Moving
Bangladesh
A memoir about building Pathao — the first super app to grow out of Bangladesh — by the person who lived through every late night of it.
Read the first chapter free
The on-the-ground story of building Pathao — the mandate gap, the three-layer capital stack, and why you sometimes have to be a cockroach. Start reading before you commit to a thing.
Pick the copy that moves you
See it in the movies
The movie was fictionalized to fit two hours and a popcorn audience. The book is the version that actually happened — names, numbers, fights, and all.
A country the world wrote off
Bangladesh was never supposed to produce a tech company. It was supposed to produce garments, remittances, and occasionally floods that make international news. Nobody in Silicon Valley was watching Dhaka. No investor had Bangladesh anywhere near their thesis.
It begins the way most real stories do: not with a grand vision, but with a problem nobody else wanted to solve. A failed CNG tracking app. A carpooling service that died after three months. Ten projects that went nowhere across a year and a half in a borrowed office in Banani. Then came a simple idea — instant bike deliveries in Dhaka. No app, no algorithm. Three cyclists recruited from a Facebook group, a spreadsheet held together with prayer, and sixty taka per parcel.
Uber, Spotify, Amazon, Airbnb — companies that faced versions of the same problems. Their choices illuminate what Pathao did right, and where it went badly wrong.
This is equally a book about Bangladesh itself. About a culture where startup thinking is practically a foreign language. Where hartal can shut your entire operation down overnight. Where you can change the transport habits of a generation, put 50,000 people to work, and still feel like you have something left to prove.
Meet the author
Hussain Elius is a technologist and serial entrepreneur — founder of Pathao, Wind and Fin.com. His companies have raised a combined $100M+ in venture capital and span multiple categories, from consumer ride-sharing and foodtech to enterprise blockchain and international money movement, with Fortune 500 companies among their investors and clients.
Elius was born and raised in Dhaka and was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30, TechCrunch, NASDAQ, Tatler Gen.T, Nikkei and more.
What people are saying
Kabir Bakshi
Dhaka University
A must-read for anyone interested in the tech scene of Dhaka. I couldn't put it down!
Rehan Kamal
BRAC University
An inspiring story of innovation and resilience. Kamal's journey is a testament to the power of perseverance.
Imran Choudhury
North South University
Absolutely captivating! This book provides a unique glimpse into the challenges and triumphs of building a startup in Bangladesh.
Farhan Shirazi
Jahangirnagar University
Shirazi's writing is both insightful and engaging. A valuable resource for aspiring entrepreneurs and anyone curious about the rise of Pathao.
A 38% discount if you belong to the work.
Pathao employees, students, and teachers — buy with your work or campus email and the discount unlocks at checkout automatically. No code, no form.
Order yours