Shafin Diamond Tejani
Founder and CEO of Victory Square Technologies (VST)
Interview Summary
How did your upbringing influence your entrepreneurial spirit?
→ he lived by the motto, “get rich, or die trying”. there was no plan B, and you had to work relentlessly to achieve success. His parents worked countless hours per week and enrolled themselves in education, reinforcing their resourceful and hardworking nature.
What inspires you to give back to your community, especially to help younger children?
→ Shafin’s parents had to leave their home country and flee to Canada, making him feel immensely grateful for the opportunities in his life. His two loving parents created a healthy support system with good education and healthcare, providing good fortune. Shafin started noticing that children from third-world countries struggled, so he decided to travel around the world and build schools to help youth in from marginalized communities. He said, “support and help is a generational commitment.” Because Shafin realized his privilege and ability to give back, these initiatives attracted him to help others, especially with his Isimlies background.
At VST, you have worked with countless entrepreneurs and companies; what disguises the most successful outcomes?
→ people have different definitions of success, so it depends on what you measure success as because of its subjectivity. In the business ecosystem, if you judge success by their business performance, for example, Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates are not the best parents or husbands but may have reached their “success.” “founders who live in the future have the best chances of winning big.” When founders are able to reverse engineer a roadmap and have a north star, they are more likely to reach success. Building a company is the ultimate sports team, so when you bring people that fill in the right roles and opportunities, you're setting yourself up for a better journey. Entrepreneurship is glamorised, so you must be able to endure ALL the hardships if you want to be a successful entrepreneur that is separate from the pack.
What are you most excited about in the next twenty years, and how do you see the tech industry evolving?
→ Looking back and seeing the innovation (phones, digital assets, AI, crypto) is incredible and see the way technology has democratized access to information in the world. Anybody anywhere can start a business with technology, so in the future, with controversial innovation, there is always room to help those in marginalized groups or less fortunate situations. We lack information about our bodies and health care, indicating sensitivity to people's lifestyle habits and how the evolution of digital help will improve the quality of people's lives. In addition to digital health, there is also climate tech.
What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs that are unsure of how to take their first step?
→ Adopt the trait of curiosity. Develop a genuine interest and curiosity level. However, the differentiating factor is your focus and initiative. Once you take your first step, you gain connections with many people, and sharing knowledge with youth makes your mission engaging. Starting something has never been easier, so there are no excuses not to try the process. When someone actually starts and does something, they are breaking away from the “norms” and going against the grain with innovation.
“Entrepreneurs that get up the most, have the best chances of success.”
We visited the Victory Square Technologies headquarters in downtown Vancouver and had a 1-hour long conversation with Shafin.
