Post by Rehan Allahwala

Pakistan has a strange problem… The people doing the biggest work… are often the least known. Today I met Irfan Ahmad Yahoo. I have known him for almost 26 years. He was Yahoo’s representative for Pakistan and the Middle East. His brother is a CNN representative across more than 30 countries. And his niece also worked at CNN. And maybe very few people know… he is also the brother of Rehan Ahmed Tentwala — whose family runs one of the largest tent businesses in Pakistan. Six brothers… and almost every one of them is extraordinary in their own field. Irfan bhai has an incredible command of Urdu, English, and Bengali. He has a PhD in Economics. He has worked on projects in Pakistan and around the world focused on one important question: How do you grow exports? How do you grow an economy? He has traveled to more than 60 countries. But the most interesting thing to me was this… He is now writing a book. A book about Pakistan’s technology heroes of the last 40 years. The people who quietly helped build Pakistan’s internet, media, telecom, software, and digital ecosystem… without ever becoming headlines. Pakistan’s history is not only political history. Pakistan also has a silent technology history… and maybe for the first time, someone is properly documenting it. I believe young people should meet people like Irfan Ahmed Yahoo. Invite them to podcasts. Listen to their stories. Because sometimes… a one-hour conversation with the right person… can give more vision than four years of university. — Rehan Allahwala

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