Johannesburg, South Africa – May 07, 2013

GoMetro and KasiMP3 announced today that they have entered into a partnership which will see KasiMP3 provide
music through the GoMetro mobile app and a mobile site, gometro.kasimp3.co.za
GoMetro is a transit information mobile app that aims to improve the urban commuting experience. It currently
provides information (real-time train schedules, train fares, timetable deviations, schedule & platform changes,
and announcements) for South Africa’s Metrorail. Metrorail transports approximately 4 million rail passengers
daily across South Africa. The service is currently available in the Western Cape and Gauteng, but will soon be
launching in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
KasiMP3 is a South African music startup that provides a platform for music artists to make their music available
for free download to their fans and still earn royalties based on the number of unique downloads. To date the
music platform has attracted over 40,000 music artists across Africa & parts of Europe and Asia to sign-up and
make their music available for free.
The partnership will allow GoMetro mobile users going to work and school in the morning, and back home in the
afternoon, to listen to, download and share thousands of the hot music tunes on the KasiMP3 platform from
wherever they are through the GoMetro mobile app and mobile site.

“This is an exciting partnership for us. We believe GoMetro users will derive great value and pleasure from it as
they now can listen to some great music during their train journey ranging from Gospel, Hip-Hop, Kwaito, and
many other music genres.” said Tefo Mohapi of KasiMP3
Justin Coetzee, founder of GoMetro thinks this is a great fit for his users. “In a recent survey of our users in
Western Cape and Gauteng, we found that our users spent, on average, an unbelievable 3.2 hours a day
commuting via trains. Commuters spend a large chunk of that time on their phones, with listening to music with
one of the primary activities reported on-device. The local, fresh and original tracks that KasiMP3 bring to GoMetro
users are sure to make the wait for trains just that bit better. “

About GoMetro

GoMetro is a transit information mobile app that aims to improve the urban commuting experience. It currently
provides information (real-time train schedules, train fares, timetable deviations, schedule & platform changes,
and announcements) for South Africa’s Metrorail. The service is currently available in the Western Cape and
Gauteng, but will soon be launching in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

About KasiMP3

KasiMP3 is a South African music startup that aims to help music artists earn royalties by making their music
available for free download.

Music artists can register on KasiMP3 for free and upload their MP3 file (provided they have full copyright to the
music on the file). They then have the ability to share their MP3 download link (e.g. E-mail, Facebook, Twitter) and
earn royalties for each free MP3 download of their song/s.

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If you are interested in insightful opinion and analysis about the Technology scene in Africa and matters that affect it, then go ahead and read the below summary of a FREE newly published “Technology in Africa – 2013 Digest”.

In the book, Erik Hersman (Kenya) observes what differentiates the various technology communities across the continent but also offers insights into what makes for a competitive tech community. On a similar topic, Victor Asemota(Ghana) talks about building technology ecosystems as he further narrates how technology ecosystems are similar to natural ecosystems.

With his fund management experience, Mbwana Alliy (Tanzania) goes on to explain on an efficient method that technology start-ups should adopt to raise funding. I go on to elaborate on the various options that technology start-ups have for funding with emphasis that they explore bootstrapping.

Tim Katlic (United States of America) goes on and argues that collecting accurate internet user data is very critical to government policy making. Whilst on the same subject of governments, Will Mutua (Kenya) ” makes the point that technology, led by the Internet, is giving “power to the people” and assisting with governance by helping the citizens hold the politicians accountable given the amount of information they have at their fingertips.

To conclude the book, Jonathan MacDonald (United Kingdom) in the penultimate chapter contributes his perspective on Mobile Advertising and Marketing as he curiously points out how advertisers up to this day value “reach” over “specificity” despite the fact that mobile phone increase the chances of “specificity” and reaching the right potential customers with a very low margin of error.

Jon Hoehler (South Africa) then concludes by offering his advice on how to set off in mobile advertising in Africa. He starts with SMS based examples right up to mobile internet and app based advertising.

For more information, visit this page

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For the savvy business mind, this is the moment to identify the gap in services or products that are non-existent that you can turn into a great startup idea. Most times, we turn to anyone within the immediate setting to poll or inquire about this new found idea. It often ends with disappointing responses like, it won’t work! Nigerian’s won’t use it or where do you think you are?

Be relentless, take a scratch pad or note and begin expanding your ideas/thoughts. Research existing competition or alternatives to the idea you possess and begin a market analysis to exhaust any issues/risks that could make it non-viable.

I once found myself stuck in traffic in a Port Harcourt city cab and began asking the driver what he felt about purchasing a taximeter that billed customers by the hour. We talked about how that could help minimize loss in revenue when the distance travelled by the passenger exceeds the hourly surcharge thus eliminating profitability. We also talked about roadside rescue where you pay N12,000 naira annually and you can get up to 5 non paid service assistance ranging from flat tyre replacements, vehicle towing up to 20km and jumping of your car batteries 24hours a day. We argued about the pros, risks and affordability to low income Nigerians and at the end of a 2 hour ride that should have taken 20mins, we both agreed if introduced it could increase profitability and improve the quality of life for many with the number of new employment opportunities.

Many diaspora Nigerians have conditioned themselves to the efficiency, reliability and comfort of services offered to them in host countries, but does the will to introduce these services in their home country exist? I will argue that it does, however challenges with security, infrastructure and overall market reactions are huge barriers. In an economy where small and large businesses fail with little or no incentives in recouping losses through the existing tax laws, it proves challenging to encourage individuals to introduce services and products that are not familiar to a particular market.

Entrepreneurs are risks takers and in a country like Nigeria that lacks many services and products, it will be asinine for anyone with capital and great startup ideas to subscribe to fear. Loans and capital infusion by banks, venture capitalist or angel investors are very uncommon, so it’s also easy to understand why individuals used to these funding sources can easily point these out as excuses for not attempting startups. I can proudly say every diaspora Nigerian is a small business owner of some sort either through selling electronics, phones, luxury goods, other goods and shipping a car or two for sale.

If the ease of travelling into the country and selling goods at prices with over 400% profit on the average is not so difficult, then why the resistance to startups? Could it be that we all seek short term profitability with low risks or simply want to be removed from the day-to-day operations of steering a startup business towards long term profitability? I would say the latter is the number one reason why most Diasporas are not interested. FYI most Nigerians favour short term profitability over other options.

On a short visit during Christmas or the festive season, it is quite easy to feel removed because you are in a temporary state of mind. After spending over 3months in Nigeria cumulatively, I understood the need to convert my idea into a startup to contribute to the development of my beloved country. The ability to book a hotel room from my base in the U.S or read gossips online was not the idea of someone who came for a 3-week visit during Christmas and never returned but by someone with the same level of fear in starting a business they had no experience with willing to take the risk and applying sound business judgments.

Another reason could be that a few of my country men feel elevated when amongst individuals with less economic power. Irrespective of the age difference, a desired expectation in the form of money or other favours could be easily sought from diaspora/overseas resident and many have become accustomed to this being the treatment they ought to receive while visiting.

I feel a sense of pride, elation and satisfaction when I wake up in the morning knowing that my start up business is the source of hope and accomplishment for young talented graduates. During previous visits as a young adult enrolled in an undergraduate program, I always felt obliged to buy goodies for friends, relatives and neighbours, knowing fully well everyone’s expectations of a returnee during Christmas or the holidays. At the time, I always felt embarrassed being addressed as “Bros” even by strangers who I knew where my dad’s age, an awkward feeling leaving me often confused.

How about being addressed as “Boss man”, a term I was rather confused by the first time an employee addressed me and my partner as such. I didn’t know how to respond initially but after observing the demeanour and intention of my staff, I began feeling comfortable with it. The dream of every budding entrepreneur is to build a profitable enterprise while creating employment opportunities for individuals in his/her community. The pride of walking into an office while knowing that the people working to add value in your business to generate revenue, have a lot of dependency on the business being able to reward their hard work through the wages they earn. As they say, “teach a Man how to fish and provide him with a net”, this is a philosophy most Diasporas rarely adopt.

It is very easy to be consumed by the “Bros” frame of mind and having the need to dole out cash or favours to fellow countrymen while it is convenient. Rather than checking in 6-7 bags of luggage with fancy clothes and electronics, meaningful start-ups or businesses that can provide employment, will find a better place in people’s heart for a longer time. Rather than being that overseas relative who makes the holiday’s fun and exciting for impoverished loved ones, how about bringing in ideas that would create sustainability and also make you an entrepreneur.

Some would argue their countrymen should not be trusted hence the need to avoid the risk of being duped, I would argue that if such fears exists within a particular group, then you have no business associating yourself in the first place. As the Chinese people say “if you suspect a man, don’t employ him, and if you employ him, don’t suspect him”.

I have been burnt, so have other individuals, but the need to be relentless in our desire to open up doors to others has never been greater. Call me an egomaniac but hearing the word “Boss man” from my fellow countryman, gives me greater joy than being addressed as “Bros” for a daily hand-out or favour!

Please be courageous, follow your heart and be business savvy, you will find that hidden treasure yet to be discovered. I hope to read about more start-ups in 2013. GOD’s SPEED!

The post Are Start-up Ideas mostly born in December? appeared first on Celebrating Progress Africa.

How does it work?

Jobclickr is a job search engine that crawls/indexes all job sites in Africa and delivers the results in a uniquely arranged format to any jobseeker based on their search.

It basically searches every African jobsite, corporate website, blog or social network on the World Wide Web for jobs, gets these feeds and provides it to any jobseeker based on their search criteria. Whether you are a Nigerian in South Africa, that seeks to work in Ethiopia or Ghana, jobclickr.com is the site for you.

How can a Job Seeker use jobclickr?

1.     Log on to the site, www.jobclickr.com

2.     Select the country you wish to find jobs in, enter the job description you seek and it will bring jobs in that field to you..If you want to search by city, click the city tab and select the city you desire.

3.     Jobclickr will search over 5,000 job boards, blogs and newspapers(including this blog) and will deliver the results to you immediately.

Jobclickr helps you save time. Instead of searching a million job boards painstakingly one after the other, you can let jobclickr do all the work for you.

Jobclickr is owned and operated by Mr.Neme Muoka, a young Nigerian based in NewYork. He is a physics graduate from Federal university of Technology Owerri (FUTO). He launched his first business when he was 16yrs, he’s worked for American Software Resources, Google and a host of other software companies.

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Dropifi’s web messaging platform is the enhanced version of the traditional “contact us” form, on websites of most corporate organizations. It emerged winner after 500 winning startups were reviewed and 50 were shortlisted by a panel of judges put together by the Kaufman Foundation.

The competition came as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) last year, it was created for startups with high-growth potential.

A statement from the President of GEW, Jonathan Ortmans said, “Each year, thousands of new startups come to life through their experiences in Global Entrepreneurship Week. By winning the Startup Open, Dropifi is at the top of that list and has a very promising future.”

As winners, of the competition, Dropifi’s co-founder and CEO, David Osei, receives an all-expenses-paid trip to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) in March 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as an official delegate. The GEC is one of the world’s largest startup community gatherings.

In addition to the trip, Dropifi will also be featured in a Kauffman Foundation animated ‘sketchbook’ video.

The three-man founding squad at Dropifi, David Osei, Chief Executive Officer; Philips Effah, Chief Technical Officer, and Kamil Nabong, Chief Financial Officer also used the occasion of the award and launch of this year’s GEW to officially launch the Dropifi web messaging tool as a fully-fledged commercial service.

The post Ghanaian IT Startup, Dropifi, wins ‘Best IT Startup’ in the Kaufman Foundation’s 2012 Global Startup Open appeared first on Celebrating Progress Africa.

Dr. Toga disclosed at a meeting in Abuja that the region is determined to pursue this programme during the tenure of the present management at the Commission which came to office early this year “even if we have to concentrate on our staple foods.”

The meeting had in attendance, Germany’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Guido Westerwelle. Dr. Toga paid tribute to the German Government for its support to ECOWAS in the areas of peace and security as well as capacity building to better equip the organisation discharge its mandate of promoting the socio- economic development of its 15 Member States. He solicited the country’s support for the region’s food self-sufficiency initiative and regional infrastructure improvement, to serve as catalyst for development through addressing gaps in West Africa’s section of the Trans- African Highway along the coast.

Also at the meeting were the ECOWAS Commissioners for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Mrs. Salamatu Sulaiman and her counterpart for Human Development and Gender, Dr Adrienne Diop. Both Commissioners briefed the minister on the recent developments in Guinea Bissau and Mali, illicit drug trafficking and humanitarian situation in the region, particularly related to the crisis in Mali.

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Maliyo Games has recently launched the first advergame built by a Nigeria gaming company for a local brand. Advergames are games used to communicate brand products to consumers using digital media.Called “Sharp Sule” the game available to be played on its Facebook fan page (http://bit.ly/sharpsule), and a player stands a chance of winning up to N100,000.

 The interactive game follows the story of a regular guy, Sharp Sule that works hard to earn a living by riding his motorbike on the streets of Lagos, Nigeria. He aspires to run a bigger transportation business to earn more money and upgrade his status.

The company is also listed as one of the 40 Start-ups at the DEMO-Africa, holding in Nairobi, Kenya from October 24-26, 2012.

The post Wema Bank Launches the Sharp Sule online game in partnership with Maliyo Games appeared first on Celebrating Progress Africa.

Before L5Lab, Chika was Group CEO of MTech PLC, which he founded when he was 22 years old. Chika led MTech to become the leading mobile content company in Africa with operations in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. At MTech, Chika also consulted for Ford Foundation and IFC (World Bank) on mobile money implementation frameworks for Nigeria.

The post Chika Nwobi, former Group CEO of MTech Plc, talks about his interest in startups in Nigeria appeared first on Celebrating Progress Africa.

The post African startups valuations – A Primer by Mbwana Alliy – Founding Partner, Savannah Fund appeared first on Celebrating Progress Africa.

The event saw over 100 people gather at Lemigo Hotel, with a panel of expert judges including Jack Kayonga, CEO, Banque Rwandaise de Development, Prof. Bruce Krogh,Professor – Rwanda at CMU, Rica Rwigamba,Head of RDB Tourism and Conservation, Patrick Kabagema, Founder Rock Global Consultantsand Antoine Sebera CEO, Broadband Systems Corporation.

Zilencio Creativo gathered the highest score eventually, thereby earning them the 2012 winner in Rwanda.

Twenty-five years old Ara Nashera, Zilencio Creativo‘s founder, is a first year Economics student at Kigali Independent University (ULK). He expressed his happiness on winning the award. The award will also see him compete in the final heat in Silicon Valley in 2013.

“I am really excited to win this competition and I thank the judges for understanding our project concept and its value to business start-ups,” said Nashera, who is also the Director of Zilencio Creativo, an innovative branding firm based in Kigali.

Zilencio Creativio facilitates innovators to upload their projects on its website for funding. The platform enables people to sign up and contribute funds through SMS to support start-ups.

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At a time when one wonders whether Africa’s technology entrepreneurs are worth the time, either as an investor or as an entrepreneur, it is important to get an overview of what this terrain looks like. Loren Treisman of Indigo Foundation gives us a bird’s eye view of African tech entrepreneurs, their impact and also answers the questions that we ask through BBC.CO.UK.

“At times people may wonder why charitable foundations would consider funding projects within the information technology and communications (ICT) sector in Africa, when there is already significant private sector investment.”

While technology is not a panacea which can solve all social problems, with an expectation that there will be more than 735 million mobile subscribers in Africa by the end of 2012, it is hard to ignore the tremendous opportunity for technology to contribute towards social change.

Information technologies have the capability to achieve social impact at scale and at a relatively low cost.

One can deduce that when people are able to access, share and create information, they are empowered to make the changes they would like to see in their own lives and communities.

When used as a tool and integrated into well-devised programmes, information technologies are also enabling; they put power into the hands of citizens who can use technology to hold governments and other service providers to account.

Citizens can also access information on issues impacting their everyday lives, such as crop prices, cattle rearing, health and information on public officials such as MPs.

Home-grown talent

We recognise that the best solutions to Africa’s challenges will come from the communities which are affected by them. This turns the traditional model of development on its head.

Technology Innovation Hubs are springing up across Africa from Activ Spaces in Cameroon to KINU in Tanzania. Some are even arising in unexpected places like RLab in Somaliland or iLab in Liberia.

While their number is still small, hubs form a crucial component of the technology ecosystem, by supporting entrepreneurs so that the ideas which they generate are realised as commercially-viable businesses or socially-impactful projects.

By bringing together the tech community, while providing high speed internet, hosting events and providing training and mentorship to aspiring entrepreneurs, hubs have a catalytic effect on the number and quality of successful projects and products which can be developed in the country.

As the sector grows and is adequately supported, more successful social projects will arise.

This is likely to lead to more sustainable social change, as projects devised locally are more likely to adequately address local needs.

In some cases, it is also possible for social ICT projects to generate an income, removing the need for on-going funding, which often stalls other development interventions.

Investing for good

Organisations like Indigo Trust invest in people producing what economists call ‘public goods and services’, a category of projects that have traditionally not attracted private investment due to market failure.

Loren Treisman says grant funding allows entrepreneurs to pilot new ideas, with room for trial and error

They provide small, high risk grants to not-for-profit or social enterprises which contribute towards social change at the early stages, when Angel investors and larger institutional funders are unlikely to invest.

This enables entrepreneurs to pilot new ideas, allowing room for trial and error.

An example of such a project is Budgit, a Nigerian organisation being incubated by Co-Creation Hub in Nigeria.

They use infographics and online discussions to stimulate dialogue around Nigeria’s budget.

As well as contributing towards good governance, they are beginning to generate an income through acquiring government and private sector contracts to create infographics relevant to their work.

By philanthropic organisations making small investments in social start-ups in the ICT sector, self-sustaining projects which can achieve social impact at scale can be identified and supported until they are able to thrive independently.

Another role for philanthropic organisations is to identify technology-driven projects which contribute towards social change, but would be hard to implement without external funding, both in the UK and internationally.

Sites like Huduma in Kenya and Tanzania enable citizens to report on challenges in service delivery across all sectors via SMS or online, whilst iWatch Live enables citizens in Nigeria to track government projects and promises.

While these sorts of interventions may require on-going grant funding, they can dramatically increase transparency and accountability when effectively implemented.

It is my hope that a combination of philanthropic, institutional and private sector investment in technology innovation hubs, early stage tech start-ups and tech for social change projects will have a catalytic effect in stimulating both economic growth and improved social outcomes.

Loren Treisman, PhD, is trust executive of Indigo Trust, a grant-making foundation that funds technology-driven projects to bring about social change, largely in African countries.

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Whether or not an opportunity is too early takes a significant amount of insight to make and only very few are genuinely capable of making this judgment call and even they may be wrong. When coupled with the fact that how early an opportunity is or isn’t might be muddled up with how well a startup can execute an idea, being able to come up with the right perception of the market becomes even trickier.

The truth is that even in mature markets, the first few months or even years are often the most painful. Gaining an audience, customers and fans takes  time and patience to build. If this process is not going as quickly as anticipated, it is not always a sign of the market being “too early.” Sometimes it is just the natural evolution of things.

Customers need to know why they should pay attention to your product or switch from an existing brand to yours. Customers need to be convinced that you are in the business for the long haul and not just a casual market tester. Customers need to know that you are committed to providing value even when pay offs don’t seem anywhere in sight.

This is why first movers in the supposedly “too early” stage often get the advantage that latter entrants struggle to acquire. First movers have paid their dues, earned the trust of customers and learned the hard way of what it takes to acquire, nurture and retain consumers. First movers who believe in a given tech segment or sector are also privy to outside knowledge that those who did not deem it attractive enough to venture into might not be aware of. Perhaps the space has unbelievably high conversion rates that may not be visible to the casual industry analyst. Perhaps the spate of growth in the space is exponential but is easily overlooked by an observer who is merely looking at the absolute industry numbers but not its growth rate. Perhaps larger industry players are looking to venture into the space and are looking to acquire local targets who have cut their teeth and mastered the art of quietly and steadily acquiring users and delivering value. Depending on your goals for building your startup, you may find that to the casual by stander, the opportunity is “too early” but to the seasoned industry player, this in fact is the right time to pitch one’s tent…

Ultimately, the trick is understanding the industry fundamentals enough to bid one’s time and not mind the initial setbacks of the early days. Only disciplined and focused players are able to do this. Then when the industry fundamentals start to manifest to even casual observers, act nimbly and build out your product to what you envisioned it to be.

“On Startups” is a brand new series on CP-Africa focused on Africa’s fast growing tech startup space. On Startups publishes insights on the growing trends in the space including opinion pieces and industry briefs. See some of our previous posts  in the series below:

On startups – 5 startup lessons from Kevin Systrom, co-founder of Instagram

On Startups – “Is your tech startup “meh?”

The post On Startups: The “it is too early” myth appeared first on Celebrating Progress Africa.

1. Passion

Though the news of Instagram’s sale has undoubtedly inspired and spurred a new generation of app developers looking to make the next killer “photo app,” the lesson that is often lost in the story of  Instagram’s success as an app is in the fact that it’s co-founder, Kevin Systrom is passionate about photography. As the initiator of the idea, Kevin’s passion ensured that he obsessed about any and every minute detail behind the app’s design, something that is difficult to replicate by someone who is simply only looking to create the next big thing. Little details that might seem trivial to someone  with only a passing interest in photography were amplified for him and  they likely made all the difference. From ensuring that the Instagram’s photos were squares to obsessing over column widths and specifications, it is clear that only a photo junkie would take enough care to obsess over the elegance of his product the way Kevin did.

Lesson? Create a startup in something that you are passionate about, something that hopefully you have been doing since childhood.

This ensures that your startup is not a gimmick, a passing fancy or simply just an attempt to put money in your pocket. It will also give your startup a greater likelihood of success.

2. Networks

While it is true that Instagram is a an incredibly simple, easy to use and elegant app, it is worth noting that a big part of Instagram’s success was Kevin’s very high quality network in Silicon Valley starting from his days at Stanford. Most have heard or read about how Mark Zuckerberg had initially approached him to join Facebook, his internship with Odeo (Twitter’s precursor), the fact that he worked at Google and thereafter, Nextstop (which was later acquired by Facebook). But even beyond his career networks, the networks he built at informal gatherings in the Valley ended up proving invaluable. From being plugged into the startup investor network to being friends with people like Adam D’Angelo, former CTO of Facebook, all these added up into a series of serendipitous events from raising $500,000 in funding to eventually getting sold for $1 billion to Facebook.

3. Skill

Though he was formally hired as a product marketer at Google, Kevin was a self taught programmer who had been tinkering with ideas and building out his ideas since he was a teenager. While Systrom will likely win no awards in the programming hall of fame, it is still useful to note that he was not only interested in the marketing of products but in the thought process behind its design and code. Though he received no formal engineering training, he learned how to program at night in a handson way by actually working on building his ideas.

4. Focus

Instagram chose to focus on the iPhone initially and decided to hone in on it and execute really well by sheer focus. It could have spread itself thin by creating apps for other mobile operating systems but seeing the rapid interest in the app by iPhone users, it chose to focus on its iPhone audience in its early years. In fact, it was so focused and dedicated to the iPhone users’ experience that Apple had no choice but to pick it as the iPhone App of the Year in 2010.

The lesson learned here is to stay focused on building a passionate community of core users, listening to their needs and doing your best to satisfy them.

5. Stay lean

Most people were astonished when they realized that Instagram only had 12 employees. The tendency among startup founders once they get a significant amount of funding  is to hire fast so as to scale and capture marketshare. However, sometimes the opposite might be the better strategy. By hiring great employees and staying laser focused on building a great product, a large staff base can often become a distraction or even a liability. Often, startups that stay lean, stay nimble. Only hire a crowd of engineers and business people if you have to.

On a lighter note, check out a humorous adaptation of the trailer for “the Social Network” titled “The Filtered Network”

“On Startups” is a brand new series on CP-Africa focused on Africa’s fast growing tech startup space. On Startups publishes insights on the growing trends in the space including opinion pieces and industry briefs. See our first post here.

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Often we get e-mail pitches from tech startups across the continent with detailed briefs about why the startups are cool and what their value propositions to African Internet consumers are.

Often, the impression we get is that startup founders think it is enough to originate an idea and that that in itself is worthy of applause. With rising awareness of the Internet in the continent’s tech eco-system, the landscape is quite fortunately getting tougher and tougher. Once upon a time, it was actually quite plausible to launch a content website, have minimal traffic and gain quite a number of media mentions for doing that. Now, the landscape is changing, the audience (both media practitioners and online readers) is getting more sophisticated and the landscape is just about getting started to attain the maturity and respect it deserves.

Beyond the idea behind your startup, tech entrepreneurs should be focusing more on the story behind how they are differentiating themselves to ensure their success in the marketplace.

Beyond starting your website, what are you doing to become a true African Internet success  story?

Here are some top three questions, we often ask whenever we spot a startup. If you aren’t asking any one or all of these yet, you should.

1. How are you scaling?

Scale, scale, scale.

Scaling is the secret sauce behind globally successful startups so this should be front and center in your startup strategy. Say you started an ad network, mobile or otherwise and you have supposedly “launched” yet you have no single credible publisher or advertiser. What exactly is the uniqueness quotient of such a startup. Clearly, there is a chicken and egg problem for such a startup, but resolving this s precisely what would make such a startup successful.

But how would you get publishers and advertisers without blog/media mentions, a startup owner might ask? The old boring way. Hit the streets, the phone and the web. Figure it out anyway and every way. When you have done this, write a pitch/copy. Your pitch will be worth showcasing.

2. How are you executing?

Often the excitement behind startups is the story of how they executed. How did they create excitement for their products? What made them buzz worthy? How did they reach out to their customers and who did they partner with? How quickly are they growing?

We often get excited when startups tell us about how they are adapting to the conditions in the landscape to ensure their success. One startup Founder told us he ignored the Lagos market in Nigeria and focused instead on Abuja and PortHarcourt since the  business listings landscape in Lagos was already crowded. He was also using creative campaigns around his brand name and doing many interesting things online to adapt to what was becoming a tough environment. More of those kinds of stories please 

3. How are you differentiating yourself in the marketplace?

Nothing feels more deflating than visiting a tech startup and instantly thinking what is the difference between this startup and x other very similar startup? This is not saying that one most always be extremely original. In fact there is a school of thought that argues that the most successful ideas are often rip offs of others. However there must be an obvious distinction. There are several ways of making this distinction. One of the easier ways is creating a memorable brand, having awesome user experience design, clearly communicating what makes your particular startup tick and many other subtle ways of highlighting that you are not just another tech startup on the block.

With interesting check marks in all three buckets above you will be well on your way to distinguishing yourself from the crowd and you will be exciting your consumers, creating a memorable brand and eventually excelling just as you dreamed you would!

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