CxO Interview – Nadia Ishtiaq, Managing Director & Corporate Finance KTrade
Tell us about yourself and how you reached where you are today.
I have been into Corporate and Investment Banking for over two decades. During the course of my career, I have advised on various public and private transactions including advising the Government of Pakistan on several privatization transactions. Over the years, I have worked in top institutions including commercial banks and brokerage houses.
I’ve had an interesting journey so far, with perseverance being my key element. You see when we speak about perseverance, people mistake it for being obsessed. However, in essence perseverance is to achieve your goals while enjoying your work. I believe that unless you enjoy what you are doing, you can never excel at your job – and this has been my motto throughout my career.
How do you see technology changing our lives?
Technology can easily be termed as a major driving force of optimism. Most of the extreme challenges (climate change, famine, and disease) society faces today can be solved through technological brilliance. The interconnectedness of technology is fast becoming a marvel as bullet trains, automobiles, airplanes, medical devices, financial transactions, and energy supply chains all rely on supercomputers to run and govern them in every way possible. Nevertheless, a gem will always come at a cost i.e. technology can also be a source of incredible fear and subjugation, implanting biases in machine learning, data processing, framing decision-making processes, aggravating vast disparities between social and economic inequalities among developed and developing nations both across and within nations, and creating a weapon for mass destruction in terms of social imbalances within societies.
For me technology essentially has two main contradictory components/visions:
- Hardcore enthusiasts who believe they use it as a tool to achieve greater goals and
- Similarly, committed pessimistic belief that technological advancements have reached an inflection point beyond universal control
In the end, I would say that the mounting intricacies surrounding technology make it a compelling case for the global elite think tank comprise of Tech Entrepreneurs, Government Officials, Social Activists & Economists, and Scholars to assess how these technological developments/advancements are reshaping our life around the globe and what implications lie ahead for social, political, and legal managers to help outline the mass plan for the optimal and beneficial use of technology in the future. In light of these suggestions, a prompt formulation of adequate regulations governing rapid technological space and data flows could be a major breakthrough in developing its sustainability.
Why do businesses fail in the early stages in Pakistan?
Early-stage businesses tend to fail in Pakistan due to various reasons however I believe the following factors contribute the most; lack of financial and business acumen, insufficient funding, poor market research, and inadequate feasibility of the product.
The global startup space was booming post covid and so did in Pakistan where both foreign and local VC funds invested over USD 347mn in 2022 only. E-commerce became the hottest sector with over USD 190mn in funding followed by the Fintech space which raised USD 100mn in 2021. The boom led to hundreds of startups competing for the same market with overlapping supply chains and unfortunately, not every startup could succeed. The majority of the founders had the right concept but their lack of business acumen impeded their growth. The buzz of the “to the moon” ideology adopted by most of the founders was so eccentric that it resulted in a scattered focus on growth rather than value creation.
Secondly, poor market research and lack of feasibility prevailing in the startup space have resulted in loss-making products negatively impacting the VC funds. Airlift is a classic example of a non-feasible and loss-making service that led to exorbitant burning of cash which resulted in the shutdown. Continuous losses with unsustainable business models have worried investors thus resulting in dried-up funding. Most VC funds invest on a milestone basis and most startups fail to deliver those milestones which leads to insufficient funding and hence the shutdowns.
I believe startups should start focusing on creating value for their shareholders rather than putting immense effort and money into unsustainable customer acquisitions and growth. We need to understand that 10 recurring and high-paying customers are better than 1000 non-recurring and low-paying ones.
Moreover, Visit CxO Global FORUM or CxO News Live for all the latest updates.
