The Center for Entrepreneurial Development, Innovation and Research at the Institute of Business Administration in Karachi will host two sessions for participants of its Certificate in Entrepreneurship program and its CITE program on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at the City Campus from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The center opens its announcement with a blunt observation: most startups do not fail because of a bad idea, they fail because of bad structure and a weak pitch. The two sessions are built to address exactly those problems, one covering how to set up a company properly and the other covering how to present it to investors.
The morning session, titled Structuring Your Startup: Legal, IP and Tax Essentials, runs from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM and is led by Raza Zaidi, a Partner at Syed Shabbar Zaidi and Company. He brings international experience from JP Morgan and Deloitte in the United Kingdom in tax strategy, compliance, and deal structuring, which gives him firsthand insight into the legal and regulatory frameworks that businesses must work within. For founders, early choices about company structure, ownership of intellectual property, and tax treatment can be difficult to reverse later, and mistakes in these areas often surface at the worst moment, such as during a funding round or an acquisition.
The afternoon session, titled Pitch Perfect: Deck Design, Storytelling and Investor Outreach, runs from 2:30 PM to 5:00 PM and is led by Sibtain Jiwani, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SmartBenefits. His experience spans financial technology, insurance technology, business development, and startup growth. He is set to share practical insight into building ventures, shaping compelling pitch narratives, understanding investor expectations, and communicating a startup’s value clearly and effectively. A strong pitch deck and a clear story are often what earn a founder a first meeting with an investor, and the session also covers how to approach investors in the first place, a step many first time founders find difficult.
Together, the two sessions cover the legal groundwork and the investor facing side of building a startup in a single day, with a lunch break between them. The announcement is addressed to participants of the center’s certificate programs, and it did not mention whether other attendees may join. The center said the sessions will give participants the chance to hear directly from practitioners with experience in tax, law, finance, and fundraising. For founders still shaping their companies, a day spent on structure in the morning and storytelling in the afternoon offers a practical way to prepare for the next stage of their ventures, from forming a company correctly to asking for funding with confidence.
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