P@SHA is happy to announce an exciting new initiative that we are starting in partnership with Green & White called Startup Insiders.

As we all know, there is no dearth of talent in this country and entrepreneurial spirit is on the increase - easily seen with the number of new IT ventures sprouting up all over the country - 2 or 3 man shops coming up with innovative solutions. Bright, energetic and passionate entrepreneurs or wanna-be entrepreneurs who have innovative ideas that they want to convert into successful businesses - young people needing direction, needing answers to some age-old questions.

On the flip side there are successful entrepreneurs wanting to share, wanting to answer questions that are never put to them - how to put together a business plan, how to get access to finance, how to pitch your idea, how to put together a solid team, questions regarding IP and patents - in fact, anything and everything that a start-up needs to know but was afraid to ask.

Whereas formal mentoring certainly has a role to play, informal get-togethers sometimes generate a lot more discourse resulting in a lot of questions being raised and tackled. And that is the idea of these Coffee sessions.

The format we will be adopting is:

- A Startup Insiders meetup will be organized in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad at least once every month - in Coffee Houses, Restaurants, Board Rooms - wherever space is available.

- CEOs, experienced leaders and possible investors will be invited to those sessions.

- We welcome young entrepreneurs (and older ones too), students, ideas, questions, myths, fears, product demos and pitches

- Coffee & snacks will be provided free and you will have a chance to exchange ideas - argue, concur, relate anecdotes, fears, challenges

- Each event will be sponsored by one software company which picks up the check. The company’s reps will also be present to talk to anyone who shows up.

This is a model that has apparently helped entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, and P@SHA and G&W is bringing this home to Pakistan for the first time.

Thanks to Osama Hashmi and Green&White for partnering with the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) on this initiative. Team work always bears fruit.

We’ll be kick starting this in Karachi:
Date: Thursday, January 17, 2008
Time: 6 pm
Venue: Pixsense, 172/P Najeeb Corner, 4th Floor, Block 2 PECHS, Karachi 74400

Entrepreneurs who have agreed to share:

Jawwad A. Farid (Alchemy Technologies),
Faisal Qureshi (Kolachi Advanced Technologies),
Adnan Agboatwalla (PixSense),
Yusuf Jan (Mixit Technologies)
and Osama Hashmi (CDF Snip and Green&White).

Oh by the way, I will be there too! PixSense is hosting this session. Thank you Adnan. And I have a couple of surprises for those who attend.

PixSense is located at:
172/P Najeeb Corner
4th Floor
Block 2 PECHS
Karachi

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