Seeing life through fresh eyes is a trait that can get lost in today’s noisy world. When you bring a perspective of a beginner, not knowing what is impossible, you can sometimes transcend conventional wisdom and achieve greatness. Immigrants can bring a fresh perspective and couple it with a focused effort to succeed. Our guest today is Hamed Abbasi, Co-Founder and CEO of Plooto, who is both a successful serial founder and has survived the difficult and often underappreciated immigrant journey.
About Hamed Abassi:
Hamed Abassi is the Co-Founder and CEO of Plooto, a payments platform aimed at simplifying B2B payments. Prior to that he co-founded and was CEO of Vast Labs, a casual gaming company that was acquired in 2014. He started his career in the banking world.
In this episode we discuss:
(01:24) Hamed’s journey as an immigrant from Iran
(05:12) Skills he had to learn as a newcomer to Canada
(08:10) Moving from the world of banking to becoming a startup founder
(11:15) Creating Flywheel dynamics in a startup scene
(12:49) Starting Plooto
(15:45) Pivoting from a Bitcoin platform
(17:31) Plooto’s first financing round
(19:10) Competing against well-established industries
(22:59) Why Hamed wanted to compete in the crowded FinTech market
(26:14) How and when to raise prices as a founder
(29:12) Would they handle their price hike differently
(30:10) The importance of data when gathering feedback
(32:02) Why revenue is important to startups
(33:47) Plooto’s success at venture fundraising
(37:32) The prep that went into their fundraise
(41:26) How the current financial climate is affecting their business
Fast Favorites:
🎙- Favorite Podcast: Knowledge Project
📰- Favorite Newsletter /Blog: plooto.com/blog
📲- Favorite Tech Gadget: Kindle Scribe
📈- Favorite New Trend: Espresso Extraction
📚- Favorite Book: Full Castastrophe Living
🤔- Favorite Life Lesson: Nobody knows anything, and you need to experience things for yourself
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Hamed Abbasi of Plooto on Why Immigrants Make The Best Founders