Samim is the Co-founder and CEO of siift.ai, his fifth startup venture. He recently left his role leading Generative AI Product Strategy at TELUS to focus entirely on building "The Founder’s Compass," an AI advisor designed to help early-stage entrepreneurs validate and scale their ideas. An engineer by training with a history of building in IoT and fire safety, Samim is now leveraging his experience in large-scale AI deployment to fix the systematic inefficiencies that hold back new founders.
01
Honesty is a dying skill; it’s not about filtering what you say but rather facing reality and maintaining integrity - especially as a business owner. Don’t let “story-telling” replace trust as your primary currency, you won’t last long. How does this help you win? Most lies are told to ourselves... Think twice about where to play, how you show up and what you offer. It’s not black & white, but even greyscale takes calibration.
02
If you don’t consistently believe in yourself and keep trying to improve, chances are others won’t either. A “growth mindset” isn’t showing off, it’s about relentlessly improving yourself through self-awareness and self-love. How does this help you win? Your vision of success probably requires you to become a different, better version of yourself... someone who’s put themselves out there, failed & tried again 1000x.
03
Being a student of human behavior and understanding people can be a superpower for entrepreneurs - IF they turn off their criticisms and zoom in on individuals and emotions, things don’t have to make sense. How does this help you win? As AI automates technical work and floods everything, what will stand out is what makes you feel human connection, your identity, values, background, taste, brand... society is at the verge of redefining what it means to be human - keep up.
One thing to take away
The next generation of Founders have a growing responsibility to build the right things - but don’t rush. Take your time to understand yourself & the world around you; as AI removes technical barriers & the world is desperate for change, the only differentiator is who you are.
