After profiling a new startup every week in Dawn's Tech Talk column for over two years, I felt there was a major flaw as to how the Pakistani ecosystem is talked about.
As far as coverage is concerned, a few well-funded startups make rounds in two or three publications 1/n
Pakistani media is completely under military control, says "journalist" sitting in NYC who spent the past 3 years denying military's influence on media
Today in Digital Pakistan:
For one of the largest government-owned entities, a soft copy means you have to courier the document in a CD or USB. Somebody introduce them to email for God's sake!!!
@BJP4Delhi
This represents the state of comedy in India, where despite the all-across Pakistan hatred, you guys still use our memes, and infringe on copyrights. That too from ruling party's official handle. Wow!
Let's start with how most scholarships are actually given out to students from elite schools. Even the difference between KGS and St Pat's (grades and CV being almost the same) turns out to be too much. And who goes to these schools? Par bEhEn sChOlArShiP kaY LiYe apPlY kAr dEtI
Behan scholarship kay liye apply ker deti. Many students from middle class are actually out there in top universities because of scholarships why are you crying or blaming rulers
I had the misfortune of reading that embarassing roadmp for IT industry and needed to rant about just how awfully lazy the whole document is.
Here's a 🧵 (and the link if you want more details)
Everyone says that
@CareemPAK
is finsihed but do you know how bad things are for them?
Take this. In 2015-2019, they did over *236M* trips in Pakistan of which 100M+ came in 2019 alone. Since then, the company has managed barely 63M trips.
Details:
70+ years of being a country and we are having a debate about curriculum for the first time. Is seems like we have never had an actual government before this.
Every single one of these buildings are a waste of resource . ridiculous they aren't destroyed and converted in to housing for masses who wish to live in the city center
EH's bullshitting aside, there is absolutely no comparison between JNU and LUMS. One is a public sector university with solid grassroots political movement while the other is full of elitists who simply use fancy words from Leftist literature and uphold the status quo.
If Coursera's latest report is to be believed, Pakistani talent is hungry to upskill itself. But will the corporate sector and the government play their part?
Read this by
@MShahzaibA01
in
@datadarbar_io
to understand Pakistan's human capital challenge:
What's the deal with kids of military people posing as experts on security issues just because of their family background? Mera baap bhi merchant navy me tha, but you don't see me bullshitting about that ship stuck at sea view
Pakistani singer arooj aftab…… Urdu singer arooj aftab….. arooj Aftab’s amazing Urdu singing… like. It’s fine I guess? But can a person of color musician ever just get to be without this tag to whatever someone else is presuming is our root or heritage
Pakistani Muslim jingoists should should shut the fuck up. Just because no one invites you to their festivals doesn't mean it's majboori for the rest.
Tum jaiso ko to tumhare Khandan wale Eid pe na bulayen.
🧵A thread of Pakistani celebrities look alike:
1) Aena Khan as Ana De Armas
Everyone fell in love with Aena Khan's beauty in the movie 'Blade Runner 2049'
Today I discovered that my day job is to bring down Pakistani startups and that no founder talks to me. How do I deal with this realization and the grief that comes with it?
My hate for MQM aside, if someone doesn't understand how the Muhajir identity came into being then they should perhaps pick up a book or something. When we call ourselves Muhajir, it suggests our unique identity from other already inhabiting this land
Matlab some Punjabis migrated as well and they identify themselves as Punjabis not muhajirs. Your grandparents migrated not you, grow tf up. If even after 3 generations you wont call yourself a Karachiite or a Pakistani then get yourself treated
@talal_swati
Due to unanticipated high volumes of activity on our system, some of our clients may experience difficulty logging into the HBL Mobile App.
🚨 Companies That Have Left Pakistan Since PDM Came To Power :-
1. AirLift
2. SWVL
3. VavaCars
4. CarFirst
5. Careem ( Food Delivery)
6. Shell Pakistan
7. Suzuki Pakistan ( Not Confirmed)
8. Toyota Pakistan ( Not Confirmed)
9. Siemens Pakistan ( Not Confirmed)
The current account deficit rose to $2.6bn in Jan22 from $1.9bn in Dec21, largely due to imports in kind that are fully financed. Excluding these, the deficit would have been around $1bn lower in Jan22. For details, see
Has to be the most idiotic fan base. Taking digs at the guy who 1) has a WC 2) just scored 95 and 3) has a ton this tournament while the man in question has 80 in 4 matches and has failed to perform in the last 4 tournaments.
Did PTI folks just wake up to the reality that Pakistani military interferes in politics and loves to be the puppet master? Sure, make yourselves sound like the defenders of democracy, like PMLN did before you, but it doesn't hold any value when you had no problem... 1/n
Have digital wallets lived up to all the hype?
Payments has been one of the most funded sub-sector in Pakistan, having raised ~$78M since 2018. Many of them went for EMI licenses, which at peak had 12 applicants. But today, half of them are gone. 1/n
Someone I know really needs a job. She is currently unemployed and mother of two, husband has serious health issues so can't work full time. Has 4y of exp in HR and before that (with a break) in investor relations and operations within finance
Here is the partner of Sequoia arguing how Palestinians under 18 shouldn't be considered children.
Imagine the level of filth and love for genocide this scum must have running through his blood.
@WholeMarsBlog
@paulg
18 is an arbitrary number. If someone is 15-18, armed, trained and fighting. Should that count as a child death?
Civilian deaths are absolutely horrible. But regarding PG's tweet, how would you feel if something like this hypothetical is correct?
Today in PTI fanboys coming at Dawn with lectures of journalism and not understanding the concept of a wire service. Ya Allah is taaq raat pe qaum e youth ko hidayat de
For this purpose,
@ughx3000
and I prepared a 2020 investment roundup for Pakistani startups, which digs into not only how much money was poured into the country but also disaggregate it by city, stage, gender or even foreign education. Factors that insiders have known for 5/n
If you are a
@thePSLt20
fan, chances are your team is sponsored by a betting company disguising as a news platform.
Despite gambling and crypto being illegal in Pakistan,
@TheRealPCB
has continued to get sponsorships from their promoters. Read more:
So let me get this straight: PMLN, which has no semblance of digital strategy and gets ratioed every other day, gamed a Twitter poll posted by a PTI fan account?
Since 2018,
@easypaisa
has posted cumulative losses of PKR 47.4B or $273.7M. That's redder than even the red wedding.
All while the bank continues to grow its digital payments, which reached a throughput of PKR 3.89T.
Read more:
via
@DataDarbar_io
Through immense hardship, the space reclaimed by journalists & activists since Musharraf left has gone down the drain within a week because of an emotionally charged torch-mob that couldn’t bear seeing their cult spending a night in jail for engulfing PKR60billion. Thank you PTI.
Lums is nowhere in the world top 100 by any criteria, or subject wise either. Assuming Econ is the core offering, even then you find no economists from here leading the charts. Yahan ki faculty akhbaaro me op-ed likh or Punjab govt ko advise Karne pe itni chauri hai.
I will hand over my car keys to her if she can name 5 areas of whatever city she claims she is from in Pakistan cuz aint no way that accent is spoken in any part of this great country.
Lol we did a series of investigative reporting on the exploitation if lending apps back in June 2022. The crackdown has started after a year but this guy here thinks SS took swift action.
It was only AFTER the suicide that they took it seriously. Itna jhoot na bola kare Banda.
I’ve often expressed my disappointment and Shehbaz Sharif’s premiership and specifically on the economy, IMF and exchange rate. But this is something I appreciate about PMLN and SS. They don’t just wait for the media cycle to move onto another story. They Acc take action.
Waqar Zaka ki 3 videos dekh k sab khud ko web3 ka guru samajhne lage hain. Bhai Binance pe dogecoin khareedne se aap digital assets pe expert Nahin bante
It's confirmed.
@foodpanda_pk
doesn't roll out the tips we add to our orders for the riders. I've asked multiple riders and even a friend who works in the restaurant business. This is disgusting. How could a platform this big pocket what's supposed to be paid to its employees?
It's not really about crying or whining. Neither it is too hard to see how class privilege determines opportunities. Kal ko Peele school k bacho se kahenge k "Rona band, Karo mehnat ki Hoti to aisi bekaar Jaga jatey hi Nahin."
If those with means are able to afford better education and universities, while the majority is clearly disadvantaged, then it is clearly is with the government, regardless of political party. Unequal access to education is the biggest blame they have
At some point in life, people need to realize that their "findings" or "thesis" during undergrad were absolutely meaningless and stop hyping them up as groundbreaking academic work
Someone took a loan using one of the shady loan apps on
@GooglePlay
store as his brother had had an accident. App said you can pay back in 90 days. Moment he got cash he was told he had 3 days to pay. Started getting threatening calls. It is criminal loan sharks going digital
I have mixed opinions about Indo-Pak trade but this is such a lazy attempt to give an "economic" colour to a political belief and a great exhibit of data cherry-picking.
Let me explain why (after spending 15 mins looking at Indian numbers, though still more than what OP spent)
The case for trade with Pakistan, as propounded by the Pakistanis is that they have an attractive market. A quick glimpse of Pakistan’s automotive sector belies that.
There were 30,000 cars sold in Pakistan in ALL of 2023. For the full year. That is fewer cars than India’s
Yes, Pakistan has a very low number of universities but what kind of an idiotic comparison is it against madrassahs, which are predominantly offering basic education not higher.
Number of Madrassas in Pakistan: 40,000.
Number of Universities in Pakistan: 218
Result: Weaponised clergy, radicalised mass, violent extremism, mob lynchings, forced conversions, endangered minorities.
The State of Pakistan is hostage to mullahs & they don’t need your votes.
For years,
@ZameenProperty
had managed to post growth both in PKR and USD terms.
But all of it was undone in 1H2023 as revenues fell to 2018 levels while EBITDA margins almost halved. Is this indicative of a crisis in Pakistan's real estate sector?
@nidkirm
This entire idea of scholarship itself is rather strange to me. Propagates the idea that as not a rich person, you have to be extremely brainy or hardworking while for the rich, mediocrity is a viable option. You just don't have the space for your own tragedies
It's not rocket science to understand how this problem is structural. If your khala k Dewar ki beti ko liberal arts me free ride mil gayi thi, ya that prodigy you knew who got into a top school, it doesn't make it the rule. Scholarship puts the blame on fard instead
a long time, yet not discussed enough.
The pictures above have some interesting charts for anyone to understand the local ecosystem. In case you want the PDF, get it from .
PS: Really hoping y'all would appreciate the name, if not the product. N/n
@2paisay
Maybe you should appreciate HBL, UBL and MCB more often for not doing shenanigans like these since you often slam them whenever you get a chance on twitter where you can't even understand a simple product like Bancassurance with both sane "consenting parties"
My favourite thing about Pakistani tech's aflatoons is that after the slightest comment questioning the current capital frenzy, they start explaining to you how VCs work. Thanks man, I had no idea it's a risky asset class.
When it comes to making money off Pakistanis on mobile apps, only two things work:
1. financial apps that either lend instantly or promise ponzi-like returns
2. anything that feeds off the tharak of Pakistani men
In this piece, we explore the second:
Khuda k wastey koi Zurich me student jobs Ka scene bata de. 2 din rehte Hain to accept the offer and I don't want my acceptance letter to go to Raddi wala who will then pass it on to samose wala. Somebody help me!!!
Thank God someone has covered this finally! The likes of Sunny Ali have been ripping off people for years while those in the e-commerce ecosystem continue to look the other way, or, worse, even hail them.
Good work
@SiddiquiZuha
and
@NilChristopher
Liberal arts people really can't wrap their heads around the idea that some of us didn't need a prescribed reading list from Pol sci 101 prof to form our opinions and have a basic level of awareness
GPA matters, don't let anyone fool you kids. At least in quantitative and top programs. For university's own scholarships, it matters far more you can imagine.
To get a scholarship for a Masters abroad, you don't need a good GPA. You need a stellar admissions essay and extracurriculars that will blow their socks off. Also, you'll need to work for a year and outperform spectacularly in order to strengthen your case.
I realise this is a convenient time to have this epiphany now that it’s over, but Midsummer Chaos really was made by a bunch of kids.
Putting the it out -there despite all of us -was pretty brave, if nothing else. May they all go on to do great things and prove all of us wrong.
This was by far the greatest year for Pakistani startups
Overall investment: ⬆️450%
Avg deal: $5.3M
Most funded sector: E-commerce (by amount) and fintech (by # deals)
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