Venture Capital, an alley-oop to entrepreneurs.
An alley-oop is a basketball play where a player passes the ball to a teammate who jumps, catches it, and dunks or lays it in. It's an offensive move that requires teamwork, timing, and passing skills. alley-oop
1. It illustrates what venture capital is supposed to be, especially in Africa. It should be more about helping aspiring entrepreneurs score (achieve their goal), because their startup is their baby. In Africa we say "it's the whole village (VC) that raises a child (the aspiring entrepreneur)".
When a entrepreneur score points, it should be the joy of both the investor and the entrepreneur. Of course, both will make a profit, but the goal should be to help the entrepreneur score first (and, the VC got the assist), which is not necessarily financial in the beginning, but to achieve his vision for which he needs to be elevated.
2. Friendship works the same way; it's not a competition but finding joy in seeing your friend succeed in what you contributed to by supporting him.
In a conversation once with Michael Jordaan (one of South Africa's greatest entrepreneurs), he said, “To start your business, first seek help from people close to you.". Support can be emotional, technical, or financial.
Most venture capitalists look for “killer” business ideas that can have the highest ROI, which is what Facebook has set as a benchmark.
A simple business idea that can operate and be sustainable to allow the entrepreneur to realise their vision can pave the way for more successful businesses. I have seen it with successful business communities like Muslims and Jews. The results are astonishing; they create wealth within their community (besides, they do not borrow to each other with interest but can claim a stake in the company).
Therefore, Venture Capital must be more focused on uplifting the community, but not exclusively on profit. A financial community intervention mindset eradicates poverty within the community.
(A community is not necessarily linked to race but to populations of a geographical location or an economic fabric.)
This is why the government must work with and support venture capitalists as an alternative financing model to ensure that their intervention aligns with the government's primary objective of reducing poverty and creating businesses.
In Africa, venture capital should not be a tool allowing investors to make a lot of money on innovative startups, but also to generate sustainable businesses. It will, therefore, not be about the innovation brought by companies but above all the creation of SMEs meeting current needs, then the VCs launching themselves into “killer” startup ideas, which are very few.
(If an entrepreneur wants to sell tomatoes, that's okay. People need them anyway.)
I don't think you should stick to terminology to define how something should work. The terminology comes from the purpose of creating something, but given that we live in a changing world, we must evolve and be flexible to adapt to the challenge we face (a personal car can also be used for transportation, e.g., Uber).
Whether it's loans, equity financing, or IPOs, they're all borrowing. Venture capitalists are more into relationships and engagement with entrepreneurs than other forms of investors, which is why they need to be more community orientated.
This play is descriptive about business and human relationships. Which we analyze below:
1. It illustrates what venture capital is supposed to be, especially in Africa. It should be more about helping aspiring entrepreneurs score (achieve their goal), because their startup is their baby. In Africa we say "it's the whole village (VC) that raises a child (the aspiring entrepreneur)".
When a entrepreneur score points, it should be the joy of both the investor and the entrepreneur. Of course, both will make a profit, but the goal should be to help the entrepreneur score first (and, the VC got the assist), which is not necessarily financial in the beginning, but to achieve his vision for which he needs to be elevated.
2. Friendship works the same way; it's not a competition but finding joy in seeing your friend succeed in what you contributed to by supporting him.
In a conversation once with Michael Jordaan (one of South Africa's greatest entrepreneurs), he said, “To start your business, first seek help from people close to you.". Support can be emotional, technical, or financial.
Most venture capitalists look for “killer” business ideas that can have the highest ROI, which is what Facebook has set as a benchmark.
A simple business idea that can operate and be sustainable to allow the entrepreneur to realise their vision can pave the way for more successful businesses. I have seen it with successful business communities like Muslims and Jews. The results are astonishing; they create wealth within their community (besides, they do not borrow to each other with interest but can claim a stake in the company).
Therefore, Venture Capital must be more focused on uplifting the community, but not exclusively on profit. A financial community intervention mindset eradicates poverty within the community.
(A community is not necessarily linked to race but to populations of a geographical location or an economic fabric.)
This is why the government must work with and support venture capitalists as an alternative financing model to ensure that their intervention aligns with the government's primary objective of reducing poverty and creating businesses.
In Africa, venture capital should not be a tool allowing investors to make a lot of money on innovative startups, but also to generate sustainable businesses. It will, therefore, not be about the innovation brought by companies but above all the creation of SMEs meeting current needs, then the VCs launching themselves into “killer” startup ideas, which are very few.
(If an entrepreneur wants to sell tomatoes, that's okay. People need them anyway.)
I don't think you should stick to terminology to define how something should work. The terminology comes from the purpose of creating something, but given that we live in a changing world, we must evolve and be flexible to adapt to the challenge we face (a personal car can also be used for transportation, e.g., Uber).
Whether it's loans, equity financing, or IPOs, they're all borrowing. Venture capitalists are more into relationships and engagement with entrepreneurs than other forms of investors, which is why they need to be more community orientated.
Marius Yusuf C. M Oula
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