Abdullah Khan’s Post

The journey of NIYOU, a startup born from within an Entrepreneurship class at Creighton University's Heider College of Business, exemplifies innovation and collaboration. Two students, who had never worked together, joined forces due to their complementary skills. Just one year after their initial 60-day startup sprint, they had the chance to showcase their venture at the Big East startup competition. A special shoutout to Lance Frazier for encouraging them to participate. Their entry video is nothing short of remarkable—I'm confident they're on the path to victory. The team's early members, Valery Shafack and Matthew Mandolfo, set a high bar, which was only raised with the strategic addition of Samuel Perkinson. This is a call to local businesses: supporting NIYOU means not just backing Creighton student athletes, but also enhancing your brand. NIYOU is at the forefront of fostering meaningful partnerships between local enterprises and our student athletes. Watch the video, feel the energy, and consider how you can be part of this inspiring journey. #CreightonInnovation #StudentEntrepreneurs #NIYOUJourney #OmahaBusinessSupport #HeiderBusiness #LocalPartnerships #FutureLeaders #CommunityCollaboration #InnovateOmaha

I had the opportunity to interview iKhokha's founders Matt Putman and Ramsay Daly last night - two really cool, but also humble individuals (read: fintech disruptors) who embrace their roles with optimism, tenacity and passion. Inspirational, motivational humans with an amazing story. Thank you Durban for showing up, connecting and helping to build a more vibrant local startup community. Here are a few takeaways from the fireside chat last night: 1. Authentic differentiation is important. Present a unique value proposition, that reflects your personal brand and which resonates with your unique target market. 2. Believe in your dreams and aspirations; manifesting what you believe in can lead to their realization. 3. Focus on your area of expertise. Outsource if you need to, to maintain high standards. 4. Build relationships and expand your network to forge impactful partnerships. 5. Hiring the right talent is key. There are three types of people in business; the pilots (those that lead with passion and optimism), the passengers (meet the minimum requirements but don't fully buy into the shared vision and goal) and the pirates (those that suck the energy out of the room). It is important to weed the pirates out at the onset. 6. Customer service is paramount. Look after your customer and use customer feedback data effectively to change, adapt and improve your offering. 7. Your culture is defined by the behaviors you tolerate. Uphold high standards. 8. Don't be afraid to hire people smarter or more knowledgeable than you. If you want to grow, you have to hire the right people. Attitude outweighs academics and a fancy qualification. 9. Share ideas openly to gather meaningful feedback, including from family and friends who offer candid perspectives. 10. Remember that it's a marathon, not a sprint. Entrepreneurship is a long-term endeavor; maintain resilience, innovation, and perseverance as you strive for success. Thank you iKhokha for sharing your story with us. We too now #believeinbetter. Startup Grind

Before his company POSH raised $31 million or counted 2 million users, I first met Avante Price at the 2019 NYU Entrepreneurial Institute Summer Launchpad program while we were both undergrads at NYU Stern School of Business. An underappreciated element of college entrepreneurial programs is the network of founders that you get connected to at a young age…a network that you can truly “grow up” with. For me, this includes Avante and many others that I’ve been able to lean on as friends, partners, and colleagues in the years since college. Starting a business in college goes against all conventional wisdom. You lack the experience, capital, and connections that are significant indicators of entrepreneurial success. But what you don’t lack at that age is the passion, energy, and initiative to attack hard problems. I personally perceive activity in the entrepreneurial space in college to be a true indicator of being an “outlier.” And nobody can bring energy, curiosity, and innovation to your life like an outlier can. The time spent by Avante and his Co-Founder Eli Taylor-Lemire in building POSH first as students before dropping out of NYU has clearly been worthwhile. POSH, in my opinion, is a business that could not have been started by founders who did not start out as student entrepreneurs. Founder-market fit is always so important, but it feels to be even more so here. With a vision to cure loneliness in Gen Z through IRL events that reaches far beyond ticket sales, it is a cultural understanding of a misunderstood generation that has been a differentiator for POSH in the crowded space of online event platforms. The sky is the limit for Avante and Eli, and conversations like this one that involve both actionable startup advice and distinct cultural observations are exactly why we started Coeus Collective. It was an absolute pleasure to have them on our show. 🦉📣

When I participated in the NTU Entrepreneurship & Startup Training (NEST) course recently, our mentor emphasized the importance of a defensible moat for our startup. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the Defensible Moat concept, highlighting eight categories of moats beyond just intellectual property (IP). Explore these insights in the "moat-mino" section of the article to gain a deeper understanding.

🚀 Exciting News from Gambix! 🚀 We are thrilled to announce that Gambix has been accepted into the Future Founders Fellowship Cohort 10! This is a monumental milestone for us, and we couldn’t be more excited to embark on this year-long journey of growth and learning. The Future Founders Fellowship is an elite program aimed at accelerating the nation’s top young entrepreneurs and their ventures. Being selected as one of the 21 founders is not just an honor; it's a testament to the hard work, dedication, and innovative spirit of our team at Gambix. As part of this prestigious cohort, we look forward to benefiting from unparalleled mentoring, skill development opportunities, entrepreneurship retreats, and an inspiring community of peers. Our inclusion in this program is a significant step towards fulfilling our mission at Gambix: to revolutionize UX optimization through our AI-powered platform, Strata. A special thanks to Scott Issen, President & CEO of Future Founders, for welcoming us into this transformative journey. We're eager to join this impressive group of entrepreneurs who, since 2015, have collectively generated over $374 million in revenue, raised $299 million in capital, and created nearly 2,000 jobs. To learn more about the Fellowship and the other amazing businesses in Cohort 10, check out the full release here: bit.ly/fellowshipcohort10 Here's to future success, innovation, and making a lasting impact! 🌟 #Gambix #FutureFoundersFellowship #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #StartUpJourney #TechStartup #UXOptimization https://lnkd.in/eWT73ZP8

I had the privilege of participating as a guest evaluator for Macalester College's MacStartups final pitches this morning. I was thoroughly impressed by the passion, creativity, and social impact focus of the student entrepreneurs 👏 A few key things I looked for in evaluating the pitches: > Empathy for the user/customer and a greater focus on the pain of the problem being solved than their specific solution > Scrappiness and bias toward action in building MVPs and proving concepts with their 10 weeks and $500 > Early signs of traction and excitement from potential customers > "Why us?" > "Why now?" > Scalability and a path to serving more people, making more impact > Business model sustainability It was energizing to see these students tackle important social issues through entrepreneurship. 💚 I'm excited to follow their progress and see the impact they'll make. Learn more about them at https://lnkd.in/gx-dZfjD Huge kudos to Jody Emmings, Briana Riley, and the Macalester entrepreneurship program for nurturing these ventures, and to fellow evaluators Duchess Harris, J.D., Ph.D, Gary Mainor, Liang Ding, Joslenne Peña, Ph.D. and Matt Entenza. The future is bright! #entrepreneurship #socialimpact #startups #getstarted

On Tuesday, the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship plan practicum students shared their startup ideas. Some of the takeaways include: (1) Take time to understand the whole market and consult with people in related industries to discover facets of the market you would not have identified prior. (2) Consider multiple purposes for your product to expand your market (3) Carefully design your pricing strategy around elasticity and people's ability to pay (4) Presentation matters (the design of the slides can make a big difference). (5) It's important to emphasize the problem that you're solving, but don't overwhelm your audience with technical details. Thank you Jessica Wray, Johan Strand, CFA, Ken Horenstein, Lakshmi Nidamarthi, Mary Haggard, Molly Klein, Marisela Cerda, Oliver Sharp, Jason Wilbur, Paul de la Port, M. Ragan Hart, Sara Lindquist, Tanushree "Tee" Podder, Amin Shaykho, Anna Hong, Brian Graf, Deanna Lanier, Denise Bowen, Jessica Kamada

When I was in lower primary school, I accidentally started my first business. My mum would pack me a fruit salad almost every day, but I hated fruits back then. So, you can imagine her frustration when I’d return home with the dish still full! All I really wanted were cupcakes and cookies. One day, a classmate asked to trade his biscuits for some of my mangoes. I was thrilled. This little exchange went on for a while, and soon, other classmates started offering their snacks in exchange for my fruits. Most days, my dish was empty when I got home, which made my mum ecstatic! Eventually, one of my “customers” offered me something I already had, and that’s when money became the new currency. I started asking my mum (my supplier!) for the fruits I knew my classmates wanted. Without realizing it, I was learning the basics of supply and demand, customer experience, and stock management! Later on, I branched into two other ventures—making cards and jewelry. My logic? "I'm tiny and cute, people will buy from me." And they did. 🤣 Of course, I didn’t have any financial management systems in place. I wasn’t saving with Jumbo Junior (Kenyans will remember!), and I couldn’t tell my mum about all the money I’d made from her fruit salads. Instead, I buried my earnings in bags around the yard and drew treasure maps to keep track of them! Looking back, I know I was just a kid, but if I’d had the opportunity to join something like the ALX Ventures Founder Academy, I would’ve been able to scale and sustain those businesses with the right tools. The foundational concepts they teach are invaluable. If you have a business idea, no matter how small, and it solves a problem for a community, don’t hesitate to sign up for this program. No idea is too small with ALX Ventures. Apply here to kickstart your dream business: https://lnkd.in/dQTPJ3Yz #entrepreneurship #founders #startups #dohardthings

No idea is too small if it solves a problem for people. I loved reading your story, Zee Gitahi If you are wondering how to turn your idea into a business, look no further. Sign up for the ALX Ventures program using this link: https://lnkd.in/dQTPJ3Yz #entrepreneurship #founders #startups #dohardthings

Starting a business is often described as simple: choose a name, register, and find customers. While that’s true, there’s so much more behind the scenes that many overlook, and that’s why some ventures struggle. If you have a business idea and want to ensure you’re covering all the bases, ALX Ventures is where you need to be. It’s like a fairy godmother for your business- helping you turn your idea into reality. #Entrepreneurship #lifeatalxkenya #dohardthings #StartupTips