It's sad to see something with so much potential seem to fail or close. It makes me wonder if Nairobi is a place where there's lots of dreams, but little mentorship for young entrepreneurs. If Africans can get access to both capital AND good mentorship, it's a win-win. The other question, of course, is if corruption can be tamed enough that banks can be trusted to lend startup capital without the desperate entrepreneurs being too wary to ask them.
Great insights Abraham - It is sad to see Copia close down then followed by Twiga. I blame mismanagement in this because I have run small shops in Nairobi and we get good margins per sale and are profitable. The obsession that tech founders have with building systems and controlling the whole logistics to last-mile delivery methinks is where most of the money is burnt.
Very interesting points, Simon. But also running small shops is a different business from trying to use small retailers as your distribution channel to deliver orders that are variable and not necessarily repeatable.
It's sad to see something with so much potential seem to fail or close. It makes me wonder if Nairobi is a place where there's lots of dreams, but little mentorship for young entrepreneurs. If Africans can get access to both capital AND good mentorship, it's a win-win. The other question, of course, is if corruption can be tamed enough that banks can be trusted to lend startup capital without the desperate entrepreneurs being too wary to ask them.
Fantastic read 💡
Great insights Abraham - It is sad to see Copia close down then followed by Twiga. I blame mismanagement in this because I have run small shops in Nairobi and we get good margins per sale and are profitable. The obsession that tech founders have with building systems and controlling the whole logistics to last-mile delivery methinks is where most of the money is burnt.
Very interesting points, Simon. But also running small shops is a different business from trying to use small retailers as your distribution channel to deliver orders that are variable and not necessarily repeatable.