Over the years, I've had friends criticize the endless @Forbes 30 Under 30 lists. I've heard stories that undermine the 'credibility' of these lists, shining glaring holes into what seems to be purely a hype machine aka the 'Forbes Hustle'. Today,I had my own experience: (1/13)
My story involves the #impactinvesting ecosystem in #Africa, and a white expat founder...which many have commented are catalysts for the Forbes Hustle. I discovered this social enterprise doing some desk research and reached out via email, this is what happened next (2/13)
1) My initial email indicating the fund I'm affiliated with and expressed interest in a call. He responds, and tells me his earliest availability was 7 weeks away. 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 #𝟭: Why type of entrepreneur pushes off an investor for 7 weeks? (3/13)
2) During intros I describe our fund, and he asks "Can you I speak to one of your investees". I respond sure in the future, but let me hear about your business model first. 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 #𝟮: So he really has no idea who we are…he didn't even Google us? (4/13)
3) He mentions many things, including working in 5 countries in #Africa.. that their goal is to reach 50M customers by 2030…and their largest customer is a Global 500 company…one that has $100B+ market cap. (5/13)
He's bootstrapped to date with non-dilute capital from folks including the owner of two professional sports teams (combined team values $4.9B) and another famous philanthropist....to the tune of $100K. 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 #𝟯: In 5 countries, with only $100K...impossible? (6/13)
4) He begins to describe at lengths their impressive impact metrics...with M&E support from a an Ivy League College. I ask for him to just send me the reports via email after the call. His refuses, offering only to screen-share results with me during another call. (7/13)
5) We pivot back to traction, and he refused to share revenue earned to date publicly, though we're on a private call. He wants to build a relationship with my firm before sharing this information. 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 #𝟰 Won't share impact or revenue figures, scam? joke? (8/13)
𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲: At this point, he’s mentioned that he’s a Forbes 30 Under 30 member about 7 times. I am likely underestimating…my brain shut off whenever her brought it up (9/13)
7) I then ask if they are seeking equity investment at present. Instead of responding, he asks me questions such as “What sort of return are you seeking”, “What value do you place on the company" and "What percent equity will you be taking”. (10/13)
I try to respond to these strange set of questions. 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 #𝟱 Is this how poorly scams originating from the US are? I’ve heard these Forbes list lack quality filter....….but this bad? (11/13)
8) Patience wearing thin, I suggest they aren't ready for investment and suggest they send me a pitch deck when they are. He counters that their approach, informed by their fellow Forbes 30 Under 30 cohort, is to build a relationship before sending information. (12/13)
I concluded with “I don’t think this relationship will work out. Best of luck. Bye”. Every entrepreneurial ecosystem has those selling "lemons" as peaches. But I sure hope the #biases in the #Africa #Impactinvesting ecosystem don't mask these @Forbes lemons (13/13)
@africatechie and @perisnyaboe will get a kick out if this story.
