Richard

- Entrepreneur
- Figuring some stuff out
- Building startups
- Always learning

[Richard @web3richard]

"Cut the fat, set clear expectations, work really hard, and try to build something great that will make the world a better place, all while delivering shareholder value."

- Unknown Source

This is my principle, inspired by @elonmusk

[Richard @web3richard]

I survived the bear market and claimed my $FRAME tokens!

@frame_xyz is the Layer 2 for creators and collectors. If you've traded NFTs on Ethereum and paid royalties in the past two years you're eligible! 🖼️🎄

You can check here 👇 https://t.co/ifUv18e3BZ

[Richard @web3richard]

Couldn't have said it better

[Yoseph Ayele @yosephayele]

A big mistake the world is making is treating African countries as “developing markets”

“Developing” assumes a known & predetermined destination, following a known linear path

Africa is a frontier market

Here is why:

1. Africa is going through major transformations, at the convergence of these tectonic shifts:
* massive demographic changes / population growth never seen anywhere before,
* access to paradigm changing technologies that no other region had while in similar stages as Africa today,
the internet is facilitating hyper connectivity and fast information flow,
* wide institutional vacuums that need to be filled from scratch.

There is no other region that faced the same challenges at such scale, while also having so much technology and knowledge at its disposal as Africa has today.

Instead of trenching the whole continent and laying land line cables, Africans jumped to mobile phones for analog + digital connectivity. Today there are 93 mobile cellular subscriptions for very 100 Africans, and 72% access the internet on mobile.

Instead of putting ATM machines in every corner and waiting decades for mega banks to be built, Africans moved to digital #mobilemoney and became more cashless. Today 70% of the world’s $1 trillion mobile money market is in Africa, with 621M registered users, doing 36.7B transactions/year and a volume of $701B.

Instead of recreating SWIFT and western union to facilitate non-predatory simple cross-border commerce, Africans are using #crypto for faster and more affordable ways to transact with their neighbours + the rest of the world. Today we have $100B+ onchain crypto volume in Africa, 96% of which are used for cross-border transactions.

Instead of overhauling local monetary policies and rewriting IMF/World Bank lending rules to use global currencies, more Africans are using #stablecoins to permissionlessly transact with the world. Stablecoins are the #1 use case for crypto tokens to bypass crippling FOREX shortages and draconian government rules in major African countries.

Instead of having hundreds of millions Africans relocate elsewhere seeking better opportunities (I did that 15 years ago) and changing most countries’ immigration settings that keep Africans away (I tried that too), young Africans are plugging into a #permissionless global economy powered by #Web3. They are joining global communities, working with #DAOs, earning global income, learning most things online and building #onchain reputation, without having to leave their home countries and missing home cooked food.

The ways Africans are building their countries is not linear and it won’t follow one we’ve seen done before. While parallels can be drawn and lessons can be learned, there isn’t a pre-existing template Africans are following.

So if you’re looking outside in, take off the “development” glasses and observe how Africas are walking on uncharted territories.

When Africans entrepreneurs are building, the variables they optimize for are very different from those in the West, and they have different constraints and barriers.

The West is updating its financial system. Africans are building one from the ground up.

Africa is a frontier market and needs to be treated as such.

[Adham Alkhaja @AdhamAlkhaja]

As a founder exiting a multi-million dollar company in Web2 and coming to Web3, I thought everything was different given the ethos of decentralization and "power back to the people".

I constantly heard, you don't do this in Web3, this doesn't work in Web3, you don't understand Web3, and many other statements.

After a couple of months watching the space and speaking with real thought-leaders, it is clear that the current approach/model is not working and not efficient.

We have founders telling their communities to "sell and get out", see a lot of toxicity by leadership in once known blue-chips, a high "rug" rate, and a lot of emotional people who are motivated to flip. These are just few examples of many.

I think the reason, in general, is that there is no true leadership, no real entrepreneurs & business owners, no professionalism, and wrong motives (cash-grabs).

If this was not the case, there would be less kids in the space, less rugs, less toxicity, less empty talk, more technological innovation, automated "mass adoption" (look at AI), and big brands would have already be here.

I understand you could get trapped in this mindset when the environment is this way, but it needs to change for us to move forward.

A solution around this is, don't follow the herd by copying the exact blueprint, become a professional with values & principles and start innovating.

Build solid businesses and not school projects.

[Richard @web3richard]

6⃣ While the growth of mobile money in Africa is impressive, challenges remain. Regulatory hurdles, interoperability issues, and concerns over fraud and security must be addressed to ensure the industry's continued expansion.

Thoughts? @Jasielinvests

[Richard @web3richard]

Africa Leads the Mobile Money Revolution: A Thread

Going to take a look at the potential Africa has in shaping its economic landscape. 👇

[Richard @web3richard]

5⃣ The rise of mobile money is significantly impacting financial inclusion in Africa. Greater access to financial services is empowering small businesses, enabling individuals to invest in assets or education, and fostering economic growth.

[Del Johnson @DelJohnsonVC]

Funding for Black founders is at .69% of VC in Q1. And this is a smaller piece of a shrinking VC pie. Time to admit the Black founder community was completely led astray by grifter VCs and venture backed founders.

[Richard @web3richard]

More than 30% of deals are from colleagues and acquaintances, 20% from other investors, 8% from existing portfolio companies, 10% from cold emails, and 30% from VCs initiating contact with entrepreneurs.

@DelJohnsonVC thoughts on the data?

https://t.co/8QlUXREaKp

[Richard @web3richard]

@Jasielinvests Hey @Jasielinvests, do you have any current data on remittance, especially mobile money on Africa as a whole?

[Richard @web3richard]

Entrepreneurial skills are not transferable when dealing with power law outcomes. Successful past founders are some of the worst people you can invest in to helm new companies.

- @DelJohnsonVC

[Del Johnson @DelJohnsonVC]

Entrepreneurial skills are not transferable when dealing with power law outcomes. Successful past founders are some of the worst people you can invest in to helm new companies.

[Richard @web3richard]

@rebekah_bastian @DelJohnsonVC 😅😅

[Richard @web3richard]

5⃣ Solution: Leverage existing tools when possible, and collaborate with other web3 startups to develop new solutions or adapt traditional tools for the decentralized ecosystem. #backofficestack

[Richard @web3richard]

🏗️ Building a #web3 startup: Key challenges and how to overcome them. A thread for budding web3 entrepreneurs! 👇 #startups #blockchain

[Richard @web3richard]

4⃣ [Challenge 4]

Lack of back-office stack. Traditional startups benefit from established back-office solutions like AngelList BUILD, accounting, and analytics tools. Web3 startups face a shortage of such tools tailored for decentralized systems.

Cont.👇