Meet Karim Ismail of Givet in Coral Gables

Today we’d like to introduce you to Karim Ismail.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was born and raised in Los Alamos, New Mexico. After swimming competitively basically my entire life, some of my best memories in NM came from swimming varsity in high school. It taught me a lot of discipline. Varsity practice was twice a day so commitment was mandatory. Between that and school, I had a pretty set daily schedule. My parents are both engineers so I grew up in an environment that really encouraged creativity and innovation. Long story short, my parent’s work in oil & gas, renewable energy and environmental science moved us out to Saudi Arabia. I attended an American International High School there called Dhahran High School for almost a year. Being in the center of so many multicultural scientists and engineers, I knew I wanted to pursue work in a similar field. When I turned 15, my experience stepping outside of my comfort zone and moving to Saudi inspired me to attend a boarding school in Switzerland called TASIS. There, I was exposed to even more likeminded individuals who were also motivated by experiences, culture and pure wanderlust. My dorm room in TASIS was where I found my creative passion for photography and film. I also excelled in classes like physics and math. It didn’t take long for my overly ambitious set of interests to lead me to mobile technology. I began combining my creative interests with my technical interests, and thus started brainstorming, designing and prototyping different technologies.

Senior year of high school came to an end and I went on to continue my education at the University of Miami where I currently study industrial engineering. I began as a civil engineer but found that the process engineering and automation elements of industrial engineering suited my aspirations more. My freshman year here at “the U” was where I conceptualized the first designs for Givet, the mobile app that makes it fun and easy to buy, sell and trade your stuff. The idea was an obvious one to pursue after noticing an abundance of fliers and Facebook posts from students selling textbooks, appliances, clothes, electronics and so much more. It was clear that there were other platforms out there where you could dig through pages of stuff from random people in your area, but there was no platform that gave you the choice to buy things in cash or trade your preloved items for similarly priced items. There was no platform that allowed you to limit you searches to people you actually know, or even people in you social environment. Lastly, there was no platform that was actually pleasing to browse through. In short, I found the niche that Givet belonged in and was determined to bring it to the market. I developed a simple prototype, showed it off to various private investors, and after months of struggling, countless redesigns, and regular all-nighters, I received my first investment to take Givet to the next stage. We had our first public release on the App Store and Google Play in May, and a full release only months ago. Since then, we have accumulated thousands of users globally and are confident that Givet will soon be the standard for buying, selling and trading.

Our mission at Givet is clear; give the world access to affordable goods, turn used items into tradable currency, and connect people to the resources around them, initiating reuse and repurpose on a consumer level.

For companies focused on SaaS (Software as a Service), location is one of the most lenient factors to consider. I can work from my dorm room with a team member on the other side of the country, or meet in a workspace and collaborate with the team in person. Miami has offered us the luxury of freedom by giving us a great place to officially base ourselves out of seeing as many of the people on the Givet team are in various locations around the world. We consider Miami to be the best place to call our HQ because of the vast opportunities here, and its growing name in technology and startups.

Moving forward, I am graduating from the University of Miami, which is exciting because I will finally be able to focus my full attention on Givet. After making a name for ourselves and accumulating thousands of users on the platform while balancing a bachelors degree in engineering, I am excited to see the things we can do when Givet has our undivided attention. Ideally, Givet would stay here in Miami, but it all depends on who we team up with for Givet 2.0. We’re listening to tons of feedback from our users and can’t wait to take the platform to the next level. We’ve learned what’s working and what’s not, and with our next major update, users can expect a whole new world of resale & trade. A big part of our attention right now is finding local investors here in Miami to team up with, because after all, Miami is, and always will be, Givet’s home.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I don’t think it’s ever a smooth road when you’re doing something worthwhile. The best lessons come from hard work and failure.

Our biggest challenge was competing with the big dogs in our space. It’s important to recognize how competitive the mobile software space is before committing to a project like ours, we have had investors turn us down, builds crash our phones, frustrating all-nighters and discouraging feedback from a few users. On the contrary, we have had tons of interest in our platform, successful builds that work perfectly, thousands of happy users, and a large majority of positive feedback on the App Store. The point is, if you’re not struggling, you’re not doing it right. If you’re comfortable, you’re probably not giving it 100%.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I’d say success is relative. Each person has their own definition or spectrum of success. Personally, if I am doing something I am interested in, even if it is hard or frustrating, then I would consider myself successful. I would also need to be surrounded by people who make me a better person, bring out the best in me, and challenge/motivate me. Negative energy is a real thing and a huge factor that a lot of people don’t normally consider in their day to day lives. It’s important to surround yourself with people who genuinely want the best for you, and it’s equally important to dedicate yourself to the things you’re personally interested in. So, I would consider myself successful if I like what I am doing, and am surrounded by motivating people.

With regards to business, though, I would consider Givet successful when we’re #1 on the App Store–give us some time.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.gogivet.com
• Email: contact@gogivet.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karimxismail/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/karimxismail

Image Credit:
Givet, LLC

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