Howdy! Hola! Wassup?

Welcome back, friends! Could we be any more excited to have you here? 

Oh wait, that’s the other NYC show friends I’m referring to (my bad).

We’re actually here for Friends with HEX! New at HEX are catchups with old and new friends of HEX, what they do right now, what they feel like they’ve accomplished, and of course: WHY HEX? 

Starting with a spacetech newcomer, part of the 30 under 30 Forbes list and future millionaire (fingers crossed, we believe in that Lamborghini!): Shoaib Iqbal!

Why HEX? As winners of a hackathon Shoaib and his team became HEXies in 2019. According to Shoaib, HEX “really helped kickstart their own business”, and HEX “helped them build a lot of momentum in the early days of the business.”

Shoaib’s job: Saving climate change from space – we might as well call him the World’s Space Cowboy!

He has been working on his spacetech Startup, Esper Satellite Imagery, for 3 years. It started with seed funding through angel investors, family and friends, and some grad funding. Recently, Shoaib has been nominated for the Forbes 30 under 30 for Asia Pacific! Did he make it? Well... YES!

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How did Shoaib celebrate getting on the Forbes 30 under 30? Donuts!
Shoaib’s most recent achievement: Multiple deals that accumulate around 150$ million dollars in pre-orders of satellite imagery. 
Shoaib’s advice to his younger self (in other words): Just keep going – don’t be afraid of mistakes; if you didn’t make any, you wouldn’t learn. Don’t be scared to break many things, create problems and errors – and stay strong.

‍Shoaib’s words of wisdom:  “Time is expedited.”

Leading a business and learning as he goes, he said he has positively grown while aspiring to become somebody conducting a successful satellite imagery business. However, he is only 22 and “hasn’t had the life he would’ve lived normally if he was just going to Uni, clubs, parties, and stuff like that”. 

“Listen to people’s needs” (in other words: know your market)

In Shoaib’s case, he noticed the need for climate data and found a way to provide that through satellite imagery! 

Want to know more? Watch the Friends of HEX episode #1 here.