Super-success city graduate is praised in Forbes
ORPHANED at an early age in east Africa, a young internet entrepreneur who went to school and university in Wales has now been featured by one of the world’s leading business magazines.
Zack Ahmed, 22, was adopted by his aunt and uncle and moved to Cardiff when he was 12, where he attended Cathays High School.
Last year he graduated from Cardiff University in Media and Communications – but he’d long had the bug for starting businesses.
While still at school in the Welsh capital he played a critical role in establishing a number of start-ups, including one that acted as an agency for homeowners who wanted to let out their accommodation to those travelling to the Welsh capital for international sporting fixtures.
The Forbes article tells how at the age of 12 Zack got his first laptop. A great fan of Marvel comics, he searched the web for such heroes.
Playing video games opened his eyes to a new world of online communities built around gaming and comics.
Forbes says: “With a strong desire to join these communities and add value he started watching YouTube to learn how to design.
“He started picking it up very quickly and soon after was working with gaming clans such as FaZe Clan, Dare and SoaR designing banners and working on YouTube content for members of their team.
“Ahmed was still in secondary school at the time but loved being able to come home in the evenings and engage in this ‘other world’ with other young people.
“His next step involved learning about video and animation and once upskilled he started to get recognition outside of the gaming industry when he started working innovating content formats for musicians, by animating album and single covers which sparked multiple relationships with international record labels that would commission Ahmed for their content marketing and creative needs.
“This led to Ahmed earning a platinum Brit Award for his creative direction contributions to NSG’s famous music single Options.”
Later Mr Ahmed built a number of successful YouTube-branded channels including Top Trending, with more than five million subscribers, and Tech Vision, which now has a following of more than 500,000 subscribers in the space of 12 months.
Forbes says: “Ahmed is representative of a new class of extremely talented people who rather than going to work for the largest organisations in the world after university are deciding to become entrepreneurs and connect with people internationally and make these organisations his clients.
“Given his age there is certainly much more ahead to come. At this stage, any company would certainly be lucky to have a Zack Ahmed on their roster.”
He told us: “While I think school is important, I also think parents should encourage and support their children with interests in areas like technology, gaming and media by signing them up to things such as Hackathon bootcamps and interactive online learning resources.
“I think you can be any age now and still outperform others in your fields with years of experience, depending on the level of perseverance and ambition you have to be the best. I’ve witnessed this by working with other internet-raised kids like myself who are now shaping the world of global media.
“Cardiff is a place of opportunity. People assume it’s just a place with greenery but many have broken that stereotype. In my realm, we have one of the world’s best universities, with alumni of the likes of Huw Edwards, Susanna Reid and many other phenomenal journalists, executives, researchers and entrepreneurs worldwide.
“Cardiff gave me a moment of stillness, away from other crowded places in the world and a space to really learn and grow while also being a hugely active member of my local community.
“I have met people abroad who recognise Cardiff and mention how it was one of their favourite places in the world – including Beyoncé’s road manager, who I had the opportunity of meeting for dinner during my travels.
“She recalls coming to the city when Beyoncé had a concert there. She told me she has never witnessed a place more welcoming and so community-driven than Cardiff.”