- Her business is on the internet.
- She’s launched a new product.
- She even has her own domain name!!!
But somehow, when they call tech founders, Linda’s never gets mentioned. Why please? Isn’t she founder-y enough?
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How can we put her in the same basket when one of her shoes can seed some of us comfortably.
But really, she definitely is.
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I’m a fertile ground oO.
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Lol… Me, imagining a Techcabal headline…
Linda Ikeji launches Demo day. Offers 2 shoes for 10% equity… 
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She absolutely is. The difference with her is that unlike some of us, she realizes that technology is a tool, it’s a means to her end, which is reaching out to share stories to her readers. The LIB blog isn’t beautiful, isn’t ‘techy’ but boy does it kick ass! And if she applies the same pragmatism to LIS she will continue to slay.
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She is a tech founder. A kick ass one too
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I don’t know how these make for a tech founder checklist.
Linda was a blogger. Still is.
Now she launched a new venture; startup founder will do just fine. Hailing ‘tech founder’ is a very ignorant use of the term.
Even Radar ati techcabal hasn’t founded any tech. You run a tech blog and host a foremost tech community. Perhaps when you guys have come around to putting the teeming set of talented Radar users to work on an original ad management and distribution engine, we’d talk about tech founder.
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You know I was gonna say the same thing.
This “tech startup” or “tech company” thing has really gone out of hand. Anybody with a website is now a tech startup.
If you agree believe that LIB is a tech company, then Media Take Out, TMZ are also tech companies since they use the web.
We agree that companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter are tech companies because they are much more than the website. These companies can easily roll out their own database solely for their use. They can design programming languages to fit their requirement. They’re constantly adding value in the tech by promoting or creating open source projects like React Angular, Golang. One even decided that they could write a php-to-C++ transpiler just to make their code more efficient.
But hey if you want to place Radar, MTO, LIB, Bellanaija in the same bracket as these guys then by all means she is a tech founder. Heck we are all tech founders abi na?
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I didn’t know having your business on the internet and having your own domain name was the qualification for being a tech founder.
I guess eBay sellers of counterfeit designer bags are also tech founders too. Yay!
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I agree with you.
But do we really need to have this discussion argument, guys? Let’s move on with our lives. If we can’t make Radar any better, at least let’s not make it worse.
@seyitaylor I think your post title was somewhat inflammatory. A title like “Would you say Linda is a tech founder and why?” would have set the stage for more reasonable discussion.
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lmao the hurt on this thread is palpable. this is lits hilarious. linda can’t hang in your cool little “tech founder” club? lol
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I will liken Linda Ikeji to Jeff Bezos (from books to cloud), founder or not she plays with technology and makes money playing.
The more she expands her ventures, the more “techies” she would employ. Whatever title the community assigns her is inconsequential.
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By this standard, there are no tech companies in Nigeria!
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Yeah probably.
Just to clarify: a startup is a company designed to grow fast. It is not synonymous with technology. If anything, it is synonymous with growing fast.
A tech startup, on the other hand, is a startup (i.e. a fast growing business venture) which makes technology. So whether you are a great blog, a kickass forum or even an awesome hotel booking site, unless you’ve built some form of proprietary technology, you’re not a tech startup.
But, guys, let’s not get stuck on labels. A tech startup is a type of business, just the same way commercial farming is a type of business. As long as you make money while improving lives, you’re good. I don’t think one type of business is in any way superior to another.
So is Linda Ikeji a tech founder? Well… I think the better question is: does Linda Ikeji build technology?
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What is a tech company? Is it one that builds technology (what is technology?), one that uses technology as its biggest strategic advantage, or one that interacts with technology while going about its business?
I’ll frame it differently, is Uber a tech company or a transport company? Is AirBnB a software company or a hospitality one? Is Amazon a tech company or a commerce company?
Also: I do not know that the vitriol in this reply is necessary, but do you.
My oga, @M.O.O
then Media Take Out, TMZ are also tech companies since they use the web.
What exactly is the problem with considering them tech companies? Because they don’t fit into the mould that you have prescribed? Because they don’t sell software?
We agree that companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter are tech companies because they are much more than the website. These companies can easily roll out their own database solely for their use. They can design programming languages to fit their requirement. They’re constantly adding value in the tech by promoting or creating open source projects like React Angular, Golang. One even decided that they could write a php-to-C++ transpiler just to make their code more efficient.
TIL that rolling out your database ‘solely for your use’ and ‘promoting or creating open source projects’ is what makes you a tech company. And this is funny, because as idiotic as it sounds, SV media is struggling to classify Facebook as a Media company because they sell advertising. But…that is a matter that we will address another day.
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Pretty good points above.
LOL
You’re a tech company if 1. You push the boundaries on existing tech, 2. Have proprietary SW/HW as the core of your business (website != SW 
)
I think those are reasonable places to start. Happy to read differing standpoints.
Fairly certain that’s not what he meant.
Perfectly okay for an entity to belong to more than one category.
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Like I said this Tech Startup or Tech Company thing can easily get out of hand.
Why can’t a company just be a company. Must it be tech? We make it sound as if when they add Tech Startup to the name, it gives us some kind of prestige.
Lemme digress a bit. Mr A launches a startup calls it comeanbuyanything.com a retail site. Mr A to sound cool and join the elite will pit himself as a new tech startup redefining commerce scene in the continent. Mr. A has a website which sells things online, obviously. Wouldn’t it be better if we just classify Mr, A’s company as Retail Outlet? Does that take away its credibility? Imagine if Mr A’s staff is only filled with computer gurus who know close to nothing about commerce, marketing etc. (I say this because this is what Most Tech Startups I know of are comprised of techies, sure you can have an accountant, a PRO but majority of the workforce is Techie.)
For MTO, BN, TMZ. These guys utilize technology just like the banks, engineering firms, Hospitals but like @farouqzaib said you’re not creating or pushing the limits of technology. Its perfectly ok not to be a Tech company.
So I’ll say this:
Show me who the majority of your workforce are, and I’ll tell you which category are.
This is by far the best way I can classify a company.
I believe they are struggling to classify them because even though they make profit through the media (selling adverts). Their product and their approach is not media. Google makes tons from ads but their product is search, the way they go about creating this product is the reason I’d categorize them as a tech company. Which would be easier for me to become given the same level of qualifications: A google Engineer or A Google Accountant. While they probably have an accounts dept. majority of their workforce would be tech guys and this would only make sense if they were dealing tech. You cannot not be doing tech and fill your workforce with high grade computer nerds. 
Would it be reasonable if LIB had more tech gurus than journalists because they use a website? Would it make sense if Banks have more computer scientist because they use sophisticated software. The crazy thing is that Computer Science is so broad that it can be applied anywhere: Media, Banking, Health etc. But I don’t believe this suddenly makes them a tech company.
my 2 kobo.
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lmao what goddamn elite? I’m sorry i couldn’t read the rest abeg