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After graduating from Purdue University in the mid-1990s, Pakistan-born entrepreneur Usman Siddiqui accepted a software engineer job in Dallas, Texas. His time in the US meant he was exposed first-hand to the rise and subsequent growth of technology start-ups and he yearned to emulate the model. Not one to shy away from a challenge, Siddiqui quit his job to be closer to his family, moved back to Pakistan, and started exploring the possibility of building a start-up in the country.
The first venture he launched was The Readers Club. He brought Jawad Yousuf, an old college friend, on board as a co-founder.
The basic problem Siddiqui wished to solve through The Readers Club was the lack of access to books and reading material faced by most Pakistanis. Public libraries are few and far between, and almost all are mired in decrepit conditions. New books are prohibitively expensive and therefore only in the reach of the upper-middle class. Rather than launching a store, the idea is that The Readers Club is a kind of online library.
Siddiqui wanted the new venture to function on the basis of a marketplace as well. He leveraged his existing relationships with retailers to convince them to start selling online through the store.
The marketplace launched in 2010, immediately receiving interest from Pakistan. Currently there are over 130,000 books available for purchase on Kitabain.
This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here.
This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here.
