A massive cardiac arrest while serving in the army changed Brigadier Saleem Moeen’s career track. He retired from the armed forces, to serve as Chairman of NADRA. Following this, he came out of retirement a second time to set up his own firm Secure Tech. He took advantage of the lessons he had learnt in his previous careers and ramped up operations to grow a firm with annual revenues of US$10 million and approximate valuation of US$35 million in just six years.
Azhar Rizvi’s Comments
Secure Tech was established by Brigadier(R) Saleem Moeen, who retired after completing a successful career with the army-engineering core. Later he was hired as Chairman NADRA. His professional competence and commitment established NADRA as one of the most successful government ventures in Pakistan, for which he has been awarded the Sitara-e-Imtiaz. The team he left behind is making valuable contributions to the nation. Another important development is that NADRA has become an international player in its domain and has been instrumental in establishing similar ventures in other countries, generating valuable foreign exchange and laurels for the country.
Anyone with a set of successful careers would have called it a day, and opted for a comfortable retirement. However, Brigadier Saleem continued to work hard and established a software firm. I first met him in 2012, when he came with his team to participate in an acceleration program organized by us. During the program, they were always eager to discuss new ideas, operational issues, market potential and almost all aspects of running a successful business. We helped him give a global approach to his strategy. This interaction provided him and his team a fresh perspective on running the business and enhancing the organization. The results were amazing. From revenues of US$ 2.0 million in December 2012, his firm closed at US$ 10 million in December 2014. That is an almost 500% growth. The journey has not stopped here. Secure Tech continues to grow, creating more jobs and adding to the economic growth of the country.
Saleem Moeens Entrepreneurial Journey.- From Ideas to Nadra to Securetech
An engineer by qualification, Brigadier Saleem Ahmed Moeen started his entrepreneurial career after he retired from high profile jobs in the army and allied government services
He founded IDEAS (The International Defence Exhibition and Seminar) and spearheaded the establishment of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). He built NADRA from scratch and became its first Chairman in 2001. He has been awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz for his contribution to the country in building an organization of national importance.
His knowledge, skills, disciplined approach and experience of large-scale projects played a crucial role in setting up a technology-consulting firm, serving the global security technology market. As a Silverpreneur, he took advantage of the lessons he had learnt in his previous careers and filled a gap in the very specific vertical market of identification technologies. Today, in a short span of time beginning in 2009, his firm Secure Tech is boasting revenues of US$10 million and has a valuation of US$30 million.
Brigadier Saleem Moeen has had his share of failures along the way. He had a massive cardiac arrest while serving in the army and lost his beloved wife to cancer while setting up the firm. However, nothing deterred him in his mission to establish an exceptional international firm. He remains a great model for both retired servicemen and civilian professionals to follow.
Read How Brigadier Saleem Moeen was ale to reinvent his career several times in Entrepreneuring Pakistan.
