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The journal of an African tech startup founder- Part 1: The backstory

The journal of an African tech startup founder- Part 1: The backstory


This is it. My first article for the Journal of an African tech startup founder. I've had this idea for a while but I've been reluctant to start.

The first reason is because I am still new to this. I feel I haven't yet built much of a resumè (no fundraising, no successful exit, no Forbes mention etc.), so I wonder if anyone would be interested in my story. Like, do I really have something significant to say? The second reason is fear. I've found myself thinking: "what if I invite everyone on this journey, and then I fail?" I wouldn't want the world to see me lying flat on my face in a pile of sh..ame.

However, I've also asked myself why I want to do this in the first place. This article will give some background and add some context to my motivation for writing.

Let's start with some background.

My name's Likhwa and I am a self taught programmer. I got interested in programming around 2004. At the time, I was in my sophomore year at varsity. After seeing some guys from the Reserve Bank in nice black suits, I chose finance as my major. However a lot of my mates were computer majors. At the time I could hardly use a computer. (There were probably just a handful of students with personal computers on campus.)

I found myself constantly fascinated as my friends discussed C++ concepts and other computer stuff as they worked on their school assignments. A close friend of mine- Gugu used to let me play around on his computer. We didn't have an internet connection, so I mainly watched movies, played music or solitaire. One day he convinced me to try out some html and create a webpage. While 'real' programmers may not consider html a programming language, at the time, I was just super excited to have created a website.

Fast forward to 2010. Using Wordpress and its buddypress plugin, I built my first social media site. It was called 'The Office Web' and was meant to connect and provide resources to aspiring entrepreneurs. The site was up for about a year, but it never really took off. Plus I got tired of the spam and bots always posting useless stuff. A few years later, I built a social media site for local hip hop heads which I called Str8buzz. I think I got a job or something and I couldn't really maintain it. It was also short lived.

Then in 2018, I stumbled across an app for creating apps called Sketchware(its no longer on the Playstore). That was probably the coolest discovery I ever made. I got addicted to the app and started learning as much as I could via YouTube and blogs. I was working with SMEs at the time, and so I figured a business planning app would be a great idea. It took me about 3 months to build and I was really excited to launch my first app on Playstore.

Things started off slow. First month, I got 10 users. Then I doubled them in the next month. Soon the app was getting 700 downloads per day. I had monetized it using Google's Adsense. I remember seeing my first $1 in the console and how fulfilling it felt. It became a custom to huddle around my tablet with my mom and simply check how much we had made so far on that day. Seeing, $0.25 go up to $1.98, then $4.37 and so on as the day progressed was one of the most wonderful feelings ever.

I remember thinking this is the easiest money I'll ever make... and soon I'll be super rich. I remember reading about how super wealthy billionaires make hundreds of thousands of dollars even in their sleep... and I was pretty sure I was on that path too.

We eventually reached the withdrawal threshold and did all the formalities. Things went south, when one day I woke up to check my balance and found that my Adsense account had been suspended. To this day, I have no idea what caused this, but the reason given was 'invalid traffic.' That was one of the most devastating moments in my adult life. I felt helpless. I felt bullied by Google. I felt abandoned by God. After struggling for years I had finally found a way to change my family's fortunes, but just like that- everything had gone down the drain. I felt robbed of my shot at becoming a millionaire.

My mind went into overdrive as I wrote numerous appeals and tried to find alternative ways to monetize the app. I could swear, my mind worked non-stop for about two weeks or so. Even my dreams were about Google or monetizing my app. I read blog posts, watched YouTube tutorials, wrote emails and even tried to create my own advertising system. This took its toll and I eventually found myself burnt out and slightly depressed.

I watched helplessly as my userbase grew to over 100k users and I couldn't make any significant money from it. I couldn't sell it at a fair price either, because I had made lots of rookie mistakes. I hadn't bothered tracking my KPIs and analytics. I wasn't really collecting user emails so my 100k users became more of a vanity metric.

Even though I had lost steam, I kept working on my apps but without a clear path to success. I wasn't really a programmer in the first place, so I figured it would be wise to do courses on computer stuff. So I did everything, from Java, the C languages, python etc. That's the beauty of the internet... special shout-out to YouTube.

A couple of months before Covid began, a friend linked me with someone who would later become a good friend and inadvertent mentor. It was an 80 year old American man, who had worked extensively in Africa, and his name was Niles. We spoke at length for over a year discussing the challenges of self employed people in Africa and how best to solve them. He eventually invited me to join him as he worked on his next project. That was probably the exposure I needed.

I admired his adherence to time. If he said he'd call at 4pm, then at exactly 4pm on the dot, my phone would ring. Another thing he did was consistently share articles for reading. These ranged from opinion pieces to industry analysis and trends. I eventually found myself reading more than I usually would. As fate would have it, I stumbled on some venture capital stuff. After further reading and research, I realized how much of a disadvantage one has when they lack basic exposure. The bible says "my people perish for lack of knowledge" and I believe that to be true.

While we do have accelerator and incubator programs in my country, I realized that most of them aren't really tailored for the needs of tech entrepreneurs. The funding amounts are often too small (US$1k to US$5k) and they are structured as short term loans (payable in 6 months or less). Most software takes months, if not years to develop and even longer to monetize. So that makes it hard for local tech entrepreneurs to access any funding.

I was also left in awe at the way venture capital works. With so much venture capital being invested across the globe, it gives founders more room to experiment and try out new ideas. Most African entrepreneurs lack that luxury. Since 2012, less than 1% of over US$3.4 trillion in global venture capital invested has gone to Africa.

You have to be more than exceptional to really catch their (VC) attention if you're from the continent. I also found that most individuals who pursue the tech founder path in Africa are from fairly exposed and well-off backgrounds. Limited internet connectivity, lack of resources such as laptops and inadequate funding sidelines a significant amount of the population. It's ridiculous how small things like a $5 subscription, lack of a credit card or an up-to-date phone/laptop have barred many, including myself from pursuing certain projects and opportunities.

Perhaps our greatest weakness is that we haven't really had the opportunity to see unicorns being built, so most of our loved ones will push us towards the usual 9 to 5. I believe working from home makes them think you aren't really doing much with your life, especially when you don't have the money to show for it. Most can't even envision a million dollars, so they would rather have you earning US$5k per year than watch you try and build a startup. It makes more sense to them.

The question, "so how much have you made so far?" is always one of the hardest I have to answer. Mainly because I know that is the basis upon which they will judge my success. Multimillion and billion dollar exits are outside their scope and comprehension. Most don't understand startup culture. They would rather focus on immediate profit instead of capital gains. So while they may be intrigued and excited that I can make an app, that excitement soon fizzles out when they see me not going the Facebook route and growing virally.

So just in case you've ever wondered why there aren't many innovations coming out of the continent, I believe one of the key reasons is that our tech entrepreneurs aren't getting much support. Our projects are seen more as novelty items, and in a lot of instances, one gets discounted as simply another Mark Zuckerberg wannabe.

With that said, I figured it would be a good idea to write about my journey. Hoping my path could become a blueprint for someone considering embarking on a similar path. I also hope it will provide some insights on the challenges as well as the joys of building a startup in Africa, to anyone looking in from the outside. I'm also hoping that for those already on the journey, it will provide some comfort in knowing that they have kin going through similar experiences. May my failures be the warning signs that will keep you from falling into pits, as well as the cushions upon which you will land, if ever you do fall. May my successes be the testament that it can be done and the lights that inspire you to keep moving.

PS- I haven't really thought this whole journal thing through to the end. I just know I'll be sharing stuff about my entrepreneurial journey. So is there anything specific you would like to know? You're also more than welcome to let me know if you have any topics that you would want me to talk about. I will gladly give my honest opinion if its something I feel I have the background and moral standing to talk about.

Ciao

Comments

Tornicles said…
Hey bro, I have been using your business builder app qnd I want to partner with you. My email is tornicles@protonmail.com. I'm a small business myself and I love the concept of business app

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