Hey there,
This week we published Building a Savings Culture with PiggyVest’s Odunayo Eweniyi.
It’s a masterclass on how to build a consumer product in Nigeria.
We shared some lessons via Twitter.
The Creator Economy Needs a Middle Class
A disproportionate amount of earnings on platforms in which creators can monetize is concentrated amongst a small percentage of the top creators. This essay in Harvard Business Review argues that the creator economy needs a middle class – in other words, there must be a concerted effort amongst platforms to build in such a way that enables those outside of the top 2, 5, 10% to make a living, as well.
But likewise, for the creator economy to exist, it needs a middle class to sell to. And it’s a big, open question on the continent – even as Paystack and Flutterwave, for example, launch tools for creators to more easily sell products and services online.
Whereas Facebook in the US earns a ton of ad-revenue from SMEs selling goods and digital products, the market for ebooks or workout clothes is much less clear here.
As my b-mic Sayo pondered in a season one podcast episode on market sizing in Africa, even if these platforms do exist, what would people buy? (Recommended to pair with a recent essay If you build it, nonconsumers will come)
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IndiaStack
Here’s a tremendous, in-depth essay on IndiaStack – the government-led efforts to digitize identity, payments, and data utilization in India.
It is, no doubt, a blueprint for African countries.
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The VC Stack
I’ve become increasingly interested in the no-code movement and workflow automation, and there’s a focus on how these tools and processes can be applied to VC, in particular.
Here are two I’ve read recently – Automating the Andreessen Analyst and Our Stack at a $10M Fund.
In light of a rise in “solo GPs” and angel communities, there is an increasing need to scale operations with little (or no) management fees. Surely this resonates with Africa-focused funds, whose small fund sizes lead to commensurately small management fees and teams.
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Stay safe,
Justin
