At 20 Years, Shahed Khan is an Entrepreneur Wunderkind with Staggering Connections

When he was just 16, Shahed Khan, the child of Pakistani and Indian immigrants in America, co-founded a startup called Viatask, a space where odd jobs could be easily outsourced. Think of it as a place where other people would run errands for other people and make some money in the process. Little did the world know that the Chicago-based Shahed would go on to build and launch a couple of companies while making a ton of connections in the process.

His story tells us that age is no barrier when it comes to starting and launching companies. His journey, like Mark Zuckerberg and Sean Parker before him, has been one big learning experience.

Now he’s 20 years old, and even with a spate of many launches behind him, he feels like the best is yet to come.

How Shahed Khan Started Out?

Currently, Shahed is working with a team of investors at NFX Guild, a startup incubator in San Francisco. He’s building an enterprise software tool with three other co-founders that allow companies to know why their product is failing or succeeding based on customer feedback.

But when he was 16, he used to spend his spare time online, teaching himself web design and building online storefronts and making money in the process. Until one day, he stumbled onto Peter Thiel’s 20 Under 20 program. The program offered a $100,000 stipend if teenagers chose to work on a big idea, also foregoing school in the process. Shahed knew what his true calling was –  pitching and working on ideas as a tech entrepreneur. And that’s when he co-founded Viatask. Though it didn’t take off, the experience taught him well and prepared him for future startups that he could launch.

Peter Thiel’s 20 Under 20 program offered a $100,000 stipend if teenagers chose to work on a big idea, also foregoing school in the process.

When working at Viatask, Shahed called up an investor Terry Howerton, the CEO of Chicago-based TechNexus. He was so impressed by Shahed’s confidence that an office space was provided along with a ticket to TechCrunch Disrupt event in San Francisco in 2011.

This event changed his life. Shahed made the most of this trip by developing connections with investors and venture capitalists such as Ron Conway, Kevin Rose, and Mark Suster. The press also picked up on the fact that he was one of the youngest founders there at Disrupt.

Shahed’s Journey took Him Places

In the months to follow, Shahed landed a job at Weebly, the site-building company. After a year, Shahed contacted Mark Suster, wanting to know more about the ins and out of the venture industry. Suster took him on as an analyst on contract at his firm Upfront Ventures in LA. Shahed spent 10 months there and then moved on to NFX.

Shahed’s extrovert nature won him many friends and connections. Even though he’s just 20, many people assume that he’s 5 years older than he is. Maybe that’s what happens when one sports a sporty beard. In fact, he got friends that are far older than him, a testament to how dedicated he is in entrepreneurial and VC circles. Mentors like George Zachary of CRV, and NFX founders James Currier and Stan Chudnovsky are part of his friends’ circle. These are individuals who sold their startups for millions of dollars and still launching new companies left, front and center. Case in point – they sold Tickle, to the jobs giant Monster, pocketing as much as $100 million in 2004.

What’s Next for Shahed?

Even though Shahed has accomplished much for someone his age, he still wants to go back to studying.

“I do think people underestimate what it means to drop out. If you believe it’s right for you and that it will create more opportunities for you, then I recommend it. But for some people, it makes sense to drop out – like if you can get a job offer from Uber or Google and your goal was to graduate and get a job at Uber or Google.”

We know Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were both dropouts. But it’s good to see that even with a string of successes behind him, Shahed is planning to keep his academic options open as well. We wish him all the best.

Local Pakistani entrepreneurs also have many options to pitch their ideas to venture capitalists nowadays with competitions like Challenge Cup and more. As a wise man once said, the journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step. Here’s hoping more entrepreneurs from Pakistan make their mark worldwide and back at home as well.

 

Source: TechCrunch

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