Chairman

Ideas Are Cheap Execution Is Everything

[Timmy | Evolution @timmyisagod]

Common terms Every Founder trying to fundraise should know

1. MVP (Minimum Viable Product) - The simplest version of a product built with just enough features to test demand and gather user feedback.

2. Data Room - A secure folder containing company documents investors review before investing.

3. Pre-Seed Round - The earliest fundraising stage used to validate an idea and build an initial product.

4. Seed Round - Early-stage funding used to grow the team, product, and customer base after initial validation.

5. Angel Investor - A wealthy individual who invests personal money into startups, usually at an early stage.

6. Venture Capital (VC) - Professional investment firms that invest in high-growth startups in exchange for equity.

7. Due Diligence - The process where investors verify a startup’s financials, legal status, team, and business model before investing.

8. Term Sheet - A non-binding document outlining the key terms and conditions of a proposed investment.

9. Cap Table (Capitalization Table) - A record showing who owns what percentage of a company, including founders, employees, and investors.

10. Burn Rate - The amount of money a startup spends each month.

11. Runway - The number of months a company can operate before running out of cash.

12. TAM (Total Addressable Market) - The total revenue opportunity if you captured 100% of the market.

13. SAM (Serviceable Available Market) - The portion of the TAM your product can realistically serve.

14. SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market) - The market share you can realistically capture in the near term.

15. Valuation - The estimated worth of a company at a specific point in time.

16. Pre-Money Valuation - The company’s valuation immediately before new investment capital is added.

17. Post-Money Valuation - The company’s valuation immediately after an investment is made.

18. Dilution - The reduction in an existing shareholder’s ownership percentage after new shares are issued.

19. MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) - Predictable revenue generated every month from subscriptions or recurring customers.

20. ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) - The yearly equivalent of recurring revenue, typically ARR = MRR × 12.

21. Traction - Evidence that customers want your product, usually shown through growth in users, revenue, or transactions.

22. LTV (Lifetime Value) - The total revenue or profit expected from a customer throughout their relationship with the company.

23. Acquisition - When one company purchases another company.

[Timmy | Evolution @timmyisagod]

It’s the weekend and it’s a good time to relax, if you are a founder , here are some movie recommendations you should try and watch , you would learn a lot about building business and running a startup.

1. The Founder
2. Jobs (Autobiography)
3. BlackBerry
4. The Social network
5. The Men who built America
6. Elon Musk - The real life iron man

[Mkhululi Ndlovu @mk_tycoon]

One of the biggest misconceptions in the startup ecosystem is that angel investors exist to fund ideas.

They don’t.

The first investor in any startup should be the founder.

Before approaching angel investors, founders should ideally have exhausted what is often called the “Founder, Family & Friends” stage—using their own resources, demonstrating commitment, validating the problem, building an MVP, acquiring initial customers, and proving there is genuine market demand.

Angel investors typically come in at the Pre-Seed or Seed stage when there is enough evidence to suggest that the business can become scalable, but before institutional investors are ready to invest.

What angels bring is far more than capital:
✅ Experience
✅ Mentorship
✅ Strategic guidance
✅ Industry networks
✅ Credibility with future investors

Angel investing is not philanthropy.

Angels invest their own hard-earned money with the expectation of generating significant returns, knowing that many startups will fail while a few successful investments can produce exceptional outcomes.

This is also where the distinction between Angel Investors and Venture Capital becomes important.

Generally:

🔹 Founder Capital, Family & Friends → Idea & Validation Stage

🔹 Angel Investors → Pre-Seed & Seed Stage

🔹 Venture Capital Funds → Seed, Series A, Series B and Growth Stages

For most angel investors, investing in very early concepts with no validation, no customers, and no founder commitment is not investable. Likewise, many VC funds will not invest until there is measurable traction, recurring revenue, customer growth, and a clear path to scaling.

The debate often arises around whether angels should continue investing beyond Seed and into Series A rounds. Many experienced angels do follow on in later rounds to avoid dilution and support their portfolio companies, but their primary role remains helping founders bridge the gap between an idea and a venture-backable business.

The best startups understand that every funding stage has a purpose. Capital should be raised not because it is available, but because it accelerates the next stage of value creation.

Founders should focus on building value first. Funding follows traction.

#AngelInvesting #Startups #Entrepreneurship #VentureCapital #SeedFunding #SeriesA #Innovation #StartupFunding #AfricanStartups

[tyler hogge @thogge]

Customers kingmake startups. Not VCs.

[The Secret CFO @SecretCFO]

I frequently hear that the CFO should 'drive' growth.

And often read L*nkedIn blowhards trying to rebadge the role as 'Chief Growth Officer' or 'Chief Future Officer' or whatever.

It's such nonsense.

Growth comes from product and sales teams. Everyone else (including finance) is an enabler in that equation, not a driver.

The default mode for the CFO should be to remove the obstacles to growth.

Think of it like this; if product, sales and marketing are the ones firing the burner on the hot air balloon, the CFO's job is to control the sandbags - throwing off as many as they can, but without risking the trip.

It's about knowing when to get out of the way, and when to get in the way. It requires fine judgment and a good map.

Which bring me to the announcement of the latest series of The Secret CFO Playbook... in June I'll be writing as 4 part breakdown of what it means to be a Growth CFO.

Here's what's in store:

Post I. (Tomorrow) Series Introduction
- A personal horror story
- Growth in a winner takes all economy
- A case study
- Should you grow at all?

Post II. What is Growth?
- The cost of standing still
- Lagging vs leading indicators
- Organic vs inorganic, new vs existing, price vs volume, and when each matters
- How to know when you’ve earned the right to grow

Post III. The Math of Growth
- Strategic unit economics
- P&L vs Cashflow growth math
- Commitment vs conviction: how sure do you need to be to spend?
- Funding growth

Post IV. Building a Growth-Friendly Finance Function
- Picking the right metrics
- Guardrails vs hardrails: knowing when to get in the way
- Budgeting for growth
- Reporting growth

Link to the first part in the comments below

[Victor 🧢 @victor_bigfield]

how do you all actually get your first users?

[Dr Edwin Masimba Moyo @EdwinMoyo13]

A zero-credit digital platform where banks, suppliers, buyers, farmers, logistics, extension, insurance, and freight companies transact together — with placement funds held in escrow and released to each party on delivery, no debt.
Happy Sabbath Shabbat shalom

[Chairman @ChairmanNon]

@The_Forty_Four This game was 🔥🔥

[Gary Vaynerchuk @garyvee]

Storytelling is by far the most underrated skill in business.

[Mkhululi Ndlovu @mk_tycoon]

What Makes a Startup Founder Worthy of Angel Investment?

As angel investors, we often say that we invest in people first and businesses second.

A brilliant idea alone is not enough. Markets change, business models evolve, and strategies pivot. What often determines success is the quality of the founder leading the journey.

Some of the characteristics I look for in startup founders include:

✅ Integrity – Trust is the foundation of every investment relationship. Founders must be honest, transparent, and accountable, especially when things are not going well.

✅ Resilience – Building a startup is difficult. There will be setbacks, rejections, funding challenges, and unexpected obstacles. The ability to persevere is critical.

✅ Coachability – Great founders are confident in their vision but humble enough to learn from mentors, customers, and investors.

✅ Execution Ability – Ideas are everywhere. The real value lies in turning ideas into products, customers, revenue, and growth.

✅ Passion with Purpose – Founders should have a genuine commitment to solving a real problem rather than simply chasing funding.

✅ Strong Work Ethic – Startups demand extraordinary effort. Investors want to see founders who are willing to go the extra mile.

✅ Adaptability – Markets change rapidly. Founders must be able to pivot, innovate, and adjust their strategies when necessary.

✅ Financial Discipline – Every dollar matters in an early-stage business. Founders who manage resources wisely significantly improve their chances of success.

✅ Ability to Build Teams – Successful businesses are rarely built by one person. Founders must attract, motivate, and retain talented people.

✅ Customer Focus – The best founders obsess over understanding customer needs and creating solutions that deliver real value.

✅ Clear Communication – Investors, employees, customers, and partners all need confidence in the founder’s vision and direction.

One lesson I have learned as an angel investor is that while business models can change, products can evolve, and markets can shift, a founder’s character often determines whether a startup survives and thrives.

I would rather back an exceptional founder with an average idea than an exceptional idea led by the wrong founder.

What qualities do you believe are most important in founders seeking angel investment?

#AngelInvesting #StartupFounders #Entrepreneurship #Leadership #Startups #Innovation #BusinessGrowth #VentureCapital #Investment #FounderMindset #BusinessLeadership #GrowthMindset

[Gary Vaynerchuk @garyvee]

The biggest asset in the world is your mindset.

[Foundr @foundr]

A culture that tolerates mediocrity will eventually be defined by it.

[Buraq @Buraq515]

I love it! If I had my own land, I'd make an exact replica. 😌💯👍🏡

[Steph from OpenVC @StephNass]

Founders, NONE of that is traction:

- Awarded government recognition
- Trademark filed across 3 classes
- Applied to grant X and grant Y
- Incubated at local university incubator
- App in development by random devshop
- Granted $50k in AWS/GCP/Azure credits

[Hubert Thieblot @hthieblot]

Please get addicted to talking to your customers as a founder

[Chairman @ChairmanNon]

@mk_tycoon Boring businesses are the next unicorns especially if you can intergrate the boring business core solution with tech or AI capabilities like you mentioned.

[Mkhululi Ndlovu @mk_tycoon]

Traditional industries are becoming some of the biggest startup opportunities of the modern era. Everyone wants to build the next social platform or AI application, but sometimes the most scalable opportunities are hidden in problems people face every day.

Take plumbing and water infrastructure in Africa.

Communities struggle with burst pipes. Municipalities lose millions through water leaks and aging infrastructure. Repairs often happen after damage has already occurred rather than before. Water outages affect homes, businesses, schools, and entire communities.

The question for founders should not be: “How do I start a plumbing business?”

The better question is: “How do I use technology to transform the plumbing and water ecosystem?”

Imagine startups building:

✅ AI systems that predict pipe failures before they happen
✅ Mobile platforms connecting households to trusted plumbers instantly
✅ Community reporting systems through WhatsApp and SMS for leaks and outages
✅ Smart sensors reducing water losses for municipalities
✅ Financing solutions for water and sanitation infrastructure

Angel investors are usually attracted to startups that solve painful, scalable problems with recurring value.

The opportunity is bigger than fixing pipes.

It is about building infrastructure intelligence for Africa.

Some of the most valuable startups of the future may not emerge from glamorous industries. They may emerge from solving everyday problems that millions of people experience.

The next billion-dollar idea may be flowing beneath our feet.

#Startups #Innovation #Africa #Entrepreneurship #AngelInvesting #WaterTech #SmartCities #TechForGood #AI #Infrastructure

[Chairman @ChairmanNon]

Very hard

[Tai Lopez @tailopez]

Idea are easy. Execution is hard.

[Tai Lopez @tailopez]

Idea are easy. Execution is hard.

[Mkhululi Ndlovu @mk_tycoon]

Africa does not have an education problem alone — it has an access problem.

A child’s future should not depend on whether they were born in a major city or in a rural community.

As I continue looking at startup opportunities and angel investment landscapes, I see one challenge that remains enormous across Africa: access to high-quality education.

The opportunity is not simply building another education app.

The opportunity is building an ecosystem that delivers learning anywhere.

Imagine:

✓ High-quality curriculum content accessible online and offline
✓ Solar-powered learning hubs for underserved communities
✓ AI-supported personalized learning journeys
✓ Teacher support tools
✓ Local language accessibility
✓ Partnerships with schools, telecom companies, NGOs and governments

The business model can combine school subscriptions, family packages, partnerships, and premium services.

For angel investors, the attraction goes beyond financial return:

You are investing in scalability, recurring revenue, and measurable impact.

When you educate one child, you change a life.

When you improve access for millions, you create an economic shift.

Africa’s next great startup opportunity may not only be fintech.

It may be equal access to quality education.

#Startup #EdTech #AngelInvesting #Innovation #Africa #Education #EarlyStageStartups #ImpactInvesting