Episode 40 | Abubakar Sheriff Is Building The Event OS For Muslim Organizations

تفصیل

In this episode, we sit down with Abubakar Sheriff, founder of Qariyb — a platform reimagining how Muslim organizations discover, manage, and host events. Born in Saudi Arabia, raised in Philly, and shaped by time in the Middle East, Abubakar brings a truly global perspective to entrepreneurship and community building. We dive deep into his journey from instructional designer and online education pioneer to solo founder navigating the highs and lows of building in the Muslim tech space. Abubakar opens up about bootstrapping Qariyb, finding his CTO through Islamic makers networks, and the pivotal decision to shift from a marketplace model to an event operating system — putting brand control and data privacy back in the hands of Muslim organizations. We also get into the bigger conversations around AI and the future of education, the untapped potential of the Islamic economy, why building niche isn't a limitation, and the real challenges of raising capital as a Muslim founder. 00:00 Leaving the US Behind 00:51 Caravan Podcast Intro 01:19 Moving to Dallas 02:11 Roots in Philly and Gulf 02:58 Cheesesteak Debate 03:56 Liberia and Identity 05:01 COVID and Staying Put 06:04 Why Kariyb Started 07:07 Community Tech Gap 10:14 Solo Founder to Cofounder 11:18 First Startup in EdTech 13:19 COVID Learning Loss 15:19 AI and Future Learning 16:54 Startup Lessons Learned 19:49 Building for Muslims 22:30 Faith Tech Market Proof 25:50 Pivot to Event OS 28:46 White Label Value Prop 29:40 Organizer Led Growth 30:13 Muslim Owned Data Trust 30:48 Pricing and Licensing Plans 31:14 Privacy First Data Model 32:51 Social Sharing vs Privacy 34:03 Target Users and Safety Concerns 36:08 Infrastructure Layer Pivot 38:15 Fundraising and Investor Fit 42:40 Traction and Revenue Signals 43:12 Customer Feedback Drives Rebrand 46:09 Hiring the CTO 51:41 Goals and Ideal Customers 54:49 Closing and Thanks