Back in high school, Loyola College Ibadan to be precise, chemistry wasn’t my forte per se, but entropy was a very fascinating phenomenon because it measures the rate of disturbance in a space. This week and over the weekend, the entropy level of the tech startup ecosystem in Nigeria was significantly raised owing to interesting and impressive developments – especially the visit by the Y Combinator crew and not to forget several major events that were held including StartupFriday.
But let’s focus on Y Combinator’s visit shall we?
To whom it may concern, Y Combinator (YC) is an American seed accelerator that was started in March 2005. Fast Company called YC “the world’s most powerful start-up incubator”; while Fortune has also called YC “a spawning ground for emerging tech giants”. Just to have an idea of how big YC is, Dropbox applied to YC!
YC has officially become the latest global player to attest to the startup disruption happening in Africa with specific interest in Nigeria. Speaking at StartupFriday, Michael Seibei, CEO of Y Combinator, affirmed that they are getting more applications from Nigeria and are committed to bringing more Nigerian startups onboard. By the way, they currently have 4 Nigerian startups onboard already.
“We want to invest in more Nigerian startups, this is why we are in Nigeria,” said Michael Seibei, CEO of Y Combinator.
Seibei also hinted that the accelerator’s trip to Nigeria was largely motivated by Ingressive which is an investment group that connects Africa’s top founders with Silicon Valley capital and expertise. But beyond the motivation and the interest, Seibei noted what seems to be the next big challenge for the country’s tech ecosystem – building a bridge and nurturing startups to unicorn status.
“Africa is a huge market place that needs to join the rest of the world in the technology space, and Nigeria is a fertile ground to invest in technology startups, because there are signs of future growth,” he said.
Getting into Y Combinator
From my personal point of view, the crux of Y Combinator team’s visit to Nigeria was largely to keep their ears to the ground and eyes on the ecosystem in order to understand it more personally and directly, and to encourage local startups to apply. While he admitted that not all applications from Nigeria were successful (even though they claim to be interested in the local market), applying to Y Combinator shouldn’t be considered a big deal. He further added that getting in mostly depends on how a startup is able to put its house in order.
“We look at the quality of the teams to know how viable their solutions are. We consider the technical talents of the team and provide the appropriate mentorship. The team must understand themselves and be focused on their targeted solution. Such teams must be building products and solutions and marketing such products. We are interested in investing in teams that show viability of solutions that address essential challenges,” he said.
This is expected to represent a paradigm shift for Nigerian startups who usually have the it’s-my-company mentality and are reluctant to bring in competitively brilliant people on board for fear of overshadowing them in a company they’ve founded.
Furthermore, Y Combinator’s visit to Nigeria led credence to the company, not product mindset which is in the other way in Nigeria. When I interact with startup founders in Nigeria, I’m often told in glowing terms of the ability of their company to bring in billions of dollars in revenue within 6 months. Even when the product’s user’s interface is splendid, the company structure is often awful with just a guy parading himself as the chief executive officer and chief technology officer. He is also the customer care representative, accountant and, sometimes, security officer.
While it is understandable that fingers are not equal and not all startups can afford to employ different people, Y Combinator CEO’s perspective may give smart founders a perfect arsenal at their disposal to get what they want – appearing more serious.
The secret to a successful Y Combinator application was summarized in a 30-second (or thereabout) video posted on Twitter by Abuja-based Venture Platform in which Seibei, cladded in black locally popular attire simplified the process for Nigerian startups to get into the world’s most powerful start-up incubator.
“Apply to get into Y Combinator, always remember you can apply and there’s no penalty if you don’t get in. Second, have a strong technical team as founders – that’s extremely important, and third, build your company – the most important thing is keep on building your company, keep on growing. Don’t look for investors to validate you,” he said.
Coincidentally, Y Combinator announced on its website (and social media channels) yesterday that it is accepting applications from fresh startups. If you think you’ve put your house in order and have an idea that is worth something, you can apply here.
