Driving Growth: Efani's 78.5% surge in userbase

Hey folks, welcome to yet another exciting episode of Smooth Operators' Guide! Here we dive into the tech trenches, with the top-notch – CTOs, CEOs, CMOs, and CROs – sharing the apps that fuel their businesses. These sessions are a treasure trove, sharing best practices directly from the leaders.

And this week, brace yourselves for Haseeb Awan, the dynamic CEO and co-founder at Efani, who is ready to share his exclusive insights into business. Let's get into it!

1. Tell us a little about yourself. Introduce yourself to our audience, talk about your current role, when you started Efani, and why.I’m Haseeb Awan, the brains and passion behind Efani Secure Mobile. As the CEO and Founder, my mission is crystal clear: safeguarding the cell phones of high-net-worth individuals from sim swap attacks and other hacks. Nearly 80 percent of all phone hack attacks are successful, and we ensure it doesn’t happen to Efani users by our 11 layer security protocols. We are so confident about our solution that we offer 5 Million dollar insurance and 60 days money back guarantee, no questions asked. A few years ago, I found myself on the wrong end of being hacked four times in just 18 months – that’s when a personal hassle turned into a professional calling. I am a Telecom Engineer and Y Combinator Alumni, and I co-founded a Bitcoin ATM Startup that got acquired & now trading on NASDAQ.
2. What does your day-to-day look like as founder at Efani. What projects or initiatives do you lead or are working on right now?While I'm naturally an extrovert and thrive on client interactions, my role includes a primary focus on management responsibilities and the establishment of streamlined processes. My day-to-day is all about backing up my colleagues, and ensuring they have the support they need to hit their goals. It's a bit of a juggling act, but I make sure everything runs smoothly.
3. What growth verticals or channels are you bullish on and why?When it comes to getting the message across, especially for Efani, I find video content to be the go-to. What's interesting is that 67.5% of our growth comes from our existing clients, and this trend seems to be holding strong. And for those who aren't familiar with us yet, reaching out to new audiences, video is the most effective way to break the ice.
4. How do you measure success? What metrics, and KPIs tell you whether you’re headed the right way?Our primary focus is on (ARR), although we don't have specific rigid targets set in stone. Last year, we witnessed a substantial growth of 78.5%, and the plan is to double that this year. In simpler terms, our main goal is straightforward: secure as many people as we can within the year.
5. Every leader has one driving force that tells the whole story. What’s that one for you and why?Number of people secured. It's all about enabling individuals to perform their best without the worry of their phones being hacked.
6. What are your go-to tools for running your day-to-day?I like to keep things simple with fewer tools. Many of the tools we use are built in-house to align with how our systems are structured. Plus, considering our strict compliance requirements, we make an effort to minimize external tool usage as much as possible.
7. Rapid fire round. Which tool(s) would you say:

• Is your Swiss army knife: Probably Google Sheets/Excel
• You cannot live without in your stack: Email
• Undiscovered gem: Sheets: You can run your entire business with it.
• New to your stack: We’re testing a few email deliverability tools.

Haseeb has a solid track record with two successful business exits and has managed to secure over $100 million in venture capital. He's been in the blockchain game from the early days, making him one of the pioneers in the field. On top of that, he's not just an investor in 30+ companies but also advises over 10 others.

As a co-founder of BitAccess, Haseeb spearheaded a team that took their customer base from zero to four million users. In an impressive 18 months, they expanded the business to 15 countries across four continents. Haseeb is also an alumnus of Y-Combinator and Next Founders.

Haseeb’s Twitter: twitter.com/haseeb

Haseeb’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/haseebawan

Efani Website- https://www.efani.com/

Efani Blog: https://www.efani.com/blog

Efani Podcast, Videos, Newsletter: https://www.efani.com/resource

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