@fran wrote:
So most internet startups are essentially like the posse of survivors from the show The Walking Dead (TWD). This legendary show I have watched religiously over 2015, as it epitomises for me most closely the actual reality of birthing a startup in Nigeria. Where everyday is literally about survival. Where money isn’t one of many things. It’s the only thing. Making it, saving it or raising it. A brutal nightmare of bad vs worst choices and no real solutions in sight. When young founders (or usually spectators) point to established internet companies and how / why they were so successful I always just ignore them. I try to dig back to the early years, before they got to product / market fit and revenue growth really kicked in, whilst they, like others, were in survival mode. I still read a book a week to understand how great companies came to be. I still read with a high dose of cynicism, looking out for survivor bias (you should really read this)
Here are a couple of words of wisdom by the most prolific seed investor in consumer startup history. Paul Graham, cofounder of Y Combinator
Many startups go through a point a few months before they die where although they have a significant amount of money in the bank, they’re also losing a lot each month, and revenue growth is either nonexistent or mediocre. The company has, say, 6 months of runway. Or to put it more brutally, 6 months before they’re out of business. They expect to avoid that by raising more from investors. - The Fatal Pinch - Paul Graham
and
When I talk to a startup that’s been operating for more than 8 or 9 months, the first thing I want to know is almost always the same. Assuming their expenses remain constant and their revenue growth is what it’s been over the last several months, do they make it to profitability on the money they have left? Or to put it more dramatically, by default do they live or die? - Default Alive or Default Dead - Paul Graham
Folks. Winter is here. I see snow in Lagos.
The cold hard reality remains. Unless you are cash flow positive. You will always need cash. So my job as CEO was either to Make It (iROKO Global was born), Save It (culling expenses) or Raise It. (we are always raising - but reading above, that’s always a dangerous reality)
contd: http://www.jason.com.ng/post/136191724390/its-snowing-in-lagos
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