Kazi Shafiqur Rahman

About

I am a British-Bangladeshi founder, operator and storyteller building consumer-facing brands across fragrance, food and media. My journey in fragrance began with playing an integral role in building a £20m+ consumer brand. I later applied those lessons to a new premium fragrance venture, helping take it from £0 to £3.2m in revenue within 3 years across bricks and mortar retail and e-commerce. I also founded Buddies London, a halal comfort food brand born in East London, blending American and Turkish classics with Bangladeshi spice, strong customer experience and a clear ambition to scale. Alongside business, I host the Side by Side Podcast, where I sit with entrepreneurs, leaders, thinkers and fascinating individuals to explore stories of success, struggle, identity, leadership and legacy. My strength is turning ideas into operating businesses. I am interested in building brands with meaning, culture, commercial discipline and long-term value — not conventional business for the sake of it. My journey has taken me through retail, aviation, hospitality, media and personal failure. I see each chapter as part of a bigger mission: to build, learn, connect and create value that outlives the moment. I use LinkedIn to connect with founders, investors, operators, advisors, creators and people who think beyond the obvious.