Editor’s Note: Oluseun Onigbinde, an Ashoka Fellow leads BudgIT.
Geeks, Have A Seat.
With the Nigerian startup scene comes an establishment that, if well pursued, will banish the ‘oil-rentier economy’ that Nigeria is known for. By turning the knob in the hacker spaces and innovation labs, we can yank graduates off the unemployment lines. Take a look at Spark, a company with an amazing workforce that did not exist three years ago. Or take me for example, I quit a bank job as an employee stuck at entry grade level for three years to become someone who now employs six people.
READ: Jason Njoku’s SPARK Provides $1M To Build Nigerian Tech Companies
I have this theory where I think rather than wait for the large organisations like Dangote to absorb the thousands of unemployed graduates out there, the tech startup economy can play a part by employing a few people in multiples. I look at the Co-Creation Hub and other innovation labs and I see geeks glued to their laptop screens, developing ideas with unwavering fearlessness. Armed with lines of PHP and jQuery, a UX designer, or the ability to tweak samples of WordPress and Joomla, the geek arrives with his startup.
I can’t deny that it is a low-cost approach for geeks to run their own startup; the initial costs of development which inhibit the idea can be handled by personal skills. The main concern is emerging into the market and taking the giant leap that the idea deserves. Are geeks churning out amazing platforms that are taking the marketplace by storm? Are the codes enough to build a thriving startup or do the geeks need to take a seat and learn how businesses work?
READ: Learning From Founders Chapter One – Sim Shagaya’s Story
I have two observations about geeks running startups:
100% of Nothing
Most times, I see young technology entrepreneurs full of ideas, but they want to sprint alone. They have a ‘me’ mentality, wanting to own 100% of the business, forgetting that it doesn’t end with coding and doing a grand launch among peers. It is gradually becoming uncool to run a one-man show. Even though I don’t code, being the guy who seeks funds, does strategy, builds offshore and local relationships, and manages a data mining and visualisation team is already overbearing. Now add coding to that, it is impossible to reach a level of efficiency with a one-man army. It even gives no room for peer reviews that yield excellent product.
One tries to advise, but people are worried that the ‘usurper’ is interested in dividing the stakes. To me, ideas are worth a penny, execution is the big box. I will advise that geeks learn to collaborate in building platforms. Nothing is more amazing than two or more partners with defined responsibilities in a budding enterprise. Efiko is an ongoing example. As a geek, learn to conquer self and find team-mates who understand the power of marketing, strategy, building relationships, and teamwork Learn to find out the mentorship opportunities but be prepared to cede any 100% you intend to own.
The Footfalls
In the drive to develop innovations that awe the marketplace, there is a need for persistent focus. In the beginning, I find geeks refining their code in hopes that technology is enough. Most people abandon the core work to be done in their startup and are distracted with building websites. And who will blame them? They need to meet the basics of life and this new ‘idea’ of theirs is not yet money-spinning.
In the end, the ideas gradually suffer after the initial excitement tones down and the market fails to yield expected results. These geeks, lacking in good pitching abilities, have challenges in clarity as regards to monetization. So why would they be in a rush to seek angel investors? We need to focus on getting the individual the right kind of life to allow him pursue his passion with full vigour.
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I had a conversation with a Nigerian ICT Ministry official in Kenya who said the first funds to YouWin awardees ended up filling personal ‘potholes’ and it was difficult to get rapid initial results. I will advise we strengthen partnership among geeks and the entrepreneurs as it concerns the tech ecosystem. We also need full-dedicated mentors in the space who follow geeks in their drive to scale ideas. In my discussion with the ICT Ministry Official, I discussed the possibility of starting fellowships strictly more focused on living standards to the developers.
This is the kind of pitch evangelised by Ashoka and Echoing Green Fellowships so we can have a Dangote, GT Bank Fellow in Healthcare Solutions or Elumelu Fellow in Traffic Applications and Robotics. The official promised a memo to the Minister on the fellowship; I hope it strikes gold.
