Awais Shafique

ex-Meta product manager and co-founder

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

Awais Shafique is a former product manager at Meta who worked on a venture called Precise. Born in Faisalabad, he studied at NUST and moved to Germany in 2017. Shafique has said he is starting another company.

Early life and background

Shafique was born in Faisalabad. He has said his family comes from a humble background, and that his father studied mechanical engineering at a university. He has also said he changed schools roughly every two years. His family expected him to graduate and help pay off family debt. [1]

Education

In his third year, entrepreneurship was taught by a well-known professor. He has spoken of CDTM, the Center for Digital Technology Management, as an institute, and has said he is indebted to an institute for his life. He has said CDTM has the highest unicorn to alumni ratio, and that 18 of the 25 people in his class became founders. He described a programme of about a year and a half, running from problem identification through MVP development to commercialization. [1]

Move to Germany

Shafique has said he asked what one does in Pakistan even after becoming a good engineer. He decided to leave Pakistan because he saw no future for himself there. A friend told him that education in Germany was free, and he applied to the University of Munich for computer science in biomedical computing at the last minute. He moved to Germany in 2017 and said the company existed by the end of 2018. [1]

Early projects and competitions

Shafique has said he and others were building a device for tremors, a wearable that measures a rhythm and counteracts it. He said the team won every competition it entered. Stanford invited the team to its health longevity centre. He said the team could not take even laptops because they were told there was a complete electronics ban from Pakistan, and that he took out a Pakistani flag and the team received a standing ovation. [1]

Precise

Shafique worked on a venture called Precise. He has said his team was building an AI personal assistant for shopping, and that it could build a 3D replica of a person's body from any smartphone. He began building the technology with his CTO, drawing on his own technology background, and his CTO held a patent in AI-related technology. He met one of his co-founders on the first day. [1]

Shafique said he was chief product officer and worked on product strategy, and that the company had a commercial person who handled sales and fundraising. He described a model in which his team increased a client's revenue and took a share of that increase. He said the pitch to clients was that adding a button would raise their revenue by 10 percent. [1]

Shafique said his company's clients included H&M and other large brands in Germany. He said it had 2 million monthly active users and 100 million recommendations, and that it hit product-market fit. He also said it was making decent revenue but he could not share many figures. [1]

Acquisition by Meta

Shafique said acquisition talks began around 2021 and that his team was not looking for an acquirer. He said the team received an email directly from a senior director in AI. He has said shares are realised only when someone buys them. [1]

According to Shafique, the German office would become an engineering hub for Meta. He said the team wanted strategic alignment and did not want to be acquired and then see the office and product shut down. He said the plan was an e-commerce platform within Meta. He said the team signed the acquisition offer, and that the next day he was told to cancel contracts. He also said Meta did not tell the founders why it bought the company. [1]

Meta and later work

Shafique worked as a product manager at Meta. He has said he has since left Meta and is starting another company. He is looking at opportunities in HR automation on the sales and recruiting side, and said his expertise is in B2B. [1]

Views

Shafique defines a startup as a couple of people trying to solve a problem. He has said ideas are cheap and execution sets founders apart, and that one has to understand the buyer. He has said most companies fail because they sell to people who do not know their problem. He said that when he invests in startups, the first thing he asks founders is "why you?" [1]

On Pakistan, Shafique has said the startup scene is idea-led rather than founder-led, and that there is too little focus on founder development. He has said there is a large gap between problem discovery and idea validation. He said Pakistan should shift from exporting IT services to exporting IT products. He also said Pakistan has the potential to become a growing economy, citing its youth population, and that he wants to find a way to contribute to Pakistan. [1]

Personal life

Shafique describes himself as a very private person, and said he did not capitalise much on PR and media. He said he went into depression because he felt it was the end, and that he felt like the biggest failure. A brother of his is in Munich. [1]

Timeline

2012
Graduated from FSC and started electrical engineering.[1]
2017
Moved to Germany.[1]
2018
The company existed by the end of the year.[1]
2021
Acquisition talks began around this year.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2023-12-01 Why Pakistani founders glamorise the wrong half of a startup Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Awais Shafique?

Awais Shafique is a former product manager at Meta who worked on a venture called Precise. He was born in Faisalabad and studied at NUST. He has said he is starting another company.[1]

What does Awais Shafique do?

Awais Shafique worked as a product manager at Meta and has said he has since left. He has said he is starting another company. Shafique is looking at opportunities in HR automation on the sales and recruiting side.[1]

Where did Awais Shafique study?

Awais Shafique studied at NUST. He graduated from FSC in 2012 and started electrical engineering. He also applied to the University of Munich for computer science in biomedical computing.[1]

Where is Awais Shafique from?

Awais Shafique was born in Faisalabad. He moved to Germany in 2017.[1]

What company did Awais Shafique work on?

Awais Shafique worked on a venture called Precise. He said he was chief product officer and worked on product strategy. He said the company's clients included H&M and other large brands in Germany.[1]

Why did Awais Shafique leave Pakistan?

Awais Shafique has said he decided to leave Pakistan because he saw no future for himself there. A friend told him that education in Germany was free. He moved to Germany in 2017.[1]

What does Awais Shafique think about startups in Pakistan?

Awais Shafique has said Pakistan's startup scene is idea-led rather than founder-led. He has said there is too little focus on founder development in Pakistan. He said Pakistan should shift from exporting IT services to exporting IT products.[1]

References

  1. Why Pakistani founders glamorise the wrong half of a startup . Thought Behind Things , 2023-12-01.
Show the source passages (78 statements)
  1. Awais was born in Faisalabad. Main Faisalabad mein paida hua tha
  2. Awais has said his family comes from a humble background. we're from a very humble family
  3. His father studied mechanical engineering at a university. jinhone mechanical engineering ki hai, UET se
  4. Awais attended international, private and model-college schools in his early education. early education meri main international schools mein bhi padha hoon, private schools mein padha hoon, model colleges mein padha hoon
  5. He studied at one school on a scholarship. Main PakTurk mein tha, scholarship waghera pe padh raha tha
  6. Awais has said he changed schools roughly every two years. maine almost har do saal baad koi na koi school change kiya hai
  7. He graduated from FSC in 2012 and started electrical engineering. it's it's 2012 jab main FSC se graduate hua hoon aur main apni electrical engineering start ki hai maine
  8. He studied at NUST. NUST mere khayal se bada achha mera time raha tha usmein
  9. Awais has said he would have chosen software. main 100 percent software mein jata, to be very honest
  10. He said he accepted that he was not good at studying. main maybe okay, I'm not good at studying, right? Maine accept kar liya tha
  11. Awais has said he and others were building a device for tremors. Yaar, hum log bana rahe the tremor tremor ki device
  12. Awais has said the team built a wearable device that measures a rhythm and counteracts it. Humne ek device banayi thi, wearable device jo ki aapke yeh rhythm jo hai, woh measure karke usko counteract kare
  13. In his third year, entrepreneurship was taught by a well-known professor. Main third year mein tha jab hamare ek kaafi mashhoor professor hain, SEECS mein, unhone woh entrepreneurship padhate hain
  14. Awais has said he asked what one does in Pakistan even after becoming a good engineer. main achha engineer toh ban sakta hoon, but Pakistan mein aap achha engineer ban ke bhi kya karte hain?
  15. His family expected him to graduate and help pay off family debt. the expectation was ki yaar main electrical engineering graduate karunga aur main family mein contribute karna shuru kar dunga to get out of the debt jo bhi hamara tha family ka
  16. Awais worked on a venture called Precise. jo hum kar rahe the it's called Precise
  17. Awais has said his team was building an AI personal assistant for shopping. Hum log bana rahe the AI personal assistant for shopping
  18. Awais has said his team could build a 3D replica of a person's body from any smartphone. hum log kisi bhi phone se, kisi bhi smartphone se aapki body ka ek 3D replica bana sakte hain
  19. Awais has said the company that brought the team its problem also became its first paying customer. humara pehla paying customer bhi wohi bana
  20. Awais has described a very large European company that makes protective equipment (PPE). Europe ki bahut badi company hai protective equipment banate hain PPE
  21. He began building the technology with his CTO, drawing on his own technology background. Mera personal jo experience tha wo technology mein tha toh maine technology initially build karna shuru kar di with my CTO
  22. His CTO held a patent in AI-related technology. mera jo CTO tha uska bhi ek AI mein patent tha
  23. Awais said the idea was to take the technology into fashion, where there seemed to be a large market. yaar hum fashion mein le jaate hain yahan pe badi market lag rahi hai
  24. Awais moved to Germany in 2017 and said the company existed by the end of 2018. main Germany gaya hoon 2017 mein aur 2018 ke end tak we we had the company
  25. Awais has spoken of CDTM, the Center for Digital Technology Management, as an institute. it's called CDTM, Center for Digital Technology Management
  26. He has said he is indebted to an institute for his life. I am indebted to that institute for my life
  27. He has said CDTM has the highest unicorn to alumni ratio. CDTM has the highest unicorn to alumni ratio
  28. Awais said 18 of the 25 people in his class became founders. Meri mere class mein 25 log the usme se 18 log founders hain
  29. He described a programme of about a year and a half, running from problem identification through MVP development to commercialization. wo starting se problem identification se leke MVP development se leke commercialization dedh saal ka program hota hai
  30. He met one of his co-founders on the first day. co-founder tha wo mujhe pehle din mila
  31. He said he went into depression because he felt it was the end. I personally went into depression because mujhe laga tha this was the end
  32. He said he felt like the biggest failure. And I felt like the biggest failure
  33. He decided to leave Pakistan because he saw no future for himself there. mujhe Pakistan mein koi future nazar aa nahi raha tha
  34. A friend told him that education in Germany was free. usne mujhe kaha tha ke yaar main Germany ja raha hoon, education free hoti hai
  35. He applied to the University of Munich for computer science in biomedical computing at the last minute. maine apply kar diya bilkul last din pe technically University of Munich mein computer science, uh biomedical computing mein
  36. Awais described a model in which his team increased a client's revenue and took a share of that increase. we increase your revenue and we take a share of that
  37. Awais said the pitch to clients was that adding a button would raise their revenue by 10 percent. aap 10% zyada revenue karenge ek button lagane se
  38. Awais said his company's clients included H&M and other large brands in Germany. humare clients were H&M you know a bunch of really big brands in Germany
  39. Awais said his company had 2 million monthly active users and 100 million recommendations. we had 2 million active users monthly and 100 million recommendations
  40. Awais said his company was making decent revenue but he could not share many figures. I can't share a lot of figures but making a lot of like decent revenue
  41. Awais said his company hit product-market fit. humne PMF like we hit product market fit
  42. Awais said Precise expanded from PPE (protective equipment) into fast fashion. Precise eventually turned into not just PPE but we turned into fast fashion
  43. Awais said he was chief product officer and worked on product strategy. I was the CPO chief product officer toh main product strategy bana raha tha
  44. Awais said the company had a commercial person who handled sales and fundraising. and then we had a commercial person jo ke sales fundraising all of that stuff wo kar raha tha
  45. Awais said acquisition talks began around 2021. I believe around that time acquisition ki baat start hui thi 2021 mein
  46. Awais said his team was not looking for an acquirer. Hum acquirer nahi dhoond rahe the
  47. Awais said the team received an email directly from a senior director in AI. lekin humein I think kisi senior director ki right AI mein senior director thi uski email aayi thi directly
  48. Awais has said shares are realised only when someone buys them. wo realize tab hoti hain sirf when someone buys your shares
  49. Awais said the German office would become an engineering hub for Meta. wo German hub ban jayega for engineering, for Meta
  50. Awais said the team wanted strategic alignment and did not want to be acquired and then see the office and product shut down. Hume strategic alignment chahiye, kyunke hume ye nahi chahiye ke aap acquire karein, office band karein, product band karein and done
  51. Awais said the plan was an e-commerce platform within Meta. we are building an e-commerce, you know, platform, whatever, within Meta
  52. Awais said the team signed the acquisition offer. We signed the acquisition offer
  53. Awais said that the next day he was told to cancel contracts. Next day they told me ke yaar, aap cancel karein contracts
  54. Awais said Meta did not tell the founders why it bought the company. Meta ne toh humein nahi bataya ke kyun khareeda hai
  55. Awais worked as a product manager at Meta. main jab Meta mein product manager laga
  56. Awais has said he has since left Meta. Kyunke main mujhe bhi I left Meta
  57. Awais has said he is starting another company. I'm I'm now starting another company inshallah soon
  58. He is looking at opportunities in HR automation on the sales and recruiting side. Main sales aur yeah recruiting wali side pe HR automation mein opportunities dekh raha hoon
  59. He said his expertise is in B2B. Main khud bhi B to B mein I would say my expertise is there
  60. He has said ideas are cheap and execution sets founders apart. ideas are cheap, right? Execution really sets you apart
  61. He has said Pakistan's startup scene is idea-led rather than founder-led. Hum log founder-led nahi hain, hum log idea-led hain
  62. He has said there is too little focus on founder development in Pakistan. there is not a lot of focus on founder development
  63. He has said there is a large gap between problem discovery and idea validation. there is a huge gap in problem discovery to idea
  64. He has said one has to understand the buyer. but you have to understand the buyer
  65. He has said most companies fail because they sell to people who do not know their problem. Most of the companies fail because hum kisi ko bech rahe hain jisko pata hi nahi hai ki uska masla kya hai
  66. He defines a startup as a couple of people trying to solve a problem. I think a couple of people trying to solve a problem
  67. He said that when he invests in startups, the first thing he asks founders is "why you?" when I now invest in startups, main sabse pehle ye cheez poochta hoon ke yaar, why you, right?
  68. He said Pakistan should shift from exporting IT services to exporting IT products. I think we need to shift our mindset from saying ke yaar hum log IT services company export kar rahe hain versus hum IT products export kar rahe hain
  69. He said Pakistan has the potential to become a growing economy, citing its youth population. like Pakistan has the potential to to become one of, you know, a growing a very good economy. Um, because we do have a youth population
  70. He said he wants to find a way to contribute to Pakistan. mujhe nahi pata ke how can I come back and to do better for Pakistan. I really want to do that
  71. He describes himself as a very private person. I am a very private person, I think I like to be
  72. He said he did not capitalise much on PR and media. I didn't really capitalize a lot on the on the PR and the media
  73. A brother of his is in Munich. mera bhai bhi maine aapko bataya, he's in Munich
  74. Awais said the team won every competition it entered. Every competition that we would go to, we would win it
  75. Awais said Stanford invited the team to its health longevity centre. hum log Stanford ne bula liya, health longevity center hai wahan pe, Stanford mein
  76. Awais said the team could not take even laptops because they were told there was a complete electronics ban from Pakistan. Even laptops bhi nahi leke ja sakte the hum log, kyunki unhone kaha tha ke complete electronics ban hai Pakistan se
  77. Awais said he took out a Pakistani flag and the team received a standing ovation. maine Pakistan ka flag nikal liya and someone took a picture and we got a standing ovation for that
  78. Awais Shafique is a Product Manager at Meta. Awais Shafique is a Product Manager at Meta and the Co-Founder of Stealth.