Studying hard to get a decent job was once the mantra, but that era seems to be behind us now.
A university degree will still provide doors to employment in companies, but many people take a different route. The most popular alternative to this traditional academic route has been entrepreneurship for years. Those who are interested in entrepreneurship have the chance to do it while still in university. It will be interesting to learn how Nishargo Nigar, a nominee for the 'Forbes 30 under 30' list, managed to balance her academics, her startup, and a part-time job at home and abroad.
Nishargo is a computer engineer, blogger, and student entrepreneur. At the Hamburg University of Technology in Germany, she is pursuing a master's degree in Information and Communication Systems. In Bangladesh, she established Cheesecake Technologies, a startup that provides the best services for developing mobile applications and software. Her startup was one of the top 100 startups in Turkey in 2017 and was shortlisted for 'Best Tech Startup (Women)' at the Bangladesh Startup Awards in 2017.
Although an increasing number of Bangladeshi students are attending German universities, Nishargo had other preferences. The linguistic barrier was the root of it all.
She said, "I preferred Canada to all other higher education destinations because of the opportunities and PR facilities I have heard about." Her major is Secure & Dependable IT Systems at the Hamburg University of Technology. Nishargo added, "It's difficult, at first, to get accustomed to the German education system because it's not like how we studied in Bangladesh at all." For her, the most interesting part was the campus itself because of its many facilities and fun activities.
When asked about the key to her multifaceted endeavours, Nishargo took a trip down memory lane at Chattogram. She stated, "Working in Chattogram itself was an adventure because there is a large community that wants the same resources and facilities as Dhaka."
Many workshops and seminars that were being held in the port city for the first time were organised by her and her team for her first startup Cheesecake Technologies. They have also worked on their own business-intelligent software and mobile games.
Nishargo had taken initiatives in Germany as well and launched her own startup, 'Bolo'. She has mentioned that since last year, she has been juggling her regular work, studies, and working on her startup at the same time. Despite the challenges, the flexibility and work-life balance offered in Europe are helping her significantly. The majority of the time, employers value and respect an employee's efforts, she added.
Bolo, an AI-based mental health startup of hers, has made substantial progress in a really short time. The startup was selected as one of the best med-tech startups at Med-Tech World 2022.
She said, "We have created our own emotion detection algorithm to categorise emotions from voice. Our goal is to help individuals manage depression and anxiety through our app." She also mentioned that she got her first job as a student backend developer in a sports-tech startup through LinkedIn and Xing. It was a challenging role for her because she was new at that time. She learnt about Node JS, Firebase, and machine learning, but her entrepreneurial spirit made her try out new things.
Launching a startup in a foreign country is a challenge in itself. With Germany being one of the largest economies in Europe, Nishargo had to go through many legislative processes. She mentioned that such proceedings are handled by a foreign authority (Ausländerbehörde) to ascertain whether the company has a positive impact on the German economy. A CV, an attached form requesting starting information, a business plan, qualifications (bachelor's and master's transcripts), a letter of support from a university professor, proof of health insurance, and funding must all be prepared. If the residence permit was secured for such self-employment activities, one may be granted a permanent settlement permit after three years. And she did all of these by herself!
Businesses are constantly on the lookout for youthful talent. The number of unicorns backed by venture capitalists is growing daily. On the other hand, life is difficult because of the laws, taxes, and regulations. She also advised the youth, "If you have the resources and the right people beside you - you will do great!." Another reason why she encouraged Bangladeshi youths is that the representation of our country is vital abroad. She added, "We have to build expat communities that are creating a good image of Bangladesh."
The writer is a startup enthusiast and working as a business analyst in Selise Digital Platforms.
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