Lootmaar beta launched
September 18, 2007
An ebay for Pakistan? Yes definitely. Starting modestly but headed towards monumental success. Would you believe that the Business Plan for this start-up was developed in Jawwad Farid’s class? You all know Jawwad – the ‘evil’ fellow who convinces well-paid executives in multinational software companies to abandon their cushy existence and become struggling entrepreneurs.
One of the founders of Lootmaar is Adnan Haider whose previous venture was imaGyn, a non-profit medical device company he co-founded in the US. The founders of imaGyn were featured in BusinessWeek, Yahoo News, US National Public Radio, and all major Pakistani newspapers. Prior to this, he actually admits to being a technical specialist at IBM. He has a degree in engineering management from Duke.
The co-founder of Lootmaar is Noman Turab, another graduate of Szabist who then ventured out to Middlesex for further education. Other members of the team that conceptualized Lootmaar include Majid Shaikh (also an IBM-er) and Adeel Tufail who specializes in alternative distribution and electronic payments.
I am one of the beta-testers for this site. It has a nice easy-to-use, fresh, bright interface. I have not yet posted any items on it but I intend to hopefully tomorrow. This has been launched just in time. I have moved offices and want to sell some of my old computer equipment, a fax machine, a couple of old ipods, a digital camera or two and some mobile phones I no longer use.
Mohtashim, who has actually bid for and bought an item on lootmaar.com, says that the experience was flawless (and Mohtashim isn’t that easy to please – another one of those ‘evil’ characters I know).
The site has a limited number of sellers on it at the moment but any of you can register, bid for and buy any item that is available there. You have to be Karachi based right now until Lootmaar works out a deal with a courier in Lahore and Islamabad – which will happen any time soon.
Watch this space for more about Lootmaar.com. In case you are wondering, (or even if you are not), I am one of their self-proclaimed evangelists.
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1. Lootmaar - Local Ebay lau&hellip | September 20, 2007 at 6:28 am
[...] Ara has done a great roundup of the company, adding this information about the founders One of the founders of Lootmaar is Adnan Haider whose [...]
2.
Adnan | September 22, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Jehan,
.
Thanks for covering Lootmaar on your blog. We have closed a few transactions and are learning a lot about user preferences. Be sure to put your numerous apple accessories on sale. There are bidders waiting with their fingers on the “submit” button
3. I got mine on Lootmaar &r&hellip | September 27, 2007 at 1:00 am
[...] the meanwhile, Jehan Ara Pasha (:P), used Lootmaar, liked it and wrote a post on it. Osama picked up the story from Jehan’s blog, and wrote a valuable analysis. My baby was [...]
4. بے سر و پا »&hellip | August 10, 2008 at 12:00 am
[...] مار ڈاٹ کام بیٹا شاید 2007 میں ستمبر میں لانچ کی گئی تھی لیکن مجھے اس کا پتا کچھ ہی دنوں پہلے [...]
5. What’s Wrong With: Loot&hellip | January 30, 2009 at 8:25 pm
[...] have been following (or at least trying to follow) lootmaar.com since I read about it on Jehan Ara’s blog. I have always wondering about the future of online auction in Pakistan. Ebay, as we all know, is [...]