Rubab Nayeem Khan gives you the know-hows on Drink Entrepreneurs, Dhaka
Imagine getting ready for a formal business meeting. Sweating bullets? Just take ‘formal’ out of the equation and all you’re left with is a meeting. That’s where Drink Entrepreneurs Dhaka comes to light. It is a platform for business-minded people to exchange ideas and information with individuals much like themselves. One doesn’t necessarily have to have a business to be a part of this community.
Junaid Rafique, Mahenaz Chowdhury and Sakib Jamal have set up this platform in Dhaka to encourage young entrepreneurs to meet and share ideas in order to develop something big on the corporate front. They are sponsored by HackHouse, an international IT firm based in Dhaka. Apart from running this venture, Rafique is a commercial airline pilot recruited by US Bangla Airlines, Mahenaz is the CEO of Buckets Engineer and the Coordinator of talent management for Graphic People and Sakib Jamal is a final year student at Li Po Chun United World College in Hong Kong.
Taking off in February, the whole idea of starting this in Dhaka is because there’s no such thing as a networking event. “There are platforms for startups, competitions with sessions where participants are trained; they are given ideas and support in setting up their businesses. However they lose their momentum after the competitions,” said Rafique. They came up with the idea to set up a platform where young entrepreneurs can gather, socialise and share ideas. Before Drink Entrepreneurs, Rafique was an active member of AIESEC and always wanted to build a foundation for entrepreneurs in Dhaka.
Along with his partners, he intends to do so with Drink Entrepreneurs Dhaka.
“I believe that this community exists because of my partners and their goals. I am passionate about working with women empowerment and Rafique is enthusiastic about helping young entrepreneurs in Dhaka and Drink Entrepreneurs also works for women empowerment which is a global concern,” shared Mahenaz. Through this initiative, they want to support them as much as possible by making them meet potential investors and venture capitalists and potential mentors. They believe that such a platform will sustain in Dhaka because it is new and so far every meeting they’ve held always brought in engaging audience members. “As it’s an informal atmosphere, it’s always easier for the audience to socialise,” added Rafique.
They’ve held three events so far. It’s a monthly event, and in the first meeting, they had sixty six guests. The second event, which was held at the Upstairs Lounge and Bistro, had about forty individuals and the third meeting which was held at Mozzaria restaurant had close to sixty guests. According to Rafique, one of the biggest challenges they have faced is that the meetings are scheduled on weekdays, which makes it inconvenient for people to attend given the traffic congestion. Despite the obstacles, they are confident that this platform will certainly bring about a difference in the business sector. “In order to attend the events, individuals have to register and buy tickets. During our last event, we sold two hundred tickets in a day. Through our programmes, we also promote new cafés and restaurants as well,” mentioned Mahenaz.
They have faced challenges in setting up this platform at first; they came up with a couple of activities to break the ice and it was received with great appreciation. The audience engaged productively, even more so because it was informal. Individuals have to wear nametags in the meetings, however, instead of writing their names they have to write their designations. “When we see that some people are not interacting freely, we go up on stage and start with the ice breaking sessions to make them feel more comfortable,” said Rafique.
Drink Entrepreneurs Dhaka has received an official confirmation letter from Seedstars World (SSW), a Swiss company which promote startups from emerging economies via competitions. The platform is globally partnering up with SSW.
They also said that through this platform, they will be gathering information and the right people to work on startup businesses with their available resources and technology. They have plans for expansion by opening up a branch in Chittagong. They intend to host events in Chittagong from next month and further down the line, they would like to support startup communities in every possible way.