News Highlights
Bangladesh’s entrepreneurial energy is strong, but the rush to copy trending business models is limiting real innovation. The article argues that not every new venture qualifies as a startup; true startups solve real problems, bring innovation, and have the potential to scale meaningfully. While past decades were shaped by industries such as steel, automobiles, finance, and technology, today’s most impactful startups focus on sustainability, climate resilience, and environmental solutions. Bangladesh, however, continues to follow outdated models while green and climate-focused innovators struggle for funding and support. The piece calls for a clear definition of startups, targeted policies, and lower barriers to help essential, future-oriented ventures grow—shifting focus from popular ideas to those that truly matter.
Chasing What Matters
– Written by, Co-founder and CEO of Accfintax
In Bangladesh, ambition is never in short supply. Our people are naturally enterprising. We have all seen small ventures grow into respectable businesses, sometimes with nothing more than a smartphone, determination and a good idea. But we also tend to follow trends too quickly. The moment one e-commerce or f-commerce business takes off, many others rush in. If a delivery app gains traction, a dozen more appear. If a ride-sharing company makes it big, suddenly everyone wants a share of the same market.
This is why we need a clear, thoughtful definition of what a startup means in our country. Not every new business is a startup. A true startup solves a real problem, brings innovation and has the potential to grow beyond small circles. Without that distinction, we risk wasting energy and resources on ideas that do not push us forward, while truly transformative ventures get lost in the noise.
To see why this matters, it helps to look at how industries have shaped history. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, steel built cities, railways and the framework of modern civilisation. From the 1920s to the 1950s, the automobile industry transformed how we lived and moved. From the 1970s onwards, banking and finance became dominant, as deregulation made global money movement faster and more complex. At the same time, oil and gas companies rose to power, shaping the global economy through energy supply and consumption.
Then came the digital age. In the 1990s, the internet changed the way we did business. After the dot-com crash of 2000, a few survivors reshaped the world. From the early 2000s to today, tech and e-commerce have led the way. Amazon, Google and Facebook began as ideas and became global platforms used by billions.
Read the full original column by Ahmed Humayun Murshed in The Daily Star:
🔗 Chasing What Matters