AI is disrupting how VC evaluations will work going forward. Most AI ventures are redefining the speed of building ventures and how VC’s valuate them.

54 Collective’s CEO on Rebrand, State of VC, Startups and SMEs On the eve of Founder’s Factory’s rebranding to @54collective_vc, The @kenyanwalstreet talked to Bongani Sithole (@bonganis), CEO, on the company’s evolution, the general state of VC on the continent, and what

As General Partners in Africa we need to prioritize delivering value to founders, that’s the only way we can deliver DPI to LPs but also a quickest way to building our ecosystem.

We always encourage entrepreneurs to learn and iterate which is good, but this doesn’t mean focus on small. Your goal should be to go big whilst you focusing on small iterations. Sometimes being part of small for too long can limit your progress.

The advice we were giving founders in 2020 is different from what we're saying now. When someone is in trouble, you don’t say to them, this is what you should have done. We say this is how to sustain yourself during the period. Right now, we’re all about sustainable businesses!

That situation only ends in one of two ways: layoffs or closing the business.

If I hire that way, I’m not driven by my $4 million raise. I’m driven by the fact that I need these people to fuel growth. In that scenario, if you can't raise money in the next 18 months, you’re now sitting with this huge team that’s not contributing to your fundamentals.

Founders sometimes make the mistake of hiring more people because they’ve got money and not because the business activity supports it. Framework: If I’m hiring two engineers, what is the bottom line impact of those people?

All that matters to the African startup economy can be summed up in one word: 'more.' We need more pipelines of every type because building a startup economy is a numbers game. The more businesses in a market, the more likely you are to find commercial success

Here’s a contrarian take… People who invest in early-stage seed and seed really shouldn’t care too much about valuations and market trends. The valuation prices of series A, B, C and private equity businesses are conflated with investing in seed. And I think that's a mistake.

Tempted to share a few thoughts on the layoffs we're reading about in the African tech ecosystem. Just how (or why) did startups overhire in 2021?

“Our goal is to enable start-ups to rapidly scale using investment funding,” says Microsoft’s Kunle Awosika. “There is huge potential for Africa to become a thriving hub of digital innovation on the global start-up landscape.”

John Curtius, the former Tiger Global Management partner who became a key Silicon Valley dealmaker for the investment firm before his hasty exit two months ago, plans to raise $1 billion for his debut fund -- Ambitious! https://t.co/GR56xSdDXK

But funding news is surface level stuff. I like to focus on what’s below the surface, and that's being able to help build sustainable businesses which eventually float to the headlines as opposed to coming up with content that further emphasises what’s already on the market.

Always great to remember that regardless of the market conditions, money is a means to an end. Where there’s a lot of it, startups that are not sustainable will get money. And in a downturn, we'll see some of these businesses struggle, but not because of a lack of capital.

Heads up: I'll be attending and speaking at SuperReturn Africa, the continent's largest private equity conference, in December (details in the image). Among other things, we will discuss the key takeaways VCs can gather from those that started from scratch.

To be clear, I understand the excitement of funding rounds. For people outside the tech ecosystem, funding may be the most exciting news around African startups. But this kind of thinking leads to excitement when funding comes in and melancholy when it doesn't.

You can't read through the news these days without finding articles about startups dealing with funding downturns. Almost every report focuses on the downturn. Can we get back to talking about how to enable startups during this 'dry run?'

Africa needs more Angel investors and hands on operators to fuel pre-seed and seed stage growth. @FoundersFFA

Wednesday night. 300+ people. Can't believe it 🎉✌🏾