3 reasons why Silicon Semenya (Kenya) will NEVER match Silicon Valley (US) It is ok. Really. It is. We will all be fine.Ofcourse, ‘fine’, in this case means being able to afford rent, fuel your car, buy a few drinks at some lounge and buy a new phone every month or so. We are fine. But when the meaning of ‘fine’ changes to being “world-beaters”, being “the best”, being “the Hub, in it’s purest definition”, we are far. Further than a friend-zoned person is from getting laid. Kenya is/was the most technologically advanced country in Africa in terms of man-power and innovation. They say. Errrm, they think. We export talent. my buddy lived in Uganda for 4 years. And all the top managers of ANY top company (Bank, Telco, Media etc) were either Kenyan of foreign. When we come back home, the same question always remains un-answered. Why are we in a state of limbo? “Systems ziko wapi Lif Odi”, they ask me. Our best coders are not producing any apps. At all. At least not to the public. Where the app matters. I am not talking of mAtako or mJinga types of kindergarten Apps. I am talking real Apps that interact with 100, 000 people daily/weekly. And make 2 bob from each. Why? Adolescent coders, on the other hand are churning apps and web solutions daily. Becoming over-night Kenyan code celebs. We see them all over the newspapers and TV. Big titles. CEO. CTO. Inventor. Geek. Techie. Clit%$is. Ofcourse, having been a hobbyist coder for 8 years now and a ‘professional’ coder for a little over 3 years now, I can speak with authority as to why the only Silicon Africa will be getting, anytime soon, is Silicon boobs. Not Silicon valley. #NaombaSerikali that Anyone talking about a “silicon valley” for Kenya/Africa should be shot instantly, and shot again if s/he survives the first 2 bullets. There are fundamental issues that keep getting ignored or postponed. And unless they get fixed, we will always be wondering, WHY… then, after Rwanda and Uganda get their acts together and start waking up a-little earlier and doing better code, we will start wondering, HOW? Access to seed-funds I always lecture people that despite the SHEER willingness and code-prowess of Zuckz, Facebook would be NOWHERE near where it is without the Initial USD 12.5 M they got from Accel. Big ideas need BIG money behind the BIG hearts and Big brains behind them. In Kenya, asking someone for 1-2M (Kenya Shillings) leaves you egg-faced. You get described as ‘greedy’ and ‘thinking too big for this market’. You are advised to start small. Ati “even facebook was started in a dorm room”. And such similar nonsense. If you are lucky enough to get someone to invest KSHS 2M In your startup, they will demand 90% of your company, your gMail password, all the nicknames of all your Exes and their name tatooed on your left testicle. Even Mpesa itself had to be funded by the World Bank. We have 0% faith on our own. I have seen, with tears-filled eyes, Kenyan start-up companies going to Big Telcos, getting good deals, then facing demise because their finances cannot sustain the demands of the system. Very few start-ups can handle the load of 1M requests. Per day. The new youth fund from Jubilee gives the youth a mere KSHS 500k ceiling on unsecured loans. That cannot even buy 2 servers. What do they think startups are doing? Sukari Guru biz? The ICT board grants were won more by connected people and old-buddies and well-written proposal than the actual people that NEEDED the grants. Most of the other places, you ask for money, you get advise. It is not once, that I have been lectured by shoe-shiners on how to do my IT shiite… Sad. Pioneers vs Settlers This is a universal trend, but more so, more acute in Kenya. In silicon valley, pioneers have the advantage. Patents protect your inventions. The market is responsive to new ideas and gives them a chance. The life-cycle of a SV startup is Start -> Seed funding -> Launch -> More Funding -> IPO/Buy-out/Better version by competitor. The Life-cycle of a SS start-up is Start -> Jisort/Hustle/Employment/Depression -> Bare-bones launch -> Shelve/Employment. Ofcourse, there is always the alternative of Start -> Pitch -> Launch and Be a Pioneer -> Idea stolen by a more loaded settler. Skewed priorities It beats me. it really does. How, in a mobile-focused techScene, not ONE of the so-called techSpaces along Ngong road or wherever have a PRSP/CSP License. Are these tech-scenes just tourist attractions for journalists from abroad to come and take pictures with coffee-sipping code-punchers? It beats me. it really does. How, with ALL the funding available, startups still struggle to get basic infrastructure. Servers, hosting, space, connectivity to SMS/USSD. Simple basic things that, if these techSpaces could take USD 10k form the annual wasted-on-useless-trips-and-camps GL, they would provide. Not ONE of the techSpaces can say : “We have all the connectivity you need to test your mobile service in a real-world setup. Come and enjoy our infrastructure.” But priorities are different for everyone. Some are here to be called “founders”. Using developers as pawns to get funding. Enrich their lives and families. Some are here to actually see a POSITIVE change in the techScene and in the lives of these budding entrepreneurs.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 06:54:54 +0000
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