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In 2017, I participated in the Ecobank Fintech Challenge finals and didn’t make it past the top 10. On the day, it felt like we were the least prepared out of the 20 startups that competed. We saw startups that were farther along the development curve than we were. Some were already serving customers in the thousands; others had already closed some impressive funding rounds. All we had was a demo. Ecobank was offering to partner a few of the startups to help them scale across Africa. We simply couldn’t imagine our firm in that pack. But today, our product is rolling out in eleven countries across Africa! – thanks to an unexpected and life changing partnership with Ecobank.

You could be next in line for such opportunities; and that is why I want to share this story and my lessons with fellow young African entrepreneurs.

Believe. A lot.

Looking back now, the first lesson in a series of lessons I would pick up along this journey was embedded in those moments of doubt on the day of the challenge and it was a lesson to keep believing, no matter what. You need to believe in yourself, your product and your team. Then you need to let that believe empower you to go all out.

We created Invest Mobile to primarily help people to manage their financial life. Our app was going to help people set short, medium and long term goals and then support them to meet those targets. Yes we were still at early stage of development, but it was a project we believed in and I am glad today that we didn’t let that difficult day in Lomé or any other difficult day since, stop us from believing.

We created Invest Mobile to primarily help people to manage their financial life. Our app was going to help people set short, medium and long term goals and then support them to meet those targets. Yes we were still at early stage of development, but it was a project we believed in and I am glad today that we didn’t let that difficult day in Lomé or any other difficult day since, stop us from believing.

It turns out things didn’t go as badly as we feared on the day of the challenge but we didn’t hit the targets we wanted. We had estimated that we needed a podium finish at the very least to be noticed, yet we only made the top 10 and it seemed that with that “failure” we had lost the opportunity which we most coveted.

The crucial question then was what next? A lot of resources had gone into the pursuit of this opportunity and losing it meant we hadn’t lost only the opportunity but a significant amount of resources, especially for a small startup like us which was still in what I called the “3 zero zone”: Zero traction, zero customers and zero revenue.

Considering all this led me to ask the question: Is it really over? Couldn’t anything at all be salvaged? Our solution was unique, our algorithm was set to guide a customer by helping set a path to the achievement of their financial goal. If for any reason a customer missed any investment or step in the path, the algorithm will suggest an alternative route to help the customer reach their goal.

This was a solution which was worth fighting for and as I thought about it I came to the conclusion that we will exhaust all avenues, this was the birth of lesson two: knock on every door.

Knock on every door

With the Fellowship coming up, we made a decision that changed the course of things forever. We decided that we were going to use every bit of leverage which we got from our status as fellows, to pursue any and all possible opportunities, it really was go big or go home and we were going to go big.

Unfortunately, we weren’t named among the initial startups which Ecobank was planning to pursue partnerships with but this didn’t come as a huge surprise given our projections before the challenge that a podium finish was needed. We have come to realize however the error in that view, in the end the opportunities are there for all who have a good enough product and it was good that we pursued it to the end.

We started using our status as fellows to get into as many meetings as possible with Ecobank executives, a strategy which finally paid off when we got audience with officials from Ecobank’s investment banking arm EDC (Ecobank Development Corporation)

They loved the solution and were excited by how we had simplified a relatively complex subject. Their interest in the solution gave us a very important leg in but the journey was far from over. Before we were going to get both legs in, as well as all other body parts lol, there was going to be a few more lessons yet.

About 8 months after that day in Lomé, we had made close to 40 more pitches to different levels of management in EDC, eProcess and Ecobank and were well on our way towards the milestone we have chalked now. There were still a few lessons on a long road.

Stay the course

The most important of the lessons that followed was the need to stay the course. As startups we seek integration, collaboration and partnership with big corporates because that usually offers us a lot of advantages but I don’t think we are ever prepared enough for the complexities of a big corporate. There are so many moving cogs in big institutions which make them so complex and honestly frustrating to navigate.

This is why it is crucial to have staying power. We were met with a lot of challenges, including but not limited to having to convince everyone that mattered that our solution was worth it and making sure at every turn that the solution, and our company, met the required standards. The rules and requirements were very often quite stringent and usually elicited frustration. The processes taught me the value of perseverance and patience without which we wouldn’t have been able to navigate those complex days.

We couldn’t have done it alone, we were ably supported by members of the Ecobank team who believed in our solution as well as members of the challenge management firm, Konfidants, who helped us to navigate each and every tough period as it came.

Today, our little two man startup, which didn’t even make the top 10, rolled out a product in conjunction with Ecobank. We are live in over 10 African countries and will be looking to expand even further as the year goes on.

It’s an amazing result for a journey that has required equal amounts of belief, effort, persistence and patience but it is a journey which can be repeated. The Ecobank opportunity is still available with the next edition of the challenge set to launch soon.

If you’re a startup thinking of trying it out, I hope the lessons I’ve learnt are useful to you and I hope you take the chance. Just remember, when the event ends, the journey is only beginning.