This piece reminded me of Rob Fitzpatrick’s Mom Test. He talks about how if you tell customers they will benefit by x y or z but they still have to put the pieces together themselves then you have not actually reduced their work you have only listed it. The article makes the same point in a sharper way. People do not buy potential or infrastructure in the abstract, espeically in Africa. If your product still asks them to imagine or assemble the rest then it is already too far from the finish line.
It also raises a bigger question about the role of investors, accelerators, and other players. It is not enough to set expectations that founders should package outcomes rather than engines. The space has to lean in and help catalyze that shift. That might mean underwriting early pilots helping secure the missing rails or even providing go to market muscle so the first version feels like a car someone can drive today. Where proof matters more than promise, the right support is not just capital but distribution credibility and scaffolding. Only after customers trust the ride will they start caring about what is under the hood.
Excellent articulation by Adia as usual as why we do the real full stack over here.
A cricket teammate told some of us 25 years ago, "You Nigerians too like 'food is ready'". Though he was specifically complaining about how we wanted easy balls during training, so that we could hit a SIX (homerun), I should have applied deeper thought to his words before launching an API business 10 years ago.
It somewhat softens the blow of rejection for founders in Nigeria. Your stuff isn’t bad, it’s just incomplete in your context, so forge ahead and build the car
Very powerful perspective on the African market reality, thanks for sharing, But what do you think we should do with the engines who never made it to be cars? Should we acquire them and build a wrapper ?
The worry is you start building the m car to go with the engine and the focus shifts to just the car and the engine building eventually gets outsourced…
PayPal built the car+engine model and it helped Stripe decide on just building the car…Interswitch was also just an engine with lots of banks as its car…
Yes. But PayPal walked so stripe could run. And the banks are also the primary shareholders of Interswitch. In both cases there’s a much deeper understanding of the problem readily available. For newer tech / solution, engine businesses will still stall.
This hits the nail on the head. In our markets, you can’t sell the promise of an engine; you need to hand people a car they can drive today.
This piece reminded me of Rob Fitzpatrick’s Mom Test. He talks about how if you tell customers they will benefit by x y or z but they still have to put the pieces together themselves then you have not actually reduced their work you have only listed it. The article makes the same point in a sharper way. People do not buy potential or infrastructure in the abstract, espeically in Africa. If your product still asks them to imagine or assemble the rest then it is already too far from the finish line.
It also raises a bigger question about the role of investors, accelerators, and other players. It is not enough to set expectations that founders should package outcomes rather than engines. The space has to lean in and help catalyze that shift. That might mean underwriting early pilots helping secure the missing rails or even providing go to market muscle so the first version feels like a car someone can drive today. Where proof matters more than promise, the right support is not just capital but distribution credibility and scaffolding. Only after customers trust the ride will they start caring about what is under the hood.
Excellent articulation by Adia as usual as why we do the real full stack over here.
A cricket teammate told some of us 25 years ago, "You Nigerians too like 'food is ready'". Though he was specifically complaining about how we wanted easy balls during training, so that we could hit a SIX (homerun), I should have applied deeper thought to his words before launching an API business 10 years ago.
Super solid stuff, Adia.
It somewhat softens the blow of rejection for founders in Nigeria. Your stuff isn’t bad, it’s just incomplete in your context, so forge ahead and build the car
Very powerful perspective on the African market reality, thanks for sharing, But what do you think we should do with the engines who never made it to be cars? Should we acquire them and build a wrapper ?
Yup. Buy up and productize. If it makes sense for you
Hi JR....the shout on engines and cars.
Is this a customer/user journey problem? Where you paint a picture that touches a pain point?
It certainly touches a pain point but it’s more like a product design problem than a customer journey problem. Hope that helps.
Thanks Adia,
The worry is you start building the m car to go with the engine and the focus shifts to just the car and the engine building eventually gets outsourced…
PayPal built the car+engine model and it helped Stripe decide on just building the car…Interswitch was also just an engine with lots of banks as its car…
Yes. But PayPal walked so stripe could run. And the banks are also the primary shareholders of Interswitch. In both cases there’s a much deeper understanding of the problem readily available. For newer tech / solution, engine businesses will still stall.
From time to time, it is good to be reminded of this reality as we fantasise and build for the continent. Thank you, Adia.