Building An Afrikan Startup - Trial & Error, Determined.

Alright, so the then phindor didn't exactly become the African Amazon, but hey, it lit a fire under my butt (sorry, but yeah). Those crazy 12 months of grinding taught me a lesson, or so, I thought: businesses in Nairobi were stuck in the digital Stone Age era. Back then, I was this data science wannabe, and it was clear as day – these folks needed a tool to make sense of all their data!

But here's the real tea: most Phindor vendors were rocking receipt books (fancy!) or some pre-historic software that definitely belonged in a museum. Every single day ended with a mad dash in the back office to sort out their money and stock. As “Zuckerberg Wannabe” I thought this was brutal, and I knew I had to do something. These people needed their lives upgraded🙄.

At this time nilikua pale Nailab under the "Next Economy" program. Shoutout to Sarah Kajuju for schooling us on the skill of talking to people (a lifesaver). This time, my co-founder and I were determined to be smarter. We needed some serious cash to get this thing going – unlike Phindor 1.0's ramen noodle budget.

Joining “Kenya School Of Character Development”

So, I landed a web dev job at Westie, bagging KES 22k/month at a matching age of 21 - aisee🤌🏾. Two months in, and my total pay was a miserable KES 4k and a few sad pizzas☠️. Needless to say, I left. Turns out, Nairobi streets can be a wild ride and aren't for the weak.

To top it off, around January 2020, I somehow managed to develop scoliosis, thanks, universe! (happens when your spine bends sideways). My 2020 was well spent at PolyCare Wellness Centre and National Spinal Injury Referall Hospital, getting my back, back on track🥲🤐.

Fast-forward to March 2021, I was getting better or say I was tired of waiting to get better - I had dreams and a bent spine could not hold me any longer (I highly discourage this reckless behavior🥲).

So, I hopped on my Chinese designed and developed bicycle and signed up for Uber Eats, delivering pizzas everywhere in Nairobi. I used to chill near diamond plaza in Parklands - there people are generous with tips🥲. There are chances I delivered something to you. Huwezi jua. The master plan? Raise some cash for that startup idea we'd been cooking up since 2019.

(P.S. All this time, I'm supposed to be at The Technical University of Kenya, battling calculus and calculating the speed of light to the nearest hundreth. Oops!)

By June 2021, we had a basic MVP ready to rock – a web app for sorting out inventory and sales, with a sprinkle of market insights thrown in for good measure. We called it the "Phindor Business Assistant" – because, hello, it made life easier!👇🏾

We even managed to bag 55 early adopters, even though the app was a bit buggy (sometimes the math just went rogue!). People seemed to dig it, but to take things to the next level, we needed a platform that was built to scale and last.

To scale this meant more cash, more people on the team, and even more cash. Someone told me, "why don't you ask your customers to pay upfront" I marvelled at the naivety; He had just come from the US and I think he was still jet-lagged. Hapa Nairobi people want to use apps for free, and you are talking about asking for advance payment? Are you nomaal? My friend, are you nomaal?

This is how to get a job in Nairobi.

Anyway, to raise funds, I had to look for better opportunities; I went hunting and discovered a cool healthcare startup in Nairobi. Having dabbled in something similar before, I analyzed their app, wrote a report highlighting what they could improve, and sent it to their CEO (a super chill dude). And just like that I landed me a UX designer role. I worked for 12 months after which I left with of course some good money and an angel investor.

Building the next unicorn - Akilini.

September 1st, 2022. We set up shop in Kilimani (don't worry, no rent expense), with a mission to empower businesses to make boss decisions using their data (SMH). We succeeded, but the universe had a different plan. We built this amazing data powerhouse of a tool, but for the wrong customer😭.

Let me explain: our life-changing product needed some serious resources to keep it going. To turn a profit, we needed clients who valued data and had the cash to back it up. But we, designed it for small businesses making around KES 20k a day. We got so caught up in the "empowering small businesses" narrative that we forgot about the whole "money making" thing. Painful!

A life lesson - An Eye Opener

The sign-ups were a real eye-opener. Big companies, including one of kenya's top insurer, had signed up. But, we had to watch them walk away – over 100 clients in just three months. Talk about a blow. Ndio hii job. The problem? Our "small business special" just couldn't handle their needs.

But hey, all was not lost, we learned a lesson; Even if someone needs a car, it doesn't mean they want it, and even if they want it, it does not mean they can afford it. Before building the car for them, answer these questions.

We had fired up a helicopter to go get a cupcake at the local supermarket.

If you see me passionate about "understanding the Afrikan market". These are some reasons why, you can't identify a customer concern and just decide the solution and the business model. No, you have to go through a rigorous process of market research armed with an open mind. When I say rigorous I mean relying on years of accurate first-hand data.

I hope you get the essence of market research. I really do. I want us to build lasting businesses, not just some fancy startups with sprinkles of blockchain and AI kila mahali.

Here is to Building Afrikan Startups🍻