Sheeza Shah
Sheeza Shah

Founder and CEO of UpEffect, helping underserved founders crowdfund impactful solutions for people and the planet

Beyond crowdfunding

2020 has been a heavy year for many, filled with harrowing stories of loss and pain. I believe if today we fail to listen, advocate and act to create a better world for future generations, we’ll be faced with an even greater tragedy. COVID-19 and the #BlackLivesMatter movement have exposed the flaws of capitalism. For too long, businesses have made …

Justice & Ethics in a Capitalistic World: How Your Spending Affects the Rich and Poor of the World

Today, accumulated wealth sits in a small number of pockets around the world and the gap between the rich and the poor has widened. More than 82% of wealth created in 2017 went to 1% of the world’s population. Half of the world is still living in poverty while a relative handful reaps excessive wealth. The trillions of dollars spent …

What Makes Crowdfunding a Vital Tool for Social Entrepreneurs?

Though an early-stage social enterprise should prioritise bootstrapping as its means of financial sustenance, for some, this is not always a viable option. Converting some ideas into businesses can be capital-intensive, particularly those dependent on expensive production, research and development. This is why crowdfunding is becoming the go-to option for so many entrepreneurs, including those launching a social enterprise.  Traditionally, …

The Social Enterprise Industry Needs More Muslim Fashion Brands

social-enterprise-crowdfunding-muslim

In 2013, the fashion industry saw one of the worst tragedies in history – the Rana Plaza complex, a garment factory in Bangladesh collapsed and took the lives of 1,134 garment workers and injured 2,500 more. The factories operating in this building made clothes for well-known international brands. This devastating incident accelerated the rise in a new movement — the …

Build a Business, Not a Startup

For the longest time, I bought into the “exciting” startup life — colossal valuations, 80–100 hour work weeks with no time for interactions with family or friends, seed rounds, Series A, B, C investments, burnt out founders, no sleep, no time to eat, unnecessary hires, beautiful offices with “incredible team culture”, the same culture that disappears when you’re offered a …

Why you are never "too young" to launch a startup

For many years, it was a common misapprehension that an individual’s ability to create impact and his or her age were mutually dependent. Fortunately, this is now changing as the younger generation is going against the norm and breaking countless barriers. Winning a Nobel prize was once reserved for the “mature” generation, but last year 17-year-old Malala Yousafzai stunned the …