Ask YC: advice for a would-be startup founder living in Africa
i am a hacker living in Africa (Nigeria) and i have developed a web application (for obvious reasons) and i will like to build it up into a business, so i will like to get some relevant advice from you guys that will help me.
10 comments
My suggestion is to use what you have - play your home for its comparative advantage.
What have you got? You might not have a strong local VC community, but you do have something the Valley doesn't - a very low relative cost of living. With an international market, you can sell a service at 'Western' prices, and spend it at Nigerian prices.
Unless you can move to a startup hub, you're unlikely to get investment, at least initially. So it's going to have to be a bootstrap job. Get a merchant/PayPal business account, get paying customers as soon as you can, and work towards self-sufficiency. Once you're there, you can look towards expanding, getting investment, or moving overseas if that's what you want.
You're in no worse a position than many bootstrappers here - but, thanks to your location, the bar you're shooting for is lower. Exploit it!
What have you got? You might not have a strong local VC community, but you do have something the Valley doesn't - a very low relative cost of living. With an international market, you can sell a service at 'Western' prices, and spend it at Nigerian prices.
Unless you can move to a startup hub, you're unlikely to get investment, at least initially. So it's going to have to be a bootstrap job. Get a merchant/PayPal business account, get paying customers as soon as you can, and work towards self-sufficiency. Once you're there, you can look towards expanding, getting investment, or moving overseas if that's what you want.
You're in no worse a position than many bootstrappers here - but, thanks to your location, the bar you're shooting for is lower. Exploit it!
i have developed a mobile application for mobile phones that syncs to a mobile server, since mobile phones are more common than computers here in africa.
Sync up with this guy:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=175649
And get on a jet aeroplane to somewhere where the hill to climb to a better life is significantly smaller.
And get on a jet aeroplane to somewhere where the hill to climb to a better life is significantly smaller.
Well, as far as I can tell, the advice that flows freely here is as good for you as it is for everyone else, modulo Africa-specific things, which we may not be able to help you much with. So - do you have any specific questions?
yes, how do i get funding? or something close to Ycombinator
I would see getting funding in Nigeria as being an uphill struggle unless you have connections, so maybe look for people from there that have made money and are willing to send some back home. Otherwise, move elsewhere, I suppose:-/
what are the obvious reasons? Web app is amazingly non specific.
you will get more help if you are more open.
you will get more help if you are more open.
The obvious reasons are: (1)i wont have distribution headaches,
(2)easy to deploy and upgrade
and the list goes on.
I need advice on IP, business, co-founders, funding etc
I think what drinko is asking is what sort of web app you're working up. The type/function/target market will help people gauge what's appropriate. It's probably worth the risk to your confidentiality...
what kind of web app?