Ahsan Jamil

General Partner and CEO of sAi Ventures

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Ahsan Jamil is a General Partner and the CEO of sAi Ventures, an early-stage technology venture capital firm. He has held executive roles in Fortune 500 companies, and his experience includes enterprise analytics, project management and developing innovative technology platforms. Jamil has said he is actively based in Pakistan and travels to the US for work, and that he is based in Lahore.

sAi Ventures

Jamil has said the companies in his fund all work with enterprise clients and that the fund is export focused. He has said the fund invests local capital as a non-negotiable guiding principle, and that it wants the local market to be the base for the global market. According to Jamil, the fund targets consumers in the US, Europe and the Middle East, using Pakistani talent and cost structure. He has said all of the fund's companies earn revenue outside Pakistan and have offices in the Middle East, Germany and the US. [1]

Jamil has said the fund does not refuse dollar investment, because its companies make money in dollars. He has said the aim is to bring hundreds of millions of dollars from within Pakistan into this space. On investor numbers, he has said it is easier to serve 20 individuals and small institutions than 200, and that the fund wants a limited number of LPs because too many is hard to manage. He has described a long-term aim for small investors to buy fund units in the public market, which he says is not possible yet. [1]

Jamil has said the fund's model combines elements of venture capital and private equity. He has said the fund can take a lump sum exit when a portfolio company goes public. According to Jamil, the fund is not taking dividends now, because it is focused on capturing large market share, though its deals allow for dividends if paying them suits the company. He has also said the capital deployment multiplier matters a lot to the fund. [1]

Jamil has said every decision is made in the best interest of the company. He describes himself as a fairly operational investor, and has said the fund is an operational investor that spends a lot of time with its companies. He has said the fund focuses on institutional knowledge, client perspective and restructuring to global best practices. Jamil has said all of the fund's companies are profitable, and that the firm has completed one and a half years and its companies have done well. [1]

Portfolio companies

Jamil has said one company he discusses was basically a services company, and that its strong aspiration to move from basic work to complex value addition work was a key reason his firm invested in it. He has said that company now does work in artificial intelligence and cloud computing. He has said early portfolio work was more like staffing: taking talent and bidding for work. [1]

Jamil has said the fund equips its companies to deal with directors and above in Fortune 1000 companies, and that his portfolio companies are now positioned to approach global Fortune 1000 companies. He has also said his companies are not yet ready to move straight into Fortune 1000 work, and that they focus heavily on the architect layer, more than the coder layer. He has said the US medium enterprise market is a huge opportunity and that he encourages his companies to enter it. Jamil has said the aim is to build the next five to seven best technology companies in Pakistan. [1]

Views on startups and technology

Jamil has said startups are going through a correction. He has said his firm told startups in 2022 that their technology value addition was missing. He expects the next phase to bring companies that capture the local market through technology innovation, and has said a startup that wants to beat an incumbent must be better than it in technology. He has said many founders use an iterative approach as an excuse for building things quickly, and that tech debt is a big problem with short-term approaches. He has said marketing is part of the problem, and the major problem is structuring the organization and its talent. [1]

Jamil has said the need for coders was expected to fall years in advance, and that AI lets smaller, more nimble teams serve larger clients. He has said people who work abroad are exposed to a different type of technology demand. He has said companies without in-house capability will offload complex problems to structured third-party firms, and that cost should not be the driver of doing business. He has also said Pakistan is too small a market to change global technology standards, and that this time the shift is really rapid. [1]

Views on policy and the economy

Jamil has said tax and investor policy should be very friendly. He has said he and others see tax as something negative, because they get nothing in return, and that basic conveniences are only the first level of benefit for paying tax. He has said tax incentives should support growth-oriented actions in the domestic market. He proposes that people who invest in the stock market and take growth-oriented actions should have less deducted from their gains when they exit. [1]

On other policy, Jamil has said data security policy should meet global standards without being overly restrictive, and that there must be great arbitration and laws in place for business problems. He has said the goal should be to be in the top 10 countries in the world by GDP by 2035. He has said he is not a fan of plans 25 to 30 years away and prefers a 10-year plan, and that turnarounds can happen in five to ten years with focus. [1]

Jamil has said a company can have one round of funding, or one and a half at most, and that Pakistan's market is not big enough to support many funding rounds across companies. He has said the B2B space within Pakistan is the one that should be controlled now, and that Pakistan's large local enterprises have not been digitally focused. He has also said some Pakistani investors were hurt in the first phase of startups. [1]

Timeline

2022: Told startups that their technology value addition was missing[1]

Appearances

Date	Title	Where
2024-10-14	Pakistan's IT exports won't scale on cheap labour anymore	Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Ahsan Jamil?

Ahsan Jamil is a General Partner and the CEO of sAi Ventures, an early-stage technology venture capital firm. He has held executive roles in Fortune 500 companies. His experience includes enterprise analytics, project management and developing innovative technology platforms.[1]

What does Ahsan Jamil do?

Ahsan Jamil is a General Partner and the CEO of sAi Ventures, an early-stage technology venture capital firm. He describes himself as a fairly operational investor. He has said the fund spends a lot of time with its companies.[1]

Where is Ahsan Jamil based?

Ahsan Jamil has said he is based in Lahore. He has said he is actively based in Pakistan and travels to the US for work.[1]

What company does Ahsan Jamil lead?

Ahsan Jamil is a General Partner and the CEO of sAi Ventures, an early-stage technology venture capital firm. He has said its model combines elements of venture capital and private equity. He has also said the companies in the fund all work with enterprise clients and that the fund is export focused.[1]

What kind of companies does sAi Ventures invest in?

Ahsan Jamil has said the companies in the sAi Ventures fund all work with enterprise clients and that the fund is export focused. He has said all of the fund's companies earn revenue outside Pakistan. He has said they have offices in the Middle East, Germany and the US.[1]

What does Ahsan Jamil think about AI and coders?

Ahsan Jamil has said the need for coders was expected to fall years in advance. He has said AI lets smaller, more nimble teams serve larger clients. He has also said his companies focus heavily on the architect layer, more than the coder layer.[1]

What does Ahsan Jamil say about tax policy?

Ahsan Jamil has said tax and investor policy should be very friendly. He has said tax incentives should support growth-oriented actions in the domestic market. He proposes that people who invest in the stock market and take growth-oriented actions should have less deducted from their gains when they exit.[1]

References

Pakistan's IT exports won't scale on cheap labour anymore . Thought Behind Things , 2024-10-14.

Show the source passages (66 statements)

Ahsan Jamil is a General Partner and the CEO of sAi Ventures, an early-stage technology venture capital firm. a General Partner (GP) and the CEO of sAi Ventures, an early-stage technology venture capital firm
Ahsan Jamil has held executive roles in Fortune 500 companies. With a distinguished career spanning executive roles in Fortune 500 companies
Ahsan Jamil's experience includes enterprise analytics, project management and developing innovative technology platforms. experience in areas such as enterprise analytics, project management, and the development of innovative technology platforms
Ahsan Jamil says he is actively based in Pakistan and travels to the US for work. I'm actively based in Pakistan, but because of the nature of our work, I I do spend time in in the US going back and forth.
Ahsan Jamil says he is based in Lahore. or I'm based in Lahore. Based in Lahore.
Ahsan Jamil says one company he discusses was basically a services company. Uh so one is Code Ninja um and they were a company that were basically a services company.
Ahsan Jamil says a services company's strong aspiration to move from basic work to complex value addition work was a key reason his firm invested in it. had very strong aspirations to move from doing basic work to doing complex value addition work, which was a key reason why we, you know, invested in them.
Ahsan Jamil says that company now does work in artificial intelligence and cloud computing. And so today they're doing work in artificial intelligence, they're doing work in cloud computing
Ahsan Jamil says the companies in his fund all work with enterprise clients, and that the fund is export focused. Uh and our companies are all working with enterprise clients uh and our fund and investment is basically very export focused.
Ahsan Jamil says the fund invests local capital as a non-negotiable guiding principle. Um so we we invest local capital. Um as a as a guiding principle, it was a foundational principle actually that's non-compromisable for us.
Ahsan Jamil says the fund wants the local market to be the base for the global market. We are looking for the local market to be the base for the global market.
Ahsan Jamil says the fund targets consumers in the US, Europe and the Middle East, using Pakistani talent and cost structure. We are looking for the 100 million consumer base in the US, Europe, and the Middle East, and we are using the Pakistani talent and the Pakistani cost structure to build that.
Ahsan Jamil says all of the fund's companies earn revenue outside Pakistan and have offices in the Middle East, Germany and the US. all our companies earn revenue outside Pakistan. So they're already there, unke offices bhi hain, whether it's the Middle East, Germany, the US primarily
Ahsan Jamil says the fund does not refuse dollar investment because its companies make money in dollars. We don't refuse dollarized investment as well because hamari woh dollar in and dollar out hai na because our companies make money in dollars.
Ahsan Jamil says the aim is to bring hundreds of millions of dollars from within Pakistan into this space. we should be able to galvanize hundreds of millions of dollars within Pakistan into this space.
Ahsan Jamil says it is easier to serve 20 individuals and small institutions than 200. it is easy to to cater to the needs of 20 uh individuals and small institutions than it is to cater to 200
Ahsan Jamil says the fund wants a limited number of LPs because too many is hard to manage. it's hard for us to manage too many um LPs, so we want a limited number of LPs
Ahsan Jamil says the long-term aim is for small investors to buy fund units in the public market, which is not possible yet. Eventually hamari aspiration hai is to be able to put something in the public market where small investors are able to buy units in a fund who then are are pegged against these companies. But we're not there today.
Ahsan Jamil says a company can have one round of funding, or one and a half at most. So you can have one round, one and a half round at max.
Ahsan Jamil says Pakistan's market is not big enough to support many funding rounds across companies. Pakistan ki market is not so so big enough that you can have all these multiple rounds across multiple companies.
Ahsan Jamil says the fund can take a lump sum exit when a portfolio company goes public. But we also have the exit space which is like, yes, in in X number of years, our company wants to go public, in that place we have an opportunity to to have a lump sum exit or a mix of that.
Ahsan Jamil says the fund is not taking dividends now, because it is focused on capturing large market share. we're not taking dividends out because we are very focused on capturing the large market share of these multi-trillion AI frontier tech world
Ahsan Jamil says the fund's deals allow for dividends if paying them suits the company. we have optionality consider, you know, made in our deals where if tomorrow we did want to give dividends because it made the most sense for the company and us, we could execute that.
Ahsan Jamil says the fund's model combines elements of venture capital and private equity. So we take elements of of venture investing and we take elements of private equity investing and we've combined them.
Ahsan Jamil says every decision is made in the best interest of the company. every decision will be made to for in the best interest of the company for the goal that we're trying to align with.
Ahsan Jamil describes himself as a fairly operational investor. because I'm I'm a fairly operational investor.
Ahsan Jamil says the aim is to build the next five to seven best technology companies in Pakistan. It's about making the next best 5 to 7 companies in Pakistan period, the best technology companies.
Ahsan Jamil says the capital deployment multiplier matters a lot to the fund. because for us the capital deployment multiplier matters a lot.
Ahsan Jamil says marketing is part of the problem, and the major problem is structuring the organization and its talent. Marketing is a part of the problem. The major problem is really structuring the organization inwardly and its talent so that it is doing the problem solving
Ahsan Jamil says the fund equips its companies to deal with directors and above in Fortune 1000 companies. Because we equip them to deal with directors and above in the Fortune 1000 space.
Ahsan Jamil says his portfolio companies are now positioned to approach global Fortune 1000 companies. Now they are being structured in position to go talk to global Fortune 1000 companies and say, hey, give us your problem, we'll deal with the cost thing later.
Ahsan Jamil says cost should not be the driver of doing business. Cost should not be the driver of doing business.
Ahsan Jamil says the need for coders was expected to fall years in advance. I think again the the need for coders uh was anticipated to go down years in advance.
Ahsan Jamil says early portfolio work was more like staffing: taking talent and bidding for work. our portfolio companies uh were doing a lot of work in the beginning that was really um I would say more HR-ish, meaning you take talent and you bid for work and you align that and you make money because we are a low cost um you know low cost center.
Ahsan Jamil says tech debt is a big problem with short-term approaches. Tech debt is a big problem with short term approaches.
Ahsan Jamil says people who work abroad are exposed to a different type of technology demand. so the same people who go over there are exposed by with a to a different type of demand from technology
Ahsan Jamil says many founders use an iterative approach as an excuse for building things quickly. a lot of people use an iterative approach as an excuse for just building things quickly.
Ahsan Jamil says startups are going through a correction. So I think startups are going through a correction.
Ahsan Jamil says his firm told startups in 2022 that their technology value addition was missing. Uh so in 22 we saw a bunch of startups, some you know, uh we gave them feedback that your technology value addition isn't there and you need to focus on that.
Ahsan Jamil expects the next phase to bring companies that capture the local market through technology innovation. I think this phase will see companies that will capture the local market through true technology innovation in this space.
Ahsan Jamil says a startup that wants to beat an incumbent must be better than it in technology. if you are going to beat your incumbent who's got other advantages, you must be better than them in technology.
Ahsan Jamil says AI lets smaller, more nimble teams serve larger clients. Because of AI and the advent of all these tools in place, smaller, more nimble teams are able to service larger clients.
Ahsan Jamil says his companies focus heavily on the architect layer, more than the coder layer. companies are focusing very heavily on the architect layer, more so than the coder layer.
Ahsan Jamil says his companies are not yet ready to move straight into Fortune 1000 work. Hamari companies are not ready today ek dum se Fortune 1000 mein jane ke liye, right? It's a progression there.
Ahsan Jamil says the US medium enterprise market is a huge opportunity. The medium enterprise market in the United States is a huge opportunity.
Ahsan Jamil says he encourages his companies to enter the US medium enterprise market. And we encourage our companies to go into that space and those companies themselves are very excited
Ahsan Jamil says companies without in-house capability will offload complex problems to structured third-party firms. that's when they will always offload it and that will always be offloaded to a a third party proper structured company.
Ahsan Jamil says Pakistan is too small a market to change global technology standards. We're not that big a market that the world will change its technology standards
Ahsan Jamil says tax and investor policy should be very friendly. Tax policy should be very, very friendly. It is friendly. Uh, investor policy has to be very, very friendly.
Ahsan Jamil says data security policy should meet global standards without being overly restrictive. Data security policy has to be compliant with global standards, right? It can be more restrictive, doesn't have to be more free, but there cannot be overly restrictive
Ahsan Jamil says there must be great arbitration and laws in place for business problems. we have to have great arbitration and and laws in place for business problems.
Ahsan Jamil says he and others see tax as something negative, because they get nothing in return. We don't see tax, we see tax as as something that is evil, right? And the reason we see it as as evil is because we don't get anything in return.
Ahsan Jamil says tax incentives should support growth-oriented actions in the domestic market. I think that aap aise incentives dein jo certain actions, growth-oriented domestic growth-oriented actions ko support karte hain.
Ahsan Jamil proposes that people who invest in the stock market and take growth-oriented actions should have less deducted from their gains when they exit. if you tomorrow invest in the stock market and you take growth-oriented actions and and you exit out of that, we will deduct less from you on your gains.
Ahsan Jamil says basic conveniences are only the first level of benefit for paying tax. I don't think ke basic convenience is like level one of a benefit of being a tax payer.
Ahsan Jamil says the goal should be to be in the top 10 countries in the world by GDP by 2035. by 2035, our goal should be that we are in the top 10 countries in the world in terms of GDP
Ahsan Jamil says he is not a fan of plans 25 to 30 years away and prefers a 10-year plan. I'm not a big fan of like 25, 30 saal baad kya hoga, I'm going to be too old for that.
Ahsan Jamil says turnarounds can happen in five to ten years with focus. people have turned things around in 5, 10 years when you focus.
Ahsan Jamil says this time the shift is really rapid. This time the shift is really rapid.
Ahsan Jamil says the B2B space within Pakistan is the one that should be controlled now. we should be controlling now is is is the B2B space within Pakistan.
Ahsan Jamil says Pakistan's large local enterprises have not been digitally focused. our local large brick and mortar enterprises have not been so digitally focused.
Ahsan Jamil says some Pakistani investors were hurt in the first phase of startups. we've got a bunch of investors in Pakistan jo ke first phase of startups mein they've been hurt a little bit
Ahsan Jamil says all of the fund's companies are profitable. Ab humne structure is tarah kiya hua hai ke all our companies are profitable
Ahsan Jamil says the firm has completed one and a half years and its companies have done well. humne apna dedh ek saal complete kiya hai, God's kind, our companies have done really well.
Ahsan Jamil says the fund is an operational investor that spends a lot of time with its companies. So we are an operational investor. We spend a lot of time with these companies.
Ahsan Jamil says the fund focuses on institutional knowledge, client perspective and restructuring to global best practices. But it is really the institutional knowledge and the client perspectives and the restructuring uh to global best uh practices that we focus on.