‘SCI’ is not the limit

Umar Saif is Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and heads the Saif Center of Innovation (SCI, pronounced as ‘sky’), an incubator and training centre for technology entrepreneurs and enthusiasts. Dr. Saif received his Ph.D. from University of Cambridge (2001) and Post-Doctorate from MIT (2002) in Computer Science. Before joining LUMS, he worked and taught at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory for four years, where he was part of the core team which developed system technologies for project Oxygen. Dr. Saif spoke about SCI and the challenges and opportunities for technology start-ups in Pakistan

What is the SCI and what was your rationale behind establishing it?

Umar Saif: It is common in universities like MIT for professors to be involved in startups. Indeed, companies like Akamai, RSA, and 3Com were all started by MIT professors and have gone on to generate billions of dollars in annual revenues.

When I moved to Pakistan around five years ago, I found that, with some effort, I could carry on doing good research, but starting a high-tech venture seemed quite out of reach. Basically, there was no eco-system for a true startup: a small company focused on an innovative product or business model that makes many multiples of the initial investment. There was no VC money available, no clear exit route (acquisition or IPO), very weak corporate law with little provision for things like co-founder options or vesting schedule. Above all, even the best students from a university like LUMS were running after jobs from outsourcing joints, with no real potential for growth beyond a certain glass ceiling (the largest IT company in Pakistan is less than 300 people).

All of this became painfully clear to me when I started BumpIn.com in a small guest room in my house. It wasn’t exactly in the garage, but it was close enough (the guest room was directly above the garage!). We toiled, dreamed, and persevered for more than 2 years to be reminded over and over again how difficult it is to do a Silicon-valley style startup in Pakistan.

This eventually led to me to setup Saif Centre of Innovation 

(SCI). SCI is facility for startup incubation. It is big and well-provisioned (4 floors, 18,000 square feet of covered space, dedicated fiber-optic connection), but the biggest strength of SCI is its inhabitants. Everyone at SCI works for a single purpose: to create innovative products that can result in a $100 million company. My highest point of the day in SCI is when I see two entrepreneurs from different companies share their vision, technology insights, and dreams.

In a sense, SCI is not very different from incubator models like the Y-combinator or Tech-stars, albeit we do not have the same level of funding, visibility, or access to lots of successful entrepreneurs as mentors.

http://www.technologytimes.pk/2011/05/30/%E2%80%98sci%E2%80%99-is-not-the-limit/