast to something even better. I forget bad experiences in a day or so to move on and focus on being professional and productive to the best of my abilities.
Just in September 2017 I successfully invested and advised 21 startups in France, Morocco, Tunisia, Iran, Nepal and Pakistan. I have over 1200+ CEOs in my contacts and I've worked persoanlly with 122 of them. I c0-administer Boston, NY, Paris, St.Tropez, Ibiza, Barcelona CEO WhatsApp groups.
Every single post I make can get 1000-15000 views by industry leaders. So yes, my time is expensive if you cannot back up your ideas with sound logic, research articles, a journal, paper, book or even a TED Talk don't try to tell me I am wrong, I make grown men cry in 5 mins!
At any given time I'm looking at a market of over 500+ million consumers and I literally do not sleep more than 2-3 hours a day. I do weeklong mediation session that make you literally superhuman for a few months requiring almost no sleep and clear focus. Live the life of a monk and infinite possibilities appear. I operate at a level beyond normal comprehension. Those who know me understand those who don't cannot imagine. Why do you think all these CEOs are running to find answers all over the world? Without inner peace all the money in the world is futile. With inner peace you can sleep on a bed of rocks without a care in the world.
Your 30s are the time to hustle and make an empire, so in your 40s, you can focus on your family and friends, instead of slaving away as an employee for others. MBAs should only choose to be entrepreneurs or join organizations with the goal of becoming CEO. This is our team...La Classe.
I digress, so we have a core team of 6 experienced investors all with PhDs in their relevant field from reputed European and American universities (AACSB, AMBA & EQUIS certified). I know each and everyone of them sine 2001 when we were kids. Anyone of us can instantly create a project on WhatsApp, add team members and find financing. After the initial phase (1 week – 3 months) is over we move to more formal and channels. We are always using VPS, VPN etc. and propriatery advanced encryption on our phones. This allows us to be mobile yet productive and gives instant access to talented young entrepreneurs we trust.
In my life, I was dirt broke twice, even lived on $500 for 9 months, slept on a restaurant table for a 33 days with nowhere else to go. I used to borrow a car from a friend and put few euros worth of fuel just to go meet startup pioneers. I know how harsh life can be. Everyone left me besides this core group and close family. Those who have no witnessed this can never understand how important a dollar is...
Our core team had been exploring the growing cosmetics market in Pakistan and Iran since summer 2016. I personally conducted all the research, focus groups, market surveys and in-depth interviews. My idea is to create a cosmetics brand that offers the best of Europe and traditional Pakistani medicine for the 200+ million market growing at 7%/year. Thus I invited an old Alumni from IAE Aix (France) since she was working in the cosmetics industry for CUTIS Medical a small Estonian firm of 8 employees. She was a perfect fit for the posts of Brand Ambassador and Supply Chain Consultant.
I personally arranged for her flight, lodging, security and finances and she arrived on the morning of the 27th Sept 2017 at Islamabad. Since this is someone I met personally 4-5 times at IAE Aix, I arranged for her stay at my parent’s villa to ensure comfort and security instead of Islamabad Club (The most exclusive country club in Pakistan). She had dedicated staff at her disposal for cooking, cleaning and laundry etc. I am extremely busy but I still took 4 days off to personally show her around despite this trip being purely professional since I met her in Aix as a student on her insistance.
When I was called in to urgent meetings online, I asked my father to chaperone her.
She wanted to ride camels, we drove her 5hours to do that. She wanted to pet goats my father drove her 3hours to our village despite being 70 years old and a retired Secretary of State. She insisted on taking a hazardous 26hour round trip to Attabad Lake or a 15hours roundtrip to Kaghan Naran. Since the roads were blocked due to mudslides and glaciers, that could not happen. All this on a 6-day business trip for her fist major project.
Does this seem like a rational decision to take three days off to visit Attabad Lake instead of working on the project you have been invited to perform in six days?
She went shopping for shoes on my credit card and just the lunch and dinners she did were 300-400 Euros/day in a country where the average yearly income is 1500 Euros.
I politely reminded her every day that, she was not here to do sight seeing as there would be ample time for that on her next trip. Cant blame her...Pakistan is Awesome.
Personally took these with my SONY HX5V on the HDR settings. So yes, worth a look.
She found out there were wild monkeys in the Margalla Hills of Islamabad and wanted to take a selfie with them, we refused to do this since finding monkeys in a forest is not a priority for any of us. She got visibly upset on this refusal and raised her voice to show discontent.
I evaluated her leadership and competence for the CEO post and offered her the Supply Chain Consultant (4 times her current salary in Finland) or Brand Ambassador (twice her current salary) positions instead. Both options were based in Finland with minimal risk, her family and friends right there.
As an investor my patience has limits and my time is expensive so I explained to her that she was not suitable for the responsibilities of CEO with a 30% stake. During this time everyone in the team had doubts about her leadership for a 250k Euros startup with no understanding and experience of the Pakistani and Iranian culture. We constantly reminded her that as a European woman she should not trust anyone besides the core team for her own safety. Pakistan is a great place, but if you are not careful people will chew you up and spit you out. Locals know how to spot trouble but foreigners are unaware of how fast a situation can go south if they trust anyone from the internet they have never met and run off with them.
On her last day in Pakistan the 4th October we finally decided at 12:15pm she was going to be the CEO and I would mentor her about leadership, startup dynamics, fundraising, local customs and traditions. For the folks who know me I charge 50Bitcoin/hour for a 3hour course, on the #DarkNet #DeepWeb, Celest@? on leadership and entrepreneurship and its overbooked!
These are my closest friends from IAE Aix (France) They Took my Pakistani Jersey on a EuroTrip I could not afford at that time and sent me pics. Any Pakistani with such loyal friends? I haven't seen one. ShukarAlhamdullillah good friends a blessing. Mexico, Poland, Asia, Ukraine, Belgium & Russian +#KHUDI = #Hope! #GloablCitizen
I've talked personally twice with Jack Welch and he has offered me very valuable advice. I do not waste such insights and try to apply them, thats true wisdom.
So not only was she getting a CEO post with a 30% stake, she was getting a chance to learn from me. I guaranteed her if she was successful I would fund 4 more startup ideas with her as CEO, standard practice. Most of my students would give an arm and a leg for that opportunity.
We informed our first choice as CEO, Dr. Christine from L.A. that we would hire Anna and that she could become part of another project in Brazil for a friend. Everything looks good, everyone excited to start and the situation was excellent.
At 12:20pm 4th October 2017, literally 5mins after confirming Anna for the post of CEO we find a stranger at the door in a white Corolla. Anna had invited him after he sent her a message on Instagram so he could take her to find the wild monkeys. She had never met this man in person and none of us could vouch for her safety. We explained to her clearly that this was a bad decision as he could rape, murder or kidnap her and any loss physical, emotional, financial etc. would be her sole responsibility according to the contract.
She started screaming at us and said she was old enough to make her own decisions and we did not control her life. We said fine, please let us know when you will be back and call us or the police at the first sign of trouble.
Anna told us that she would be gone briefly and back by 2pm. Finding wild monkeys in a forest takes more time, so we said make it 4pm just in case. Six experienced investors with 10-20 years in the startup field are at the conference table waiting. We had scheduled this meeting to discuss strategy as her flight was leaving in 11 hours at 3am. Suddenly, I get a text from a Pakistani number at 4pm saying she was busy and would be late. I called that number and no one picked up, everyone started to worry, we even considered calling the police or FIA (our FBI). I texted to that man and told him if something happened to her, there would be severe repercussions beyond his wildest imagination! If you pick a fight with someone vastly superior to you in intellect, resources and imagination, be prepared for an overwhelming response. I practice total war, no quarter given, no man left behind! Essential for global success.
We are all waiting, its 6pm and she messages me that she will be late since she is having coffee in F7 Markaz with the man from Instagram. At 7pm we called that mans number and he said they were shopping at Centaurus Mall. The investors had already left by 6:15pm and we decided to continue our work online.
This patience was due to her being treated as a guest, women are given extra leeway as per hospitality norms on Pakistan.
We do most of our initial brainstorming, hiring and planning on WhatsApp groups which every successful lean startup does to save time and have a record of proceedings and value addition. There are over 5300+ contacts on my phone and everyone can find themselves in a startup group at any moment according to their expertise, education and experience. Anyone added finds it an honor and a privilege to be part of the team also we give everyone a stake, even if its just 1%.
There have been incidences of people being added on the WhatApp groups, at 1%, who earned 55+% due to hard work, professionalism and creative problem solving.
Most importantly it’s a chance to learn the startup process and become an entrepreneur with a knowledge of fundraising. She had time to post photos on her Instagram account and ignored the major discussions on WhatsApp, despite my numerous reminders. I even posted on her instagram to get her to pitch in, last comment. We remained patient despite this hoping she would get involved as soon as she was done...
She finally arrived at 8:15pm and showed me the two bracelets he had bought her and the Kashmir shawl. She said they spent 3 hours in the forest looking for the simians. She also showed me photos of her feeding the wild monkeys, as a selfie was impossible despite their numerous efforts. For some reason that one photo was her top priority on day 1 of being appointed CEO. She then told us that the man from Instagram was going to take her to the Airport for her 3am flight, which was leaving in 7 hours.
I explained to both of them repeatedly that they should confirm the ticket and time of the flight. Every child on the street knows this in Pakistan, standard practice. That’s 7hours in advance of her departure. I reminded her that if she chose this path we would not be liable for any loss (financial, physical etc.). Since 12:50pm there were 570+ inputs on the WhatsApp group and she had only one. The team was working non-stop and things were moving fast due to the January 2018 launch date.
I don't buy expensive watches, suits and apartments, I invest in rare and collectible publications. My library has some of the most rare first edition books from India and Britain. I see no better gift than the gift of a good book! Thats Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore with Einstein, one of my favorite poets. I have all his first edition books shukarAlhamdullillah. He is a major inspiration for Pakistanis, Indians and Bangladeshis.
As a parting gift of goodwill, I gave a very rare first edition collection of poetry by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore personally autographed by him in 1914. If she ever auctioned this book it would go for at least 150k Euros on Ebay and perhaps even a 5-10 million Euros if you get an Indian Tycoon interested.
I did this in order to show Pakistani hospitality, such gifts are part of our culture and heritage of 4000 years.
You have to look at her background, she is someone who is 70k Euros in debt in Finland. So getting the CEO post of a quarter million Euros startup in a 37billion$ market, with a dedicated team of fresh graduates and industry veterans, is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
At 11pm I contacted her and she was sitting at a restaurant in F7 with the man from Instagram having a drink. I reminded her to confirm her ticket and departure time and reach the airport latest by 1am. 5th October is my birthday so I turn my phone off at midnight and actually get some sleep. Her flight was at 3am on the 5th Oct my bday, I still kept my phone on for another hour despite being dead from working 5 days straight, 3 days with no sleep. She told me her flight was not showing up online, I told her to talk to the staff at the airport and they would sort it out for a 12$ fee, happened to me while flying from Karachi to Athens recently.
Birthday Present from the DeepWeb to @POTUSDeepWeb #Anonymous webmaster.zeeshan@DarkNet@Celeste? President of The DeepWeb @NSA Our Mission to Clean Up Filthy Hollywood of the Cannabalistic Illuminati Satanists. These Pedophiles deserve death not Oscars you asshole Sheep! #ViVaLaRevolution! #CORAGE 33 !&*^1782G03,>G& #Authenticated S.A.R.A@Celeste?@BirthdayCard
#PakistanZindabad
S.A.R.A@Celeste? ADAM@Celeste? #1786 #Pakistani #Patriot #Anonymous
I finally go to bed at 1am and for all of us were expecting to hear from her in Helsinki at 5pm PST. During this time major developments have taken place in our startup group, we’ve raised an extra 50k Euros and added 2 new team members from Malaysia and Pakistan.
At 12:46pm the next day Anna texts me that the ticket was cancelled and Instagram man had bought her a new one. When we asked where she was, if she was safe and how we could help her immediately she stopped responding despite the “read message” notifications.
My Father & Mother got worried sick since she was a guest and both were frantically calling the police, rangers and FIA to trace her phone and find her...
She would not tell us where she was, if she was safe, who she was with, whether she was in Pakistan or Finland. In short all this exercise to get her the visa, tickets, accommodation, finances, networking, research, opportunity and education were wasted because a selfie with a monkey was worth more than a quarter million Euros. This despite being 70k Euros in debt. When I disclosed this information to the other investors and team members people started pulling out of this project and I had to fire her immediately.
Frustratingly she accused us of cancelling her ticket and threatened to sue us. Good thing is we found out that she was safely back home the next night. Huge relief...
All this information is well documented on WhatsApp, that’s why lean startups use it. There are many credible witnesses who can testify to this incident and I am fully prepared to face any legal challenge in Pakistan, Iran or Europe concerning this incident.
In fact I am thinking of taking legal action against her and her firm (CUTIS Medical a firm with 8 employees) for wasting our valuable time, resources and peace of mind.
Folks who will show sympathy to this kind of unprofessionalism based on the fact that she is a women are the reason the glass ceiling exists.
Which idiot made her GM of a country? I don’t know. Since she came to our university as an exchange student from Estonia while I was doing my PhD in Marketing. It is imperative I put this information out there for people who know both of us from IAE.
I hope this serves as a lesson for myself and others that such behavior should not be tolerated at any stage of the startup process. At the first sign of careless attitude, give a warning, if its no heeded, immediately remove such team members. Entrepreneurs need to make more well informed decisions than irrational imbelices.
This could just as easily have been a man, I don’t care about gender, religion, nationality or ethnicity. We are all one humanity, we’re on this beautiful planet together as global citizens.
This belief is Sufism...
She thought once she was the CEO she would be somehow indispensable and essential even if she didn’t show up for work. This illusion was fast dispelled as it should be.
Such options will never appear again, guaranteed. No surprises as to why Nokia failed if this was the attitude of its leadership.
I hope she pins that selfie on her fireplace and remembers it cost her more than a quarter million Euros and a life full of adventure, learning and true freedom.
As Snoop Dogg says: "Baby, You Got a Bright Future Behind You!"
PS: As I keep saying, if you have a great idea, share it with me. I can fund it! Easy. But be professional, focused and driven otherwise whats the point? If you want to learn, I will teach you at no cost but a (5%) stake in your first startup. Bright young minds are the future of this world and they deserve a chance to create startups that provide employment and value.
For my students I have infinite patience and a lot of time...Learn from me. If you are interested in entrepreneurship or have a startup idea, send me a message in LinkedIn always looking for competent folks, plus bonuses on every task + at least 1% stake.
Before making any comments put yourself in the position of an investor whose earned every dollar with sweat and blood, not an employee. See it from our perspective, our startup is the victim, Dr. Christine is now off to Brazil and we had to find a new CEO.
In my life, I was dirt broke twice, even lived on $500 for 9 months, slept on a restaurant table for a 33 days with nowhere else to go. I used to borrow a car from a friend and put few euros worth of fuel just to go meet startup pioneers. I know how harsh life can be. Everyone left me besides a handful of friends and close family.
I'll be retiring from consulting, advising, investing, mentoring folks on entrepreneurship on the 2nd Dec 2017 inshAllah.
Not gonna keep any Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, $, ￡, €, gold or silver etc.
I'm gonna go back to being a Professor since academia is a vacation for me, honestly takes 3 days to write an impact factor paper. No 22 hour workdays, no stress, no sleepless nights and all the time to read the Noble Quran. Can finally sit down with the family for dinner after being away from home for 13 years.
Maybe someday folks will read this and wonder why I'm a lonely university professor with a cool car, because my most important heritage is not wealth, but knowledge, faith, leadership, intelligence and wisdom.
My patience has limits, my time is expensive!
Always...
This is my origin as a Startup Expert and Blitzkrieg Consultant. Read More...