“I went through a recession in my career in 2008. I was working at a Software Company that went down eventually and had to lay off the entire team. It was a difficult time. Finding a job was not easy. After much effort, I found a job but I became a permanent skeptic about good times. On the side of my job, I invested to upskill myself and started pursuing freelancing, which eventually led to my entrepreneurial journey. Hard times are difficult but if we use them wisely and be patient it could lead to better outcomes.” – Al-Farooque Shubho. 

In this episode, Future Startup’s Ruhul Kader and Zantrik Founder and CEO Al-Farooque Shubho, discuss how he is dealing with the impact of COVID-19 emotionally, including how he is keeping his centered solid, staying productive, and dealing with difficult times, how Zantrik is addressing the challenges caused by the pandemic, including Zantirk’s pivot to a new initiative called Project Basement where Zantrik in collaboration with two other startups, how Zantrik is tackling significant reduction in revenue, remote operation, keeping the team motivated, and what the post-pandemic world might look like. 

We discuss: 

Ruhul Kader

Ruhul Kader is a technology business and technology policy analyst based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He is also the co-founder and CEO of Future Startup and author of Rethinking Failure: A short guide to living an entrepreneurial life. He writes about internet business, strategy, technology, technology policy, and society. He can be reached at [email protected]