Entrepreneursince 2011.
First computer at 9, first steps as a freelancer in 2009, first agency in 2011, then a one-way ticket to Pakistan in 2018. Over 15 years in digital, and still learning.
An entrepreneur before being an expat. Freelancing since 2009, an agency since 2011, living in Pakistan since 2018.
I'm not simply someone who moved to Pakistan. I did business in France, worked with many companies on great projects. That's what shaped me.
Today it's still all about improving and learning. I don't consider myself an expert, but I've been in the field for over 15 years, and I put that experience to work for entrepreneurs and companies, here and in Europe, with Aliphbay.
It became a book, “Le jour où j'ai tout quitté” (The Day I Left Everything), an honest account of what it means to choose a country.
From age 9
to today.
A passion born in front of a screen, a first agency in the middle of university, then a choice nobody understood.
The first computer
A Packard Bell tower running Windows Millennium. I spent hours clicking, opening folders, tinkering. My passion for digital was born right there. If I do what I do today, it's thanks to my parents, who trusted me and gave me a tool to let off steam and pick up the knowledge I still use in my business. Illustration: a 2000s tower PC.
First steps as a freelancer
I start working independently, long before finishing my studies.
Syed Design, my first agency
I launch my agency, Syed Design, while still at university. I'm studying accounting and finance, up to master's level, but I choose to carry on in digital: it's what I'm passionate about.
The Pakistan spark
A YouTube show introduces me to the history of Pakistan and its founding fathers. I want to know more. I keep telling people we should go there one day, but nobody believes it.
The birth of Aliphbay
My agency grows and becomes Aliphbay, with offices in Paris and Lahore. I work with many companies on great projects: that's where I get forged.
The one-way ticket
I'm told it's one of the worst decisions of my life. I leave anyway, on 16 September 2018, with my conviction as my only luggage.
Eight years later
I'm still here. And now it's other people who ask me the question: the world is changing, and many people want to rethink where they live.
Three
convictions.
The field
You only advise well on what you've lived. I build, I test, then I pass it on.
The method
Strategy, content, systems, automation: every building block has its place and its result.
Passing it on
Workshops, training, podcast, book: sharing so that others dare in their turn.
“Always improving, always learning.”Over 15 years in digital, and still going