You need not be an industry veteran or have a strong financial backing to be successful are the key lessons you would learn from Hammad. Based in New Delhi, Hammad Rahman is a 26-year-old Indian entrepreneur who jumped into entrepreneurship right after graduating from engineering college.
Success was not an overnight affair for Rahman, he had his share of failures. His first major venture was Hostel Needs, a dorm supplies eCommerce startup that failed due to lack of funding and experience. He attributes his success to keeping abreast with technology from a young age.
Hammad Rahman is the founder and current CEO of Nikah Forever, which is India’s largest muslim matrimony portal in terms of number of users. A hard worker, technology enthusiast, and a die-hard innovator, he established his start-up in 2018 post spending years building Goalwit Technologies, the parent company which specializes in IT services.
A Oracle Certified Java Associate and Professional, he fell in love with programming at school and delved deeper into it while at college. It is when he realized that technology-based products is what his passion lied in. Despite being a successful entrepreneur, he is down to earth and dedicates his time to social work.
He is the founding member of Sir Syed Entrepreneurship Forum, a society promoting entrepreneurship and young leadership within the community. Inspired by the ideals of Sir Syed, Hammad is driven to contribute towards his community in whatever ways he possibly can. These ideals have also reflected in his professional life as Nikah Forever regularly pioneered campaigns for social causes, including two highly-talked about standing up against the evil practices of Dowry and Excessive Marriage Spending.
“Being a socially-conscious brand shouldn’t be a USP, but a basic necessity. As an organization, I strive to build a culture that is based on strong morals and ethics,” he remarked. “Each employee of Nikah Forever should reflect the values we stand by.”
Rahman was at an initial disadvantage with limited exposure to the world of startups and technology being born in Darbhanga, a city in Bihar. His journey started when he moved to Delhi to pursue Computer Engineering at Jamia Hamdard University.
Never to look back again, he dug deeper into the Internet world and hit the ground running with Goalwit Technologies. Raking in international clients such as a salwar suits brand, primarily from North America and the Middle East, he started developing in-house products. It is when the seeds of Nikah Forever were laid. A dedicated team of technologists and business development personnel was assigned to build the next-gen matrimony subsidiary, steered by Akhlaque Karim & Farhan Akhtar, technology and marketing enthusiasts from the same alma mater.
Hammad is an avid reader and claims that this habit has been a major determinant of his success. “You are no better than someone who can’t read if you don’t actually do too. As a startup founder or a CEO, reading and continuous learning is essential” he added. “Nothing can replace it. I would highly recommend Zero to One to anyone who plans to start-up.”
His startup has stood the test of time and fared well during the pandemic as it faced intense competition from 2-decade old incumbents Shaadi, BharatMatrimony and JeevanSathi with deep-pockets. “Nothing is impossible. The only thing that stops you from achieving your dreams is self-imposed limitations. You are as strong as you think you are. Dream big and work hard”, he shared his success mantra.
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