Never ask Jehanzeb N. Chaudhri, CEO of Mandi Express, a Karachi-based technology start-up, incubated at The Nest i/o, how his day begins. It will leave you breathless and very, very tired.

“The typical day for me begins with the incessant ringing of the phone by my side anywhere between 8am and 11am,” he says. And this too after only four hours of sleep: from midnight to 4am he is monitoring the daily buying that is happening at the Sabzi Mandi. “The caller almost always is Danyaal Balkhi my partner, who begins work at 6:30am!”

The phone call always means trouble — late deliveries, lack of riders, lack of packers and the list goes on. The only time he disassociates from work is between 9:30pm to midnight when he hangs out with his banker friends.

If you think Chaudhri is an exception, here’s what Qazi Umair co-founder of Sukoon.com, an online Pakistani platform connecting homeowners with handyman services, has to say: “If you’re thinking of running a start-up, you have to work 25/8.”

Millennials have forever changed the way we look at or do businesses. In fact, corporations and traditional businesses would do well to make space for them as they are here to stay.

They may not follow fixed hours like yours. They may skip breakfast, get by on just coffee or tea, go for a workout in the middle of the day and then continue work till eight or even 9pm. But even then the day’s work is not done and is carried out over cellphone or on a laptop at home. And it is not because they lead a chaotic work regimen, or are unable to manage their time properly; they swear they work long hours and work very, very, hard!

You may wave it off as initial teething pains most businesses have which crease out over time but Chaudhri thinks otherwise. “The nightmares don’t end after the first few months,” he says. “Initially there are childish fears such as ‘would my father approve?’, ‘how will I sustain myself?’, ‘should I really go down this path?’”

Start-ups are changing the work culture not just across Pakistan but globally. The word conjures up images of flexible workplace environments and hours, and a so-called ‘gig economy’ where young, incredibly-driven people work remotely through their laptops, possibly from their bed, keep absurd hours and are usually on short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed to having a permanent job.

But even after a year-and-a-half of running the business, the going is rough. “Recently, I got a phone call from my partner saying he was on his way to the warehouse. Sixty percent of our workforce had not showed up and we had double the orders!”

Yet he will not give up. “My work is a very big part of my purpose on this earth and that is a very big part of why I do what I do.”

Even the work style is different. “You do not necessarily need a laptop to work; you can work on your phone,” adds Umair casually. You are working while you’re travelling, eating or even talking to someone. So the work goes hand-in-hand.”

Many start-up CEOs agree that they are partially insane: why else would they give up high-paying jobs to sell vegetables online as Chaudhri does?

Nevertheless, start-ups are changing the work culture not just across Pakistan but globally. The word conjures up images of flexible workplace environments and hours, and a so-called ‘gig economy’ where young, incredibly-driven people work remotely through their laptops, possibly from their bed, keep absurd hours and are usually on short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed to having a permanent job.

The vision one gets is of an informal scene where young people in jeans, canvas shoes and hoodies lie on beanbags, cradling laptops, with a ping pong table within easy access. How true is it?

Jehan Ara, the president of the Pakistan Software Houses Association, P@SHA, says this is partially true. As head of The Nest i/o, a Pakistani technology incubator launched by P@SHA with Google for Entrepreneurs and Samsung as global partners and a supporting grant from the US State Department, she knows what she’s talking about.

“Yes, we have a number of youngsters at The Nest i/o and other incubators in the country who wear hoodies and canvas shoes and lie around on beanbags with their laptops,” says Jehan Ara. “Such environments include hover-boards and scooties and are created to counter the boring corporate environments and lend creativity to work spaces. When you are working on a problem — whether it is a business problem or cracking a code — sometimes you need to totally shut down and not focus on it. It is more likely that when you go back to the work desk, you will have cracked the problem,” she explains.

For start-up founders, success is not measured by having a steady job or climbing the traditional corporate ladder. Instead, for them success is when their unique ideas are validated. For these youngsters, technology isn’t the business but the tool to go about doing business.

Veqar ul Islam, CEO at Jaffer Business Systems (Pvt) Ltd (JBS), a company that invests in start-ups says: “Corporations have to learn to live with them [start-ups] since it is becoming increasingly difficult to live without them.” JBS is a Pakistani information technology (IT) company whose motto is “to solve people’s business challenges with IT solutions in a creative way.”

Islam believes start-ups can be a shot in the arm for corporations like theirs — bringing not just innovation but new markets at their doorstep. “If we are able to blend the old ways of doing business with the out-of-the-box culture of start-ups, we can really scale up,” he says.

Since he came into the corporate world in 1985, the one question forever nagging Islam has been why have there never ever been any Pakistani multinational corporations? He has the answer to it too. “We don’t believe in building systems; ours are personality-driven.” But today, he can see all that changing. He is confident, that with start-ups jumping into the fray, things are about to change — and very quickly too.

And when sustainability and scaling up in the corporate systems combine with individual brilliance, it is expected to pay dividends. “We’ve always been a follower country, never an innovator one, but today’s technology allows this new breed of entrepreneurs to leapfrog, to be different and create a niche for themselves,” says Islam.

Among different technologies, it’s the cell phone that has propelled businesses like no other device. Connectivity is essential today in a world where 4.8 billion (two-thirds of the world’s entire population) had mobile subscriptions in 2016, according to GSM Intelligence’s Mobile Economy report.

By 2020, 5.7 billion people (three-quarters of the world’s population) will subscribe to mobile services. That’s 5.7 billion potential customers and a huge market for tech start-ups to tap into. “It’s such an equaliser,” says Islam. Pointing to his phone he adds: “The smartphone can perform the same set of basic functions for the rich as for the poor.” With a population of 200 million, Pakistan has over 137 million cellphone users today — and thus 137 million potential customers.

What do investors look for?

According to Kashif Jadoon, the CEO of Islamabad-based start-up, Blutech Big Data, which JBS is incubating, mobile phones are one of the five major ‘disruptors’ of the world — an innovation that creates a new market and value network. Pakistan with 18 percent internet penetration is the second largest among the Saarc region. “In Pakistan, 60 percent of people carry two or more cell phones, 77 percent users are between the ages of 21 and 30,” he says. BluTech analyses the copious amounts of data provided by these mobile connections to build targeting frameworks for other clients.

Why did JBS decide to nurture BluTech? When JBS decides to invest in a start-up, Islam says they look for two things. “First the idea: does it solve a pressing issue or a perceived issue? Can it scale? Does it have market and potential? Second, do the people driving the idea have passion [for their project]? If these two items fit my criteria only then do we look at other factors before making the decision.”

“The important things that investors look for during a pitch is, of course, the size of the opportunity and problem statement to get a feel of the business that they will be potentially investing in,” explains Atif Azim, CEO of Venture Dive, a technology company that invests in mobility and location-based products and services (Uber and Careem, ride-hailing apps, are an example of such services) that make life easier for their users.

“But it is passion that will carry any successful entrepreneur through the ups and downs that come with the journey,” Azim adds.

The many faces of start-ups Interestingly, more often than not, a start-up is equated with tech companies and many see start-ups and technology intertwined. Often, however, technology is just a means to deliver to the customer what would have been a traditional business.

“Technology helps in reaching a large audience with an ease ... and in scaling the business quickly,” explains Jadoon. Islam agrees: “Start-ups may adapt technology to solve problems but not every start-up is tech-oriented.”

Thus many up-and-coming tech start-ups have mainly used technology to change an existing business model. For example, Careem, a ride-hailing app, connects passengers with Careem drivers (traditionally the domain of cab and rickshaw drivers), Rozee.com connects employers with employees and lists job adverts (a field previously dominated by the newspaper job advertisement section) and so on. Some are websites that have taken on well-established industries: Daraz.com is an online retailer and Netflix is an online TV and film-streaming subscription service.

And there are countless other tech start-ups that have made money from simply delivering what we want, when we want it and made many of us mere couch potatoes. Whether its cinema tickets or fish, these services will deliver it to your doorstop. Other e-services or apps connect buyers with sellers, owners with renters, help you find the doctor, domestic help or tailor you’re looking for — all with the click of a button.

Will the explosion of tech start-ups mean the end of retail space, travel agents and other traditional businesses? Only time will tell. However, as any investor will tell you — whether any business thrives or not depends on how much money it makes.

When technology meets a good cause

Not all start-ups are industry disruptors out to grab a slice of a shrinking profit pie. Some are non-profit and have philanthropic leanings. For instance initiatives such as Wonder Tree (http://wondertree.co) use augmented reality to develop educational and therapeutic games for special children.

Another, Modulus Tech, provides sustainable housing for 250,000 rupees. The founders began this initiative last year to address the needs of internally displaced persons and those affected by natural disasters. Using Building Information Modeling and solar energy simulations, they have created a cost-effective model that can be built in just three hours. What started off as a social venture is now fast attracting the interest of businesses who want to set up labour colonies.

Other such non-profit start-ups include Transparent Hands in Lahore that funds surgeries of poor patients using a global crowd-funding platform and Karachi-based Ges-Drive which makes video games for physically-challenged people.

Such initiatives are working on a good cause and have great potential to scale-up globally given their universal applications. But even such start-ups often run into a problem every business does: a lack of revenue.

Karachi-based DoctHERS, for instance, connects women doctors who are not practising due to social or family obligations, to millions of underserved patients via telemedicine. Islam, for instance, feels DoctHERS may struggle to be financially sustainable. “The purpose has to be bigger. In this case it is to provide healthcare, but in the bargain they have to make money to be able to sustain the [company],” he says.

Not for every Tom, Dick and Harry

While having passion and drive for their project is what allows start-up founders to get through the rough times, it can also be what runs them down. The world of tech start-ups is certainly not for the faint-hearted. After finding out that his blood pressure was higher than normal, Chaudhri of Mandi Express reduced smoking, started exercising and eating healthier. “I have always been an optimist and whenever there are down moments, someone or the other will crack a joke to lighten things up at work,” he adds.

Those who make it, or who scale up, cease to be a start-up and become a company. Some laughingly tell you that a good way of gauging that a start-up has graduated is if the founders begin to wear suits and fly business class.

According to Jadoon, there is no hard-and-fast rule as to when a start-up ceases to be one but ideally after about three years in business, most start-ups cease being one. Some factors to measure when a start-up mantle has been shrugged off are: multiple office locations, acquisition by a big company, employees over a certain number, revenue growth exceeding the set target and so on.

Uber and Careem started as start-ups, but given their current global scale, aren’t anymore. But there is no fixed time-period when a start-up should reach the next level. However, for the founder, the sooner the better.

There is no documented number available to know the exact number of start-ups or incubators in Pakistan currently. However, Islam puts the conservative estimates for the latter to be “in the range of 30 across the country.” Many such incubators are located at universities such as NED, Karachi University, LUMS, IBA and so on while others are in the private sector.

“Primarily these incubation centres are working as co-working space providing space, internet, on-site coaching and mentoring to the start-ups,” says Islam. In some cases, such as JBS as well as Plan 9 (started by the Punjab Information Technology Board), the start-up founders are given advice to make business cases and establish connections with potential investors. Many also arrange for industry veterans to come and talk to them. 

He says each incubation centre has, at any given time, four to five start-ups. “I would assume that if they churn out two batches each year, then currently around 250 plus start-ups are in operation.”

“With the current batch we will have graduated about 100 start-ups from The Nest i/o,” say Jehan Ara. “Assuming that some of the other leading incubators have done the same, we would have at least 500.”

She also explains that there are many start-ups that are not part of incubators or accelerators but have been started by young people across the country. “Some will be successful and some will fail,” she says but insists failure is something start-up founder have to accept and shouldn’t view negatively.

If you fail, try and try again

However, success is not always guaranteed and many start-ups just die before they make it.

While hundreds of start-ups come up every year, according to Forbes nine out of 10 start-ups fail. Since it opened over two years ago, about 100 start-ups have passed through the four-month cycle of The Nest i/o and about 85 percent of those continue to survive and create employment.

“It depends on how you define success,” says Jehan Ara. While success rate varies, she believes some fail and start a second or third venture, while others pivot — when a start-up ditches its original idea for another concept or changes direction.

According to Planet N, another investor company, 67 percent of the more than 700 start-ups established since 2010 are still active and 68 have managed to increase funding by about 20 million dollars. At least 24 incubators, accelerators and co-working spaces supporting start-ups have popped up across the country in the past seven years. Planet N invests in start-ups providing them a platform for growth through collaboration and shared services.

Jadoon says the start-up culture in Pakistan is quite new but rapidly growing. What he has observed is that the “start-up scene” in the country is without structure and an incubator is nothing but a “glorified Internet café.”

“We need to provide proper governance and structure to start-ups so they can be nurtured properly. We should focus on quality rather than quantity. It is better to have five quality start-ups than 12 mediocre ones,” he believes.

Islam concurs saying of those that fail, 22 percent do so due to a lack of funding but over 77 percent is because of a bad business plan. Many of them are “not tuned to systems and policies, completely unaware of corporate governance or knowledge of tax structures,” he says.

And that is why JBS’s Islam prefers to acquire start-ups to hand-hold the young entrepreneurs and walk them through the process. “We want to minimise the failure rate, provide them with access to the market since we are well-ensconced, allow them to use our brand to be taken seriously, provide them with a structure, discipline and accountability,” he explains.

But what is in it for JBS? “We want to future-proof our business by investing in innovation through these start-ups,” says Islam. “We believe trends will undergo major changes and if the company does not prepare itself to invest in the future, its existence will be at stake.”

Based on studies and available research, there are going to be five key areas which will remain the dominant force in the IT industry of the future including cloud computing, internet of things (IOT), mobility, big data and networks and network security. Out of the above five, JBS picked big data and IOT for investing in future. “Hence the company we were looking for has to be in one of the two areas and Blutech is formed as a big data company,” explains Islam.  

Explaining the working relationship in more detail, Islam says:

“While we would like entrepreneurial culture to evolve solidly and scale ... we give the “management right” to the start-up founder/CEO. He runs the show as an entrepreneur, but needs to become part of our business unit, corporate culture and governance so [the start-up] has the right infrastructure, support, governance and accountability to become successful. This requires serious engagement and commitment on our part and also on the part of the start-up.” This is a win-win for both.

The success of the start-up industry, however, in the end rests on the shoulders of the millenials who are willing to jump through hoops to achieve their dreams. Even if that means, as Umair of Sukoon.com put it, "you have to work 25/8" to make it happen.

Published in Dawn, EOS, May 28th, 2017

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Mandi Express had been incubated by the US companies VentureHive and Microsoft. Mandi Express was actually incubated by The Nest i/o. The article has been updated to reflect this change.