Zain Ali is the CEO and co-founder of Centuro Global, a platform for companies to manage their expansion plans covering aspects from immigration to payroll and HR.
Ali, who comes from an intellectual property lawyer background, co-founded the software-as-a-service company in 2019 and the platform launched in 2020.
The London-headquartered company raised £3.3m in March this year and has 25 full-time employees.
In this week’s Founder in Five Q&A, Ali shares the importance of market validation, recalls pitching to an investor of a “well-known fund” while they ate breakfast in their car, and explains why AI is one of the most misunderstood technologies.
1. What’s a common mistake that you see founders make?
Zain Ali: I see many early-stage founders start building companies with a lack of market validation. It’s essential to thoroughly understand the target market, customer needs, and competition before investing significant time and resources....