Khazanay Founder: I Met Sam Altman & He Loved Our Startup | 483 | TBT

Join the Inner Circle, my weekly letter on AI, building, and being early to what's coming: https://muzamilhasan.com/inner-circle Read the thesis, the one idea behind everything I'm building: https://muzamilhasan.com/thesis My website: https://muzamilhasan.com In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we sit down with Usman Saleem, Co-Founder & CEO of Khazanay, Pakistan’s biggest used sneaker and thrift brand. Usman shares his journey from losing his father at an early age, working graphic design jobs for just ₨8,000 a month, to building one of Pakistan’s most disruptive retail startups. We talk about: – How Khazanay sold its first pair of shoes – Meeting Sam Altman at Y Combinator – How they refurbish branded sneakers – Tapping into leftover clothing – Khazanay’s scale & Growth – Long-term growth, Islamic finance, and Pakistan’s 2050 outlook #thoughtbehindthings #khazanay #muzamilhasan #pakistan #startup #tbtxendeavor Socials: TBT’s Instagram:   / thoughtbehindthings   TBT’s TikTok:   / tbtbymuzamil   TBT’s Facebook:   / thoughtbehindthings   TBT Clips:    / @tbtpodcastclips   Usman's LinkedIn:   / mhdusmansaleem   Endeavor's LinkedIn:   / endeavor-pakistan   Special thanks to Kickstart for providing us with the studio space. You can find out more about them at: https://kickstart.pk/ Listen on: Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3z1cE7F Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3cgIkf Google Podcasts:    / @tbtgo   Credits: Executive Producer: Syed Muzamil Hasan Zaidi Associate Producer: Saad Shehryar Publisher: Talha Shaikh Editor: Jawad Sajid Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 2:09 - Early Life, Father’s Passing & Graphic Design Jobs 7:28 - Excuses vs Action & Refusing to Settle 14:42 - MBA Journey, Early Business Attempts & Khazanay Spark 20:37 - What Khazanay Originally Was 22:53 - Evolution of Khazanay & Early Struggles 29:20 - First Order & Selling the First Pair of Shoes 30:43 - Early Support & Disrupting Thrifting in Pakistan 33:40 - Meeting Sam Altman at Y Combinator 38:16 - Refurbishing Branded Shoes & Sourcing Process 40:21 - Why They Didn’t Expand Into Too Many Categories 43:12 - Current Scale: Sales, Team Size & Outlets 44:46 - Sourcing Strategy & Choosing Store Locations 47:52 - Using Local Distribution Networks for Unsold Stock 54:35 - Sourcing Challenges & Moving Into Second-Hand Clothing 1:00:27 - Opportunity in Leftover Clothing & Customer Demographics 1:05:49 - Women as Primary Buyers & Humna Example 1:10:38 - Long-Term Plans, Expansion & Islamic Finance 1:22:06 - Pakistan of 2050 1:25:56 - Anyone Can Deploy Fiber Internet Now 1:26:37 - Pakistan’s Circular Debt Fix by 2028? 1:28:00 - Closing Note Instagram:   / muzamilhasan   LinkedIn:   / muzamilhasan