Building a Silicon Valley Startup

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Meet the co-founder

Hazim Mohamad studied in the prestigious Kolej Yayasan Saad (KYS) and later pursued his pre-University in the top A-level institution, Kolej Yayasan UEM (KYUEM). He was active in college, having organised the first KYUEM summit that hosted top corporate leaders from around the world.

Having had a rich college experience, Hazim got accepted into the University of Warwick to do his Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Accounting, before completing his Masters in Finance from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). 

Having had a rich college experience, Hazim got accepted into the University of Warwick to do his Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Accounting, before completing his Masters in Finance from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). 

He is an angel investor for various companies such as Kyte, Jibble Group and Grainer. He is more well known for his work as a consultant at the World Bank Group and is now the proud founder of Counselab, a marketplace for short, focused 1:1 advising sessions on academic & career topics.

Highlights:

• Hazim was inspired by one of his co-founders, Kaartik Nagarajan who contacted him through Facebook at only 17 years of age asking for advice regarding his education and career path.
• Hazim realised how by just replying and share knowledge with someone could make a difference in their lives.
• He noticed a gap in the market where there was no specific platform for those like Kaartik to seek advice from. 
• That was when the idea of Counselab came about. 
• The uniqueness of Counselab is that it overcomes three hurdles when engaging an advisor; knowing who to reach out to. If you already know, then how can you be sure if they are open to talking to you and on what topics? Finally, how do you know when they are free for a chat?
• Counselab aims to be a hybrid advisory marketplace and a social network.
• When choosing his employees, he stated that Kaartik’s appointment was by fate. At the two year mark of their first conversation, Hazim wrote an article titled “Turning a Fishing Rod into a Fishing Boat”. Other members were chosen through mutual contacts and a sheer passion to overcome this problem of inaccessibility for advice.
• His advice for those wanting to pursue similar ventures is to start it as a hobby as he did after the hundreds of calls asking for advice he received over the years.
• It is important to have a verified plan and good time management so that you can do it as a side project at first. Also, think about a specific problem you are passionate about and get co-founders with the same goal and vision who can also complement your attributes.
• The end goal for Counselab is to be the go-to platform for advice on education and career. You can google most things, but it is always beneficial to get advice from someone that was in the same boat as you.