In this episode, Abdul Rahman Abbas, founder and CEO of the Pillars app, discusses building a privacy-focused Muslim prayer app and the entrepreneurial challenges and cultural dynamics Muslims face in the UK. He shares insights on bootstrapping vs. VC funding, the importance of community-oriented solutions, and his mission to foster an “abundance mindset” among Muslim entrepreneurs.

This podcast is powered by Kestrl. 

Kestrl is an app that helps Muslim to grow their wealth without compromising their beliefs 

Kestrl - The Muslim Money App 

https://kestrl.io/

Timestamp Breakdown:

00:00 - Intro 

02:32 – The inspiration for Pillars

05:31 – Building in Public on X (Twitter)

07:03 – Do people care about data privacy?

08:45 – How Pillars hit 1m+ users

13:18 – Balancing Medicine with Entrepreneurship

18:55 – Building infrastructure for Muslims (Prayer, Fiqh, Finance)

23:57 – Why did Abdul-Rahman become a doctor?

26:59 – The Bay Area vs. London mindsets

32:49 –Abundance vs. Scarcity mindsets in US/UK Muslims

37:42 – Female representation in Muslim Tech

39:27 – The Biggest Mistakes founders make

44:01 – Finding a co-founder

49:44 – Debate: VC funding vs. bootstrapping

55:21 – Impact of VC funding on growth and business focus

58:57 – Final thoughts on organic growth vs. VC-backed expansion

1:07:58 – Announcement: New premium features on Pillars app