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Impact Masters Podcast
#44 African Tech Revolution Through Faith Kilonzi's Eyes
Join us as Faith Kilonzi, a trailblazing full-stack software engineer and Master's student in Big Data Technology, shares her transformative journey from studying business to embracing the world of computer science. Faith opens up about her experiences at a liberal arts college in Ghana that ignited her passion for technology, setting her on a path of academic and professional excellence. Her candid narrative is a testament to the power of discipline and adaptability in navigating the fast-paced tech industry, offering valuable insights into balancing multiple roles and pursuing one's true interests.
The vibrant tech landscape in Africa takes center stage as we explore the indispensable role of tech communities in fostering innovation and collaboration. Contrary to the myth of instant success, Faith and I discuss the patience and gradual progress that characterizes genuine achievement in tech. We shine a light on Africa's burgeoning tech scene, where startups are emerging at a remarkable pace and attracting substantial funding, making significant strides toward integrating technology across various sectors. Our conversation underscores the collaborative spirit that drives these tech communities, providing essential support and camaraderie to aspiring tech professionals.
Aspiring entrepreneurs will find inspiration as we address the challenges and opportunities of building tech startups in Africa. From angel investors to the nuances of startup fundraising, we explore the intricacies of transforming innovative ideas into successful ventures. The discussion touches on the benefits and pitfalls of incubation centers, the vital understanding of equity agreements, and the potential of customer-driven revenue as a sustainable growth path. With a focus on localizing tech products to resonate with African audiences, we imagine a future where technology enhances traditional industries and unlocks new levels of development across the continent.
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All right, welcome to today's meetup to our online and physical audience. We are at Africa's Talking headquarters in Lovington. Africa's Talking being a company that powers communication solutions all across Africa, do this by providing communication APIs in the form of SMSs, voice airtime and USSD. With us today we have a lovely guest and we'll be delving deep into the topic of empowering the African tech evolution. Tech evolution. We'll get to hear nuggets and insights about bridging the gap and seizing the future For our audience following along online. Feel free to ask your questions and we'll be able to get to them and answer. That being said, let us get started. Before we begin, we'll do a simple introduction of the voices. You'll be hearing a lot this evening. Myself, I am Sylvia Jabet, from Africa's Talking in Developer Relations. I will now hand over to our community lead, who will introduce himself and introduce our guest.
Speaker 3:Oh, hi everyone. I'm Josphat Mwangi, africa's Talking Community Lead, nairobi, and I'm a foster active. Yeah, so we'll hand over to our lovely guest, who will introduce themselves, tell us what she does and tell us more about her.
Speaker 4:Okay, thank you. So my name is Faith Kilonzi. I am a full-stack software engineer. I'm currently working with Kenya Oasis. I'm also a student. I am a Master's of Science in Big Data Technology student at the University of East London, currently on my final semester, and I'm also a podcaster. I host the Global Tech Sellers podcast where we talk about all things tech and very much excited to be here. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Awesome. You are a podcaster, so this should be something you will particularly enjoy. But it's interesting to hear that you are working and you are also studying in the tech field. Tell us a bit about that. How's that juggle for you right now?
Speaker 4:Definitely not easy, but very much doable. Actually, when I started, I was a full-time software engineer actually, but at some point I was like I've always wanted to do masters because I have some love for research and also academia, a bit of that. So I was always I'm always doing multiple jobs or multiple things at the same time. So school was just one of those things that I felt like I had some extra time Then. Yeah, it requires a lot of discipline also to balance, but very much doable so far, but it's self-paced so it's not so hard.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's a very interesting angle to it. School is what you do when you have some free time. That's quite a statement for some of us, school was because we started, we had to finish, and here you are, using your free time in school.
Speaker 4:I think it depends on where you thrive at. I think I thrive best in an academic background. I think I thrive best in an academic background, so school is one of those places that makes me, I think, validates me to some extent. So I feel like school brings out the best in me.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's a very good way to put it. And you said you're doing your master's right now. Yes, yes. So what did you do in your undergraduate?
Speaker 4:I actually did a bachelor's of science in computer science as well.
Speaker 2:Yes, in the country. No, no, no, I did it in Ashers University in Ghana. Ah, in Ghana, yes, wow, tell us a bit about that experience. You've been an international student ever since you finished high school or even before at this point.
Speaker 4:No, no, no. I actually did my high school in Kenya. I did my high school in Kenya. Then after that I was very sure I didn't want to study in this country. I wanted to study outside. So one of the things that I did immediately after high school was take community service projects, just anything that would put me in the spotlight of getting a scholarship, and also just doing SATs to apply to me in the spotlight of getting a scholarship and also just doing SATs to apply to schools in the US, in the UK, yeah. But then Ghana happened first and I was like this is a good opportunity so I might as well take it. Yeah, so that's how I ended up in Ghana. Yes, Interesting.
Speaker 2:so you studied in Ghana. You're currently working in Kenya and studying for a university that's UK-based, if I'm not wrong. Yes, it's UK-based. Ah, wow, quite the global citizen we have over here. Really, love to see it, love to see it, yeah.
Speaker 3:So you said you're a full-stack. Yes, yes Can you just tell us, basically like a synopsis about the journey how has it been?
Speaker 4:Okay, so I was actually a business student at some point when I moved to Ghana. I was a business administration student but just happened to go to a university that was a liberal arts college. That, in the first year, gives you opportunity to explore different fields, so I would explore different subjects. I did a bit of engineering, I did a bit of entrepreneurship, calculus, programming. Then, in the course of that discovery, I realized that I actually loved coding more. So that's actually how I started getting into computer science. So I switched in my second year towards my third year. I had to do multiple courses at the same time to just keep up with the rest of the people and graduate around the same time. But then, while still in school, I did a bit of projects, then some internships. I would actually come back to Kenya and do a bit of internships.
Speaker 4:My first internship was actually in a payment and fintech company. Yes, so that's actually how I had of Africa stocking at the time. It was actually somewhere in 2017. I mean, I wasn't so good at the programming at the time. It was actually somewhere in 2017. I mean, I wasn't so good at the programming at the time. I was just doing basics of HTML, css and JavaScript, but I knew I wanted to be a developer. After that just built projects on the side. Then, immediately after school actually before I graduated I got a job to work in a consultancy firm in Ghana and that's how I now became an associate software developer in the company, and since then I've worked in banking, I've worked in majorly consulting and right now in the airline business.
Speaker 2:Yes, Wow, that is quite the journey. I love that if there's a developer who's listening in and they just have just written their first HTML script, they have a page with zero CSS and just their name there, or hello world. And they're now thinking this is possible. This is very doable, right? Very doable.
Speaker 4:Yeah, we all start somewhere. Yes, we do, we do.
Speaker 2:We do, please we do. That's very nice. It's also very interesting that you had the chance to explore and try out a few things and realize that this programming, this is the one. I think this is the one.
Speaker 4:Actually, I think that's one of the best things that happened to me in my career, because if I didn't have that exposure, maybe I would have ended up I mean, I wasn't a bad business student but I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much as I enjoy my current role.
Speaker 2:Yes, so, for you, the tech field lured you in and, specifically since at the time you were in Africa, africa's tech field, at that time, what exactly? Was very intriguing.
Speaker 4:I think at the time we were just doing a bit of Facebook developers community group in Accra. Those were some of the things that we would do. A Google developers club started in our school around the same time, but a lot of the conversation at the time was mostly just web. I was interested in the web development. I would get excited about other technologies, but not mostly. I was more focused on the web. It was very much exciting. I actually thought I would end up in FinTech because that was some of the main companies I worked with in the first first times and that's how I ended up in banking. Yes, that was your area. Ended up in banking yes, that was your area. Yes, that was my area. I enjoy a bit of payments integration and all the API aspect of things. I'm actually I like to say I'm not a full stack developer, but if I had to choose, I always choose backend, so that's why that's my area. Yes, so this story of that's my area yes, so this story of aligning divs buttons, Centering divs, like today.
Speaker 4:I had such a hard time trying to change a date picker in TypeScript and I was like I can't be doing this. They wanted a 24 format, then I was doing it in 12 hours and now they actually want to edit it in text field and I was like it's so mundane. Yes, that's one of the things that the repetitiveness of the front end is where the issue is at.
Speaker 2:Yes, it's good to know where your strength lies and what you prefer. Yes, makes work a lot easier for you. Yes, yes, and it's very interesting that in your journey you've mentioned communities. Here at Africa's Talking, we have quite the community. Yes, it's ranked top 1% developer community engagement in the world Wow. So if we were ranking on global standards, they would say that the engagement in our community is at the top 1%.
Speaker 4:Actually, I think at the time when I started out, I think almost every developer plans on buildings and apps that can make them some money and one of the things we were working with at the time was trying to do some SMS integrations and that's how I actually discovered Africa's Talking, because I think at the time was trying to do some SMS integrations and that's how I actually discovered Africa's Talking, because I think at the time, people thought around 2017, 2018, people are so much into bulk SMS integration, so that's one of the things. That's how I discovered Africa's Talking. So, yes, I've heard of them.
Speaker 2:So you are part of our dev community.
Speaker 4:At least I've used the documentation. Wow, so you are part of our dev community. At least I've used the documentation. How was it?
Speaker 3:How was the documentation?
Speaker 4:How was the documentation Easy to follow? I'm actually a technical writer, so I am able to follow through a lot of these things because I write documentation on the side.
Speaker 2:Yes, Ah, that's very good to hear because it shows that the community is actually yes, the community is actually working.
Speaker 4:Please, your job is safe.
Speaker 2:Wow, wow. So you can attest to communities being part of the reason why the tech industry in Africa is really booming and is growing at a faster rate.
Speaker 4:Yes, yes, yes. I think when people preach tech they just preach it as a make money quick scheme kind of thing, with a lot of boot camps coming up, people making courses here and there and all that. But it's also quite a lonely journey. If you're doing it on your own and sometimes it's very it requires a lot of mental tension and the exhaustion that comes with that makes you feel very alone if you don't have someone to help you debug, for example, or if you're facing issues and you don't have someone to walk the journey with you. So I think communities just give you that support to know that you're not going through this alone. You can always consult, you can always get to hear what other people are building. If you've run out of ideas and you also, you can come together and create something great together. So it's communities. Communities have helped me a lot personally and I think they are very helpful in this journey.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you've said a very key thing Most people get into tech and just imagine that the first app you build will boom. Yeah. It will be the next Facebook and the next. Meta and you'll be a billionaire, a bazillionaire overnight, yes, which really does not happen. There's a lot of patience involved, that's true. There's a lot of learning and growth and seeing progress. Progress is not becoming a superstar overnight. Yes, seeing one step that has changed tomorrow. Yes, seeing two steps you've moved the next day.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 2:And, yeah, that's where community comes in People, hold your hand, people guide you through and you do not feel alone. That's true.
Speaker 4:That's very important.
Speaker 3:So how many years can you say you have been in the tech field?
Speaker 4:Okay, so I would actually just say four to five years professionally, like since school. But since school I'd say like six, Six solid, when I knew what I was doing, not when I was doing Hello World, my App and all those other tutorial-based applications that we always put on our learning.
Speaker 3:I've seen you being in at least a good century, a good time, in the tech field. So the big question that one of our audience previously asked in the last meetup is Africa behind in terms of tech?
Speaker 4:That's an interesting question, but I think Africa Africa is where it's supposed to be, but it's making strides. I think every time we use different, or we read about Africa, or we talk about Africa and Africa's development in various sectors. We talk about Africa and Africa's development in various sectors. We never really give credit to the fact that when people were starting out, we were like 10 steps behind. So where we are at right now I mean how many startups have come up since tech started booming in Africa? So many, so much funding is being pumped in Africa. So many startups are coming up. So many people are getting employed within and outside Africa.
Speaker 4:So I don't think we are actually behind. We could do better, for sure, and we're making the strides, but we have to give the credit to ourselves because people are working out here. I mean when you hear and also something else is that because of our economic situation in our various countries, we never really get enough exposure and also the enough capital and funding to even, I mean, someone might have a very good application or product lying in their GitHub repository because they don't have the right means to take it out there. So I feel like we're making strides. We could do better with a bit of support, and I'm sure all these things are coming together. I'm very positive.
Speaker 3:There are three things you have mentioned. Let's start with one. Like that, we can do better.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 3:So the big question is what are the steps for us to do better?
Speaker 4:What are the steps to do better?
Speaker 3:I was actually. What's the roadmap?
Speaker 4:What's the roadmap? What's the roadmap? Yeah, okay, so I think, for a start, one of the things that we can start with is in our education, in our education system. Sometimes I think we were talking about is in our education, in our education system sometimes. I think we were talking about this in our podcast.
Speaker 4:There we were talking about digital literacy in Africa and one of the things that came up was that right now, in as much as people like there's someone still in the tech scene or in a corporate environment that has never even used chat, gpt since we started talking about it, they don't even know what it's about. Like, they think of tech as TikTok. Yes, you remember when Facebook came out and someone was like. Someone was like yo, if you get into Facebook, if you sign up, they're going to use your data, they're going to take you to Shakaola. It was painted as something demonic. I mean, that's an example I'm giving, but one of the things that I think what I'm trying to say is in our education system, people are not curious enough. But that's not for study in school. I think when you're taught to get into finance, you're just focused on the books, the balancing of the books. If you're a medical doctor, you're more focused on treating the patient and going home. People are so focused in their individual fields that they never think about how they can apply tech in those fields. So I am thinking that one of the steps that we can do is expose tech and apply tech in almost every aspect, because you don't need to be a software developer to be talking about tech. You can be coming up with the next solution using technology in your field of work, in your accounting business, in your medical business or something of that sort.
Speaker 4:So I think one of the steps that we can make is I mean, when you watch Shark Tank, you always find people that are in totally unrelated fields applying technology. You're like, oh so we can actually Now imagine someone who came up with a washing machine. I mean, that's technology being used right there, right, but let someone sat down realize that this washing dishes is so redundant or it's so annoying tedious. So let me find a way. How can I make it better? So I don't think we are taught to be problems of us from day one. We are taught to go through this path finish, get a job and spend 10 years in that career and get pension, go home right, so we don't like figuring an alternative of making our work easier, so I hope that that can be accommodated in our education system, but also even as adults. You don't need to be a software developer to come up with the next big thing. You can come up with it if you're a plumber. How can you make it more efficient?
Speaker 2:Yes, I love that approach that tech transcends every field.
Speaker 4:yes, it transcends every industry, and so you do not have to write code to actually bring tech solutions yes, because right now, imagine if we had to rely on software developers and CTOs and dev roles and people in the tech scene to actually come up with the solutions. But we didn't go far, because the things that actually need innovation are not within the tech sector, they are beyond the tech sector. So we actually I think people just need to open up their minds and realize okay, there's this thing called technology, how can I apply it in my day-to-day work and how can we move from here? You don't need to think about the how to implement it. You can think about okay, I'm a normal user, I'm come out in the workshop, how can I make sure that this workshop will run efficiently with the use of technology? I don't need to think about the how. I can always consult a technologist X, y, z and all that.
Speaker 4:Yes, I think almost when you think about our. Every time you're creative or you're trying to come up with something, every time you think about the how it stops there. But if you block every kind of doubt and imagine all the wildest in your wildest dreams what you can come up with, you'd actually come up with a very good solution to almost anything that you're thinking about by the moment you start thinking if I want this UI to look like this and I don't know, maybe material UI then you won't do. You won't go far. So don't think about the tool, think about the final result. You figure out the journey as you go that's an interesting way of looking at it.
Speaker 2:And now, since you mentioned education and you said that's one of the ways that we could improve, that, we could work on just implementing it in our education system right from a younger age. Let's do something interesting, let's make it fun, let's play, pretend so to say you are now the cabinet secretary Woo In charge of education, or even scratch that there is a global parliament and you are the minister of education in the global.
Speaker 3:All the climate summits.
Speaker 2:You're now giving your suggestions in the education field, how we can incorporate tech better or a better, or to increase the pace at which the tech revolution is happening. What are random ideas you would have?
Speaker 4:Wow, please, can we IP whatever I'm about to say because I might use it as my next solution, but one of the things that I think, one of the things that I think should be put in our curriculum right now, is I want I envision a world where the industry is working with the education system hand to hand. Let it not be academic sector and now industry, you finish school, maybe. I think let's start with. Let me give an example of right now in uni there's someone doing Visual Basic or C++.
Speaker 4:Oh, yes, yes, very true, and they get out of here and they realize that I actually need to learn Python. Python is what is needed. How can we reconcile the two? The industry comes and says this is actually the skills that I need for this particular role. Then the school is like okay, how can I match up to what is needed in the industry? Or how can we work together to come up with a curriculum that works best for both of us?
Speaker 4:Because I think a lot of us spend so much time trying to learn to keep up with the industry, when we could have actually learned that in school. And it will also be very useful to ensure that, if this is what I'm learning in school and it's what's expected in the industry, it gives me more room to actually innovate around what the industry needs, more than trying to keep up with what is in the industry. The industry also, it's not like the ultimate measure. It also needs some improvement. But I'm spending so much of my time trying to keep up with what the industry needs and less about how I can improve the industry, which should be the ultimate job.
Speaker 4:So please, in this summit what I would say is the industry can work together. The job industry should work together with the academia industry to come up or reconcile the curriculum to make sure that both of them can match up to what each other need.
Speaker 2:So make it as relevant as possible.
Speaker 4:Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2:Aside from education, in what other ways can Africa help increase its pace of evolving?
Speaker 4:I think a lot of Africans are very brilliant and we come up with a lot of good solutions, but what we like is exposure, like I mentioned earlier, and this exposure comes with money and capital and funding. So I think in Africa there's just a handful of the tech or the startups that actually provide funding the tech or the startups that actually provide funding. So one of the things that I think should help improve the African state of technology is to provide more platform for startup incubation, including funding, and access to this funding does not necessarily mean that I need to have a white person in my team to get the funding, because there's been a lot of that yeah, there's been a lot of that that almost every startup that's coming up has to have some sort of inclusion, quote-unquote and diversity for it to attract the kind of funding. Let the idea be validated on its own, without necessarily having to know person X, y, z to be on that team.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So the startup industry which you had mentioned earlier, that Africa does have a lot of startups? It does. Yeah, if you were to draw a graph and we were starting from zero point of origin. A yes my math teacher is listening a graph and we were starting from zero point of origin.
Speaker 4:My math teacher is listening. Point of origin.
Speaker 2:And if you draw your graph on startups, maybe we're towards the peak because it's getting to a lot of them as the day goes by, right.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 4:Trying to find a way to expose them to give them funding Angel investors even Doesn't always have to be a venture capital. Oh yeah, it doesn't have to be a venture capital. It can be an angel investor. Yeah, and those of us who are listening and can be angel investors. What are we waiting for? There we go, yeah, the Africa we want, because sometimes we think that we need some million dollar account balance for us to support an idea that we are interested in. Yeah, then also, something else that I can also mention in this same context is that we need to collaborate more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, true, you can't be the only person that comes up with that idea context is that we need to collaborate more.
Speaker 4:You can't be the only person that comes up with that idea and brings it to life. You have people in your team, in your circle. Someone knows someone who can come together and we can bring this idea to life. Maybe you're just the developer but you don't know the business aspect of it. You need someone in finance, you need someone in strategy, you need someone in branding. So if you can collaborate more, we could actually have, we could succeed more. But sometimes we want to get the $100,000 funding and pocket it on our own. We don't want to share the 100,000 US dollars funding and pocket it on our own. We don't want to share the equity. Sometimes, sometimes.
Speaker 4:Back we were talking with some developers how sometimes someone approaches you to work on their startup. They don't want to offer you equity, but you're I mean at the very early stage of an idea, of a startup. They don't have much to pay you maybe your worth. Why is equity not a point of discussion as part of my percentage for pay? This way I'm able to actually pull my weight and give my all to this idea. Then you can actually grow together.
Speaker 2:That makes a lot of sense. Let me try and coin it in a story, right? So here I am. I am trying to provide a solution that solves an African problem. Maybe particularly not in the tech field, but I have an idea that can be solved with tech. You said I should not think about how. I know the goal, but for the how I'm not very sure. Yes, so what you've said so far is first of all, let me look for communities around me. Right, let me find people around that. Maybe in that sort of interaction or in that networking, I'll get someone who knows the how, the technological part. Yes. So here I am, trying to start this up. I found my person in the community and we're ready to build this, to scale it and to deploy this solution so that it can help as many people as possible. So I can now call myself a startup founder, something of the sort Entrepreneur, tech entrepreneur, entrepreneur we like using the term CEO and founder. Ceo and founder.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I heard it attracts a lot of connections on LinkedIn. Go on Good point.
Speaker 2:So here I am, ceo and founder. Yes, now I want to scale up. What are avenues you can maybe you think you could use to? You know, get in touch with people who can help me get started with the funding, with the investment, and also, tying to what you have said, how can I not work in a silo? Where can I get other solutions? Or how do I get started? How do I get to that point? Because we don't want to work in silos, we want to help each other get funding. So how do I get to that?
Speaker 4:point. How do you get to that point? Okay, so you have an idea, you have identified the people you want to work with, or some of the people that you want to work with. I think sometimes an idea is just an idea before it's tested the viability of it. So come up with an MVP. Mvp is very under-resourced. Like you don't need a lot of resources to create a prototype of what you're trying to come up with or the product you're trying to build. Then, second step, this is something proprietary to you, so you need to protect it first. So can you consult a lawyer? Because there are a lot of people that you're going to bring to your startup in the course of your growth journey, so you need to make sure that whoever you bring on board is bound by a contract such that they can't quote unquote steal your idea. That's the first step. We're actually building something with a friend of mine. It's still in the incubation stage, but that's one of the things that we were. Actually. That's the first thing we did, because we need to protect our IP. So the next thing I think you need to do now. Let's say now you have the prototype. This prototype is what is going to convince an investor that whatever you're trying to come up with is useful or it's something that solves a real problem and test the viability of it. So go and take it out there. Get real data, because I don't think anyone can put their money somewhere that has not been validated, otherwise they will lose it. So for me, that would be the second step when you're finding an investor. Get a prototype that is already protected.
Speaker 4:Then another thing I think there are a lot of incubation centers that have come up in Africa in terms of. I think I've heard of Ardenian Labs, I've heard of Mest Africa. Mest Africa was very popular in Ghana and, I think, in Nigeria. I think they even had some Kenyan startups at some point. But there are a lot of companies that are incubating startups. But those ones, you also have to be very careful with them in terms of what are they offering and at what cost, in terms of equity and all that. So those are some of the things that, personally, those are the first steps I'll do. Sometimes, if I don't need a venture capital for incubation, I've already identified my team. If I get an angel investor, why not? I can get started.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, that makes sense. And now that you've mentioned about incubation hubs and incubation centers, yes, how can you tell us more about? How do they contribute to this tech evolution, especially in Africa? Are they enough? Do we have a long way to go? Are they serious? Or, like you've said, you have to be careful? What do you mean by that?
Speaker 4:Yes. So I have a couple of friends who have been in some of these incubation companies, and one of the things that I realized with them was there's a lot of growth that you encounter as a person. Let's give an example. Right now, maybe I'm in school, I've come up with an idea. I don't have enough resources to implement the entire solution end-to-end and take it to market, so I need a bit of help in terms of design thinking, branding, strategy, all these things that bring a product to life. So one of the things that incubation centers help you with is that journey from ideation to actual products delivery. It helps you to actually strategize and position your product for the market. That is one thing that, if you don't have enough resources, you might not be able to afford it, so the incubator comes in handy. They also give you a supervisor to work with you in the journey to make sure that they ask you enough questions, the product delivery is on course and all those deliverables are met.
Speaker 4:And another thing that I see happening is I think there's one in Kenya, I don't want to mention names one of them is that you just get hired alone. You have an idea, then they join you, they combine you with other like-minded people. You get to choose your team. So during the incubation stage, the entrepreneurship incubation stage you guys can maybe zero into an idea and work together. So maybe we are maybe a class of 20 people, so five people can just come together and come up with an idea. So that's actually how people, how incubation helps you, gives you a team, gives you resources in terms of strategy and branding and also work the journey with you in the entire design thinking process, and also give you the funding.
Speaker 4:So the part where I was saying that you should be careful is when it comes to someone helping you. Like I said, I've listed a couple of things that they can help you with, but it comes at a cost. Some of them give you funding, maybe one million, one million US dollars for 20%. It looks so. Let's work with 100,000 US dollars because we can easily convert. So, for a start, it looks like a lot of money, looks like a lot, a lot, a lot of money, but 20%, 20% is a lot. Imagine now the three of us here. We are the founders and we've already. But 20%, 20% is a lot. Imagine now the three of us here we are the founders and we've already given out 20% of our company, so it means that we are left with 80%, and 80% you can easily say, yeah, 80%, you'll get Math, the math person. What's 80% divided by 3?
Speaker 4:I don't know what is math.
Speaker 2:I don't know what math is.
Speaker 4:So 80% divided by 3, 80% divided by 3 is around 20 something. 27% there about 27.28.
Speaker 2:Yes, 26 points wow we are getting somewhere, yeah, so that means maybe we have something.
Speaker 4:Wow, we are getting somewhere. We are getting somewhere. Yeah, so that means maybe we have something. But then 26% for lifetime is very small because maybe in the first five years that 100,000 will get depleted so quickly. Because you need to pay salaries, you need to pay, maybe, for an office space you need like there are so many expenses that come up with taking or picking a startup ground up or building a startup ground up that the money that the initial investor gave you is not enough to continue or to sustain the startup. So when you get another investor in the future, will you be able to that? 20% was already taken. That means that we have to go back to our equity and actually give out a stake, but the very first initial investor will not be able to agree to that.
Speaker 4:So there are a lot of contracts and fine prints that you have to look at in the initial stages of your startup when you're starting out. I actually have an example. There's a friend of mine whom they got into this startup. They got the money. It was good at the start and it was good. Took them, I think, one year to validate the idea and they got to market and it was doing well. But the idea was so good that it was featured for the in the Google Startups 2022.
Speaker 4:That attracted funding from YC or Y Combinator. Now, if you know Y Combinator, you know Y Combinator Like that's one of the best funding you can get for your startup. Yes, now the initial contract they had signed actually didn't allow them to get signed on by Y Combinator. Oh, wow, and Y Combinator is here giving you millions Wow.
Speaker 4:But this person just gave you some 100K and now you can't move, spent so much money. They spent so much money going back and forth with lawyers and paying per hour, those billing in the US, kind of things. So they've wasted so much money trying to get out of this contract that they had signed with the initial investor. That's not serving them. And now here they are, spending the money they should have used to scale up and expand to other countries to resolve a legal issue. So it's very, very important and that's why we say the very first step is to actually get a lawyer on board, consult with a legal entity and see what exactly am I signing up for and how can I protect my idea, regardless of who funds me. Read the fine print.
Speaker 3:So a big question that you each and every point you're saying funding, funding, funding.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 3:We have a community of kids. Yes, they build good solution, skillable solution. But as saying funding, funding each and every time, why can't we not just push up and then the customer will pay our bills? Because if we sit down and each and every time say, funding mostly, we are not seeking funds from, let's say, africa, because we are trying to grow, us seeking from outside. There's that mindset. We have seen the bigs and the big tech companies closing yes. So with huge funding.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So, and I think what I think is the funding that you're getting here, they are diverting your direction.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And yet, you know I'm solving this problem, but they are telling you, telling you, let's pivot. So how can we, with the talent that we have, help it to bootstrap and not fully rely on funding? Let it find on the way so we can decide if we want or drop it. Oh, absolutely actually, because I think on the way so we can decide if we want or drop it.
Speaker 4:Oh, absolutely actually, because I think we are not saying that you rely on funding throughout. We're saying that if you want scalability or, depending on the magnitude of your idea, what exactly, what's the vision? We say that you have. You think about your solution and where you want to go, but also sometimes, maybe, with the resources that are needed. The resources that are needed to bring that to life are not, maybe, something that you can bootstrap, but now that's why I talked about an MVP Create, maybe, an MVP, validate it in the market, then work around a revenue stream from that MVP and see if whatever you are able to plow back can actually help you scale the company. Actually, I think it's very much about who do you have on your team and where do you want to go, because you have an idea. We are developers. We've come up with an idea. We want to strategize around it.
Speaker 4:I think the problem with us as developers sometimes is that we come up with something and boom, we are ready, or we don't even want to. It's the same thing that we talked about on collaboration. Are we bringing someone else on board to help us think about? Okay, you as a developer. Can you actually come up with a business model? No, no.
Speaker 4:Can you identify Now that the div has been centered and the API is fetching? Are you actually can you think about this from a business point of view? Because that's actually where we miss it, because sometimes, I mean, there's been also that story of people coming up with ideas and and now here we are, you're getting the funding, you misuse the money, you failed after two years, right yeah. So, as a developer, if you want to scale this further, you need to think about, okay, the business aspect of it. Is it sustainable? Is it viable? How can we scale it? How many streams of income can we get out of this and how can that sustain the business in the long run? I think that's very, very important. So forget about the funding. The business aspect of that product needs to be very much viable for you to scale, regardless of whether you have funding or not.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's a very good point that I think even most devs overlook. Yes, you think that again because the div is centered and your API is fetching responses. Pub success.
Speaker 4:All of them 200. Okay.
Speaker 2:All of them. Yeah, yes, yes, yes, we tend to assume a lot of things.
Speaker 4:Yes, we do.
Speaker 2:Especially the business aspect and the legal aspect. Those two we do not look at as much.
Speaker 4:We actually don't think about them, we don't.
Speaker 2:They're very important. Yes yes. So if you were to give this tech space three main arms, Mambo ni Matatu, if you were to give it three main arms that are very essential in growth and in scaling, yes, maybe, such as collaboration and the like. So it would be three main aspects or arms.
Speaker 4:Hmm, If I get your question, you're saying the three main factors or arms.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there are definitely more but maybe three that you think are very key. Maybe one which has come up a lot has been collaboration. That could be one aspect that is very key in order to grow the tech field?
Speaker 4:Yes, so two others, the two others so collaboration. The other one is viability stroke sustainability, because it's not enough for you to build something once it's about the future of it. Is it sustainable? Is it something? Then? The other thing I would say is flexibility. It ties more into the sustainability of it, because times are changing. Maybe the products you had yesterday is not something that's needed today.
Speaker 4:I was talking with one of my mentors the other day and one of the things that came up was I've been constantly consulting in data analytics and technical writing, and one of the things that has come up now with the AI is how can I then position myself in the face of AI to still deliver what I was delivering, but with a more focus? So I shouldn't treat this as a threat, or AI as a threat or a competition. I should treat it as a tool. A threat or AI as a threat or a competition? I should treat it as a tool and so, as a business, I need to think about, then how do I reposition myself or my products to fit into this new market or to these new changes in the industry, such that it can be sustainable even with the changing times.
Speaker 4:Let's take an example right now. Let's take an example right now. Let's say you are working as a e-rotech company that is offering land cables physical land cables to connect to the internet directly from the server to people's desks, to connect to the internet, for example. Wow, okay, so then COVID has hit. Covid has hit and people have to work from home. Do you go home as?
Speaker 2:a business. Do you increase the length of your land cables? Do you increase?
Speaker 4:the length. Do you increase the length of your land cables to get to Kinovo? Yes, so that's one of the examples I'll give in terms of flexibility and also how fast you're able to keep up with the market and what is needed, because right now things keep changing your products. There's a way you can actually work with. You can reposition your product to make sure that, regardless of the changing times, then you can still offer the value that you are offering. Okay, you are doing land cables. Let's talk about wireless connectivity. Yeah, how then can you accommodate that in whatever you are having? What part of your product can you pivot to make sure that it accommodates this new change in the market? So I would say collaboration, sustainability and business viability. And the other one is the flexibility to keep up.
Speaker 2:Alright. So those three Collaboration, sustainability and flexibility yes, and seeing as you have been in the tech industry for a minute couple of years, how would you say in each of the three the trends have been so far? Are we getting better, poorer? What are some things that have been working and what has not? You can start one at a time.
Speaker 4:Okay. So collaboration I feel like we definitely have a long way to go in terms of collaboration, because people want to eat the money alone. So I feel like this is purely my personal opinion I feel like people could collaborate a bit more to be able to get the expertise that they want in their team, without necessarily having to rely on funding or an external person to come and help them with that. You don't need to wait to fail. You can always pivot and find ways of working around that. I feel like we could do better with that. We could do better with the collaboration to just get expert support to build with a dream that we wanted to build. Then the other part on flexibility I don't know. I feel like, in terms of people are not really willing. A lot of people are not really willing. A lot of people are not willing to let go of their original idea. If you wanted to build a shop as part of your generational wealth, you believe that maybe the supermarket is the way to go, maybe e-commerce could do better for the next generation in your family, but you're not willing to let go of that idea that your great-grandmother had for this shop. So it's one of those things that people need to be flexible enough to. I mean, I'm not saying that jump onto every trend that's coming up, but we're also saying be flexible enough to know what's going on and how we can accommodate it in that same wavelength of building your business.
Speaker 4:So I feel like in all those three sectors, we can actually do better. We are making strides, people are collaborating a bit more, but I'm hoping to see you see, when you talk about tech startups, I want to see more of maybe a tech person collaborating with someone in an tech field. Okay, how can we combine this finance with tech? How can we have maybe someone in law combining with someone in tech Like that? There's something unique that every industry brings. We have maybe someone in law combining with someone in tech. There's something unique that every industry brings. And that's why we started by saying that let's think about how we can apply tech beyond.
Speaker 3:But one of the big problems is when you are going to as techies, you're going to collaborate in different spaces like in different industries, you find that the people of other industries are resilient to release information.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 3:Because they are saying I'm trying to eradicate this, I'm running you are replacing them, yeah.
Speaker 3:I'm in one of the startups called Kair Insurance, so in that startup we called Kairi Insurance. In that startup we want to revitalize insurance. When they are trying to do that, it becomes difficult because when you go to the people who have been there, they're saying you want to take off my job, where will I take it? We are trying to make it easier. There's one big question that I ask each and every time I leave the community and have a discussion with them. I'm not mentioning names, but I think Posta can do better.
Speaker 4:Posta there, posta there Way, way better.
Speaker 3:We don't even hear of them anymore, but I think with the people there and different generations there, this generation thing, that they bring in Gen Z their focus is this Sometimes they are right, but it's more of these people like yes, they are ahead of Gen Z, yes, but at least give them guidance, not restricting them, because at least that will make things grow. But no one wants to do that. And how can we, like, tell them, like, even if you're trying to show them the future, they are like this is the future.
Speaker 4:Yeah. And not that's the future I think change is difficult to embrace, very difficult, and I think now, when you think about traditional, when you look at traditional corporate, traditional corporate is weird. It's one of those corporate environments that has a lot of gatekeepers, yeah, yes, and I think a lot of gatekeepers, yes, and I think a lot of gatekeepers in corporate, and I'm talking about gatekeepers in terms of growth, and people are resistant to change, resistant to change in terms of technology and the adoption of it, thereof. They are doing it out of fear. Yeah.
Speaker 4:And the fear is based off of lack of knowledge. Yeah, I mean, you remember the very first time we started talking about GPT? Yeah, it was more of something that was. Even developers were afraid. I mean, we all don't want to accept yes.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 4:Almost every time you think about something that's going to replace you, so of course, you'll be afraid. True, true, true. So these guys in traditional corporate are also very much afraid of being replaced. So it's the knowledge that we lack. It's the knowledge that they lack.
Speaker 4:So I'm thinking about the guys at the insurance you mentioned and how we can communicate that the technology that we are trying to bring here, maybe we are reducing paperwork. For a start, I need to educate you more on why we are doing this, why the paperwork is not serving us anymore, and how you can use this technology as a tool and not something that replaces you. How can you use it to your advantage? True, because it's the same thing that we said. Right now, maybe in my line of work, I print papers or I send out insurance copies for people to sign.
Speaker 4:How can then? How can then? How can we? How can I tell you, as an insurance broker inside the company, that you know you can do this from your computer without necessarily having to go out there to look for this person to sign and coming back to print again and send it back to me and scan and all that. So I'm giving it to you, I'm explaining this technology to you from a place of how it can help you and not necessarily how it can replace you. So let's focus more on preaching tech or automation of any manner from a place of a tool, more than something that replaces people, because that's what brings the fear. But we have a long way to go. I know I've developed systems and waited for people to use them and still taking some time, but I've been paid for it.
Speaker 3:So how has the experience been? Like You've said, you've been building solutions, yes, and no one has been using.
Speaker 4:Oh people there's a lot of resistance Every time you automate things in a work environment. There's that resistance that it faces in the first, maybe three months, before someone actually embraces it or an authority figure comes from the top and says that you guys have to use this. It's a whole changeover process that I think every company should have. Have, maybe, a change advisory board that makes sure that once a system is built, you're able to follow through, because people are afraid of using the system or they are used to their own.
Speaker 4:There's someone who told me that I find writing easier. Why should I just keep typing? They actually want to handwrite to fill a form when they can actually fill that form from my computer or from their computer. So it's because they're used to that. They're used to that. So that resistance that comes is very normal. I'm so used to it right now. But I think it requires some sort of people are in charge of ensuring that, whatever direction that we want to go as a company or as an organization, that someone is enforcing that to ensure that people can actually use the tools that we are building for them, because we never move forward. Maybe this is just the first leg of automation and it can help us achieve more results.
Speaker 2:That's very true because, you see, as humans, naturally we fear change. Yes, we do, and technology is a field that is always changing, it's ever-changing and everything is new. It's sort of this picture that I once saw somewhere, where there was someone on the cliff. So you can imagine standing on the cliff, you really do not want to look at the bottom, but then I don't remember if it was someone telling them was it God? Was it internal?
Speaker 2:I have no idea, but someone was saying jump and the person was asking what if I fall? And then the other response was but what if you fly? So we keep on looking at technology from this angle of hey, what if? But what if you fly? So we keep on looking at technology from this angle of hey, what if we fall? What if we fail? What? If it ruins everything.
Speaker 2:Yet this could be the very key to unlock levels of development that we have not seen so far, yet we have the capacity to. So we should try to look at it from an angle of what if we fly, what if we take off and suddenly, from now, using the Kenyan shilling and not the dollar? We could do a lot. We really could do a lot. I love that tick. There's a question Question. Yes, yes, maybe you can introduce yourself and then ask your question.
Speaker 1:Hello, my name is Edward. I'm an engineer in Africa Stocking. I would like to ask for things like cryptocurrency. Do we see a situation whereby in Africa, we use cryptocurrency in a transactional manner, not for the purpose of buying and selling, basically not for speculative purposes like? How do you see that?
Speaker 4:So far? How is the speculation going? Because I think I think, when it comes to cryptocurrency, there's a lot of governance around it, and I mean anything currency. Anything currency is very much involved within the government and has a lot of bureaucracy in terms of policy making. And I think tech is like what you were saying with corporate world We've done some small products. It's not being pushed, it's not being used because people are gatekeeping that.
Speaker 4:But when blockchain, um, all the time came around, people are so focused on like it was such a buzzword that everyone wanted. I mean, I even wrote an article about how to use uh, ethereum and web3 and all that. I mean we were all ready to jump onto this Web3, right, and it has become for me, most of the blockchain companies that I've interacted with, all the people that work there. It has been more of the relations aspect of it, the community aspect of it, and less about the practicality of how to use it. I mean there was some conversation around I don't know, using it to count livestock in Kenya. There was something about that. Sometimes back it was never used.
Speaker 3:But I know a startup that is basically using it to. It's like they are raising. You see, these dead assets.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 3:Like you can maybe use that you go as to the bank to use it as collateral.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 3:And then they can get loan instead of selling you or maybe your goat to pay, maybe some fee.
Speaker 4:They can use a security, a loan security. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah, wow, please introduce me to them. I have some $200 somewhere.
Speaker 3:But the big issues come in, is they're saying it is immutable, yeah. And what is built by man, we can do it. Yeah, to make matters worse, we are the one who are creating the nodes.
Speaker 4:Yes, yes.
Speaker 4:So it's not secure enough, because I think, when it came, the whole concept of decentralization was very much like oh yeah, it's a global currency, you can do it, you can transact from anywhere, and all that governance and policies was, I think, sometimes in Nigeria, sometimes back, I think 2021, 2020. In Nigeria, the central bank their version of central bank of Kenya, central bank of Nigeria banned it, so you actually can't use it as a currency. So you see, it's already facing a lot of backlash from the people actually supposed to authorize it to be used as a currency. So I mean, I want to be positive, but the volatility of it also doesn't help, because today things are up and running, tomorrow things are shaky. So even you can't trust because if you make the transaction today, what happens tomorrow? But what I'm actually more interested in right now is the tokens, the token, anything, tokenization and how you can apply the concept of tokens to transact. That's actually something that I see will attract a bit more stability as compared to cryptocurrency because of the volatility of it.
Speaker 4:Now, backlash from the government, I think the government unless they come together, and I think the problem in Africa right now is the fact that we really don't make decisions on our own. Our governments don't make decisions alone. There's some sort of I mean, we can't control the shilling right now and all these things. All these things the dollar rate, all this, the pound rate, all this currency issues with currency are very much affected by governance, and it's not just internally within a country. It has to be global. So those are kind of global solutions that are needed for it to be a global currency, for example.
Speaker 2:So that's evolution in the currency side. Yes, We've seen currency move from. If we're going way back, we could start with from butter trade Butter trade.
Speaker 4:Please bring your goat.
Speaker 2:I bring my coffee From grains and cereals and exchange of goods to actually paper. We are thriving in the M-Pesa era, and then there's cryptocurrency that's now coming up. What are maybe two other sectors that you would love to see evolve with time in the African setting? Currency is maybe one of them that has gone through the test of time. So two others that would be interesting to see change with time.
Speaker 4:I think when you talk about the internet, just the internet, the power of it, the social media, the globalization, the interconnectivity of it. I mean right now, when you look at the social media and how people are able to create jobs from TikTok and all these other areas, you can see that there's something there. The problem is, I've never seen a social media application coming from Africa Do we have.
Speaker 4:And whenever we have social or social based or product based tech products, we never really, you see, like the way Twitter is paying people, you can see how TikTok is paying people, sometimes the Facebook marketplace, all these applications they found a way that the users are not just users, they are users that are also benefiting from. Like there's a revenue stream that is also benefiting the user. So I think one of the things that I'm hoping to see in Africa is someone actually coming up with ways, and that's why I mentioned the issue of, or the concept of, tokens. Like what else can you come up with that actually like you're not just begging us to sign up to your application there's a subsidy to it or there's an advantage to it.
Speaker 4:so I think people should start thinking more into your. Users are not just your user, they are your customers, but they can also benefit from your application. So make that two-way revenue stream and let's see how best we can build something that's global but also very sustainable, something built by us for us, something by us for us, for sure.
Speaker 3:This lovely product that Africa's talking is yet to give us.
Speaker 2:Watch this space.
Speaker 4:Watch this space. Watch this space. I'll be here.
Speaker 2:There's a good product built by us, for us, and soon when you see the name in places. Please, I'm looking forward. It sounds just like the product you've described, wow.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly that would be so nice. I think the who and the who of Africa's Talking should hear exactly that would be so nice. I think the who and the who of Africa's talking should hear him. That would be nice. And basically we put you in Please.
Speaker 4:Is my employer listening, but that would definitely be. Yeah, that would actually be very, very, very good yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're looking forward to seeing that day, but you said a very interesting thing. I'd love to see a social media platform. For us by Africans For Africans. Yes, we know what we like. Let's actually have the emojis. Do things.
Speaker 4:Can.
Speaker 2:I have an emoji with the three fingers, like because Mambo is a tattoo.
Speaker 4:Yes, I mean yeah Because yes and how they. I mean yeah, yes, and how they. I think when you think about the concept of localization. I was recently researching more on that and I realized that sometimes some of the products that do well are the ones that are contextual to the environment they're built for. Because, I mean, originally TikTok was built for the country it comes from. It had to be.
