Why Are Kenyan 🇰🇪 Startups Closing 💔 ?

[@stevenyambok278]

Why don't all start ups work together to maximize the specialization advantage? I'd simply offer my opinion as - principal / agent problem, but a bit convoluted. Start ups have principals & the type of capital they take, incentivizes them to aim for a larger share of everything, so why share, especially if it means receiving less of the capital targeting your market. It's a systemic problem - until we get a one trick, knock it out of the park, winner. Then folks will adjust. It's all incentive.

[@startupsoko]

That is a very good open question. More collaboration/cooperation vs. competition could work.

[@Ronobuildstech]

"luck is democratic it eventually comes your way if you stay long enough in the game"

[@jaredoluoch8457]

The female moderator frequently raises her voice and interrupts the two male panelists, which is trully distracting and frustrating for the audience seeking insights. I hope someone provides her personal guidance to improve her online communication skills, demeanor, and professionalism. She keeps shouting, yet the microphone equipment is available. There's no need to raise her voice. Maintaining a positive image and decorum is crucial for public engagement.

[@startupsoko]

Mashallah

[@panafrican.nation]

She has the big mic adjacent to her mdomo, and the others have lapel mics. But everyone speaks at the same volume to their respective ears. She comes out loud in the recorded audio, relative to the rest. So either everyone should have the same mic, or she lowers the volume on hers. Or the person doing the audio mixing (if it's done), can "normalize" the audios recorded from everyone, then adjust the volume of each of the normalized audios to the same value, if necessary.

[@jameskinuthia4311]

I noted this too, some positive criticism here that will only make this an ever better show than it already is.

[@raphaeljaggerd3585]

@@panafrican.nation She has the big mic and shes still yelling you can tell that the guying doing the mixing tried his or her best that's why her voice sounds a little distorted because of it. She's should try reign it down a bit and be a little bit more professional.

[@victorisyamba]

I pioneered the concept of 'Cloud Kitchening' in Kenya from 2010 to 2022. In the first venture, I raised locally and we faced a myriad of management challenges, Later in 2018, I got VC funding for another cloud kitchen venture startup which closed down in 2020 March due to COVID-19. The VC later repackaged and made a came-back as KUNE. All your discussion is just speculation but all you are saying has anything to do with what actually happens. Get the real story from someone who has been there and knows what really happens in this much-hyped Silicon Savannah Startup ecosystem. These foreign-backed startups are all about the business of selling 'Proof-of-Concepts'

[@startupsoko]

For sure, would you be willing to come and have a conversation about pioneering cloud kitchens in Kenya? If so, drop me an email on [e-mail]

[@kim1570]

Wow. I'm very curious to hear more! Could you please do an interview with channel to get this inside information out? We've been hearing complaints over the years by the Kenyan/African idea-generators that at some point their intellectual property almost always gets taken over by the Western funders, and I think your experience will be vital to young and inexperience Kenyans seeking funding in these circles.

[@victorisyamba]

@@kim1570 it has little to do with IPs, but more to do with weak legislation around FDI. Our FDI legislation is vague and identifies a prospective Foreign Investor as anyone disembarking at JKIA. Anything beyond the airport reception is up to whoever deals with them. Within 2 months, the visitor qualifies to be given an FDI tag and can now start fundraising both locally and abroad purporting to solve a painful problem that has bedeviled Africans for decades. eg. (mobility, food security, climate, water, GBV, etc) Within 3-12 months, the 'fake FDI' would have raised north of $1M mostly in grants under the veil of a 'localman' who by then is not aware he or she will be used and dumped after another million is raised.

[@Holysimba21]

i am 25 yrs old a techie, and naelewa what your saying but what i know from tmy research in the tech world something like cloud kitchen always faces some challenges if your not careful enough.. First of all you have a low barrier to enter in the market. Cloud kitchen also have less labour required. Heavy in Operations actually very difficult to get right. Again some fall to leverage x-tics of a cloud kitchen,they only create one brand out of the kitchen. Failing to get Geographical data and Software all these help you sell what the market demands by monitoring your analytics. The final being the risk of Sunk cost fallacy .. these are a few problems Cloud kitchen business fail

[@williengangamacharia2761]

I love Sidney thoughts! Thanks for bringing him to the show. looking forward to the next

[@startupsoko]

Sidney is great. He is very knowledgable and experienced. Lucky to have him on, and thanks for watching.

[@marcoliocops]

1:04:40 there is no energy density in electricity. But bio fuels have it. Let's say 1g of petrol produces 1watthr if 1g of diesel is 2watts thats density. Electricity is just energy, good interview mr. Black

[@nyakwada]

Great episode. Thanks for sharing your views with us. Learnt so much from your discussion. I wish I could hear more from Sydney. He takes time to articulate his thoughts and due to the excitement from the rest of the members, he's cut off and the conclusion isn't fully expressed. Hopefully next time we'll get to hear from all of you with less interjections. Looking forward to learning more in your next episodes.

[@startupsoko]

I can definitely work on ensuring I let Sidney articulate his thoughts. Thanks for listening and I am glad you have learnt from the discussions.

[@enockmokua1735]

The lady shouts bana. Very insightful podcast

[@startupsoko]

I am passionate about this topic my guy! Need to make sure you are hearing me loud and clear. Thanks for watching and listening.

[@stephenWHU]

Yes. This is a professional production, you do yell and interrupt other speakers unnecessarily. I think content is good, but there needs to be some refinement on structure, and letting everyone articulate their point. You actually yell, maybe change that.@@startupsoko

[@stephenWHU]

@Nineto5withWangari Borrow tips from Peace Itimi from FoundersConnect. Adopt that approach. She doesn't yell, and she is quite calm. Adopting her approach will push up subscribers by 1000%.

[@givenmakaza1043]

Why is she shouting

[@williengangamacharia2761]

I think I might defend Wangari. I think her tone is okay to me. maybe am just used to these kind of heated convos - honestly.

[@githinji]

Great episode! Logistics is HARD! All that logistics expertise at Sendy, Marketforce, Twiga etc., should be put together to build a logisitics company heavily investing in R&D

[@startupsoko]

Yes, at this rate I agree that collaboration from these key players would be beneficial to figure out logistics.

[@simonpeter285]

First, startups need a deep scrutiny at their leadership..I believe that management is usually their biggest weakness.. Second, they normally have short term goals or ratger quickly achievable goals, which when achieved, they normally lack existential purpose. Third, most if not all, get bought out or externally funded and slowly pass on their decision-making infrastructure to the venture capitalists who fund them. The other big one i think is poor money management. Since it isnt their money, I feel they take what they want for themselves in salaries and allowances and then dont care what happens to the rest of the investment.

[@startupsoko]

I agree with you. Additionally, many start-ups are solving a problem that still needs to be validated, which brings up a lot of issues that you have stated in your comment.

[@simonpeter285]

@@startupsoko quite true..the trend being set is a rather worrying one.. I think kunafaa kuwa na requirement ya elementary business studies ndio mtu akubaliwe kuwa na startup..ikiendelea hivi they will become biashara kila mtu anahepa kama ngotha ya kitambo

[@startupsoko]

Hahaha

[@funlawchic]

🎯 In authentic business culture, owners rarely even take a draw of profits until year 3-5. Toxic Western start up models made folks think starting a business is a "get rich quick" scheme!

[@Ronobuildstech]

great thought experiment by Mr Orwa 16:58

[@blackorwa]

Cheers!!!

[@sometkip]

It's interesting how we are having this conversation about why startups fail and more often than not it is from the perspective of outside looking in. It might be interesting to explore the perspective of people who worked in these organizations, to get a better picture of what transpired.

[@startupsoko]

But isn't it human nature to have a perspective on things? FYI - Chris & Sidney have worked in 2 of the 5 we discussed.

[@sometkip]

@@startupsoko So would it then be interesting to explore the role that “people” employees play in either the success or the failure of the organizations?

[@startupsoko]

The main issue is that Kenyans may not be willing to speak openly due to fear. As part of our research before recording, I do reach out to some of these employees that have worked in these start ups. However, more often than not, they are not interested in coming on camera to have this conversation.

[@blackorwa]

@@sometkip NDAs

[@victorisyamba]

@@startupsoko I would have loved to talk about but I am that these schemes have complex networks of people in government and powerful foreign organizations that can even blacklist you never to transact with any foreign-backed business in the future. Ever heard of Sankalp, Davos Group Meetings, Bilderberg Group Meeting?

[@emwas4438]

Napenda such long convos, zina ujuzi na maarifa ,saa hii ndio algorithm inanileta kwenu

[@tonyokeloonyango]

Always love the conversations, top notch 👌🏾.

[@startupsoko]

Thanks so much 🙏

[@tark9008]

I really enjoy the insightful discussions and the passion you bring to each episode. Just some positive critism: - At times, multiple people talk over each other, which can make it difficult to follow the conversation. - While it’s clear that everyone has valuable contributions, it can sometimes make it difficult to follow the conversation. The female hosts is noticeably louder than the others, which can be jarring.

[@denisgachoki]

Yoh Wangari, I like this conversation. Keep it up

[@startupsoko]

Thank you, I will

[@bernardmomanyinyagaka1051]

Great session, @wangari, great session, but kindly let the guests finish their submissions

[@startupsoko]

Yes, for sure! But please note - these are not guests.

[@ndegwaalvin6597]

30mins into the episode and I loved it,,keep going!!!

[@startupsoko]

Did you get to the end?

[@ndegwaalvin6597]

@@startupsokoI had to ,,,

[@itskrox-johnochuro]

Ah, dope stuff! ----- subbed!

[@startupsoko]

Thanks!

[@kim1570]

This was a great conversation. I'd love to see an episode on the opposite using the same criteria - what has made successful start ups in the country enable them to keep going thus far. Either way, It appears to me that the tried and proven method is to build a company from the ground up the gold old fashioned way.. you know those stories you hear of a mzee who started out years back with a kiosk by a dusty roadside, and now has a large organization with branches all over the country. It seems that there is a lot of wisdom to be gained by that old fashioned way that simply cannot be replicated in this relatively new start up ecosystem. Also, this start up thing seems to be bogged down to a degree by the celebrity-hood that comes with it. When one manages to raise a big sum of money, all eyes are on you in many ways that go beyond the business... people are looking at your lifestyle and passing all sorts of judgement on you (the founder) which may result in you making poor, emotionally-driven business decisions rather than data-driven ones. I'd love to see an episode on that too. Either way, excellent conversation! Subscribed.

[@startupsoko]

Do you have a suggestion of 5 successful start-ups? Happy to create content on this as well. And welcome to the channel.

[@jameskinuthia4311]

Very informative am always leaning something new from each episode.

[@funlawchic]

Great insight for Global Black Diaspora business owners and investors guys! ❤️🖤💚✊🏾

[@startupsoko]

Thanks so much 🙏 For diaspora business owners and investors there are some great local start ups looking for investment and we plan to interview them as well.

[@frankolwenda5128]

This was extremely informative. Do you have audio only episodes as well? The most recent episode on spotify is from 2022. Looking forward to more from you guys!

[@startupsoko]

Thank you, so I stopped publishing the audio because they are not as popular as video content and many times I have 0 listeners.

[@smithhempstone5374]

I'd like to join the startup autopsy discussion

[@benardnjihia5621]

Good staff guys.

[@NehemiahJesse]

This is a very nice podcast

[@startupsoko]

Thank you!

[@smithhempstone5374]

How does someone noin your live conversations?

[@muchegew9570]

Kenya DOES have a street-food culture. Y'all just need to stop looking at Kenya through that narrow lens called Nairobi. That said and done, great conversation, great guests. Keep it up

[@aaliyahbatyisrael3714]

The woman in red on this show was loud-talking and out of control. She barely let the men fully develop their thoughts before she loud-talked them and cut them off. This show was hard to follow.

[@kagaidouglas6077]

that twiga contrast was hilarious i loved it 🤣🤣

[@startupsoko]

Haha! I am glad you love it

[@mapepe2011]

the shouting by one of them; could it be the type of microphone used here this time round?

[@startupsoko]

I was definitely louder at some points in the video. The mics are good, something I and the production team can work on next video. Thanks for listening.

[@quantuminc9928]

For the lady raising your voice doesn't mean you'll win an argument

[@IanJob]

Correction. Rest of Kenya does not have great food but Mombasa does

[@comradejackso3886]

the lady moderator needs a chill pill and maybe a lesson or two on how to moderator a discussion with decorum especially with such learned fellows, this is not a random bar discussion. On the other hand the gentlemen are solid in their facts and views.

[@startupsoko]

Say no to drugs 💊

[@favourirungu4460]

how about startups such as MGas and MKopa?.I think they have good product market fit.

[@startupsoko]

This particular episode covered start ups that have closed. I also cover successful start ups that can be relatable to my audience, we have not looked at mKopa or mGas yet, thanks for the suggestion.

[@favourirungu4460]

ooh that's great.Curently the best podcast for sure.

[@kim1570]

@@favourirungu4460 Agreed. This kind of content is excellent.

[@jacobodoyo707]

startups in Kenya fail because of not listening to their clients, failing to engage in innovation and expending to compete but not to meet client demands. The client is King. If you are not client obsessed you will fail. Guaranteed

[@startupsoko]

Totally agree! They will listen to their VC before listening to clients needs.

[@fm0O]

1:07:49 Yall cut off the guy with glasses too much. Its disrespectful and painful to watch. Let ppl speak and dont speak over them. Also fix the mic the sound is not balanced.

[@NehemiahJesse]

Do you have a sellable compilation

[@startupsoko]

State your price 💰

[@NehemiahJesse]

@@startupsoko just thinking,compile all your lessons,case studies into a sellable commodity e.g. book, online coz najua in future you will grow to be large and ur analysis is valuable data which can be sold.find sbdy to do so

[@startupsoko]

I totally agree - it is a fantastic idea and also a lot of work to put together but not impossible. I will think about creating a sellable commodity, and thanks for the idea, you have sparked something. Lemme reflect.

[@lordofshorts777]

how comes ive never found this channel

[@startupsoko]

Not sure, it has been a 3 year journey - welcome to the channel and check out all the amazing content

[@queenwere1]

😅Now you've found it 😂😂

[@sqwale7]

It's really hard to be a greater interviewer of a founder when you ask questions that are highly uninformed. Where as I don't expect you to be a domain expert in every industry of the founders you are interviewing. I think if we must suffer this guy on the left he should ask more questions and make less assumptions and silly opinions.

[@iles663]

Chris orwa is a sharp guy I can smell it

[@saint.m621]

Intresting

[@startupsoko]

Thank you, I am glad you found it interesting.

[@Mainneli]

is she shouting or its just garbage audio quality ...omg its so bad

[@startupsoko]

Thanks for your feedback. We are working on transforming this into a blog that would suit you better.

[@Mainneli]

@@startupsoko this format is much better it's just that this was the first thing I watched in the morning and I was like why are you shouting at me I've done nothing wrong lol just level the audio darling

[@idahsons]

Sydney 👏

[@startupsoko]

Team Sidney ⭐⭐

[@timothyngao6784]

Great grand cousin????😀

[@ENG.Kelvinffxgchfhg]

No one should invest in Kenya

[@startupsoko]

I believe we just need better governance

[@mwendaraphael]

he insulted the people of Kenya

[@startupsoko]

It's very unfortunate that he insulted Kenyans.

[@pandalife1313]

I'M from Kayole and i knew about Sendy😄. But I guess maybe it's because Im a software engineering student

[@startupsoko]

🤣🤣🤣🤣