With many years of experience helping advise startups around Africa, Nicole was able to raise $ 5.2 million in funding in 2023 as the co-founder and CCO of Revio. We spoke to her about her experience and passion for helping empower African startups before diving into her transition as co-founder and COO of Revio. She shares her experience in how she was able to utilise her experience in guiding Revio to their seed funding in a time where finding capital has been scarce for many startups. 00:00 Intro 02:42 Finding the passion for uplifting Africa 08:46 3 things that make Africa unique 13:34 Nicole's view on the impact of AI in Africa 17:03 Revio's problem statement 23:02 A day in the life of a COO at a scaling startup 31:12 How Nicole landed the 5.2 Million Dollar funding for Revio 33:00 You got funding, now what? 38:22 Nicole's Quickfire Question

No one could have predicted the effect the Pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns would have on early-stage founders. For HouseMe, it was just a step too far, and after the hard decision to close shop, the co-founders decided to give back to the startup community by sharing their learnings. That led to the writing of The First Kudu, a book about their lessons in building a rental property marketplace. It was super insightful and loved their take on the industry and their view on the role of a Product Manager. 00:46 What was HouseMe? 04:00 Founders who come from corporate to startup 06:15 The liquidity & skill crunch in SA 11:47 The marketplace bible 15:09 CAC to LTV Ratio 19:23 So what happened to HouseMe? 29:57 Where does the Product Management role fit in a start-up

After the SARS sent out sms's to all company directors threatening prosecution regarding outstanding tax returns, it sparked up a conversation about how the whole registration and DEregistration of companies worked in South Africa. So we invited  @AndreBothmaTax  onto our show to help us understand what this all meant and he shared advice on how new founders can help navigate the frustrations if you are only starting out. _______ On 'How Would You Build It?' we interview people who are helping build awesome products and businesses in South Africa and Africa. We get first-hand stories, tactical advice and stories to help you launch and grow your product or business.

In a world that is becoming increasingly digital and remote, storing information on clouds has become the norm. However, this also brings the risk of cyber attacks. In his opening statement, Dan reveals that over 95% of cyber breaches are the result of human error. Witnessing the damage that a security breach caused a massive corporate, Dan and his co-founder decided to seize the opportunity to train people in this field. After 5 years, they have successfully trained 1 million individuals across 20 countries. Listen to learn how Dan breaks down the industry and explores the opportunities within this space, as well as his firsthand experience in building an International white-labelled, content-driven training platform

The Esports and Gaming industry is brimming with opportunity as we have yet to see it really become mainstream. We are excited to watch as the Gen Z's start entering the market as digital natives who understand what the gaming industry is all about. At the forefront of this is Skiirmish, a play-to-earn model for AAA+ games allowing people to earn while they play their favourite games. But it wasn't plain sailing for this founder, even with their unique idea. Finding funders you can trust is not as easy as it sounds. Listen to how Chris Heaton was able to come from the ashes and back his idea to where he was able to land $2.5 million in funding to take his business to market.

In South Africa, the Electric Vehicles (EV) industry is still in its infancy, which is busy opening a whole new space for opportunities. Michael Maas from Zimi Charge spoke to us about how he is taking on this industry with his Fleet management service. Not only from a hardware perspective but also from building software for his customers. He shared valuable insights and also shared where he sees opportunities for other founders to take advantage of this young industry.Highlights:The state of EV’s in SAUnit economics of owning an EVThe rise of complementary industries - think battery management 01:08 Where is SA in terms of EV's? 05:16 What range do you EV's have 10:41 The unit economics you didn't expect 22:36 Pricing strategies 25:27 Battery management 33:21 Opportunities within the EV space for founders

Is data the the new gold? With data we can better understand a future state we are trying to reach. But in Africa, there is actually so little data available, so for us that spells opportunity. We spoke to Priaash from the Awareness company explaining their story of building a data company from their R&D roots and how they are shaping the African AI and data landscape by ensuring structured data is being created and developed. 00:58 Starting your career in Research & Development 03:53 Is Data really the next oil or gold? 08:07 Thinking data as a business 15:31 The state of South Africa's data 18:38 Data for wildlife conservation 24:22 Providing data to prime AI 28:04 Prioritising the vast use cases available 34:29 The African data opportunity

You don't hear many exit stories in South Africa. But this week, we had the opportunity to speak to Andrew McElroy about building and selling Responsive Digital to a listed company! So how do you go from startup to exit.. Andrew and Renier Kriel shared their experience and insights in an impactful conversation on How Would You Build It. We also dived into what it means to build digital products and manage client expectations while ensuring you build valuable products. There were so many nuggets not only for agency founders, but for anyone building a digital business. 02:17 Let's go 03:16 Starting a company in the face of new technology (responsive = AI?) 06:45 How to gain traction on a niche from the start 10:07 How to package value in the beginning 14:15 Managing Expectations 20:22 Understanding competencies and responsibilities 35:54 Planning for an exit 41:14 Understanding the different roles and hats in small business, and which one are you wearing!

Starting a business in the informal economy in South Africa is perceived as high risk. But not if you are Luvuyo Rani. After leaving his teaching career, he started selling computers out of the boot of his car which started a journey of becoming a successful entrepreneur in the township economy. With a strong ambition to be the Mandela of business in South Africa, Luvuyo is on a new path to help enable more South Africans to grow their businesses in the townships. It was an inspiring, compelling and insightful conversation.

It's been 6 months since South Africa was added to the FAFT Greylisting. At the time our government said it was no big deal, but in a slow economic climate with very little liquidity going around, South African startups are feeling the pinch. We decided to unpack the landscape of the greylisting and how South African startups can prepare themselves in the face of the challenging environment.