Real Talk: The inside life of Startup guru Naureen Hyat

Naureen Hyat, 34, co-founder and head of Tez Financial Services talks to Socialite Spaces about work-life balance and everything in-between.

Tez Financial Services is the first fully digital financial institution in Pakistan, providing basic financial services to the unbanked and under-banked masses of Pakistan via a data-driven smartphone application. Tez, as the name implies in Urdu, provides fast credit, insurance, savings, and investment opportunities, fulfilling customer needs in a matter of minutes. It empowers people who have traditionally lacked access to some or all these services at any price by providing instant access via their mobile phones.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

The sense of responsibility to be true to the cause of my company and my passion to help those who cannot help themselves.

What was your first (code/product) ship like? Was it the same or different compared to this one?

A Digital Field Application aimed at enhancing operational efficiencies of microfinance providers by automating the end-to-end credit disbursement process. It evolved from being a B2B model to a B2C model whereby we founded a completely digital financial institution (Tez Financial Services) to serve customers rather than having to rely on institutions to reach the masses.

Describe your working style to me in a few words?

Target oriented, meticulous, detail-driven, collaborative, and at times obsessive.

Is your startup objective “getting rich” or “changing the world”? What impact do you want to have?

Without a second thought, “changing the world” while being sustainable and scalable. Tez aims to reduce the vulnerability of the masses through a complete slate of financial services offering nano-loans, innovative savings solutions, health, and life insurance. The aim is to equip people with affordable and sustainable access to financial services so that they can be empowered to build their lives.

What is the most important thing you are working on right now and how are you making it happen?

At Tez, we are expanding our product slate to include productive lending including merchant lending and working capital loans. For this, we have entered into multiple strategic partnerships with banks, telcos, merchant networks, and consumer-centric businesses for acquisitions.

Do you have different expectations for different phases of the company’s lifespan? (i.e. willing to work harder in the beginning/slowing down later)

A company has a life-cycle and every phase of it calls for a different set of skills, effort, and resources. Hence, more than my own expectations for different phases of the company, Tez has certain expectations of the people running and operating it and this is something I am cognizant of and willing to give it my utmost.

How many hours/week do you work? What sounds good? What sounds like hell?

At times, I work 7 days a week – counting hours would sound painful – but, to be honest, work does not seem like work because it comes like second nature to me. It definitely does get overwhelming at times but, I reckon that is the life of an entrepreneur and this is what I have signed up for.

What do you do in your free time? (E.g. how do you unwind? How do you deal with stress and big challenges?

Listening to music, spending time with family, and less frequently now – painting. My only way to deal with stress or challenges is to overcome them – hands-on!

How do you help people grow to the next level and be their best?

By sharing what has worked best for me and giving them the space to learn, execute, make mistakes, and overcome them.

What is the worst interpersonal conflict you have dealt with? How did you handle it?

I would not term it a conflict, rather, a globally-cultural challenge and that is the subtle art of undermining women in the workplace – be it within the office or while dealing with external players. Within my company, I have openly voiced it out to ensure that culture is not encouraged and my team is conscious about it. However, in certain circumstances, being vocal about the issue does not reap the desired results. Hence, I focus on growing myself and acquiring the knowledge and skills that would position me well to challenge and share informed views.

What do you think you are best at?

• At Work: Negotiating.

• Outside of Work: Giving advice.

What do you think you need support for?

Being more emotional than I should be.

What would your closest friends say they like the least about you?

That the last person I think about is myself.

If you sold your company today, what would be the tone of the conversation? What would you want to gain? What would you want to avoid losing?

At this stage of the company, the tone would be more around an acquisition by/merger with a larger entity that can capitalize on the core competencies developed/acquired by us and that could serve the larger goal to expand into a new market segment. I would want to maximize the company’s benefit in terms of the ability to serve a larger customer base. I would want to avoid losing key team members and the vision behind creating the company.

Is control or success more important? Are you willing to step aside if the company is more likely to have a financially successful outcome or is it important for the founders to stay in control of the company’s destiny?

The company’s long-term success would always matter more provided the vision remains intact. The relationship between a company and a founder is like that of a child and parent. It is imperative to set the foundation right with the values and goals fortified. Once the company has the right team and successors to carry that vision forward, founders are more likely to part with control.

Is it possible to build a wildly successful company without burning out or damaging other parts of your life (family, health, etc.)?

Starting and running a company, whether or not it is successful at the end, is demanding of your time, energy, health, resources, and at times, relationships. It is not only demanding of the entrepreneur but, also those around him/her as it calls for a lot of patience, support, and understanding. How one creates the balance is an art and a science.

What is the minimum monthly salary you need to survive? To be comfortable? To feel like you have made it?

Enough to cover for my basic bills. Being comfortable is a state of mind and very relative. I am generally flexible and seek comfort in whatever I have. For me, salary does not determine whether or not I have made it – it is the sense of achievement in terms of lives positively impacted rather than a bank balance. That said, it is important for sustainability but, I do not have a number that I have set an eye on.

Have you ever failed at anything? If so, how did you handle it and what did you learn?

I have more lately started thinking of failures as the root of success. I reckon one of those failures to what I have achieved so far was not making it to a medical college of my choice. I ended up joining the business school and making a career in finance, rather, microfinance. What it taught me is that life is the stories you tell yourself – what you make of it is in your hands.

If you could pick 2 things to change and 2 to bring with you from your previous experiences, what would they be and why?

2 things to change:

1. Being a perfectionist: It can be overwhelming and exhausting.

2. Not designating tasks enough: In the pursuit of perfection, I took on too much on my platter. Designation is not only important for the growth of the team and company but, also allows time to focus on strategic planning and tasks that cannot be designated.

2 things to bring from previous experiences:

1. Holding on to your core values: You will sleep better at night knowing you did not do someone wrong.

2. Nurturing a learning culture: It gives a canvas to grow not only individually but company-wide.

What happens if the company fails? Do you have a backup plan?

Start-ups are about constant transition – facing challenges, falling, standing up again. The plan is always to continue striving towards our goal. In the words of Winston Churchill: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts”.

What is the best advice you have recently received?

Why talk and say the unsaid words in haste when silence can speak the unspoken words.

Who or what has shaped the person you are?

Learning that being “normal” is a luxury that comes with a responsibility – do not be oblivious to this reality; utilize this normalcy for those who neither have the liberty nor the luxury of being normal.

Would you rather be rich or the Queen? Why?

Neither. I would rather be content in whatever I am or have – money or power does not mark that criteria for me.

If you could remove one player from the market, who would it be and why?

None. I believe everyone has a role to play, no matter how big or small. In a market like ours, there is enough space for others to come and add value for the customers we serve.

What would you be doing if you were not working on this Startup?

Working on another initiative for people with special needs.

Complete the sentence: It would make you proud to hear people describe this company’s culture as a learning process conducive to developing knowledge and competence while promoting individual and company growth.

In every partnership, there are times when a partner might breed resentment if certain dissatisfactions do not change over time. How would you deal with a situation like this?

• Plan ahead and regularly monitor progress against SLAs/ deliverables.

• Communicate openly and thoroughly to address the issues at hand.

• Listen actively without jumping to conclusions or judgment.

• Arrive at a mutually acceptable way forward.

What do you think I would be most surprised to find out about you?

That I understand the field of Medicine better than I understand the field of Finance.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Continue serving towards a cause for wider humanity reaching far more lives and giving others the power to help themselves.

Have something to add to the story? Let us know in the comments below.

Liked it? Take a second to support on Patreon!