The Nigerian Startup ecosystem has recently seen a lot of fights to be honest. Either founders bickering with other founders, tech people fighting non-tech people, or the whole ecosystem against one person. Or even the old, trusty founders fighting with their investors on public display. It got so crazy that I wondered if this was normal. Are people in the same industry supposed to fight this much?
I love that the tech sector in Nigeria is tagged as an ecosystem. While an ecosystem at first may sound like a ‘Kumbaya’ community with people living in harmony and peace, it really isn’t. In fact, in biology, an ecosystem is referred to as a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment. Anyone who has entered a biology class knows that “interact” doesn’t necessarily mean communicate. It can range from exchanging goods to plain old eating and getting eaten.
Sometimes there is symbiosis, sometimes it’s commensalism, sometimes it’s going to be a parasitic relationship, and sometimes, the lions just want to fight each other to mark territories.
So why is it only Nigeria’s tech ecosystem that has all this rofo-rofo?
Well, it isn’t happening only here. In the North American startup ecosystem, we see fights like this happening too. Just check out all the people dunking on our new Twitter oga, Elon Musk. Or the recent “I’m in the Arena” jokes. It’s just that the American ecosystem has been there for a while. It started when there was no Twitter or Facebook to quickly call each other out. These wars had to be more litigious and PR-focused in nature (think Apple vs. Microsoft). And I believe that currently, the ecosystem there has matured to a point that these wars can be properly carried out in the boardroom (like when Peter Thiel led the charge that kicked Elon out of his CEO seat at PayPal).
Also, Nigeria is an African country, Africa is known to be big on community and communal living, and one of the major pillars of community is gossip! So of course, even the littlest piece of ‘dirt’ here is blown out of proportion because everyone wants a piece of it. “But Nigeria is not the only Nation in Africa with a startup. Why don’t the others make noise?” They do! They just make less noise because they are smaller ecosystems. I just searched Kenya startups on Twitter and got this:
The question we should be asking is whether this is a good thing. And the answer is that it might. Evolution, when driven by stressful situations, produces the most ferocious of beasts. For example, man allegedly used to be a dumb creature struggling to make fire and hunt with sticks and stones. You can also juxtapose that with your friendly neighborhood dog whose ancestors used to prowl around the darkness, howling at the moon some ages ago.
A little bit of conflict is not a bad thing, what determines the effect of it would be the players within, will our tech ecosystem whine at the adversity that it gives and receives? Or will it identify the cracks therein, and use the criticism to build an ecosystem that fights in a boardroom and in space? Your move tech.
What I have been up to:
I got a copy of Olumide Soyombo’s Vantage, and for the first time in my life, I was taking notes while reading. Looks like I’ll soon start dropping some “wise words” on Linkedin.
This week was a crazy one. Had no light all through, but my people ensured that I was well-fed and rested during the weekend regardless. Thank you, Su and Chom-Chom!
Sycamore still remains the number 1 place to get that Loan you need to keep going. Reach out today.
I haven’t read a great article in a while. If you have one, please point me to it. It can be on any topic at all.
Today’s Newsletter is dedicated to Uncle Tunde! Literally my lifesaver. Thanks for being an awesome mentor. Readily dishing out advice and proferring solutions to a myriad of issues. And for also buying me a copy of Vantage.
That’s all for today guys. One lesson I think we can all learn from the startup game is that adversity will come. Your successes depend largely on how you react to them. Have a great week ahead.
Your tech cousin.
Hoping for more boardroom rofo-rofo in Nigeria. Great piece!
Thanks Tech Cousin.