Sajid Rahman is a board member of ICANN and an investor who has put money into more than 1,500 startups and early-stage companies. The description names Pathao, 10 Minute School, Chaldal and ShopUp among them. Before that he worked in banking for more than 20 years and was Country Head of Standard Chartered Bank in Nigeria and Indonesia. The Bangla description adds that he has worked with SBAC, Sheba XYZ and Telenor Health, and he started the first wind power plant in Bangladesh.
In this episode Ahmed Fahad follows Sajid's path from the University of Dhaka to a global reputation. They talk about his early life, getting into finance and his years with Standard Chartered, then turn to how he invests: his philosophy, how he tells founders apart, how he evaluates a company before investing, and why global startups seek his money. They also cover running Telenor Health and the wind power project.
What the conversation covers
- Early life and getting into finance
- A global career with Standard Chartered
- Sajid's philosophy of investing, and investing in ShopUp
- How he differentiates founders and evaluates a company before investing
- His involvement with Y Combinator companies
- Why global startups seek his investment
- Operating Telenor Health
- The wind mill project and why he chose renewable energy
- Being inquisitive, his peers, and how he became a global name
- Advice for young people, books, blogs and podcasts, and his thoughts on edtech and healthtech
The conversation is in Bangla.