# 483| Khazanay Founder: I Met Sam Altman & He Loved Our Startup | TBT

An episode of [Thought Behind Things](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1532974013), 13 Nov 2025, 1 h 28 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/36c5ffa4/podcast/play/111138585/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-10-13%2F412423998-44100-2-18ee5dabe4ce7.mp3

In this episode of Thought Behind Things, we sit down with Usman Saleem, Co-Founder & CEO of Khazanay, Pakistan’s biggest used sneaker and thrift brand. Usman shares his journey from losing his father at an early age, working graphic design jobs for just ₨8,000 a month, to building one of Pakistan’s most disruptive retail startups. We talk about: • How Khazanay sold its first pair of shoes • Meeting Sam Altman at Y Combinator • How they refurbish branded sneakers • Tapping into leftover clothing • Khazanay’s scale & Growth • Long-term growth, Islamic finance, and Pakistan’s 2050 outlook Socials: TBT’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thoughtbehindthings/ TBT’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tbtbymuzamil TBT’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thoughtbehindthings TBT Clips: https://www.youtube.com/@tbtpodcastclips Muzamil's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/muzamilhasan/ Muzamil's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/muzamilhasan/ Usman's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mhdusmansaleem/ Special thanks to Kickstart for providing us with the studio space. You can find out more about them at: https://kickstart.pk/ Credits: Executive Producer: Syed Muzamil Hasan Zaidi Associate Producer: Saad Shehryar Publisher: Talha Shaikh Editor: Jawad Sajid

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