Martin Basiri built ApplyBoard into a $3.2B company in 10 years, helping over 2 million students study abroad. He is among the very few Iranian immigrants to build a multibillion dollar company in North America, and ApplyBoard alone now contributes 0.6% of Canada's GDP. In this first time Martin shares his full playbook, before his first $3M raise, his vision for the future of immigration, and what he is building next with Passage, a new financial aid platform reimagining how students fund their education.

Martin Basiri Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinbasiri/

More about Passage : https://www.linkedin.com/posts/martinbasiri_passage-is-3-years-old-we-started-the-share-7445530978036658176-fnn4?utm_source=social_share_send&utm_medium=member_desktop_web&rcm=ACoAABcWhnUBc4VY_Jeg2Zkx0n3jQpTTTh3xu30

Our Newsletter : https://secondnewsletter.substack.com/

Ardalan Javadi : https://www.linkedin.com/in/ardalanjam1369/

𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 

0:00 0.6% of Canada's GDP 

0:39 Martin's Introduction 

2:02 The system design idea behind ApplyBoard 

7:37 Did your short experience as an employee in Ohio make it clear you couldn't work for others? 

9:09 Martin's philosophy on taking action 1

1:09 Martin's impact on Canada's economy 

13:01 ApplyBoard is the largest study abroad company globally 

13:44 The global problem in higher education 

14:51 ApplyBoard as the greatest impact entrepreneurship 

17:00 Passage's financial aid system 

18:22 How did Martin discover the higher education problem?

 28:22 Contrarian and right 

29:20 Martin's insight on growth stage capital 

33:41 ApplyBoard's revenue growth stats 

34:52 300 no's for the first $3M 

35:18 Plug and Play

 39:25 Martin is the only Iranian in the past 

20 years to build a $3.2 billion company as an immigrant

 40:37 Martin's take on AI's long term impact on higher education 

48:39 Martin's take on the future of immigration 

50:00 Fertility rate 

57:07 Martin's prediction on the future of study abroad and why Passage matters 

1:02:00 Martin's unique insight on immigration 

1:04:00 Canada's population decline this year 

1:05:22 Canada's productivity decline

1:07:08 The median income of immigrants from Canada to the US is $142,000

1:08:14 The rising cost of tuition in higher education

1:09:10 What is Passage?

1:14:16 Which country has had the best immigration policy in recent years?

1:18:19 Martin Basiri's 5 toolkits for entrepreneurs