In the wake of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, there has been an explosion of technological advancements. One innovation that manages to stand out from the deluge of advancements is IoT (Internet of Things). IoT involves devices that can communicate to each other, using technology such as Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, sensors, actuators, cell phones. IoT not only allows companies to communicate with these devices and monitor them but also to collect large volumes of crucial data from them.
Bondstein is one of the key players in the internet of things (IoT) market, which aids enterprises access technology to improve operational efficiency. Enterprises like Unilever and Walton have employed Bondstein’s vehicle tracking and monitoring technology to minimize traffic accidents and raise cost efficiency. Its goal is to make the internet of things applicable in everyday life. It strives to create a network of connected things and ensure that companies can remotely monitor the network. Simply put, it wants to form a communication channel between things. “Imagine the amount of money and time we could save if things can communicate among themselves as humans do,” said Mir Shahrukh Islam, one of the co-founders of Bondstein Technology.
Mir Shahrukh Islam and Zafir Shafiee Chowdhury co-founded their mother company ‘Singularity‘ in 2012, intending to help people access technology. With the goal intact, Bondstein commenced its journey in 2014. The name ‘Bondstein’ is a combination of ‘James Bond’ and ‘Einstein’. The board of directors intended a name representing Einstein’s intelligence and James Bond’s wit.
The success the company has attained is commendable. Last year, it secured a $1 million investment from Runner Trading Limited. However, there have been many setbacks. For instance, people find it difficult to understand what the company does. Internet of Things can be complex sometimes, and in Bangladesh’s context, people have not yet warmed to the idea of IoT.
Young Entrepreneurs
Shahrukh and Zafir were undergraduates at the Islamic University of Technology (IUT) and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) when they started Bondstein. It was difficult for them to manage their studies and their venture.
“We had our classes in the morning, and we commuted to our office during lunch. Since it was just the two of us at the beginning, we had to pull many all-nighters. Also, we had completed our assignments and other academic responsibilities,” said Zafir. The co-founders have passed many taxing days to reach where they are now. To their credit, these gentlemen did successfully graduate from their Universities. “Now that we look back at it, we enjoyed the process,” added Shahrukh.
IUT and BUET provided them with exposure to resources and competitions. They were a part of a technologically enriched environment.
Advice for Potential Entrepreneurs
When Zafir and Shahrukh were in the initial days of their venture, ‘entrepreneurship’ was not a popular concept. Today, however, people are somewhat familiar with the idea. It is an advantage for potential entrepreneurs. According to them, being young has its perks. You have the opportunity to fail and start over. Besides, you are learning and making progress with every failure.
“The word entrepreneurship has become somewhat uber-cool today,” stated Shahrukh. “The concept of having and running a business is surreal, but you should do it because you believe in it.”
“Also, the ‘idea’ of a business is essential. However, planning is much more predominant.
You need to plan rigorously and find out the drawbacks of the idea. In addition, play devil’s advocate with yourself or your colleagues.
That is something Shahrukh and I did all the time. As we questioned each other’s proposals or pitches, our plan became much more coherent,” added Zafir.
Interesting Days
When asked about an eventful day or story from their days of Bondstein, Shahrukh and Zafir had their favorites. Shahrukh mentioned Bondstein’s feat of establishing a state-of-the-art IoT assembly unit at Bangabandhu High Tech City, Kaliakoir in Gazipur.
Zafir, on the other hand, picked the day when Bondstein secured the award for Asia Pacific IoT Champion in 2019. The Asia Pacific ICT Alliance Awards, which aims to expand ICT awareness and diminish the digital divide, presented the accolade to Bondstein. “I had not expected us to bag the award as there were many competent teams from countries like Korea. So that’s a memory I will always cherish,” said Zafir.
Advice for My 20-year-old Self
“No regrets.” That was Shahrukh’s reply to this question. He has no advice for his younger self, and he is content with all the choices he has made. He may have made mistakes and could have done things differently, but for him, all of it was part of the process. He would not want to change anything.
Zafir agrees with the point of ‘no regrets’. However, he does admit that he missed a few things while trying to build Bondstein. “I agree with Shahrukh. There are no regrets. But I think I was too involved with all the responsibilities that I missed a few things. Today, however, I am taking it a bit easy. I have a team and an organized way of doing things. Hence, that would be my advice to my younger self.”
On the Forbes 30 under 30 Asia feature
“Featuring on the Forbes 30 under 30 Asia list is an honor. We are delighted about this achievement. However, we are not treating this accolade as a milestone because it never was. If anything, featuring on the Forbes list has compounded our responsibilities. Our clients, current and potential, have higher expectations of us now.
We are now responsible for showing the world whether we deserve the honor.
It has opened new doors for us, and we have access to more resources. We are treating this feat as an incentive to continue doing what we have done so far,” said Mir Shahrukh and Zafir.
Stereotypes on Engineering
Engineers should not run a business. Engineering is the only decent subject to study. There are not enough jobs for engineers. These are some of the recurrent statements in Bangladesh, and they range from positive to negative.
The co-founders had some simple opinions. “We are no one to judge people’s life choices or comment on them. Engineering is neither the start nor the end of the world. As for engineers running businesses, you have Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and other business magnates who are engineers. These engineers have established monolithic corporations worth billions of dollars.”
The point is that we cannot make statements about people with science backgrounds running businesses or people with business backgrounds having a business in the technology industry.
Bondstein has and will continue to represent Bangladesh globally. The interview shed light on not only a flourishing start-up but also two accomplished personalities. Bondstein is different from other start-ups because it thrives on challenges and innovation.