My Uni was free dude, and I paid for my own education by 1. building and selling a startup in 2001, working as a software contractor and then making website apps and products. The only contribution my parents ever gave me for university was my ticket abroad and equivalent of 100 euro. Since then, I’ve made my way through on my ability.
But that is not to say you are wrong - you are right. I come from relative privilege - my parents have enough money that I could be sure I would never lack for food. If by the time I moved to Nigeria, I am sure if I had not had my own money, they could have rented me an apartment. When I left Nigeria, they were rich enough to buy me a plane ticket, which many parents cannot do.
In my mind, I could always be sure of some security to fall back on. I never fell back on it, but it was available to me. This is the one core advantage that people from middle-class and greater backgrounds have.
It’s not a real thing, what it is in an optimisation goal - a person with no cushion to fall back on will optimise for the short term and making sure he does not starve. A person for whom eating, living, etc is a given will optimise for wealth and impact.
I couldn’t help myself here.
Maybe you should emphasize hard work.
Tell the younger ones to graduate with a grade that lands them a job in Nigeria’s Biggest Corporations where they can get the finances required for experiments.
Now You are in a position where you can afford to fail.
And you don’t need to leverage on your Dad or the Society.
So the key point is work hard and create your own safety net - whatever interests you.
I have seen people who earn $4k/month on Upwork. The question is more of, are we up for the work?
Great discussion, I was actually laughing through out my reading of the thread. If you are not from a privileged background, I will advise you get some privileges by gaining experience and having a safety net before you dabble into the world of startup idealism.
The writer used “tended” and if we’ll be honest, the higher percentage of Nigerian entrepreneurs really are from priviledged backgrounds (can’t speak for Africa though).[quote=“PapaOlabode, post:7, topic:5345”]
What does priviledged background even mean?
[/quote][quote=“PapaOlabode, post:7, topic:5345”]
Or does it also cover if her mum worked for Lagos state government for 25 years and used her pension to sponsor her (instead of throwing a big party).
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Using the general Nigerian population as reference, if your parents have their own house, and could pay your OAU school fees without you running to one aunty or uncle or family somewhere, then you are highly privileged. If, pensions or not, someone was able to send you to school in a private University, Europe or America, your privileged level just went up 5 places. And if you’re an “ajebo island pikin”, you’re the cream of the crop.
What the writer failed to take into cognizance in my opinion is what was made of such opportunities.
So you schooled abroad and your folks can alter a few books to give you more capital than Paystack has raised so far, if you still fail every time, sooner or later no one will want to work with you.
The writer was right about the fact that less privileged others need a fail safe as well if we are to have a truly vibrant entrepreneurship ecosystem and possibly the next Unicorn.
if you have the cash and the strategy to get the investors before your personal cash finishes then you can focus on creating innovative solutions but if not,find a cheaper and trusted business model that works in NIgeria,you will get revenue through hard work and strategic moves but wont expand also asking banks for loan is a NO NO,what you want is money buying an equity in your start up or pray you are selected into Y Combinator or other international incubators after applying then you can think of innovation when growing up your startup IF NOT YOU ARE DOOMED ON ARRIVAL,
Nigeria is a hard place for startups.
The problem here in our Ecosystem is we want to copy the cultures of Silicon valley,Nigeria is hard for every business,silicon valley have investors who are big risk takers and very well connected in the finance world,so many can afford to fail and be a hero in trying but here in naija,you cant waste funds on “unnecessary innovations” cash is hard to find in Nigeria,you are expected to spend it wisely not on experiments.
to conclude,if you from a privileged home in Nigeria,it doesn’t not necessary give you an advantage,it might add to your reputations among your dad or mum friends but how many of them understands your business and business model to stick with you or to invest more of their cash,they might invest or stick with you for a time but if nothing is being showed as ROI,you will be left behind,your reputation ruined and totally destroyed.