#80. Quinntessential Questions With Khush Ahmed |
Entrepreneurship Masterclass - What Business Schools Won't Teach You
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In this episode of The Quinntessential Questions, Paul Quinn sits down with his long-time friend and former business partner, Khush, to recount a 25-year journey through the high-stakes world of executive recruitment. From the high-pressure "rat race" of 2001 Singapore to building a dominant search firm from a tiny cubbyhole, this conversation is a masterclass in professional resilience, integrity, and the "Founder’s DNA".
Khush shares the powerful story of the 9/11 market crash, a day when 20 people were fired in a single afternoon. While others headed to the pub, Paul stayed at his desk, securing 21 interviews in 24 hours. We dive into the "Maturity Gap," the ethics of a "Clean Exit," and why being "average" is a career death sentence in 2026.
Guest Bio
Khurshed Ahmed is a Partner at Nisus International Search, a role he has held since 2003, with a career in executive search spanning nearly three decades — beginning as a Senior Consultant at Glotel Plc in London from 1996 to 2000, moving through Robertson Smart in Singapore from 2000 to 2003, before founding his own practice at Nisus International Search where he has built a reputation as one of Asia's most trusted and enduring headhunters, a business partner to Paul Quinn in the formative years of both their careers, and a man whose quiet authority, deep client relationships, and unshakeable integrity have defined every room he has ever walked into.
Minutes
(00:00) - The Cold Open: Turning a mass firing into 21 interviews
(04:55) - The First Meeting: Detecting a Leicester accent in Singapore
(06:15) - The Maturity Gap: Why responsibility is a professional engine
(09:19) - The 9/11 Office "Massacre": Choosing the phone over the pub
(13:50) - "The Best Sales Guy You Never Hired": Reframing failure
(14:56) - The Ethical Exit: Starting a firm with honor and transparency
(22:15) - Building the Team: The cubbyhole era and the legacy of first hires
(42:20) - Financial Crisis Survival: The "Recession-Proof" mindset
(55:15) - The "Sixth Sense": Reading CEOs and identifying A-Players
(01:12:10) - Leading with Inspiration: From Top Biller to Business Builder
(01:31:05) - Evolving Relationships: Turning 20-year clients into friends
(01:38:40) - The Full Circle: The ROI of the hustle for the next generation