A drop in the bucket. But it is my drop. Declined first engagement linked to a grant funded by @FCDOGovUK and @sida, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. Have already removed @KfW_FZ_int and @USAID from our list of approved partners and financiers.

The first question I ask myself when exploring new ideas?. Who can I ping in my network, who is also a potential target customer, to validate the underlying need. If I can build a list of 15 decision makers that I can reach and who will see me, I am in a good place.

TIL that James Francis Gunn Jr. is of Irish descent. That explains everything. Another win for the Irish.

I think the key takeaway is that if you are based in Karachi and have the pleasure of knowing @faizansiddiqi as a friend go see him. :).

On the cool thing we are building. Not venture funded. Don't need it. @MubarizSiddiqui @jehan_ara and @kayzafar the last conversation we had. Doesn't involve AI or crypto. The very best ideas in the world are the most boring problems that no one want to solve.

The smartest thing I did once I turned 50 was to curate my time. Being selective in the company you choose to be with is one luxury being an absent minded professor offers. And I have made full use of it. Should have done it sooner.

Sat down with @faizansiddiqi earlier this week. Long overdue catch up conversation. Asked him for help on something I had been struggling with. His one line response triggered an epiphany and we are now building something cool. You are sum of the 5 people you hang out with.

RT @microMAF: I have a schooling model that would allow kids to complete their intermediate degree by the age of 13. They'll have advanced….

RT @Nermeenalswaisi: Drop a ❤️ if you still remember them.

@NajamAli2020 not just the curriculum. The candidates are getting better. The tests are getting harder. We are working with better and brighter input. Good things come to those who wait.

My favorite moment from admissions interviews @smcs_iba yesterday. Me : Why do you want to come to @ibakhiofficial?. Candidate: Because of the math section of your admissions test. I want to meet everyone who passed that test. @shakeelkhoja @hussainshahid @EDIBAKarachi FYI.

Not sure if it is that I have blocked all zios, their supporters, lackies and apologists or they have tweaked the Twitter algo. Suddenly my feed is so much better, relevant and graceful.

RT @jennineak: a small guesthouse in a kyoto, japan, takes on global zionism’s censorship and intimidation, and succeeds! to think in a gen….

PASHA - unofficial motto. "Never miss an opportunity to kick good men or women when they are down.". They have lost more goodwill in the last 4 years than we all built together over 30 years. About time the freelancer put together their own association reflecting their voice.

Their last brilliant attempt was on the divergent VPN debate. Prior to that their taxation policy like all other rent seekers was "everyone but us". @MoitOfficial keeps on asking for advisory and consultative sessions. Its time they listen to the saner voices in town.

I say this as someone who spent 18 years trying to talk sense to PASHA CEC. A future for a small minority is no future at all. If we move forward, we move forward together, not on a selective basis. The association has a history of throwing everyone else under the bus.

Imagine what they are like in New York, Boston, Oxford and Chicago.

In a competitive world, incredible grades are no longer enough for a guaranteed admission to any reasonable program anywhere in the world. That is the reality of applicants today. It will get much worse next year and the year after. And if this is how things are in Karachi. .

I spoke to an old friend who ran admissions for a top computer science PhD program. He said once a perfect GRE score was a guaranteed admit. Today a typical program may have 5 fully funded seats. The top 100 candidates all have perfect scores.

2nd round of interviews at @smcs_iba BS (CS) yesterday. Incredibly grateful we went to school/college/ Universities when we did. When entrance tests were easy and interviews were a formality. Today incredible students with incredible grades can't get in to first choice.

RT @FranceskAlbs: I 🧡 sensible lawyers as much as I🧡principled politicians. Right now, we need both fully engaged, 200% committed, to stopp….