Lol. even if it isn’t, the structure of the post sure makes it sound like one.
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lmaooo you get a cofounder! you get a cofounder! everyone gets a cofounder!
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Bros OP. You are making sense.
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As for me, I see tech as very important, but you need sales far more than you need tech.
I am a tech person but I know this for sure
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I disagree …completely
There’s no such thing as that
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What I can understand from what you wrote is that every founder has to work on their networking.
I agree to that.
but this does not necessarily mean that they must be networked or their business has no chance. It only means that their business stands a better chance at surviving if they are deeply networked in the industry their tech will be used in and like your Garri example above illustrated, this is applicable to every business not just tech businesses.
Even if the business later finds out that it needs someone that is connected in the industry it is trying to break into, it can always hire someone just like hiring any other personnel. An example is how Tesla hired a manufacturing expert from Toyota.
I don’t think Nigerians are any different from any other country when it comes to tech. Tech makes things easier and Nigerians like things easy. The only reservation I have about tech in this country is the adoption rate, it is hard to accurately estimate how well tech is adopted. That someone has smartphone at hand all the time doesn’t mean they are actually using it.
back to the topic
What actually prompted the type of replies you got earlier in this thread is that your post implied that tech is unimportant in a business built around tech. That premise contradicts itself and can cause people to view your post as myopic and disingenuous.
Sure, sales and marketing are important but the effects of its absence aren’t as spectacular as you are making it seem.
Have a nice life.
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What I think personally is that we’re getting the whole thing wrong.
One thing I think Nigerian startup fail to see is that we’re in Nigeria… In here things work differently,as bad as it might seem subscription is still expensive for us here compared to an average salary in Nigeria
This and every other reason you might think of makes it difficult for “our startups” to thrive cos we’re still following american mentality
Just imagine if it were a Nigerian that started YouTube, it wouldn’t have gone anywhere cos of if I watch a couple of videos my sub would finish and why would I patronize such a thing after that?
We should wake up and start working on Nigerian/African-originated problems with tech which would be reasonable to me and everyone else to patronize
One more thing,most of these guys copy a lot without adding extra spice
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You guys should this out
What an intelligent mind has to say about Nigerian startups and what they’re doing wrong https://mobile.twitter.com/NaijaFlyingDr/status/912234638889881603
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"We had launched and spent some money setting up these things, that was when it hit us.
Our target demographic is not a social media user, the closest thing they can be on is whatsapp.
Our target demographic is found in town associations abroad and church societies, and is more likely to use our service if it comes via their church pastor or Town association etc."
Well… you’ve admitted your error. You created a solution and went to look for the problem. Besides, Gomyway didn’t die because they didn’t have a sales cofounder, but because the ride-sahring business is difficult to monetize. Ask Wunder in Europe
You got it wrong. There actually is a big problem, a 12 billion dollars per year problem according to our research.
The problem is it will cost us a lot of money to access the demographic that has that problem and sell to them effectively. Money we do not have for now. That was why we retired the idea until we are prepared to pay a lot for sales or marketing, but assuming we had a Sales Cofounder that is politically connected to our demographic, there won’t be any need to look for money for marketing, he will just bring them to us. We shelved it because there was no way to make money from the get go unless we spend huge sums of money in the absence of a Sales Cofounder.
Ridesharing is not feasible the way our economy is structured, that us why they ought to have paused the implementation instead of spending huge sums on sales and marketing plus subsidising the service for the users, assuming they have a Sales Cofounder, he would have found a way for them to make money…most likely, or simply shut down the idea.
I agree 100%. Make money, no matter how small, you will surely succeed even if you will have to pivot
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My brother all these people won’t hear word. In time, water settles and dust settles.
Anyways, I don’t even know this idea of co founder. A founder must first be sales man. before anything else. that’s how we were brought up.
And like the man said, outsource the tech aspect. and when the need for more comes, get more. The indians are ever ready to deliver. Ever and ever. Even the concept of co founder is still foreign, pay people better than anywhere else, or make working time better, and they’ll work better than a co founder who will having moods and swings.
Anyways.Just to lift someone else up. Make I yarn my own. I was so hungry. 2-3years ago. But now, in last 6 months we’ve kept at least 50 full time employees. and my account has never been fatter. What the man advised is just what it is… take it or leave it. Owo nikan lo le she. after money is money, and after money again is even more money. of course health first. All na Baba loke
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Ridesharing is not feasible the way our economy is structured
This is wrong, Ridesharing anywhere is difficult to monetise. It’s not a matter of Nigerian economy. Check Wunder.
The problem is it will cost us a lot of money to access the demographic that has that problem and sell to them effectively… but assuming we had a Sales Cofounder that is politically connected to our demographic
So a sales cofounder wouldn’t help, but one who has Political Connections.
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Thought you said its not an ‘attack’?
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Do I really I have to explain this to you? …Your customer’s wife, his pastor, his parents , his favorite child and uncle, all have influence/ power over him. Power is Political, if you know them or are connected to them, you will be able to sell to your potential customer. That is the meaning of been politically connected, it means you know the stakeholders, influencers and key decision makers.
Please stop explaining radar people love to argue a lot, this thing you’ve been saying is a very simple and logical thing,but as usual, some people have to try to find fault
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Business==Sales!
Entrepreneur!=Tech Co-founder
Entrepreneur==Sales Person
Tech==Leverage!
Any startup in Nigeria that does not understand the above will only learn from experience. Nigeria is not the US where you acquire users and monetize later unless you have some inheritance somewhere. Someone shared a twitter thread above, go read it and learn; that’s if experienced advice means anything to you.
But never downplay tech. Tech and sales are not mutually exclusive. Wouldn’t you rather use tech to enhance (scale) sales? Think in that direction. If you’re a tech startup and you can’t foresee tech helping you to make better sales in the future then you’re simply wasting your time.
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I would rather a startup have 3 co-founders with rich background in Tech (coder), Operations (everyday face of the company) and Business (chief sales man).
On the GoMyWay debacle, I still find it hard to understand why they never took advantage of push adverts to the users of their mobile apps. That’s always the game plan of many platforms offering free services.
They could have also offered a wallet system on their platform to help the drivers pool funds every and from there charge a percentage of the transactions.
There are many more ways they could have made money from Lagos alone sef using their platform …easier said than done shaaa but I still believed, they shouldn’t have gone down that easy. No wonder bros Jason was ranting on twitter the other day. Some startups are just about the ‘bells and whistles’.
Anyway, before someone coman hask me what haff built …let me shut my mouth here!
Doff my hats to Damilola of GoMyWay for at least giving it a try. Many closet startups out there still trying to peer into what it takes to register a company talkless of building something.
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Always had a hard time educating my peeps on this … everybody seems to watch this movies where everyone talks technological innovations and co and get enticed in all that romance into thinking
technology is everything (so they waste time on new logos everyweek - they call it UX)
product is everything (i dont even care if the market wants it)
imagine people dont even think about profit (given chances of an IPO / exit is slim in Nigeria)
But its simple “A Business Makes Money” #EndOfStory
If all you want to do is change the world go and start a charity 
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Anyone that gets something off the ground to the level GoMyWay was at has done a wonderful job.
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