IDEAS ARE MORE POWERFUL THAN SELFIES
IDEAS ARE MORE POWERFUL THAN SELFIES
What’s the coolest new future you have seen recently ?
We’re definitely solving innovative difficult problems over here at NGWANA AFRICA
Being an early stage investor gives you the privilege of seeing the future. You back amazing startup founders solving innovative difficult problems, and it’s akin to front row tickets to seeing future problems solved at scale. You see it before it becomes everyone’s reality. Direction is much more important than speed when building startups.
Insights for mission driven ideas/startups;
1. A common misconception is Idea == Startup
2. Ideas can be a starting point for a startup but you cannot build a startup on an idea alone.
3. You build a startup on insights (i.e. “validated idea”)
Insight emerges when you test a hypothesis, observe potential users & make conclusions.
4. Test your ideas on real life consumers, find out if your idea solves a problem or doesn’t, if it does, go ahead, work more on it and again test it. Iterating and reiterating based on feedback is the only way to gain more rich insights every single time.
5. Founders, investors never know more about your business and strategy than you do. Here’s what I do know at pre-seed/seed:
a) assessing team’s ability to win #Firstplace
b) understanding a business model’s potential
c) betting on startups + founders with the *it* factor
6. TEAM’S ABILITY TO WIN
I want to see results + reasons to believe: early revenues, data on why the product is a painkiller, and/or concrete insights the founder has learned through hustle and customer research.
I look for grit, passion, coachability, and problem solving skills.
7. BIZ MODEL’S POTENTIAL
The market must be big and growing (ie, if every customer bought, revenue would be in the billions).
Cannot be a feature or niche approach, as the roadmap must incorporate multiple offerings, models, and/or target markets to scale big long-term.
8. THE *IT* FACTOR
What is the startup and/or founder’s special sauce? Why is this opportunity more fun, believable, & better than the rest?
I should resonate strongly with the founder’s vision and have conviction that this deal truly has what it takes to succeed.
9. Seven (7) q’s investors ask when angel investing:
a. What’s the problem?
b. How are they solving it?
c. What’s the business model?
d. How large can the biz be if problem is solved?
e. Is there founder-market fit?
f. What prevents others from winning?
g. If the biz fails, why will it fail?
10. What’s your exit strategy ? Why ? Why are you building this idea!!!
In summary: Don’t bury your failures -Let them inspire you.
