Founder Institute aims to create 'Silicon Valley' like start-ups in Karachi

The Founder Institute, the World's Largest Entrepreneur Training and Start-up Launch Program, aims to create a Silicon Valley-like start-up ecosystem in Pakistan and launch over thirty meaningful and enduring technology companies per year in the city. The Silicon-Valley based program recently announced the launch of its first chapter in Karachi, which will help talented employees launch companies of their own through a step-by-step training program led by top local entrepreneurs.
"Silicon Valley is not a place, it's a mindset," says Adeo Ressi, Founder & CEO of the Founder Institute. "The Founder Institute emulates this mindset in cities across the globe through what we believe to be the three tenets of Silicon Valley: talent, training, and teamwork."
In particular, the Founder Institute identifies the most talented people using a "Predictive Admissions Test" that identifies entrepreneurial personality traits. Then, these talented employees and entrepreneurs take part in a part-time, step-by-step training program, which is based on Silicon Valley-best practices and taught by experienced start-up founders. Finally, through a unique "Graduate Liquidity Pool", all participants in the program (including the enrolled Founders, Mentors, and Local Leaders) share in the equity of the companies formed. This shared equity approach creates a teamwork-oriented, "pay-it-forward" mentality conducive to building great companies, similar to the ecosystem found in Silicon Valley.
This model of "Globalizing Silicon Valley" is now yielding an average of two new Founder Institute Graduate companies per day world-wide. In total, the program has launched over 1,310 companies across over 85 cities and six continents. In addition, many of the Founder Institute's most successful chapters are based in what can be described as "developing economies", such as Colombia, Vietnam, and more.
Leading the Founder Institute's efforts in Pakistan are three leaders, two representing the local entrepreneurship scene, Sumaan Azmi (serial entrepreneur), Hassan Qureshi (Founder of Carimson Commerce) and one senior corporate leader Umar Alam (Global corporate executive). "I am very excited to bring FI to Karachi as one of its Directors, I am certain that FI will help Pakistani entrepreneurs create enduring global technology companies," said Hassan Qureshi, Co-Director of the Karachi Founder Institute.-PR