RFC · Nixor College · Entrepreneurship

Two founder courses. Start small, then go deep.

A request for comments. The idea is to start with the easy one and learn. Course 1, The Founders Series: five alumni founder talks, simple to run. We launch it, get feedback, and iterate. Then, if it lands, Course 2, the Masterclass: the deeper, hands-on course that gives students the tools to found, finding a problem and building an MVP.

Status
Request for comments
Author
Aqib Ansari · Nixor '14
Date
29 June 2026
Proposing now
Phase 1 · fireside chats
Summary

Nixor already has the engine for entrepreneurship: Nixor Corporate and the hackathon. What it doesn't have is a steady supply of inspiration and role models, or a structured way to teach the founder skill. This RFC proposes both as two courses: start with the easy one, learn from it, then run the deeper one.

Course 1, The Founders Series (start now): five weekly fireside chats with alumni founders, packaged as an enrolled course with a small fee. Students register and commit, so we get a serious room rather than a drop-in crowd. TU Munich runs exactly this as a 3-ECTS course.

Course 2, the masterclass (optional deep dive): for the students who want the hands-on tools, a course built on the two things that turn a student into a founder: problem identification and building MVPs.

Two courses, in sequence COURSE 1 The Founders Series EASY · START HERE • 5 weekly founder talks • Inspire · show role models • Enrolled course · small fee · open to all → if it lands COURSE 2 The Masterclass DEEPER · LATER • 6 hands-on sessions • Tools · find a problem, build an MVP • Optional deep dive · the serious few
What the program does for one student belief + ability → TODAY In a Nixor seat "is this even possible?" FIRESIDE Inspired "someone like me did it" MASTERCLASS Equipped finds problems · builds MVPs CORPORATE → FOUNDER Building ships something real
6+
alumni founders to draw from: Maqsad, Bazaar, Daraz, Bykea, Beyond Presence, Beam
$100M+
raised across their companies. Nixor's network builds at scale
$10B+
Cursor, co-founded by Nixor alum Sualeh Asif (Nixor → MIT → a top AI company)

#01 Where this fits in the big picture

Nixor's entrepreneurship ecosystem already exists. This RFC adds the two layers it's missing, and slots them next to what's already working rather than on top of it.

What exists, and where the two new layers slot in EXISTING Hackathon get students excited to build NEW · THIS RFC The Founders Series a course of founder talks NEW · LATER Masterclass equip / give the tools to found Nixor Corporate the engine: 13 student-run companies where students already run real ventures NIC Karachi · real startups: Cursor · Beam · Maqsad · Bazaar
The pointThe hackathon excites; Nixor Corporate is where students do. This RFC adds inspiration (fireside) and later skills (masterclass), so a student moves from "I didn't know this was possible" → "I have role models" → "I have the tools" → "I'm building in my Corporate entity."
What it does for Nixor itselfThis isn't only for the students, it helps the institution. Recorded founder stories pull in top applicants: "a Nixor student co-founded Cursor" is proof no brochure can match. They give the college a structured reason to bring successful alumni home and deepen the network. And every recording keeps working as marketing long after the night.

#02 The Founders Series

A fireside chat at Nixor founder & host students The Founders Series NIXOR COLLEGE HOST FOUNDER students in the room

The concept

The Founders Series is a short, enrolled course built from five recorded, on-stage conversations with Nixor alumni founders, each hosted by a fellow founder in front of students. Deliberately high-level and personal, not tactical. The job is to inspire and to show role models: people who sat in these classrooms and went on to build something real. The masterclass (Course 2) is where tactics live. This course is about why, and who you could become.

Why a course, not a drop-in seriesWhen students register and pay, they show up and they commit, so the room is full of people who actually want to be there. That's better for the students, and better for the founders, who would much rather talk to a committed cohort than a half-empty hall. The fee is also skin in the game, the same logic as the build track. It's a proven model: TU Munich runs "Innovative Entrepreneurs" as a registered 3-ECTS course built entirely from founder guest talks, and Stanford (ETL) and Texas State (MGT 3360) do the same. Nixor can't grant ECTS, so the commitment device is a modest fee plus a certificate of completion.
A credential students can claim CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION The Founders Series

Why we should do it

Why it works: belief, not ability, is the barrier A 16-year-old, here A founder who sat here the belief gap: "founders are other people, elsewhere" one fireside chat puts the proof three feet away

Put someone who sat in these seats three feet away, and the gap collapses. It's also nearly free to run. And by what students ask, it tells us exactly what the masterclass should cover.

What the founders talk about: five moves

High-level and personal, built to inspire 1 · NIXOR YEARS what shaped you here NES · Corporate · teachers 2 · THE LEAP how you founded the first real step 3 · ACADEMICS school + ambition how to approach it 4 · LOOKING BACK what you'd redo honest regrets 5 · ADVICE TODAY to a Nixor student + live Q&A › › › › Then student Q&A, where we capture what resonates for the masterclass.

How to prep & run an amazing one

A great fireside chat is won in prep. The trick is to do the work for the founder so they show up relaxed and look brilliant. Three steps:

The prep is the secret: two steps before, one on stage IN THE DAYS BEFORE THE EVENT STEP 1 · THE SECRET WEAPON Friend pre-talk ~20–30 min · a close friend mine the vivid stories the founder won't raise themselves STEP 2 Founder prep call 30 min · with the founder align themes, float the stories, tell them what you'll ask STEP 3 Live fireside 45 min · on stage hosted conversation + student Q&A › ›
Why start with the friendPeople close to a founder will hand you the vivid, often flattering stories the founder is too modest to tell, plus the questions worth asking. It makes the chat better and the founder feel great, and it cuts their prep to almost nothing. The founder gets to shine without having to dig for their own highlights.
Step 1 · ask the friend
  • The story most people don't know about them
  • What they're too modest to bring up themselves
  • The moment that really defines who they are
  • What lights them up, what they'd talk about for an hour
  • A spicy or contrarian opinion they hold
  • A funny, human moment that makes them relatable
Step 2 · the 30-min founder call
  • Build rapport so they're comfortable, not interrogated
  • Agree on 4–6 themes: a map, not a script
  • Float the friend's best stories: "can we go there?"
  • Share the arc and your opening question so they can think, but don't rehearse answers
  • Name any no-go zones up front
Step 3 · on the night (45 min)
  • Open with the strong, slightly flattering question. It relaxes them instantly
  • Follow the energy, not the list. "Say more about that" is where the magic is
  • Drop in the friend's stories as prompts: "I heard that when X happened…"
  • Hold the arc loosely; leave ~15 min for student Q&A
  • End on the advice-to-a-student moment
  • It's recorded, so a great night becomes a permanent asset

The founders, starting with Aqib Ansari

AA
Aqib Ansari
Beam AI · enterprise AI
Host: Sir Nadeem
Session 1 · opener
Sells AI to the world's top enterprises: Volkswagen, Porsche, Zurich Insurance
Talks about
Growing up at Nixor and NES; how he balanced academics with building; how Beam AI went from nothing to selling AI to enterprises like Volkswagen, Porsche and Zurich Insurance; and what he'd do differently. The Nixor → global arc, first-hand.
Why it moves students
The most direct mirror. Same classrooms, now a global AI company. The clearest "this could be me," and the right person to set the tone for the series.
Opening Q  "You sat in these exact seats. What did Nixor give you that you only understood years later?"
RA
Rooshan Aziz
Maqsad · edtech
Host: Aqib Ansari
#1 education app in Pakistan · 1M+ downloads
Talks about
His path from Karachi to LSE to founder; why he left a London banking career to come home and build Maqsad, the app that teaches Pakistani students; and the mindset shifts along the way.
Why it moves students
He's building the thing they'd study with, so he's the most relatable founder. "Left the safe path to build for my own people" lands hard on students pushed toward safe careers.
Opening Q  "You had the London job everyone wants. What made you walk away from it?"
SJ
Saad Jangda
Bazaar · B2B
Host: Aqib Ansari
$100M+ raised · Forbes 30 Under 30
Talks about
How he found his way to building Bazaar, turning Pakistan's overlooked corner-store economy into a company that raised $100M+, while balancing ambition with the expected path, and his honest do-overs.
Why it moves students
Ambition and scale from Karachi, not Silicon Valley. Proof that "boring," overlooked problems are where the biggest companies hide.
Opening Q  "If you could redo your A-level years, what would you do differently?"

Every talk is recorded, so the wider student body still benefits even though live seats are for the enrolled cohort.

The proposal: dates, students, topics, founders

#Proposed dateFounderThe lensHost
115 July 2026 (launch)Aqib Ansari · Beam AINixor → selling AI to the world's top enterprisesSir Nadeem
222 July 2026Rooshan Aziz · MaqsadLeaving the safe path to build for PakistanAqib Ansari
329 July 2026Saad Jangda · BazaarBuilding big from an overlooked marketAqib Ansari
45 Aug 2026Muneeb Maayr · Daraz, BykeaBuilding whole new categories in PakistanAqib Ansari
512 Aug 2026Awais Shafique · Beyond PresenceCompeting at the global AI frontier from PakistanAqib Ansari
Cadence
One a week, starting 15 July. A tight run keeps the momentum going. Dates to confirm against the calendar.
Students
Register to enrol, with a modest fee for commitment. Scholarship seats so cost doesn't gate talent.
Format
Five weekly talks, ~45 min each, as one enrolled course. Certificate on completion. Each prepped beforehand (see below).
Run by
Nixor Logistics X runs the room; Nixor Studio records. You just host.
A pro move: the closed room afterPair each public talk with a small closed Q&A or dinner for ~10 of the keenest students. It gives the founder the talent access they came for, and rewards the students most likely to actually build. A one-night talk becomes a set of real relationships.
The closed room after the founder ~10 of the keenest students · where the relationships start

Why a student walks in

"Someone like me did this"

Nixor → global stops being a fantasy and becomes a path they've now seen people walk.

Permission to be ambitious

Hearing how these founders thought rewrites what's "reasonable" to want vs. the safe default.

Clarity, early and cheap

A low-cost way to test whether the founder path is for them, before they commit to a track.

Why the founders will say yes

A small ask for a big return THE FOUNDER GIVES ~90 minutes one evening · one story Fireside chat on stage, recorded AND GETS BACK Giving back to their own school Building their personal brand A genuinely fun evening They're Nixor alumni, so giving back to their own school is the strongest pull of all.

This is why an all-alumni roster matters: people give back hardest to the place that made them. The ask also lands warm, from a fellow founder, not a cold institutional invite. And because we do all the prep, it's low-effort and genuinely fun for them: a conversation they look forward to, not a chore on the calendar.

#03 The masterclass (optional deep dive)

Course 2, conditional on the first course landing. Where The Founders Series is inspiration, the masterclass is tools. It's built around the two things that actually turn a student into a founder.

Inside a masterclass session founder students THE BUILD BOARD PROBLEM → MVP Problem → MVP students building the coach A small cohort building, with a founder coaching.
Two focuses: give students exposure, then the tools to found 1 · Problem Identification find what's actually worth building • Spotting problems worth solving, B2C & B2B • Talking to users · thinking in problems • Defining your space Rooshan Aziz · Aqib Ansari · Muneeb Maayr · Awais Shafique → 2 · Building MVPs make it real, fast, with AI tools • Build an MVP with AI (the hackathon skill) • Get your first 10 users • Ship & demo Aqib Ansari · Saad Jangda Outcome: real exposure + the tools to go and found something of their own
What students walk out with: a product that's actually live myapp.live LIVE Ship it + first 10 users

When it could run

Three options on the calendar JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC The Founders Series A · fast follow B · weekly, through a term C · winter-break bootcamp

A: strike while the energy's hot · B: the most thorough · C: when students have time to build, ending in a demo day.

The build track sits just past thisThe most serious teams can carry their MVP into a short, lightly funded build sprint (skin-in-the-game stake + AI starter pack → demo day → NIC Karachi). Sketched in build-track.md. A Phase 3 question, not a Phase 1 one.

#04 Request for comments

This is a draft. A few open questions to weigh in on before we lock the first course:

The bar for the deep diveRun the masterclass if, after the first Founders Series: the room fills and the Q&A runs hot, a strong builder interest list signs up (say, 50+), and the founders are happy to return. A low, honest bar, and one we'll know when we see it.
The ask

Approve the first Founders Series: a five-week enrolled course starting 15 July, with Aqib Ansari opening. The founders volunteer, Nixor Corporate runs the room, students enrol and pay a modest fee. We run it, we record it, we learn what to teach in the deep dive. Everything after is earned by how the first course goes.

Do this well, and in a few years a student who walked into a fireside chat at 16 ships their first company before they graduate.