The Joy of Missing Out - Should African Founders Reject Hypergrowth VC Doctrine?

African Tech Roundup

Co-founder and Co-MD of Secha Capital Rushil Vallabh joins Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga for the very first in-studio taping of 2019. Andile, Musa and Rushil chat through some notable signals and trends they've observed in Africa’s digital, tech and innovation ecosystem over the last month or so, then unpack issues raised by a New York Times (NYT) article entitled, More Start-Ups Have an Unfamiliar Message for Venture Capitalists: Get Lost - penned by Erin Griffith - which caused quite a stir on social media. The NYT piece raises some contentious issues currently being debated within Africa's early-stage startup investment scene— some of which were tackled on episode 124 entitled, Is Venture Capital a Ponzi Scheme? feat. Grant Phillips of PhilTech Consulting, which, incidentally, featured Rushil as guest host. Listen to hear why African startup founders might do well to embrace the "joy of missing out" aka JOMO by rejecting investment doctrine that prioritises raising ever increasing rounds of capital and pursuing growth at all costs over building sustainable/profitable ventures. To skip straight to that discussion, head to [55:12]. Topics discussed in this episode: AMA.ZING, part of the Zing Group, withdraws from Zimbabwe [4:52] The Econet Group is beasting right now [12:46] Econet Group Chairman Strive Masiyiwa vs Minority Shareholders [16:25] Vodacom's #PleaseCallMe PR Nightmare [20:51] Naspers now controls Russia’s largest classified advertising platform [30:50] Andela closes $100 million funding round [34:52] Cairo Angels claims to have invested $2.3 million in 24 startups [36:36] Egyptian bus-sharing startup Swvl is expanding to Kenya [38:37] Xiaomi plans to establish a formal presence in Africa [48:27] Facebook and Google compromise Apple's privacy regime [49:47] Image credit: Erwan Hesry