IPN Spotlight: Fahim Naim (Founder at eShopportunity)
Fahim is an e-commerce/start-up professional and advisor. He launched eShopportunity, an e-commerce consultancy partnering with companies ranging from the Fortune 500 to start-ups. Fahim speaks regularly at e-commerce conferences and advises several start-ups in the field. In addition to e-commerce, he launched an online dating service called SneakPeek Dating, focused on live video conversations.
What skills have helped you in your career?
I started my career in corporate finance and was fortunate to gain high executive exposure at a young age, which was a catalyst to growing rapidly at my company. Having solid quantitative skills is extremely valuable in most industries, particularly in Retail. Additionally, the lean startup method has been a huge asset for my personal endeavors and advisory roles. This has taught me that you don’t have to sit idly by when evaluating a business idea or concept. Instead, you can test a “MVP” (minimum viable product) and get quick data (i.e. create a launch page for your product and see if you get traffic/feedback) before investing too much time and resources.
What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
While brand-name work experience early in your career has definite advantages, if you are passionate about an idea and have the desire and prowess to see it come to market, then take the leap of faith. Also, while it is fine to stay at a company for several years during your early years, ensure that you are constantly proving to yourself why this company is worth staying at and understand what other opportunities are out there so you can make the evaluation regularly.
What is next for you in your career?
In addition to scaling the e-commerce consultancy, I am evaluating taking a senior role at an emerging e-commerce platform or growing the SneakPeek dating service.
What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
I subscribe to several industry related newsletters, attend conferences, comment on articles, and meet with industry professionals very regularly. There is always information imbalance within an industry, so be at the forefront of the news, stats, etc. so that people come to you when they have questions and ideas.
What advice would you offer to others?
Find other smart ambitious people to be around, especially technical ones if you are interested in tech start-ups. You will increase your chance of success dramatically by having people to lean on and join.
You will undoubtedly fail in your first attempts at a start-up, but you will learn tremendously valuable lessons through that process. Embrace the lean startup principles (MVP, fail fast, etc.) and keep churning.
Be bold, don’t settle, and have the confidence that you will accomplish anything you set out to do (as long as you are willing to put in the work for it)
Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• E-commerce related questions (i.e. starting out a new e-commerce company/idea, optimize selling on Amazon, etc.)
• Startup advising (B2C focused)
• MBA admissions
• Personal financial planning