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Telenor Velocity introduces an exciting concept to the startup culture in Pakistan through DuckStories, a series of regular events that share and celebrate mistakes, and the times when things didn’t go to plan.

More than 80% of startups die within the first three years of starting but we hardly get to hear about them and the reasons why they failed. As the startup scene in Pakistan is picking up its pace, it is important for startups to not only hear the success stories but to talk about the failures and learnings which build towards that success. Sharing these stories will not only help others learn and avoid repeating mistakes, it also makes the startup culture in Pakistan more real.

Telenor Velocity believes that we learn more from failures than our successes and thus it is critical for us to share our mistakes and learnings so others around us can benefit. Through this initiative, Telenor Velocity aims to bring together ‘never been told’ stories from both experienced entrepreneurs and emerging startups in order to talk about the underlying challenges faced by startups during their struggle to make it.

Saad Kiani, Head of Velocity, says: “Startup founders start enthusiastically on a wave of optimism, but too often hit rough waters as they try to gain traction and go to market. With initiatives such as DuckStories, Telenor Velocity wants startups to learn and get inspiration from those that have gone through this journey in order to maximize their chances of success.”

Daftarkhwan, a co-working space in Lahore was the setting for these casual talks. A total of 5 speakers were invited to come forward with their ‘duckstory’. These speakers included Faisal Sherjan-Director of LUMS Centre for Entrepreneurship, Zafar Khan-Founder at Sofizar, Ahmed Khan – Founder at Cheetay Logistics Pvt. Ltd, Farhan Riaz-Program Manager at TICK UET and Daniyal Shahid – Founder of Kia Scene Hai. Through these talks, we got to know about their biggest mistakes, what they learned and how they moved on- all the while sharing invaluable advice with the attending audience.

Faisal Sherjan-Director of LUMS Centre for Entrepreneurship said, “Success is most often an imposter with many claimants while failure is real and personal. I have learnt more from my failures than anything else. My failures have shaped who I am.”

While it’s a given that launching a startup means embarking on a long journey, pinning down the exact odds for success is not the only crucial task for a startup founder; rising against  those odds, a founder needs to ask themselves the question of why they failed.

While Pakistan ranks at 147 on World Bank’s ease of doing business, startups frequently make certain common mistakes. With such events happening regularly, we can help the startups to not repeat the same mistakes and improve chances of success.