In the end, knowledge isn't power, information is. The difference is that information gives you access (blueprint and system). Knowledge is just potential. It's stored insight, but without access or application, it just sits there. Information activates. Knowledge contemplates.

If I'm to craft a lean growth strategy for a product, the simplest equation that must prevail in the roadmap is to: build a community for B2C, engage TA community for B2B, and incentivize IC community for DTC. If it's multiphase, I'll apply same stretch to the different angles.

I'm sorry this thread is extensive enough. See you in the next part of the series tomorrow where I'll cover the major breaking and yielding point for the both brands. By the end of this analysis, I'll also note what I think the future holds for Chowdeck. Keep a tab!.

Their algorithms manage rider density, predict prep times, and chart the most efficient routes. This ardent control over (almost) the entire value chain including quality assurance, is what allows them to make, and keep their audacious promise of speed and reliability.

For Chowdeck, the product is the company. Every decision flows from the goal of improving the core experience. Chowdeck employs a vertically integrated logistics model. They are a command-and-control logistics network.

Initially a marketplace (a platform connecting users to restaurants), they later added a first-party delivery fleet. They never fully committed to owning the end-to-end experience, which is the only way to guarantee quality.

it was a feature bolted onto a massive e-commerce monolith. It lacked the agility and singular focus required for a service where every second counts. This was same with their delivery model for the food. They operated a confused hybrid model.

Now, unto the next factor and my last point for today: product strategy. A company’s product strategy reveals its soul. Is the product a line item on a spreadsheet or the central obsession of the entire organization? . Jumia Food's product was not a standalone entity;.

Chowdeck chose to own this most valuable real estate in the on-demand consumer's mind. This spear-fishing approach allowed them to perfect their model on a high-value user base before methodically expanding.

This segment's biggest pain point isn't a lack of choice (that's why Chowdeck's tagline says "favourite vendors"); it's a lack of time and a deep frustration with unreliability. They will gladly pay for a service that gives them back their time and peace of mind.

They initially targeted the urban, tech-savvy, time-poor, and value-conscious middle-to-upper class in the economic nerve centers of Lagos. (This is what a GTM helps define. your product's ICP).

They were selling a dictionary when the customer just wanted the definition of a single word. But Chowdeck entered with a focused, almost arrogant clarity. Their implicit promise was simply saying "We deliver the food you actually want, faster than you thought."

Their positioning was built on selection, a weak differentiator in a market where a handful of popular restaurants account for the majority of orders. They failed to realize that for the urban consumer, the core need wasn't endless choice; it was predictability and time.

This "spray and pray" approach created a chaotic and unfocused platform. A user searching for high-end sushi would have to scroll past dozens of local bukaterias, and vice-versa.

Jumia Food's positioning was a direct extension of its parent company's "Everything Store" ethos. Their implicit promise was like: "We are Jumia. We have the largest selection of restaurants for everyone." They aimed for the student in Yaba, the banker in VI, the family in Ikeja.

Now, let me start with their market positioning. Market positioning is the deliberate act of defining how you are the best choice for a specific customer. It's when you own a single, powerful idea in their mind. Here, the two companies couldn't be more different.

Chowdeck, launched in late 2021 by ex-Paystack engineers, wasn’t built to chase scale out of the gate. It was built to work, reliably. They chose one city (Lagos), built dense delivery coverage, refined their fleet operations, and hammered on the user experience.

Jumia Food began as HelloFood (part of Rocket Internet's global play), before merging into Jumia Group's multi-vertical strategy. Its goal was to scale fast, build marketplaces across Africa, and bet on digital-first consumption.

It was a corporate giant, accustomed to thinking in terms of continental scale, being surgically dismantled by a local challenger obsessed with a single, ruthless metric: flawless execution.

When a market leader with a nine-figure war chest retreats, it's never just one thing. Jumia Food’s exit from Nigeria was the final symptom of a strategy fundamentally misaligned with the market it sought to conquer.

Well done, Chowdeck!. A few weeks ago, I hinted on making a series on why Jumia Food wrapped, even with a first-mover advantage and why Chowdeck, the underdog is charting the course. Let's kickoff the first part of the series. A very interesting and insightful thread🧵.