Seriously.
@gbenga wrote an article in Techcabal with this title. What do you think of the article? And the question?
http://techcabal.com/2015/06/04/why-does-everybody-hate-rocket-internet/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=seyitaylor
I don’t believe everyone hates Rocket Internet, Entrepreneurs; especially Nigerians, are irked at the fact that Rocket are well funded and ready to play the loss leader game, leaving no chance for these entrepreneurs to bootstrap or grow organically in the various niche’s that Rocket encroach upon.
There was a myth that rocket had no local knowledge, and entrepreneurs born and bred in some turfs that rocket decide to setup, will do better than rocket. This is not true, as rocket have switched their game and don’t necessarily employ expats with consulting experience, they sometimes employ local entrepreneurs.
One thing for certain is rocket can not be successful in every territory and local entrepreneurs still have a chance at out performing some rocket internet portfolio companies. This is because rocket internet themselves have adopted the copy and paste model and are not sure of what works, they sometimes try to use the same model in all countries they launch an idea, they are adamant and are usually late to adjust to the way business is done in some of these territories.
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Maybe people hate them because of the names they choose. Who or what is a Jovago?
Jokes aside, I think the hate is bred by media. And Rocket doesn’t seem to care, being too busy working.
They don’t have a lot of options available for them, the rule book only has so much plays. See http://olibenu.com/blog/little-known-nigerian-app-goes-against-giant-google
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Hating is a strong word. But it appears those guys are leveraging on the business ideas and strategies of innovators, effectively seen as stealing. You can knock them for pinching ideas but give kudos where it’s due. Their execution is probably next to none. Coupled with the rumours on their perceived ruthless, their story doesn’t make for an interesting read.
They’re the Darth Vader of tech.
…and they have a never ending money tap that i wish they’d pour into all my stupid ideas.
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My own personal beef with them stems from the way they “attack” markets.
I see them as a coy that basically spot a working idea in a market and then steal same idea in the same market and then go on to invest more money than the guy they stole the idea from.
Thank God for coys like hotels and konga beating them at the game - I think.
Except they hire me tomorrow sha, my opinion about them will pretty much stay the same.
But, this is just my opinion tho. I might be wrong about them and their strategies.
They are the Hydra to the local entrepreneur’s S.H.I.E.L.D.
Cut one head off, and two more will grow in its place.
Not a very fitting analogy, I admit, but I just felt like talking about S.H.I.E.L.D.