In only five years, image messaging app Snapchat has gained a lot of popularity among netizens who love to share pictures of their daily lives and special moments with their friends.
While Snapchat has turned into a $25 billion juggernaut, little did we know that one of the main men behind its success is Imran Khan, who is a Bangladeshi.
Recently, many Bangladeshi-origin individuals have caught the eye of the media for their successes in the West. Munira Ahmed came to the fore for becoming the face of the anti-Trump protest, Dr Mohammad Ali Bhuiyan for running for US Congress, Munsur Ali for becoming the first British Bangladeshi to be elected as a councillor to the City of London, and the list goes on.
With the exception of Imran, however, most of these people are either British Bangladeshis or Bangladeshi Americans.
Imran, who was born and raised in Bangladesh, is the chief strategy officer of the multimedia mobile application. The son of a private entrepreneur and housewife, Imran grew up in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi and studied at the famous Government Laboratory High School in the city.
He recently came into the limelight after several international media outlets started reporting about him and his connection to Snapchat.
Dhaka Tribune dug into Imran’s roots back home and found out he was an active member of the Bangladesh Debate Federation during his days at Dhaka College.
Dr Abdun Noor Tushar, who is the current chief executive officer (CEO) of NagorikTV, was the general secretary of Bangladesh Debate Federation when Imran joined it in 1994.
Tushar transferred his position to Imran when he was just completing his Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) in 1996.
Tushar said: “We would visit his [Imran] home regularly and play computer games together. Imran taught me how to use the internet since he was already familiar with it, as his father’s shipping agency business was running online at that time.
“After learning it from Imran, even I got an internet connection at my home six months later.”
He said: “We were in touch for a long time but we lost contact after he joined Snapchat because he stopped using Facebook and other social media networks.”
The now 39-year-old went to the United States as a student and graduated from the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business in 2000.
In a recent report, the Business Insider said Wildblue, a small Denver-based satellite broadband start-up, was the first professional work done by the computer geek after he moved to ING Barings in New York.
After ING was sold to ABN Amro, he switched to Fulcrum in 2001, where he worked with sell-side research on technology companies.
From Fulcrum, Imran moved to JPMorgan in 2004, where he rose through the ranks to become the head of global internet and US entertainment equity research.
He was, then, one of the youngest JP Morgan managing directors at the age of 29.
Imran has also been an IPO analyst for companies like Google, Shutterfly, Dice, Mercadolibre, Orbitz, and Shanda.
In May 2011, Imran switched jobs to lead Credit Suisse’s Internet banking franchise. He was ranked one of the top internet and media equity analysts by the “Institutional Investor” magazine.
At Credit Suisse, Imran worked on some of the biggest tech IPOs like Alibaba, Go Daddy, Box, Group On, Weibo, and so on.
Imran was hired by Snap while working as Credit Suisse’s head of global internet investment banking.
Snap Inc, the parent company of the popular app Snapchat, went public on March 2 this year. The public offering was set to make a windfall for its management team members, one of whom is Imran.
With this change, the shares of the research analyst turned investment banker turned chief strategist became worth $145 million.
According to various news reports, Imran is said to have a wide professional network and is responsible for the company’s move from Snapchat to Snap Inc, as well as getting a $200 million investment from Alibaba.
Apart from handling the Snap Inc IPO, Imran’s role as Chief Strategy Officer is ensuring revenue growth, business expansion, as well as managing ad sales.
He is said to have been crucial to Snap Inc’s fortunes, helping the company grow its revenue from $58.7 million in 2015 to $404.5 million within a year.
Imran’s childhood friend Shahab Enam Khan, a doctoral fellow at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Imran and I went to the same school. We are in touch and he avoids talking about social media.
“Maybe it is because he works for Snapchat and there could be restrictions related to his work.”
Also Read- A Bangladeshi mind behind Snapchat success