The holy book stresses the importance of youthful zeal and it is something that we have all observed time and again.
A young man or woman has an idea. He or she becomes so consumed and optimistic about it, such that nothing else matters and in contrast, a much experienced person gets that idea and he or she will probably thread with caution.
This is probably why the startup scene today has become so heated and the number of startups just keep multiplying, sadly, with most of them doing the same thing. This is not to say that it is not good.
I believe that it is a welcome development because, an idle mind is, indeed, the devil’s workshop.
At the just concluded March Edition of CFA’s Startups Hangout, during the opening speech, I said that the older generation has failed this Nation, thus, the opportunity to transform this country rests on young people, using the power of technology.
It was a carefully crafted statement because, in the midst of these young startups were two important personalities beside the speakers namely, Chris Uwaje (the Oracle), Director General, Delta State Innovation Hub and Ingo Herbert, German Consul General to Nigeria.
So when it was time for the Oracle to give a special remark, he said that the truth is that no generation fails 100% and that every generation lays a foundation that the new generation builds on. He gave some examples to buttress his point and I quite agree with him.
Our team is currently brainstorming on ways to tweak this initiative in order to make it more relevant and one of the things we would likely do is to always mix the speakers, i.e. invite one speaker from the old bloc and another from the new. This way we would ensure that we keep acting as a bridge between the old and new.
The fact is that the gap is widening and if we do nothing, it will keep widening. It is interesting to note that, in less than two months we already have a database of more than 300 young and upcoming startups, both existing and aspiring. We know that by the time we approach the December Edition, we would have much more. Of course, the next step for the team is to figure out how to properly harness these great resource.
Atul Kshetry, who was a participant at the February edition and speaker at the March Edition, shared the possibilities of a pitch session to some Indian heavy weights in Nigeria. He keeps re-assuring the team that this is a valuable initiative that must continue. How come he already sees what many others from my dear country are not seeing?
For now, we will continue with our self-funded mission of creating a platform that will help startups succeed, but we are sure we could achieve more with monthly partnership and sponsorship of the program to take it to the next level.
The April edition comes up on April 21, 2017 and the speakers are Helen Anatogu, CEO, iDea Nigeria and Yele Okeremi, CEO, Precise Financial Systems. Register @ http://startups.cfatech.ng
CFA is the Founder, www.CFAtech.ng & Co-producer/Presenter,Tech Trends on Channels Television