Md Al-Amin Sarker Tayef: How I Saved Over $500,000 Whereas Constructing a Startup in Bangladesh

Written by Md Al-Amin Sarker Tayef

As founders, we’re typically pushed by optimism and urgency. We wish to launch quick. We wish to develop quick. The startup hype—particularly in right now’s world—is actual and relentless. However that very same hype typically pushes us into pricey errors. Typically, these errors price us our whole startups.

However a startup isn’t nearly launching a product or elevating capital. It’s about constructing a sustainable enterprise—and there are numerous methods to try this. The present narrative tells us to lift cash and spend quick within the identify of progress. However progress doesn’t come from self-importance. It comes from consistency, effectivity, and grit.

On this publish, I’m sharing my journey of constructing Barikoi Maps, a tech-first enterprise, as cash-efficiently as doable. Over the past 7 years, I’ve saved the corporate over $500,000 (BDT 6 crore)—cash that helped us survive, develop, and compete in opposition to giants like Google and Mapbox. Right here’s how we did it:

1. Engineer Founders = Early Value Benefit

Barikoi is a tech middleware enterprise—you possibly can’t construct it with out severe know-how. Fortunately, I’m a software program engineer, and my co-founders are too. This gave us a large benefit early on—we didn’t want to rent builders to get our first product out.

However past the tech stack, engineering expertise alone will not construct the enterprise. And that is the place we needed to be much more resourceful.

2. If You’re Constructing a Tech-Enabled Startup, Don’t Begin With Tech

In case you’re constructing a tech-enabled (not tech-first) enterprise, don’t rent engineers instantly. First, work out your operations manually. Use Google Sheets, Notion, WhatsApp—no matter works. When you’re on the level of burnout or bottleneck, herald a co-founder or seek the advice of a trusted tech pal or attain out to different founders (they all the time assist)

Hiring builders with out clear path wastes money and time. Particularly in Bangladesh, the place expertise is commonly measured in years—not outcomes—hiring a “5-year skilled” dev should still set you again with out tangible outcomes.

3. Select Tech Stack for Velocity, Not Hype

Don’t chase fashionable stacks. Select tech that’s simple to construct with and has a large expertise pool. For us, PHP was the reply. It helped us go from 0 to over 2 million API calls per day with out overengineering.

PHP builders are simple to seek out, inexpensive, and may get your MVP off the bottom rapidly. That call alone can prevent BDT 30k–100k/month.

4. Maximize Free Credit Earlier than Paying for Cloud

Use each cloud credit score you will get your palms on. Right here’s what we’ve used:

• $10k AWS
• $40k Huawei
• $150k Microsoft Azure
• $150k Google Cloud

And throughout 7 years, we’ve paid solely $5k–$8k in precise cloud payments. Startups bleed money on infra when free choices are sometimes sufficient to achieve early traction.

5. Purchase 2nd-Hand Laptops, Not Model New

We used DCL laptops value BDT 20–30k every (as an alternative of fifty–60k for HP/Dell). They labored fantastic and plenty of are nonetheless in use 5+ years later. In case you want Apple gear, purchase a used Mac Mini M1—you could find one for BDT 32–35k now.

6. No Workplace? No Drawback

Don’t hire a elaborate workplace from day one. Begin with a house workplace or a co-working house like CoStation. And whenever you do get an workplace, don’t waste cash on designer furnishings.

We began with a BDT 2,500 desk and 6 metal chairs at BDT 800 every. We used these for a 12 months. It took us 3 years to get an AC and 4 years earlier than our workforce acquired their first Mac.

7. Frugality Is a Aggressive Benefit

The extra money you save by not exhibiting off, the extra you possibly can spend money on progress, runway, and product. At Barikoi, frugality grew to become a part of our tradition. It’s helped us construct a resilient, tech-first firm in some of the difficult environments—Bangladesh.

And sure, we’re nonetheless right here—rising, transport, and competing.

In case you’re a founder simply beginning out, I hope this helps you rethink the place you spend your cash. You don’t want a million-dollar finances to construct a fantastic firm—you simply want self-discipline and readability.

Concerning the writer: Md Al Amin Sarker Tayef is the Co-Founding father of Barikoi, a Bangladesh-based mapping and site intelligence firm. For the previous 7 years, he has been constructing Barikoi to serve companies in rising markets like Bangladesh with inexpensive, privacy-focused map infrastructure. Previous to founding Barikoi, Tayef labored with AmarBike, the primary bike taxi firm in Bangladesh. A software program engineer by coaching, he’s captivated with fixing native issues with scalable know-how.

This text was first revealed in writer’s LinkedIn weblog. Republished right here with permission.

Cowl photograph: A snapshot of a part of BariKoi workforce.