Bangladesh Angels Bangladesh Angels Network (BAN)

Ricky Pearl loves problem-solving. From birthday treasure hunts with his family to complex business challenges, he has never been presented with a problem that he hasn't relished the opportunity to solve -the more creative the solution the better. So when he noticed that many business owners seemed to be encountering the same issues with hiring, training, and managing their sales teams - he knew there "was something there."

He drew on his extensive management, sales, and technical experience to create Pointer - an outsourced sales agency that uniquely provides "sales as a service" to businesses who don't have the time or resources to effectively manage their own internal sales department.

Since founding Pointer, South African-born Ricky has established himself as one of Australia's sales leaders, partnering with organisations like Start Up Vic, Pavilion, and RevGenius to bring sales knowledge, advice, and new ideas for getting each client’s solution or product in front of the business managers who need them most.


In this discussion, Ricky shared:


His background and how he came to be in this space


His career and his journey to Pointer


Overview of Pointer, the kind of clients it takes on, and its revenue model 


How sales differ when it's founder-led vs team-led


How should sales interact with product development? What about product marketing?  


Product-led growth/inbound vs outbound - when is one better than the other? 


Building relationships within the portfolio and future growth plan for pointer 

Javette Nixon is a serial entrepreneur, speaker, and investor. In addition to being the founder of Seaforth Holdings Limited, a boutique investment and holding firm specializing in impact investing and the nurturing of emerging businesses and social enterprises, Javette has three other companies under his business portfolio which include Point Global Marketing Limited, Esther Ventures Limited, and Esther Finance Limited. Moreover, he serves as a director at Vein Centers of Jamaica Ltd and the Social & Economic Alliance for Development.

With a wealth of experience spanning over two decades in diverse industries across the United States and Jamaica, Javette demonstrates a fervent commitment to volunteerism and philanthropy, coupled with expertise in areas such as web development and design, economics, commerce, media, e-commerce, banking, and Internet marketing.

In this session, Javette shared:


His background and the path that led him to become a serial entrepreneur, investor, and speaker, alongside insights into his experiences in the United States and Jamaica


His vision and strategies regarding Seaforth Holdings Limited's focus on impact investing and nurturing emerging businesses and social enterprises


The companies in his diverse portfolio


His multifaceted interests and expertise

Mr. Thompson has been active in the start-up venture space for over 25 years as a builder of companies, angel investor, angel group leader and fund manager. In 2017, Mr. Thompson integrated all these roles into Valhalla Private Capital. In his capacity as Chairman and CEO of Valhalla Private Capital & Managing Partner of Old Kent Road Financial, Mr. Thompson has personally invested in 110 start-up companies and funds. Mr. Thompson oversees direct investing for 125 angel members and 5 funds under management for a total of over $225 million (CDN) in deployed capital.

Valhalla Angels has led its 125+ members to collectively fund over 250 companies for over $70 million dollars since 2003. While most of these investments are in Canada, several of the investments including the funds have been placed globally in 8 additional countries to date. For these efforts, Mr. Thompson was named the National Angel Capital Organization (NACO) 2018 Canadian Angel of the Year and was awarded Startup Canada’s investor of the year for 2015. In addition, he has been asked to share his knowledge and first-hand experience of the startup ecosystem through formal speaking and instruction engagements in 28 countries over the last 3 years. 

Mr. Thompson spends a lot of time in the European ecosystem because of his ownership in an English Football League (EFL) club. Since 2018, Mr. Thompson has been a 25% owner of Peterborough United Football Club (PUFC).

We will hear from him on:


His personal background and how he has come to be in this space


Initial vision, strategy and evolving operating model of VA, including the overview of Base Camp


His thoughts on key models/businesses within his portfolio  


His thoughts on the South Asian/SE Asian ecosystem and its comparison with the ones he is working with


Advice for aspiring founders, investors from Bangladesh

On this episode, Naushad UzZaman discussed cybersecurity, distortion of public opinion, and the use of artificial intelligence and data analysis to combat them. Naushad holds a PhD along has over two decades of experience in Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing, and has applied expertise in both academic research and social enterprise that comes from time spent at leading firms such as Nuance, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Bosch - and now at Blackbird.AI.


Naushad is responsible for the development of Blackbird’s Narrative & Risk Intelligence Platform, and along with his team, has built a unique series of scalable AI and network analysis modules that detect rare risk signals of threats. The real-time AI-powered narrative detection and risk intelligence platform is used by leading enterprises, Fortune 500’s, and large government organizations, globally.

In this session, we learned about:


Naushad's personal background and how he came to be in this space


His career, key companies he was part of, and experience building teams, products, and businesses


Deep dive into how Blackbird AI was founded and built


Thoughts on Bangladesh and how to connect the ecosystem with NRBs like himself

Craig D’Cruze is a multifaceted entrepreneur with a passion for investing. In his 25+ years in equities markets, Craig has developed his outlook that emerging technologies will alleviate the largest hurdles facing the human race.

Prior to joining Inverted Ventures Craig lead teams of between 22 and 70 people as an award-winning Executive Chef for companies like Marriott Hotels International, Delta Hotels, and The University of Calgary. Cost control, budgeting, creativity but most importantly team building, mentoring and growth.

Craig has always been fascinated with numbers, finance, P&L, and cost effectiveness. His attention to detail gives him the ability to read between the lines when analyzing innovative investment ideas.

These factors have led Craig to take on the role of Chief Operating Officer for Inverted Ventures and is responsible for leading the research team on early-stage venture capital investments and cryptocurrency portfolio development.

We heard from him on:


His personal backgrounds
Story of IV & overview of its main activities
The economic make-up of Western Canada including the key components of its innovation ecosystem (a 30000 feet view)
The process of setting up a family office, asset allocation, management
Discussion on a few portfolio companies in which he has invested

Mainul Mondal is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Member of the Board of Directors of Ellipsis Health. As a skilled healthcare IT business leader, Mondal has deep experience in the technology, healthcare, pharmaceutical, retail and defense sectors. In 2020, he was selected as a Milestone Maker by the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center and he serves as a member of the World Economic Forum – working to improve the state of the world by engaging leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas. Previously, Mondal helped launch the ClearStreme initiative with the Freeman Spogli Institute at Stanford University. Prior to founding Ellipsis Health, Mondal was a Rockefeller Fellow at the Public Health Institute. He has presented lectures, ran workshops, and has been a guest speaker at leading universities including Stanford University, the University of California, and the Indian Institutes of Technology.