Silicon Valley Experience-Lessons For DEMO Africa 2015

2014 closed with a thud and the echo of this resounding close can still be felt. Five start-ups from the forty that participated in the 2014 edition of DEMO Africa secured a fully catered for tour to the Silicon Valley where they also got a chance to impress more investors by pitching on the DEMO US platform. We all agree that the success of the 2014 edition of DEMO Africa will largely influence the next edition whose preparations are already underway. The inspiring stories of the start-up entrepreneurs and the realization that Africa holds plenty of potential are major factors that became prevalent in 2014. This was captured by the determination of young entrepreneurs on the DEMO Africa stage and reaffirmed by the opportunity to showcase the best of Africa’s technology at the Silicon Valley. The CEO of Paysail, Osborn Adu Kwarteng from Ghana and Byron Sitawa, the Director of Chura, Kenya, gave their account of the trip to the Silicon Valley. “The tour of the Silicon Valley was phenomenal, and it was a really great learning experience. The chance to pitch on the DEMO US platform was a huge step for Paysail. The maturity of the eco-system in the US was clearly evidenced by the number of investors and investment partners that turned up for the DEMO US event.” Said Osborn, Osborn also pointed out that the participating start-up on DEMO US seemed to be working on certain technologies that are yet to receive much attention here in Africa. “Notably, wearable devices and drones are some of the inventions that took center stage.” He added. Byron added to Osborn’s sentiments confessing that the biggest takeaway from the experience was gaining the courage to step out of the world. “The atmosphere in Silicon Valley is unlike anything I had ever experienced. The energy, the sense of opportunity and adventure, the belief in entrepreneurship was all worthy. Everything was properly shaped to see the success of the tour.” He said The tour schedule was tightly packed with the aim of exposing the participating start-ups to as many facets of the Valley as possible. This begun with a mentoring session which brought together all the five 2014 DEMO Africa Lions: Chura, Paysail, Jifunza,  Spacepointe and Nerve. Bringing the African start-ups together provided an opportunity to affirm that they were indeed flag bearers of the African tech and startup scene and had a responsibility to give a good representation of the continent. In the first two days, under the guidance of Stephen Ozoigbo, CEO of the African Technology Foundation based at the  Silicon Valley, the DEMO Africa Lions visited Santa Clara University, Reed Smith Law offices, incubators and accelerators across San Francisco.   Here, they got the chance to pitch and interact with industry leaders as well as fellow entrepreneurs. “I was very impressed with the work ethic which challenged me to apply myself even harder. We were taught the importance of being thorough and careful in  handling legal and financial matters; introduced to incredible opportunities like the ease of registration and setting up office in Silicon Valley by foreign nationals; structuring our pitches and necessary skill in funds sourcing.”  Added Byron. “At the Meltwater HQ where we had a pitch session, I got a glimpse of what the future held. Gwendolyn Floyd of Shopsoko-who were crowned winners in the first ever DEMO Africa event in 2012-was one of our judges. This was especially important to me because Shopsoko is from Kenya and I wanted to know how they had achieved their success. I got to chat with her, got tips for my 90 second pitch at DEMO US and great advice for Chura. Learning from other entrepreneurs for me is key and I must point out that my success in pitching on the DEMO Africa platform was greatly shaped by watching the Youtube videos of other start-ups pitching in past editions. The trip gave me indispensable input and support and introduced me to a formidable network!”.  Sitawa recollects. The DEMO days were exciting featuring Silicon Valley heavyweights Peter Thiel with a keynote speech and a product launch from Steve Wozniak. The program involved Product Launches; Pavilion Sessions where companies got to pitch and network at their booths, and, Founder Workshops. This was all leading to the final DEMO day Global Showcase where all DEMO Africa Lions were to do their pitches. “Over the course of the tour I had learnt a lot about how to present our product to a global audience, more so one that operated in a distinctly different environment from ours. My objective was to communicate effectively and get the audience to understand what we do as much as possible. This wasn’t going to be easy to do in 90 seconds but I relished the challenge. Stepping up to the stage I remembered 3 key things I needed to do. Firstly, Generalize-Find common ground that is relatable to your audience. Secondly, Contextualize-Give the audience a frame of reference for the environment your product works. Once I had done this I could now deliver on the solution. The response was excellent and we generated a lot of interest after the pitch.” Beamed Sitawa The last day was spent by attending an Emerging Markets Forum in Nappa Valley hosted by the Silicon Valley Bank and the International Finance Corporation. The focus was the problem of investing in emerging markets-due to lack of exits, limited and fragmented markets and low value markets. “I was fascinated by these perspectives but noted a tendency to overlook the unique nature of emerging economies and instead bundle the Silicon Valley setting into every market.  A case in point is the mobile ecosystem in emerging markets and Kenya in particular that is outpacing everyone else. Here, I shared a sentiment and was encouraged by the A sentiment I shared and found fitting was the encouragement to drop the term ‘Emerging’ in favour of ‘Fast-Growing’ markets. There was a great talk by Jaron Lanier who termed as pathetic ideas that make money only for the founders and not for society; A riveting panel moderated by one of our hosts State Department’s Thomas Debass and featuring VC’s Dave McClure, Adeo Rossi, Sharon Vosmek and Michael Harries; Great pitches on bioengineering with one being a startup that aims to solve the riddle of aging! Both Byron and Osborn reveal that they  travelled back home greatly inspired by the experience, more knowledgeable and armed with a better network of fellow entrepreneurs, financiers and industry experts and are  looking forward to the next step in achieving scalability. The Silicon Valley experience provided the energy to power the next round of DEMO Africa.