Led content strategy and global event management for Metaschool, a Peak XV (formerly Sequoia India) funded Web3 education platform. Traveled internationally to manage events, hackathons, and VC meetups while overseeing a team producing educational content.
Featured Content
Key Achievements
- •Managed end-to-end organization of Token 2049 Dubai hackathon and VC meetup events
- •Conducted technical workshops and educational sessions at Web3 conferences
- •Led a team of 5 content creators, writers, and social media specialists
- •Increased platform engagement by 35% through optimized content strategy
- •Created and managed technical tutorial series on blockchain technologies
- •Established partnerships with key Web3 ecosystem partners
- •Pioneered the newsletter strategy that achieved 40% open rate
- •Developed comprehensive educational material for Web3 developers
Projects
Token 2049 Dubai Hackathon
Orchestrated a three-day hackathon with over 200 participants, managing judging panels, mentorship sessions, and prize distribution worth $50K.
Educational Content Pipeline
Established a structured content creation workflow for technical tutorials, blogs, and social media, increasing publication frequency by 60%.
VC Meetup Series
Organized exclusive networking events connecting Web3 founders with venture capital firms, facilitating investment discussions and partnerships.
Technical Workshop Program
Developed and delivered hands-on technical workshops on blockchain development, smart contracts, and decentralized applications.
Global Events
Token 2049 Dubai
Hackathon & VC Meetup
Organized a comprehensive technical hackathon and exclusive VC networking event during Token 2049 Dubai. Managed the entire event flow including participant registration, judging criteria, mentorship sessions, and prize distribution.
Event Highlights
- •200+ developer participants from 25+ countries
- •15 venture capital firms represented at exclusive meetup
- •Conducted technical workshop sessions on blockchain development
- •$50K in prizes distributed to winning projects
Team Leadership
Headed a team of 5 content creators, managing the production of educational materials for the Web3 ecosystem:
- •Technical writers creating blockchain development tutorials
- •Newsletter specialists crafting weekly blockchain technology updates
- •Social media managers developing Twitter threads and engagement strategies
- •Video producers creating technical tutorials and event recordings
- •Community managers facilitating Discord and Telegram discussions
Company Context
Metaschool was a Peak XV (formerly Sequoia India) funded Web3 education platform that struggled under founder Fatima Rizwan's leadership. Despite substantial funding, the platform failed to gain traction due to mismanagement and poor decision-making. The inexperienced founder rejected advice from team members with industry expertise, leading to a flawed product strategy. The company later made a desperate pivot to BuildThatIdea, an AI app development platform with little differentiation from existing services.
About the Founder
First-time founder with little experience in product management or team leadership. Despite somehow securing Peak XV funding, she ran the company like a dictatorship, rejecting input from experienced team members and misusing company resources on personal luxuries like first-class travel between Singapore, Dubai, and San Francisco.
Funding & Transition
In late 2023, Metaschool pivoted to become BuildThatIdea, an AI application development platform focused on helping users launch AI apps without coding.
The pivot to BuildThatIdea is essentially a poor copy of Greg Isenberg's product ideation methodology, offering little original value. Despite claiming "$1M ARR AI Business Ideas," it's a barebones app builder with no real AI expertise or innovation. Fatima's lack of technical understanding made this pivot particularly ill-advised.
Challenges & Lessons
Challenges Faced
- •Navigated founder Fatima Rizwan's dictatorial management style and constantly shifting priorities
- •Managed global events with limited resources while dealing with unrealistic expectations
- •Experienced delayed salary payments and financial mismanagement issues
- •Watched as funding was spent on first-class flights rather than product development
- •Had creative ideas consistently rejected despite being promised autonomy
Key Takeaways
- •How NOT to be a founder: stay humble and trust your team's expertise
- •The critical importance of founder-team alignment on vision and execution
- •When a founder has high ego but low skill, even substantial funding can't save the company
- •The value of recognizing red flags early and making necessary career moves
- •How poor leadership can sink a promising concept despite Peak XV (Sequoia) backing
"Working at Metaschool taught me valuable lessons about startup leadership. Fatima Rizwan's first-time founder inexperience and dictatorial management style created an unsustainable work environment. Despite Peak XV funding, her inability to listen to experienced team members ultimately drove talent away. After six months of unpaid salaries and watching funding misused on personal travel rather than product development, I decided to leave and join JustPaid where my skills could make a real impact."