Like you sense of humor. Another path to take as opposed to an upfront criticism. I prefer to be more direct.
I think we have it upside down when a portfolio company raising money is cause for patting yourself on the back. Its a solid endorsement but cash-flow is king. Funny enough I rarely see those numbers touted.
Congrats on tolet.ng, more grease to your elbows. Keep up the good fight.
Congrats to them. Thatâs all. 
Real congrats.
Agree with most of what you said but thisâŚ
Cases in Nigeria
Cases outside Nigeria
The point is the first mover of any business is not always going to be the biggest winner. It most times going to end up being the guinea pig for others unless its timing was on point and its execution impeccable.
Congrats to the Tolet team.
Wow bro, It is people like you that give me hope of the northâs potential 
You know a mean?
Aha⌠I weep.
Money returned to LPs i guess
In fact, you donât want to be the first mover, but rather the last mover. The way Facebook is positioning as the last search engine etc
Thanks. I missed the fact that he was talking from the perspective of the fund, in this case, Spark.
As a discovery platform, definitely.
As a search engine, how?
Facebook: The Social Network Search EngineâŚ
Let me know at what point am supposed to ditch Google.
Sorry, I meant social network actually. My mind is a bit all over the place lately. But they could play in the search business eventually without Google seeing them coming. But then I donât know.
Iâve got to admit, my last statement was clearly an overstatement. However, in the start-up scene, winning big is predominantly attributed to how successful businesses were created as a result of growing an enterprise through series of fundraising activities until it eventually goes public (IPO).
For the businesses you have listed:-
Kalahari â was a complete failure.
Privateproperty.com.ng â is still in the market. There is no difference between Tolet.com.ng and PrivateProperty. I donât think PrivateProperty was acquired. If it was then I donât think the founder of PrivateProperty made a substantial amount of money from its acquisition.
Nairalist was offered a substantial amount by DealFish. No one knows exactly what happened behind the scene but right now, Nairalist is no longer functional.
OLX didnât come fresh. DealFish was one the biggest classified Marketplace in Nigeria prior to OLX. OLX had to acquire DealFish in order to gain the market share. A lot other came in i.e. Google Trader (closed shop within a year or two, TradeStable e.t.c)
I know a lot of people wouldnât believe this. But in my opinion, I donât think OLX is profitable in Nigeria yet. Over time they will, if no classified business enters the market (JiJi and Jumia are good candidates)
In addition, like you clearly mentioned in your examples:
Google came as a search engine but it was creatively developed into an Advertising platform. Google was the first to create an integrated search platform that enables you to make money through independent media publishing. This was the killer value proposition â everyone wanted to make money.
While MySpace and Hi5 opened up their social network platform (to anyone including spammers), Facebook redefined social networking through exclusivity. Thatâs innovation â everyone liked privacy.
The truth is (Tech) investment is cyclic. Itâs all about sharing a 360-degree market size. In most cases, the first mover of any good business idea is always going to be the biggest winner. (even outside tech, there is Dangote Cement as a case study e.t.c) Of course, we have seen extremely rare cases where businesses started really late and were still able to take a larger portion of the market share without acquisition. Nonetheless, it will take exceptional innovation to enter a market (which time has gone) and still make substantial returns on investment.
On a general note: so what exactly is my point?
I donât mean to analyse or criticise any business that raises fund. I am a tech generalist, analyst and a business consultant. I have analysed a lot of tech businesses. I also own a platform that supports SMES businesses in Nigeria. I have friends across the globe (especially in England) that work in Hedge Funds and a big network of the âso-calledâ billionaires (and I was not born into affluence - far from it). I am always on the lookout for good ideas that have the potential to make a significant amount of returns. Most importantly, innovative ideas (replication of a successful business model is very expensive to fund - and I am never interested).
I am going to be very hash. Please permit me to express my rants for this time. We have to send the right message to upcoming entrepreneurs â sigh!
When I analyzed Tolet.com.ng funding statement, I didnât find anything exciting about its prospect. To build better-classified technology and expand (possibly across Nigeria and Africa?) â Whatever form it comes, a classified business model is outdated - especially for a real estate commission based model. The commission received isnât reoccurring. It will take same human efforts to win the next commission. Unlike hotel listing, a commission can be made on all listed hotel rooms over and over again. Renting a house or buying a property is a one-time event. Some people live in the same apartment for 20 years. You are better off working as an independent estate agent. These guys make huge money and they have no one to report to other than their partners. Tech-wise, there is no real advantage over a potential competitor even if you invest crazily. It will take a substantial amount of time to make this model self-sustainable - for the public offering. Raising funds through series wonât help. It is slaveryâŚ
So basically you facilitated:
$8M dollars over a 4 year period, at 50% share commission with estate agents that earn 5% commission on every sale completed â that is poor performance.
Conservatively, you generated over $200,000 with an estimated 25% for operations and logistics which gave you a total turnover of $150,000 + other revenue sources i.e. Google Ads.
A smart graduate of a reputable university in Nigeria and I believe a smart entrepreneur like you are, will make at least $12000 - $18000 per annum working for a good organisation that develops Nigeria. If you decide to go solo: using the same platform, a solo estate agent can make more money living on private gigs and Google Ads. A lot of independent entrepreneurs make constant income without raising any seed money and those that did raise created things that could be sold to investors.
What were you doing with your SEED money after 3 years? Paying salaries?
With $230K, you should be disruptive. Period! You should have created jobs, employ people and share a better success story. Otherwise, you should send the message clearly.
You raised $1.2M in a very bad economy. At the current climate, the NPV for $1.2M is probably worth $4M. With an estimated growth rate of 10%, 15% maybe 20% IRR, inflation e.t.c it is still a bad business if all your money will be made in Naira. What additional value can you create within 12 â 18 months on a commission based classified business that will give a good realistic return on investment?
Why didnât you just sell? Scared, worried about failure? OLX is not even a publicly traded company yet. You have got to be innovative. AirBnB took a piece among all the categories in a classified business to create a multi-billion market starting with just a $20K seed fund.
Generally, a lot of entrepreneurs think money is the reason why things are not moving. I donât think so. While I was on ground, I tried almost 3 businesses and I failed. Money was not the problem. I had people that believed and wanted to support me, but my analysis didnât give a good sign. I failed. Period! (Perhaps, the system and environment were a big factor that contributed, but the bottom line is I failed). If you want to make big money through entrepreneurship especially in Nigeria, then you will have to strive to become the first mover of a good business opportunity. You can achieve this by replicating or redefining a successful business model (proven and tested) in a different market or by developing a novel idea that creates value to anyone regardless of the social economic status. iRoko is a very good business model. FlutterWave payment infrastructure is an exciting opportunity- they serve commoners, even the âlowestâ class citizens.
The only fund required achieving this is a seed-fund. Typically, a Seed Fund is used to test the validity of a business model, transfer or share risk. It is not meant to buy new company cars, rent apartments or pay salary. Unless you see the possibility of a business going public (this is very important), you have no business raising series A, B or C funding. Itâs the biggest myth. The truth about raising funds is that you will never stop raising funds. The more funds you raised, the more equity you give out. Even if you are creating value, very soon board members will buy you out because your equity has no weight. (Even worse when you are 4 in number). In fact, it is better to remain a solo entrepreneur and earn money through Google cheques before you give the active part of your life away.
-End of Rants -
This is why I am excited about what you guys hope to bring to the market. I know someone among the team would read this, think and re-strategize on how to spend the million. Perhaps, you could provide a group driven real estate crowdfunding platform, build affordable homes on behalf of investors, assist low-income earners in making affordable living in Lagos State, wildcardâŚmake letting of apartments a month to month affair with online billing system and real-time reservation of apartments. Instead of expanding a crowded classified market â disrupt, focus on innovation.
I canât believe what I just did 
Two things:
Either way, if your assumptions hold (and I think they are reasonable), and Messrs Frontier Digital Ventures are not a complete maga, then it is fair to say toLet are bracing up for the biggest pivot since Tinubu turned coat on Ribadu on the 2011 Election Day.
I liked your ARTICLE; pretty brilliant!
But then, I read the following again;
and it turns out THIS IS YET TO BE UPDATED
The tricky thing is there is not a well-understood theory of going from a start-up to full company. There is a lot out there on how to come up with ideas and test them (e.g. The Lean Start-up), and the entire business school MBA edifice is great at teaching how to manage a company once it reaches scale with a market-validated product.
The problem is thereâs very little effective information about going from tested idea to scalable companyâwhat to do and how to do it. In essence, our informal educational system teaches 0 to 1 pretty well, and our formal education teaches 10 to 1000 very well, but there is almost nothing about 1 to 10 (which is VASTLY different than the other two).
Most of Nigeriaâs Startup Founders are young, and young people are inexperienced, which might be great for a lot of reasons (energy, enthusiasm, flexibility, no assumptions), but it almost automatically makes them stupid at entrepreneurship. This doesnât mean young people canât excel at entrepreneurship. Yes, of course some young people can and do build companies and become amazing CEOs. Please, do not point to Mark Zuckerberg and Mark Essien as your rebuttal; they are by definition the exceptions that prove the rule. For every one of them, there are 50 founders who torpedo their previously hot company by making all the standard mistakes of youth. Ask any VC you know to tell you those war stories. They have way more of the bad than the good.
I am quite certain Sparks have the advantage to see precisely when the ToLet Founders tend reason themselves into the wrong decision, and would take pains to point out exactly where the reasoning is wrong, what will happen and the right way to go. No good investor will seat back and wait to hear stories.
As far as ToLet Founders donât practice what Mark Zuckerberg said about Twitter, theyâre safe. The race has just begun, if they listen, they will not drive a clown car into a goldmine. They will only have problems if their little bit of success goes right to their heads, and begin to think they know everything.
This is not your cross to carry!
A lot of of startup die, not because their ideas or businesses are bad, but because the founders have no idea how to run a company, and like Ben Horowitz says, you see who the real CEOs are in times of stress, not abundance.
Perhaps you only reminded the ToLet Founders not to forget they have the following in the pipeline. Cause they [quote=âmanifest, post:34, topic:8508â]
Perhaps, you could provide a group driven real estate crowdfunding platform, build affordable homes on behalf of investors, assist low-income earners in making affordable living in Lagos State, wildcardâŚmake letting of apartments a month to month affair with online billing system and real-time reservation of apartments.
[/quote]
My primary observation is the Lagos Lockdown. If theyâre able to have a strong hold on most parts of Nigeria like Hotels.ng then theyâre safe. If they stay locked to Lagos Only. OYO is the case.
There is an anti-bubble in talented peopleâa black hole, and Iâm not about to get sucked-in.
PS. I am simply expressing my own rant. 
I really donât know where to begin with this but I guess as you said itâs a rant directed at the Tolet guys and other young entrepreneurs. I get and agree with some things you said.
But,.
I am not a member of the Tolet team. You kept somehow implying I was. Or at least I thought so 
You made a statement. I disagree with it and with a number of cases to support my disagreement. That was it.
Your statement I didnât agree with wasâŚ
You did agree with thatâŚ
Then, you went further to sayâŚ
Again, please do provide enough cases to support your statement.
As proof you did mention Dangote CementâŚ
But Dangote Cement was not the first Cement company in Nigeria. There was Ashaka Cement and Benue Cement before Dangote Cement. Dangote did go on to purchase Benue Cement
Nobody said anything about a late comer winning. There are usually others closely behind the first mover, not late comers.
My argument is the first is not always the winner and in most cases going to be a guinea pig for others except its timing was just right and its execution impeccable.
What anyone should hope and work hard at being is the âlast moverâ (@akindolu mentioned it here first).
The one that gains most of the market share and lock-in customers making it difficult for incoming competitors to gain any foothold. Whether that person is the first, second or any number entrant.
Wrong analogy here @mark, Essien he didnât start as a teenage like Zuckerberg, from his own story he had years of working experience before embarking on his start-up. By the way, i thinks you guys here tend to overhype his business worth more than he do. Do give the hotel guy a break, let him hit his first billion$ in peace, after then you can feast on his success
So you left the real gist and fell for this?
Aunty Joyce. Ah! Ah!!
Someone cannot play with you again?
Atleast he has a war story too.
To calm your nerves, replace Mark Essien with E and we have a balance.
I use radar as a reference when talking to fellow techies around me. They ask whatâs Radar and I start Marketing it to them like itâs some Product. You will begin to wonder if millions are made off Radar.
Why do you think reviews exist for Mobile Apps. Maybe you intend writing your reviews yourself.
You said âfeast on his successâ like you think his success will affect me financially?
I respect every Entrepreneur who goes all out to make things happen.
PS. If you want me to hype your business just tell me. #PunIntendedđ
Their investors are betting on potential. 8 million dollars means they have helped deliver around 3,000 rental transactions which is not bad especially since they are competing against classifieds like olx and jiji. The rental market in Lagos alone is at least worth 100 million USD a year. They have the runway now.
Unfortunately it took a foreign VC to see the potential in a real estate platform. Not one of Nigerias local bigwigs many of whom have extensive real estate portfolios thought of funding these guys.