First of all I would apologise for not responding since. I foolishly forgot to remove my noprocast setting so I was essentially locked out of hacker news while this has been up.
I would like to point out that I worded my question poorly. I do not agree Nigeria/Africa cannot create world class startups. I meant to say like RobFitz pointed out below: Why does PG and others like him capable of change write off a whole continent without trying.
Nevertheless, you guys as usual have got an amazing discussion going. Thank you!
I fully understand the points a lot of you have raised and it boils down to two things.
1: Lack of Trust
2: Lack of infrastructure (Legal, Human resources, Power, e.t.c)
In my book, I thought an identifiable problem breeds opportunity. We have a market western countries are unwilling to serve because the perceived risk outweighs the perceived opportunity. America had the highest fraud but is not blacklisted because the opportunity outweighs the risk and I believe it is the same for Nigeria/Africa. I believe there is an opportunity for our local companies to act as local representatives of existing global companies and combine local knowledge with international skill to create businesses back in Nigeria/Africa.
I do not think location matters in creating a product that has potential as anyone can launch a Rapportive from anywhere in the world. Of course it matters when scaling it.
From what I have seen, our greatest challenge stems from the fact that our people are trying to succeed against the odds. We do not have access to mentors or education that will help us tackle these problems so we are left at a very bad advantage. We struggle to have belief on ourselves because people we look up to have written us off. We have a long rough road ahead and we will trudge on. one day we will succeed. All I ask is for people like PG (who still hasn't responded) and HN'ers to have a little faith in us. Believe me, it helps.
" We have a long rough road ahead and we will trudge on. one day we will succeed. All I ask is for people like PG (who still hasn't responded) and HN'ers to have a little faith in us. "
Sorry if this is harsh but this is honestly what I think.
"Faith" in you by other people should be earned. I deal with many people who think all Indian developers are cheap and incompetent and can't speak English (There are plenty of those around :-P) . Arguing why they shouldn't be thinking like that (or asking them to act opposite to what they believe) is (imo) futile.
Show what you can do (against the odds if required). Then people will support you. That's just the way the world is.
" I would like to believe we can produce companies that can have product market fit before deciding to scale up and probably open offices in the west. .e.g US"
If you believe this why don't you do this? Why do you need PG?
I am not being sarcastic or snarky. I live in India and hear . "If only PG & co would start a YC branch in India ..." all the time.
I think something like YC in India (or China or ...) would be great, I also suspect that people who plan to build "global scale startups" wouldn't wait for PG and co to come around to their pov first.
> 1: Lack of Trust 2: Lack of infrastructure (Legal, Human resources, Power, e.t.c)
When you redefine the issue as creating a startup like Rapportive, saying that Rapportive could be launched from anywhere, it happens you answer your own question as to why not: "an identifiable problem breeds opportunity".
To invent a Rapportive, you need cultural immersion in the "problems" a culture virtually without problems faces. You can get education, and you can get resources. But as the poster from South Africa wrote, you also have objectivity and see "real problems" all around you. With your objectivity, looking up someone's email across social sites doesn't feel like an important problem, so it's less likely to get solved from the third world.
That said, Africa also gives rise to an incredibly positive cultural acclimation--fixing things with whatever's on hand. That's an extraordinary talent if applied philosophically and pragmatically, allowing one to invent and solve around the barriers you mention. That's "hacking".
I would like to point out that I worded my question poorly. I do not agree Nigeria/Africa cannot create world class startups. I meant to say like RobFitz pointed out below: Why does PG and others like him capable of change write off a whole continent without trying.
Nevertheless, you guys as usual have got an amazing discussion going. Thank you!
I fully understand the points a lot of you have raised and it boils down to two things.
1: Lack of Trust 2: Lack of infrastructure (Legal, Human resources, Power, e.t.c)
In my book, I thought an identifiable problem breeds opportunity. We have a market western countries are unwilling to serve because the perceived risk outweighs the perceived opportunity. America had the highest fraud but is not blacklisted because the opportunity outweighs the risk and I believe it is the same for Nigeria/Africa. I believe there is an opportunity for our local companies to act as local representatives of existing global companies and combine local knowledge with international skill to create businesses back in Nigeria/Africa.
I do not think location matters in creating a product that has potential as anyone can launch a Rapportive from anywhere in the world. Of course it matters when scaling it.
From what I have seen, our greatest challenge stems from the fact that our people are trying to succeed against the odds. We do not have access to mentors or education that will help us tackle these problems so we are left at a very bad advantage. We struggle to have belief on ourselves because people we look up to have written us off. We have a long rough road ahead and we will trudge on. one day we will succeed. All I ask is for people like PG (who still hasn't responded) and HN'ers to have a little faith in us. Believe me, it helps.