Kenyan
tech scene is always labeled as booming, growing, a model example for Africa,
the silicon savannah and such things. Well what I never get to see is what new
stuff is rocking the booming sector in terms of innovation (not some cool and fancy apps). We’ve had
hackathons, business launch pads and various other initiatives however the
entrants and the winners never seem to change. Same familiar names always pop
up. Then we have amazing stuff happening at Bishop Magua, ground breaking Konza
City and when all this is mentioned you can’t leave DR. Bitange Ndemo of out of
it course. Same stories, different writers and it’s not bad after all; when
Google chairman toured Nairobi he ‘saw the potential’. We all want to have a
Silicon Valley kinda thing in Kenya; can Konza be that model city in Africa?
Will it give rise to some million dollar companies in the near future? Is it
okay to think along those lines now? How soon can this work? The ground
breaking was done but that isn’t all we need to see! The city concept is
brilliant but is it what the developers need to start working on some serious
stuff? NO! Let’s to flip the coin and look at what could be lacking or some of
the challenges the tech scene is facing currently.
Problem #1: Lack Business Models
This
is simple, most of these apps, websites are not businesses or companies that
are investable, and they are great ideas though lack a revenue model to
monetize in the foreseeable future. How do you make money? What are your
revenue streams or sources? You’ve got to know how you will make the money
otherwise you aren’t in business. Participating in hackathons is good, if you
win there’s good PR coverage for you, prize money and gift hampers but that’s
not why you exist as a company that’s if you are an entity yet!!! Press coverage
doesn't pay bills, infact it brings in some more.
And
don’t include donation and grants into some of the revenue model! Don’t create
something UNDP might fund….don’t work targeting donor funding! If you have that
idea set in place don’t go into it just for the money, it takes time to flow in
and when it does it may dry up at a given time! Money is a side effect of
solving a problem that enough people are facing and will always come if you’re
passionately doing the right thing at the right time in the right industry.
Problem #2: The Consumer- Lack
of Customer Focus
Do
these ‘innovations’ have a clear consumer focus in mind or a clear
understanding of ‘who will pay for it’? Are we doing something cool to win
prizes and earn respect from our peers? It’s one thing to get data that shows
the growing market in a certain industry, identify a niche, go ahead and work
on something to fill it and finally make money while doing it! It’s also okay
to draw your inspiration from an idea that worked in America and create a local
version of it, it’s also nice to have statistics from World Bank to back up
your idea but remember we are in Africa and Kenya! Different economies,
different consumer habits and lotsa things!
Remember
the customer pays everyone from the founders, so you better have something
people can spend money on or one that helps other business serve their
customers better!
Smart
guys tend to think everyone in the world is as smart as they are; well it’s not
the case. We are very innovative, doing really cool stuff that our friends like
but no one else understands how to use or operate or even bothers to let alone
pay for it. People want to use simple, easy to understand gadgets and
appliances. There’s nothing so innovative about Equity bank but the focused on
the bottom of the pyramid where majority of Kenyans were and banked them.
As at
now we might want to keep it simple and basic- not cool and amazing!
Problem
#3: The Capital, Equity, VC’s, Friends and BOA’s.
Shark
Tank is now airing on NTV; am sure you’ve seen people pitching in their ideas;
some walking away with the cash and now living the ‘American Dream’….do we have
the African or the Kenyan dream? Maybe! Since we are in Nairobi, the VC story
is very different here; we’ve had cases such as the most recent one involving
Pesatalk.
Still
on this, the startup founders need advisors and some star employees who will ask
for equity. By all means, good employees deserve shares as they are getting
paid less to work for you than would if they worked for a multinational. And
keep in mind that if people in your advisory board are big brands, they
probably won’t have much time to help you. It’s cool to have Eric Hersman,
Bitange Ndemo etc but these guys probably won’t have much time for you. Am sure
you don’t want to learn your advisor isn’t in town via a tweet? You need
someone accessible enough yet experienced and passionate about your business as
you are! Just check around you will get one. May not be known but if he’s done
it probably you need his help!
The
truth is there’s a lot of money chasing good businesses in Nairobi; I believe
money will always chase a brilliant idea fronted by a skilled and passionate
team with a solid and functional business model that shows realistic revenue
streams. Do we have that yet? Tell me!
Problem
#4: Innovators don’t want partners
There
are loads of smart people out there doing cool stuff, with amazing business
ideas but they will never grow. These people are local Twitter heroes with some
following and good press coverage but one thing that they lack is that
strategic partner to catapult their businesses to national or global market. Guys
want full control of their ventures! These partners could be distributors, well
known people with the influence and connections an entrepreneur needs to grow
or could even be a financial partner but they’ll all need some equity for their
time and money. Since we all feel smart; the developer keeps his code, the
marketer walks around with his strategy, the finance guy keep his money &
investment management knowledge and God watches it all as we try to beg him for
a breakthrough independently! So everyone is disappointed and goes back to an 8
to 5 job where we can dutifully utilize our great skills for a monthly cheque!
Not bad!
Problem
#5: Is it just happening at Bishop Magua?
Of
course there are a ton of benefits of working from the epicenter of Kenya’s
tech scene, you’ll find more tech investors, mentors, training programs, events
and networking sessions than anywhere else. The VC’s also tend to invest in
people they know and believe in so should everyone get a desk there? However
does that mean if you don’t ply your trade on Ngong road you’re doomed to fail?
We can’t all fit there but the guys at Bishop Magua are definitely doing amazing
stuff on their macs while sipping pete’s coffee.
We
need to focus on universities and research; Strathmore is doing some amazing
stuff with m-lab and others should follow suit in having these incubation
centres.
But is
this sport isn’t just about Computer Science, BBIT and Bachelor of informatics
students or graduates. No! I believe we need to create an ecosystem that
encourages partnership and collaboration mostly at the university level where
guys spend four whole years just chilling and partying seriously before being
given the power to read! Can a PR, journalism student can work on idea with a
CS student? Yes but the government can’t make it happen, we just need to share
information, knowledge and pool our skills into something. The other thing is
innovation and this tech buzzword isn’t just about apps, websites….I would
classify something innovative as something economically viable, with a social
impact and one that is scalable and with great disruptive potential.
Initiatives
such as open data are doing a great job with getting innovators information
they badly need however the government and private sector too need to make
public their research, to at least share it with people.
Problem #6: Are We Ready For
that Big Break?
Definitely
the tech scene in Kenya is growing but is the talented Kenyans ready to take
the big break or the big leap? Most of the guys I know have a main job that
somehow they don’t want to let go and they pursue the side jobs in the evenings
and weekends. Guys simply don’t want to take that big leap, simply because they
don’t want to full venture out to business. I have also seen a few who rush
back into employment after two dry months in the hustle! Whatever it is,
shuffling between the hackathons, a full time job and the side hustles isn’t
bad after but you need to look at what and where you need or want to be in 10
years. I think we have talent, great ideas and amazing people that can make
things happen but we never want to sit and work on it so we keep talking and
meeting for coffee to discuss, meetings and preparing presentations but that’s
not going to set it rolling till someone decides it’s time to do it!
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