Entrepreneurship Archives - Page 3 of 3

I can see all of Cape Town from here

Today was such an adventure. I saw Cape Town from every angle, from Rondebosch to Mitchell’s Plain, from the Grand Parade to the airport, from Khayelitsha to Green Point. I got to see the high income areas and the low, the schools, the businesses and the bars.

The disparity between the different areas in Cape Town is well known. It is one of the most unequal places in the world. The history of apartheid has created social and physical rifts in the city.

But today, for me, it was all one place. I got to experience it all at once.

My favourite moment was reflecting with a close friend while we were at Lookout Hill in Khayelitsha. We could see the whole township around us. To the north, table bay. To the south, false bay. To the east, the winelands of Stellenbosch. To the west, table mountain and the “Southern Suburbs”.

We reflected on how magnificent the city was, but how sad and frustrating it was that its beauty was only accessible to a few. There is so much that needs to be done, and we cannot stop until everyone can enjoy the fruits that this city has to offer

As we were driving out, the street art by Faith 47 at the entrance to Khayelitsha captured our reflections perfectly:

“The people shall share in the country’s wealth”

We all need to do our bit to make this city and country a more equal place

Image is from Lookout Hill, looking toward Table mountain. I was there (and in Mitchell’s plain) with my friend who had flown down to do research for her masters thesis.

Published by rspazzoli on December 2, 2017 | Permalink

The collaborative nature of social entrepreneurship

Traditional business theory teaches about competitiveness and how a company must outsmart it’s rivals to win. The objective is to win market share, make better products and grow faster than others in the same market.

Social entrepreneurship is different.

Instead of fighting one another, social entrepreneurs are fighting a systemic or societal problem. Therefore, competing with one another makes little sense. You’re on the same team, and you don’t have to defeat the problem all on your own.

Today we had lunch with 3 people who run 2 startups, each of which operate in the same space as our own startups. Over the course of our meal, we all shared our learnings and knowledge. We looked for new ways to collaborate and to help each other fix the problems.

To me, this is far more exciting than trying to out manoeuvre a rival.

By collaborating, we can solve issues better and much faster.

And in doing this, everybody wins.

Image is from a conference called AfricaThink that I was privileged to attend in October.

Published by rspazzoli on December 1, 2017 | Permalink

Falling in love with the problem

When we were in Oxford earlier this year for the Global Challenge, the recurring theme was the idea that entrepreneurs should fall in love with the problem, not the solution. This is particularly true of entrepreneurs that are aiming to have a social impact.

It sounds like a very simple thing to do, but it is far from it. When you pour your life into developing a product, a system or a business it is very easy to become infatuated with it. It’s your baby, and you become proud, protective and possessive.

However, this can cause a kind of myopia and might cause you to miss warning signs that your solution isn’t working. Your solution could be built to perfection, but it doesn’t actually solve the problem. It also means you might neglect other solutions that could solve the problem better.

By falling in love with the problem instead, an entrepreneur is able to pivot quickly from one solution to another, without becoming too attached to their original idea. They can set their egos aside and focus on what needs to be done

It’s a difficult psychological barrier to break down, but once you fall in love with your problem you’re much better positioned to solve it.

Image is from the pilot of our new startup. Our app isn’t nearly as ready as it should be, and it’s a little scary putting it into the field so soon. However, it means we can learn about how well it fixes the problem and then begin adjusting as necessary

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Published by rspazzoli on November 25, 2017 | Permalink

Testing ideas

As mentioned in yesterdays post, a common query I have from students is them asking “is my idea okay?”. I think this is something that a lot of people come up against when coming up with ideas, whether it’s for startups or within an existing company. The tendency is to ask someone in authority whether they think its a good idea.

A lot of the time, these people may not even be as clued up as you are regarding an industry or an issue. The best way to test your ideas is to deeply investigate whether the problem exists and figure out if your idea really solves the problem. When we come up with ideas we make many assumptions, and we need to test these and see if they hold.

One project group came with an exciting idea about getting older people involved in NGOs and development projects. Their assumption was that these people were bored and would love to be involved in developing South Africa. They first came to consultation to check if their idea would work, and I wasn’t really able to give them feedback. They then went to an old age home with questionnaires and the immediate feedback was that their was almost no interest in their idea. They’ve now pivoted and found another idea, as they realized the assumptions underpinning their original idea didn’t work.

If you find yourself struggling with this, check out the Lean Iterator (a Cape Town based group), click “get started” and go through their playbook and videos: http://leaniterator.com/

Don’t seek approval, seek evidence

Picture is from a neighbourhood watch patrol I went on earlier this year. Our safety idea had pivoted to focusing on neighbourhood watch groups, and to test our assumptions we spent time on the ground, which helped us immensely.

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Published by rspazzoli on September 5, 2017 | Permalink