In 2013, Faizan took his wife to the movies in a distant city, once the city they lived in didn’t have a cinema. However, when they got there, there were no available seats left, which made them got back home frustrated.

With a background in technology, Faizan had an idea: to build a platform in which people could buy their tickets online, so things like what he and his wife went through didn’t happen again.

That’s the moment Faizan started developing Bookme, which today provides tickets for the Cinemas, buses and events.

Want to know how Faizan got from that idea to the traction stage? Don’t miss the 13th episode of The Traction Stage podcast!

SHOW NOTES

What is Bookme and which kind of problem does it solve today?

Basically, Bookme is an e-ticketing platform. We cater currently three areas: cinema, bus, and events. We are primarily focused on developing countries—or countries that don’t have any online ticketing facilities available.

We are currently in two countries: Pakistan and Myanmar. In terms of Pakistan, we are the largest e-ticketing platform. Myanmar is still at a very infancy stage, but we believe it to be a good market in the next coming one or two years.

THE RIGHT TIMING

Regarding the developing countries—or countries that don’t have a digitized economy or more technology-driven—it’s a challenge, because these countries are generally on paper-based. The same goes with Pakistan back in 2013, when we were thinking about launching this startup, there were no digital solutions available. In order to put it in an easier way those bus companies or the cinema companies were using a paper-based ticket.

They were just writing the passenger info or the seat number on a paper, and they handed over that paper to the passenger. And I mean there was no concept of pre-buying a ticket online or any digital payment or something like that.

It was a challenge, but it was, at the same time, a big opportunity, because we’re talking about Pakistan—sixth largest population in the world, 200 million plus people and some massive opportunity—which was yet to be disrupted at that time. So, we found that opportunity at a very good time.

I think timing plays a critical role in the startup success because when you’re trying to tap into a market, if it’s too early it won’t work out or if you’re too late then it gets occupied.

I think timing plays a critical role in the startup success because when you’re trying to tap into a market, if it’s too early it won’t work out or if you’re too late then it gets occupied.

NO SEATS AVAILABLE

At that time—in 2013—I also got married and that was the time when I and my wife planned to watch a movie in a metropolitan city. […] So we drove to Lahore just to watch a movie in a cinema because there was no cinema in our city.

When we reached there, we came to know that there were no seats available and the helpline number—the cinema is used to make a reservation over the phone call—was not answering, because of the lot of load at the box office.

They were only entertaining customers who were buying at the box office and they were not making any reservation. The same thing happened in the next week.

So, I thought: “Why can’t technology play a role in this problem?” “Why shouldn’t technology be used to answer this problem, so you can buy your ticket in advance while staying at your home and you can see the real-time seat and all that?”

Why shouldn’t technology be used to answer this problem, so you can buy your ticket in advance while staying at your home and you can see the real-time seat and all that

That was the time when the idea of Bookme came in.

CHASING A GREAT CHANCE

What were your first steps on executing your idea?

I was going through a very tough time, because the software services company that I was running had a setback because the major client of our company got bankrupt. They had to pay roughly about 65,000 pounds, which was unpaid because of the bankruptcy. So, we were passing through a difficult time and my team was very demotivated and a bit shattered about this news.

But during that time, there was a project, which was initiated by the government of Punjab, which is a province or a state in Pakistan. They initiated a first-ever technology incubator in Pakistan.

It was called Plan9, and they had their first cycle being graduated at that time. That was the only hope because they were giving free office space with a small stipend and office equipment, like laptops and stuff. But the best part was that they were located in Lahore, and it was a government pack project, so it had a lot of credibility with it and they were not charging any equity.

I think it was the only opportunity I had at that time, if I really wanted to execute this idea.

FUNDING THE FIRST STEPS

A part of the salary was being paid through that stipend and part of that expense was paid through a personal loan that I requested from my family member, who was a very close relative. He was helping me with the initial expenses and all that. He helped me for about, like 8 to 10 months to overcome in this difficult time because he believed in the idea that yes, it can grow big.

THE MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT

When was the exact time that you launched your first MVP?

It was March 2014. It was merely a form where you can simply put in your request that you want to see a movie at ‘XYZ’ cinema or you want to book a seat from this city to that city.

It was all manual, there was no integration of stuff at the back end and there was no option to select a real-time seat. It was like: tell us your preference which seat do you want and we will try to make it as close as possible.

And what did you do with the information at that time?

For a customer it was an experience that they see the movies that are currently being played in the cinema.

They just select the movie, go to the list of the cinema, along with the show times, they select the showtime and, as soon as they select that, the system asks: “Which kind of seat that you prefer? Is it center, front or back?” If the cus...