I chose the harder path.
And I’d do it again.
I grew up in Karachi, surrounded by business. The city teaches you fast — how deals get done, how relationships drive everything, and how the ones who move first win. That shaped me. But I always knew I wanted to build something of my own.
I went through Nixor for my O Levels — one of the most competitive institutions in Pakistan. From there, I moved to the UK and enrolled at the University of Sussex. I was on the path everyone expected me to follow: finish the degree, come back, get a corporate job, play it safe.
I dropped out.
Not because I couldn’t do it. Because I realised I was spending three years preparing for a world I could already see changing. AI was reshaping every industry. The tools businesses relied on were fragmented, overpriced, and designed for corporations — not for founders like me. I didn’t want to study the future. I wanted to build it.
I came back to Karachi and got my hands dirty. I worked in real estate at Tabani, learning how real businesses operate — the deals, the pressure, the systems that hold everything together (or fall apart). That experience taught me what no university ever could: how businesses actually run day to day, and how badly they need better tools.
That’s when Startup Ninja was born. An AI-powered platform that replaces the 10+ tools every startup juggles — one system, eight modules, everything connected. I’m not building another SaaS product. I’m building the operating system for the next generation of businesses.