Investors do not invest in ideas
In early 2020, Techcrunch published a story wherein it made known the announcement by Stribe, that it had raised $600 million to invest in product development, global expansion and strategic initiatives. On the expansion front, Stripe wanted to move into more geographies. As part of that geographic expansion, it announced the acquisition of Paystack, a…
What’s your vision as an entrepreneur?
Entrepreneurship is great and entrepreneurs change lives. They create businesses that support economic growth, creating jobs and impacting lives, etc. Entrepreneurs change the world. Often, we hear of stories of people who dropped out of college to start a business, some of which are among the biggest and most interesting businesses the world has ever…
Africa’s Flyover Countries
This article lays out a strong argument for why we should work towards democratizing entrepreneurship education in Africa. In the United States, there is an expression used to describe a great number of states located in the middle of the country, between the two coasts. This expression refers to these states as “the flyover states”…
How Paystack used LEAN to launch Payment Pages
In this startup review, we are going to do something a little different. Instead of talking about a whole company, we are just going to focus on how one company has harnessed the power of MVP, an important element of the Lean methodology, to create solutions. Specifically, we are going to look at how Paystack,…
Expats won’t save Africa
Think about a few successful African startups? Did any of these names come to mind? Flutterwave, Paystack, Jumia, mPharma, Andela. Some of these startups are unicorns, meaning they are valued at USD 1 billion or more.What is one thing they have in common? All of these companies have founders who, either are from outside of…
Sasai – The WeChat of Africa?
What Sasai is a global super app, a multi-service technology platform that brings together digital payment solutions, on-demand services, instant messaging, and digital media services in a single, easy-to-use mobile application. Who Sasai is created and owned by Cassava FinTech, a pan-African business using an integrated model to drive financial inclusion and digital transactions across…
Customer vs. User: understanding the relationship
Two things all companies have in common are customers and users. Two things successful businesses and startups have in common are a lot of customers and a lot of users. Yes, two things. Understanding the difference and dynamic between customers and users is important to the success of your startup because your marketing and sales…
The Different Approaches to Starting a Business
Understanding the different approaches to building a business can is necessary to start your business on the right foot. This can allow you as an aspiring entrepreneur to move fast, validate your ideas and reduce your risk of failure. We are going to focus on the two most widely used approaches. Business Plan: this is…
You have a “great” idea! Now what?
For first-time entrepreneurs in Africa, finding what to do next after you get a “great” idea is not a clear path. You can research on the internet, or ask people you know to see what actions to take. There are thousands of people giving advice on how to go about transforming your idea into a…
