Thread by @CKJapheth

IF YOU’RE LOOKING TO START...

I get 100s of requests for mentorship+capital from people looking to start. Most believe they’re the NEXT BIG IDEA & should be handled with care. I see me when I got started so I thought I should share what’s obvious now that I didn’t know then.
1/

If all you have is an idea & have nothing to show, don’t look for support, you don’t deserve it. Show enough skin in the game before anyone believes you. No one will do for you what you’ve failed to do for yourself. Use what you have to show you can use more. Show progress.
2/

How to start a startup; this is an old classic. I use it all the time. I ask people to come back when they’ve reached launch level. We shall throw our weight behind them, not at “I have an idea level” we all do anyway. It shows they’ve invested everything they have. Just work.
3/

Forget money. Do something you’re happy to do investor/money or not. Money always certainly finds you on the way not at the start. In fact if you get it too early, that might be a problem. You get it by deserving it, you deserve it by showing what you can do with what you have.
4

Money has a type & color. But all money has a RETURN. It could be on investment normally no less than 6x, deliverables if grant, free from fools & dangerous from family. Don’t seek the wrong money for the right reason, it will kill you. Each type has a different story, tell it.
5

You get out less than you put in. If you split your time on 5 things, you get less from each than you deserve & put in. No, I’m not saying you can’t do many things, I’m saying be the best at one first, then do the rest otherwise you stress the little resources you don’t have.
6/

The 1,000 day rule. In short, you must be willing to do worse than you used to or at your job for 1000 days – about 3 years passing through the trough of sorrow, uncertainty, trial & error, wins & failures before you reach a reasonably comfortable & stable income level.
7/

No, you don’t have the best idea. The first draft of any idea is always crappy. The only thing that remained on the slides I used to explain my business then and now is the name of the business and my name. Everything else has changed. Ideas get better as we work on them,
8/

Finally, the best advise I ever got. Money doesn’t flow to those who need it(infact it flees) it flows to those who create value for it. Waste no time looking for it, focus on value
Money wants someone who has done something, not someone who can explain why they’ve done nothing.

Here’s some good news; it gets easier by the day. Now with platforms like @TheVillageUG @MotivUG @youngafricawks you are guaranteed with whatever you need. Capital from @The97Fund market access + scale partnerships through our #FutureLab. Hint; just go through the steps above...