On January 1, 2026, Bangladesh's government published amendments to the Travel Agencies (Registration and Control) Ordinance, 2026. Issued by presidential order, the ordinance arrives after at least three online travel agencies collapsed between 2024 and 2025, allegedly defrauding customers of hundreds of crores in ticket payments. The government earlier published a draft of the same […]
The Dhaka-based hosting platform joins a small but growing list of providers making the viral AI agent easier to deploy. OpenClaw has become 2025's breakout open-source project, surpassing 100,000 GitHub stars within two months with demos of an AI agent that can actually control your digital life through Telegram or WhatsApp. But getting it running […]
Bangladesh has built its economic backbone on the strength of its conglomerates. From ACI to PRAN-RFL to Walton, these diversified business houses have demonstrated remarkable resilience and staying power. The conglomerate model has served us well. In many ways, it is a superior business model. It diversifies risk across multiple sectors, accelerates organizational learning, and […]
Last week, we published a wide-ranging conversation with Arifur Rahman Naim, co-founder and CEO of JoulesLabs, where we explored his unconventional path from a village near Kuakata to running a 25-30 person engineering agency. The interview covered everything from his personal journey, his take on building enduring institutions, the mechanics of partnership, the reality of […]
This week’s newsletter features five excellent reads. In The Art of Enterprise, we release a fascinating long-form interview with JoulesLabs founder Arifur Rahman Naim. Naim bhai opens up about his path to entrepreneurship and building JoulesLabs, his thoughts about building enduring institutions, the reality of building a services business in Bangladesh, the hard-earned wisdom of […]
Generally speaking, global food brands follow a somewhat predictable pattern. American burgers scale from the United States. Italian pizza chains trace their lineage to Naples or Rome. Japanese ramen concepts expand from Tokyo. The brand story and the business headquarters align with the product's cultural origin, and both typically sit in developed markets with established […]
Arifur Rahman Naim didn’t follow a traditional path to entrepreneurship. Growing up in a village near Kuakata in Bangladesh's Barishal division, he experienced a childhood immersed in nature, rivers, canals, and wetlands, far removed from the digital world that would later become his profession. From studying at a madrasa that produced exceptional results to dropping […]
Future Startup publishes original and deeply-reported insight, analysis, and inspiration about the business, technology, and entrepreneurship in Bangladesh that you won’t find elsewhere.
