"The pandemic is actually the reason we took a leap of faith and built an EdTech enterprise."
Meet Ali A Pasha, an Academic at HEC Montreal and the co-founder of Lachine Institute, an EdTech platform that helps graduates join top schools by writing better. Through producing educational content and coaching webinars they have helped hundreds of hopefuls in joining their dream schools. Now, powering their online editor with AI and ML tools, they aim to serve a much larger audience across the world and establish themselves as a leading voice in the EdTech domain.
Ali is an Oxford alumnus, a McGill Leadership Fellow, and now an Academic and Entrepreneur, living in Montreal and looking forward to building a strong global family. Having worked in the Turkish and British public sectors, he hsa taken a leap of faith into building a private enterprise and welcome blessings, prayers, and support from people around the world.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Ali A Pasha: I am an Oxford alumnus, a McGill Leadership Fellow and now an Academic at HEC Montreal; so have been actively involved in the top-tier education domain for quite some time. At the same time, I have worked with the Turkish and British governments in diplomatic and advisory capacities; and took a leap of faith into building a private enterprise in the EdTech sector. Through long periods of toil and insight, we created Lachine Institute, an EdTech platform which helps graduates join top schools by writing better. We produce educational content, give coaching webinars and are now building an AI-powered editing tool, to help thousands across the world join their dream universities.
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Ali A Pasha: Two terms are useful here; Lean and Adaptive. I think the pandemic, like the 2008 Recession, showed us excesses in sections of our economy and business models. Most consulting firms can successfully work online, as they are doing so now, cutting down on overheads of managing an office space and the security it requires. Similarly, the Education sector can and continues to manage through hybrid-teaching activities, an advantage of technological advances that we have made. So a Lean management approach; not the TPS or JIT model per se, but a focus on essentials and reduction of extras is a necessary first step. Secondly, the ability to adapt and remain relevant is paramount, through what David Teece calls Dynamic Capabilities. The pandemic was not the first shock and it will not be the last one, so in order to maintain a competitive advantage and thrive while others are striving and surviving, both these attributes should be at the centre of a company’s long term goals.
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Ali A Pasha: This question is flawed. I would never worry about the economy. A dynamic economy can never be fully disrupted; because the external shocks are absorbed by its capacity to adapt accordingly. I would worry about the people. The employees, the labourers, the producers and consumers. Even with fully-automated systems, the consumers will continue to be people; they build the economy, they drive its growth. If the global family refuses to purchase Apple or Tesla products anymore, the entire strength of the world economy cannot save those companies. So, businesses should shift their focus from economic and solely quant-heavy activities, to the people. Not only in terms of consumer-behaviour and purchasing power, but more so on what matters to the human family, what benefits them and how can businesses come together to encourage accessibility and ensure sustainability. Additionally, a long-term perspective, rather than short-term quarterly strategies, is necessary for businesses to become embedded in their context and establish their presence in people’s lives.
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Ali A Pasha: The pandemic is actually the reason we took a leap of faith and built an EdTech enterprise. The Education Industry is a multi-billion dollar domain, with universities and schools raking in huge amounts of funding from the public sector, private investors and student-customers. The pandemic allowed us to see how the existing models of “physically-attending” an institution could be modified, owing largely to the advances made in the online education sector. So, when the pandemic began changing our existing modes of living, we decided to use social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook, to get our voice out there and engage with a huge body of academic hopefuls. Without renting office space, without incorporating a company at that time and without employing staff, we were able to engage with thousands of people across the world, who were looking for paths forward in their academic dreams. Live Streams, Webinars, Speaking Engagements, all lead to a huge body of people who were interested in what we had to say and we leveraged that into building an enterprise to now establish and expand.
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Ali A Pasha: When the pandemic happened, I was still in Oxford and working with the British government, so there was no major change to my workplace activities, except stay-home and stay-safe. The work continued at its pace, but I wish someone had told me that the pandemic would continue for over two years and that the online education space would be a central part of the debate. Without a business idea in mind, I decided to put myself out there and reach out to my Oxford network to understand how the pandemic is affecting everyone in different parts of the world. Doing video interviews on Zoom, I put them out on YouTube and started seeing some engagement with people in different parts of the world. Once that comfort developed with producing content and establishing an online footprint, I was able to leverage that on LinkedIn and Facebook to interact with much larger audiences. So, the advice I wish I had received was only to expedite this process and for us to build our enterprise earlier. Other than that, I truly believe we are on the right track and intend on expanding much further in 2022, establishing presence on multiple social media platforms and actively investing in marketing for our products.
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Ali A Pasha: In 2022, I see people attempting to go back to how things were, but now that many have tasted the ease and comfort of online co-working, I do not see a full repeal of activities. A hybrid model, will not only continue, but become the norm. Meetings and sessions that can be conveniently done online, will be do so. Physical engagements may be left for occasions when they are required; but also for particular team building moments. An allocated physically present gathering every month, does not seem out of the question for many firms and institutions. At the same time, the advantage of online practices is that we are no longer limited by geography and time; offices in Montreal working with offices in Tokyo with ease and convenience. So, the localized model will continue on the SME scale, but the larger a multinational gets, the more we will see a global scattering of activity and a heavy utilization of online tools.
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Ali A Pasha: As an academic, online content creator and now building an EdTech platform, I would say anything between 14 to 16 hours are spent in front of the laptop or mobile phone screen.
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Ali A Pasha: The majority may use stories to persuade, I do not. I have no interest in persuading anyone, employee or client. My goal is, to empower. It is not based on eloquence, charisma or charm. It is built on something much stronger and robust. Trust. I function in the domain of hope, faith and trust. The strategy I use is a marrying of a military clarity and family cohesion; I outline the vision and desired objectives to the minutest details. That decision is mine alone, even more so than my co-founders, who are actively involved in the formulation of the vision, but the bottom line and direction are my own. Once that is done, it is presented to the entire team as a problem to tackle, an army to defeat or a truth to uncover. The whole team is equipped to handle their tasks and responsibilities; if they were not, we wouldn’t have hired them. So my goal, is not to persuade the team to do their job; they are being paid to do so. My goal is to empower them, by putting my trust in their abilities, so that they keep doing better and better. I do not tolerate weaknesses; I refuse to comprehend the world from a weakness-mindset. Leading by example and showing each team member, that I have faith in the giant within them, there is no need for persuasion or motivation. They motivate themselves and they can move mountains.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Ali A Pasha: Our educational content and coaching services have shown us that there is a huge market out there. We cannot cater to that market with traditional means alone, that is why we are investing in AI-powered tools. That is something that needs to be tested over a period of time and refined to fit the market and consumer demands. Once we are clearer on that direction, our only goal is to do better and better, expand further and bring in professionals who share our vision.
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Ali A Pasha: I am incredibly interested in Crypto and online marketing. We are only getting to learn about blockchain, Big Data and the expanse of the online domain. We are certain that the world is going in that direction, and we not only want to adapt; we want to capitalize. So our goal is to familiarize and embed ourselves in these spaces and see how our EdTech goals can grow further through them.
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Ali A Pasha: I know it is not politically correct to say; and frankly I don’t care, but I don’t see this as the leader’s sole responsibility. Leaders do not fall from the sky, they come out of the same population; and if they are at fault, the population is at fault. The American workforce is overly coddled and spoilt; as are many in developed countries. Finland and New Zealand have exhibited an interest in the four-day work-week with an emphasis on work-life balance; while China is expanding the 9-9-6 approach to actively overtake the US as the leading economy. As a people living in developed countries we have to decide, whether we want to remain competitive or comfortable; and while there is some overlap between the two concepts, in the face of India and China emerging as economic superpowers, the question becomes ever so relevant. I would ask the 4.4 million who resigned or the 82% who are unheard; do you think employers in these rising economies are a piece-of-cake? They are not. And more importantly, how fulfilling does a job need to be? If you had to choose, would you rather be paid well, or treated well? The people who say both, need to understand that taken to its end concept, this distinction is a very severe one, with very little overlap. You may find the outlier office which pays well and also fulfils the emotional needs of its employees; but that is not the norm. Companies in rising economies understand that; employees are either motivated by opportunistic personal gains or part of a common shared vision (the latter approach being similar to what we tend to encourage at Lachine) like a military or sports initiative.
So the change that needs to happen, especially in the US and developed economies of the West, is for the populace to stop deluding itself with utopian ideals and strengthen itself against rising competition. The US is 5% of the world’s population, while China and India together are 35%. The latter are willing to work longer hours and put up with feeling unheard and undervalued, not only in their own countries, but through the advent of technologies, as parts of the Western economies as well. I would encourage the 47% intending to leave their jobs to consider; who will take this position once I am gone? Would companies hire someone like me — who may feel unheard and undervalued and eventually leave — will they try to change their practices (institutionally and cognitively) or will they look to other markets for a different workforce? Realistically, but unfortunately, at many times, it is the different workforce option; manufacturing in China and Africa, call-centres in India; the trend is ever-present. Therefore, the workforce, the populace has to make a decision about comfort and competitiveness, and then negotiate trade-offs they can co-exist with while maintaining sufficient fulfilment with their role.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Ali A Pasha: I would pick the business superpower of Steve Jobs and the creative superpower of Quentin Tarantino; the grand vision to steer the world and the sensitive understanding of making people feel something. We spend millions on understanding our market, there are seminars and trainings every day on the subject. If I could understand to Steve’s depth, how people feel about a product; and Tarantino’s mastery of making people feel a certain way, I would build products and services that empower and fulfil the global family.
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Ali A Pasha: Better Every Moment. That is my meaning of success. Yesterday’s Ali, aspires to today’s Ali, today’s Ali, aspires to tomorrows. Ali now, is better than Ali a moment ago. That is growth. That is it, that is all of it. No quarters, no target figures, no investment size. The cosmic churning of the ocean, the governing dynamics of the Universe, are felt by each person in their soul. That living energy is what drives us, drives the trees to grow, oceans to flow and stars to shine. Natural forces do not work on targets or deadlines. They work on the instantaneous understanding of all forces and the only true path to success in this regard, is to make each coming moment better than each passing one. Failure and success then become part of a huge tapestry, of living moments experienced by the human soul. That is truth, that is empowerment and that is the true definition of success.
Jerome Knyszewski, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Ali A Pasha for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Ali A Pasha or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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