A Goldman banker quit his job to build a startup — and scored an Alibaba deal. He shares 4 top tips - CNBC

After spending six years working for Goldman Sachs as an investment banker, Bjarke Mikkelsen faced a dilemma.
“I had a very comfortable life, but I wasn’t really feeling like I had a purpose,” he told CNBC Make It.
“In banking, you’re always in the end, an advisor. I knew I wanted to try and run a business … I wanted to do something in tech but also something that had very operational aspects because I like building things.”
Those aspirations brought the then 34-year-old to Pakistan, where he built an e-commerce marketplace called Daraz.
“The idea was always to build something that was inspired by Amazon and Alibaba, where you have three elements. An e-commerce marketplace, logistics, and a payment infrastructure.”
One of the things that I love the most about e-commerce is that it’s fair, it’s a fantastic equalizer.
Bjarke Mikkelsen
Founder and CEO, Daraz
In 2018, three years after the business was launched, Daraz was bought by Alibaba in an undisclosed deal — as part of the Chinese e-commerce giant’s efforts to expand in South Asia.
Daraz is now operating in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Myanmar, serving 40 million active customers, the company claimed.
“One of the things that I love the most about e-commerce is that it’s fair, it’s a fantastic equalizer,” said Mikkelsen.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman or you live in a big city or a rural area … Everybody has the same opportunity both as a seller to start a business, as a customer, you also...

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