Samir Ahmed

We are all pretty familiar with the venture building process for most startup ecosystems; on one side of the table there’s business-people: investors, advisors, realists. On the other side, you have idea-people: entrepreneurs, founders, visionaries. In the fall, I sourced founders at a seed fund in Hong Kong. I was in the investor camp. In … Read More

March 3, 2016, I enter Pedro Gomes Design, a product design studio overlooking downtown Aveiro, Portugal. It’s a busy, sunny day. There’s an overwhelming wall of sketches in my peripheral vision, two men shouting in Portuguese over the sound of their drills, and a wad of Bostik in my hand. What’s Bostik? We’ll get back … Read More

I spent the fall in Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated cities in the entire world. Now, I’m in Aveiro, Portugal: a city less than 77 sq. miles in area that looks like a ghost town when students go to their homes in neighboring cities on the weekend. My role has transformed from … Read More

Term one in Hong Kong is over: I hiked a handful of mountains; ate equally adventurous foods with strangers while communicating using only glances/pointing/smiling; immersed myself in the mystical venture capital profession (seriously, I emceed Hong Kong’s version of Shark Tank); but most importantly, I made some incredible friends; many of which are now mentors … Read More

  “You got no time for the messenger, Got no regard for the thing that you don’t understand, You got no fear of the underdog, That’s why you will not survive.” – Spoon, The Underdog October 13th, I’m sitting on a bright orange couch in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, sifting through business cards from this … Read More

May of 2014 post-undergraduate student life was really tough, and I was a lucky one. I got a job with housing accommodations right out of music school at a music production studio in Miami, FL. I met industry giants such as Diplo and Skrillex, saw them work, then suddenly, everything came to a screeching halt. … Read More