The Flip

On October 15, 2020, Paystack and Stripe announced the acquisition of the former by the latter, in a deal reported to be worth over $200 million. This marks Stripe's largest acquisition to date and is an incredibly meaningful exit for the African tech ecosystem. To unpack the deal, we spoke to Shola Akinlade , Paystack's Co-founder and CEO, and Matt Henderson , Stripe's Business Lead for Europe, t...

The very nature of a high-growth startup means that the company is always growing and hiring at a rapid rate. And for African startups, in particular, the talent question is even more acute, given the general challenges of sourcing for select roles, as well as the difficulty in competing for talent with other startups, multinationals, and companies elsewhere in the world. In this episode, we unpac...

In this episode, we explore and unpack the relationship between the tech ecosystem and the media. We'll seek answers to questions such as - what roles do media publications play in the ecosystem? How does this differ between international and local publications? What are the key considerations for the media in doing this work, particularly from a talent and business model perspective? What about c...

This season we've talked about the relationship between African tech and other emerging markets across the Global South, as well as with China. In this episode, we talk about the ecosystem's relationship Japan - and in particular, the interest Japanese investors and corporates have in innovations from the continent.  1:33 - Satoshi Shinada and Rio Yamawaki on the macro situation in Japan, and why...

In this episode, we explore the evolution of mobile financial services and the opportunity to deepen financial inclusion in African markets. This opportunity exists for mobile network operators, as well fintechs like PalmPay, backed by hardware manufacturer Transsion, whose smartphone brands - Tecno, Itel, and Infinix - account for over 50% of smartphone devices on the continent. 1:55 - We explore...

This week, we explore a hypothesis - that the lessons and models from Chinese tech companies have merit in African markets, given certain similarities between China’s development and the current conditions on the continent.  2:06 - DFS Lab's Stephen Deng on the experience of Chinese entrepreneurs and investors, and the lessons from leapfrogs in China that may have merit in Africa. 5:37 - We hear f...

Last episode, we went on a hypothetical startup journey from idea to exit. In this episode, we go on a real one. In June of 2020, MFS Africa announced the acquisition of Beyonic. Together, the combined company of 95 employees now enables mobile money interoperability between markets and mobile network operators, and offers a suite of tools for SMEs, in 30-plus African markets. We go inside the acq...

This episode, we go on a hypothetical startup fundraising journey, from idea to exit.  2:04 - At the earliest stage, angel and venture investing is quite subjective, says Zachariah George , angel investor and Managing Director of LaunchAfrica.  3:46 - Because of the subjectivity, metrics and valuations don't matter as much at this stage. We hear from Chidinma Iwueke , Partner at pre-seed fund Micr...

We dedicate this episode to Fahim Saleh, the Founder and CEO of Gokada, who was killed in New York City on July 13th. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family and the entire Gokada team. This year, Nigerian fintech companies Paga and Migo are expanding to Latin America, to Mexico and Brazil, respectively. Another Nigerian startup, Gokada, was launched by an entrepreneur who built a successfu...

We've had prior discussions on Africa's market size ( S1E5 ) and on Africa-focused investors' pursuit of scale ( S1E7 ). Both topics ultimately lead to the same place for startups: geographic expansion. What are the considerations and implications?  2:05 - Keith Davies , former CFO of Zoona, shares cautions startups to be careful because expansion introduces a lot of the complexity for the busines...

In this episode, we explore high-touch venture investing models - in particular, venture development and talent investing, as well as peer-selected investment.  2:16 - an introduction to accelerator programs and their objectives, with Catalyst Fund's Aaron Fu . 3:47 - a discussion with Adedana Ashebir on Village Capital's peer-selected investment model. 6:16 - Founders Factory Africa's Lwazi Wali...

Introducing The Flip Season Two - the podcast exploring contextually relevant insights from entrepreneurs changing the status quo in Africa. This season, we explore venture building, geographic expansion, valuations and exits, mobile money, emerging markets, China, and much more.  Produced and hosted by Justin Norman. Sayo Folawiyo is the executive producer and b-mic. https://www.theflip.africa

They say never waste a good crisis. And while COVID-19 has had a horrible, crippling effect on individuals and economies alike, if there's one positive to the pandemic, perhaps it's that it's compelling and facilitating partnerships to serve the greater good; to bring people together to solve problems that have already existed, but that now have been brought even further to the fore. In this episo...

As we continue to weather the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, and its second order effects on the economy, hat lessons can we learn from those who have lived, survived or even thrived through somewhat similar circumstances in the past? In this episode, we hear stories from three entrepreneurs whose past experiences may be useful for the entrepreneurs of today. 2:07 - ' Tokunboh Ishmael , Co-found...

MicroEnsure’s origins date back in 2002 when its founder, Richard Leftley, started asking a simple question of traditional insurance companies – why is it that insurers only create products and services for the wealthy? He never got a good answer. Richard had seen the data on the impact that natural disasters had on human lives in emerging markets – there was clearly a mismatch between risk and ac...

Rebecca Enonchong ( @africatechie ) is widely known for her evangelism of the African tech ecosystem. But she's much more than merely an evangelist. Rebecca started the US-based enterprise software company in 1999, growing it into a global business, and along the way has co-founded the Africa Business Angels Network, AfriLabs, I/O Spaces, ActivSpaces and more.  I was so fortunate to be paid a visi...

To solve problems on the continent, entrepreneurs are building sustainable, impact-driven, infrastructure-building, tech-enabled, for-profit companies - how should these companies be funded? In this episode - our third and final episode of our three-part series on venture investing in Africa, and the final episode of Season One, as well, we take a first principles approach to fundraising in Africa...

Venture Capitalists, generally speaking, are looking to fund high-growth ventures that have the potential to scale and achieve virtually infinite returns. But achieving that scale is hard, even more so in Africa, where there are market size questions, fragmented markets, and regulatory considerations. As a result, venture investors are looking for a specific type of founder and entrepreneur - one...

We talk so often of venture capital that it's more or less assumed that raising VC funding is an inextricable part of the entrepreneur's journey. But should it be? What are the purposes for taking in VC money, and what are the considerations?  1:24 - Keith Davies, ex-CFO and Partner at Zoona on the implications of taking VC money 3:19 - Integrateme Founder Luke Dominique Warner on their strategic...

One of the most exciting aspects of opportunities in Africa is a function of market size - over 1.2 billion people on the youngest and fastest-growing continent. But the conversation around total addressable market, and true market size opportunity is a lot more nuanced than Africa's topline population number. 2:25 - GreenTec Capital Partner's Maxime Bayen discusses GSMA research on mobile adoptio...

In nuanced and fragmented environments, how are startups in African markets getting their products and services in the hands of their customers at the last mile? 1:55 Maxime Bayen, of GreenTec Capital partners and formerly of GSMA, on mobile technology 4:00 Keith Davies, formerly of Zoona, on agent networks 5:24 Katlego Maphai, CEO of Yoco, on building trust offline 6:36 Abolore Salami, CEO of Rib...

Leapfrogging - what is it? What is it not? What is it good for and what are its limitations? We speak to Yoco's Head of Expansion, Marcello Schermer. 

They say that the difference between the US and Africa is that the US has competition while Africa has complexity. And a big reason for its complexity is a lack of infrastructure. It compels many startups to build infrastructure, invest in other market-making activities and/or to diversify earlier in their journey to make their businesses work. How are startups across the continent building sustai...

A tenet of entrepreneurship getting as close to the customer or end-user as possible, to best understand and implement solutions for them. But what does this look like across the continent, where the set of problems and opportunities are unique to the market and context in which entrepreneurs are operating? In this episode, Justin speaks with founders who are building businesses by intimately unde...

Introducing The Flip - an editorial-style podcast exploring contextually relevant insights from entrepreneurs and investors changing the status quo in Africa.  The name The Flip comes from the opportunity to flip the script – question some of the pervasive narratives on entrepreneurship, challenge the ubiquity of Silicon Valley thought leadership, and champion the entrepreneurs building a future i...