Navigating Product Strategy in African Fintech
Lizanne D'Souza knows product and Fintech. She’s run product teams in both emerging and developed markets over the past 20 years, and...
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- Jun 4
- 7 min
I Failed at 4 Start-ups: Here's What I've Learned
by Tony Chen Why don’t we talk about failure more? For some, it’s just too painful. All that blood, sweat, and tears went into something...
- May 20
- 5 min
6 Things We Look for in a Great Pitch Deck
By Edwin Maganjo, Verdant Frontiers Fintech Fund Having been a founder for 10 years, I’ve pitched startup ideas to investors countless...
- May 14
- 5 min
Discovering Problems That Customers Are Willing To Pay For
By Edwin Maganjo, Verdant Frontiers Fintech Fund The one thing that all great start-ups have in common is that they are solving a big...
- May 6
- 5 min
So, do I have Product-Market Fit or not?
by Edwin Maganjo, Verdant Frontiers Fintech Fund Without Product-Market Fit (PMF), start-ups cannot scale sustainably. Start-ups that...
- Sep 20, 2023
- 3 min
Meg Whitman, President William Ruto, and Brad Smith Pitch Kenya in San Fran
Last Friday, US Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman took her "Kenyan Roadshow" to Silicon Valley. She made the case to invest in Africa, and...
- Jul 5, 2023
- 3 min
Is Getting Into Y Combinator Worth it For African Start-ups?
Y Combinator is arguably the most successful accelerator on the planet, with 4,000 funded start-ups with an aggregated valuation of...
- Jun 29, 2023
- 10 min
The Most Severely Misunderstood Markets in the World can Achieve Outsized Investor Returns: Africa
I have talked to hundreds of potential investors over the last 6 months, and this, “Really? Africa? For investment?” question keeps...
- Jun 21, 2023
- 4 min
(How) Am I Biased as an Investor?
Reflecting on my investments to date, I’ve been thinking about my biases. The question isn’t am I biased? Honestly, the question is how...
- Jun 14, 2023
- 3 min
9 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Level Up Their Initial Pitch to Investors
Now that I’ve heard hundreds of pitches, I can tell you there is a wide continuum of pitching / storytelling. Most entrepreneurs are...
- Jun 8, 2023
- 4 min
25 Things I've Learned Investing in 25 African Start-Ups
A few things I’ve learned while traveling this path. Sometimes you find the “right” entrepreneur working on the “wrong” venture. Stay in...
- May 22, 2023
- 2 min
Are a lot of African fintechs getting tech right, but fin wrong?
Good at tech, bad at fin. Unfortunately, this turns out to be true more often than you’d expect. One of the long-standing misconceptions...
- Apr 20, 2023
- 3 min
8 Reasons 2023 will be a Great Vintage Year for East African Fintech (and 4 Reasons it Won't Be)
Many of you have heard me talk about my admiration for the East African tech ecosystem. For Nairobi in particular, there aren’t many...
- Jun 21, 2022
- 2 min
Kinyungu Ventures acquired by Verdant Frontiers
I’m excited to announce that Kinyungu Ventures — along with our portfolio of 5 fintech investments — has been acquired by Verdant...
- Feb 4, 2021
- 3 min
Who’s Writing $25–75k Checks for Early-Stage Kenyan Companies?
Over the last 6 months, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to discover many organizations with the conviction to write early-stage $25–75k...
- Jan 25, 2021
- 4 min
5 Things I’ve Learned about “Investing in Africa”
I’ve been asked a lot of questions about investing in Africa over the years by international investors. One basic question: where do you...
- Jan 19, 2021
- 3 min
New Research calls for Changes to Cut-and-Paste VC Strategy In Africa
Kinyungu Ventures Research calls for Changes to Cut-and-paste VC Strategy In Africa Paper recommends investment structures and approaches...
- Mar 27, 2020
- 5 min
For Such a Time as This
Plenty has been written on COVID-19, and I’ve read more than I care to admit. I won’t add to those voices. Today, I’m actually writing to...
- Jan 28, 2020
- 4 min
3 Reasons Not To Become a VC
After 10 years of corporate life and 10 years of entrepreneurial life, I’m now in the process of transitioning into a new role: impact...
- Oct 2, 2019
- 3 min
If a VC Fund Were Run Like a Lean Start-Up
Earlier this year, a wise VC mentor with 20 years experience pulled me aside and told me something that had me screaming in my mind....
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