Comments on: The developer to tech entrepreneur gap

By: Allan Kuotah

Allan Kuotah — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 18:42:39 +0000

Indeed you a very right, "Most of the Techies are smart but lack a sense of direction when it comes to business and venturing into their own idea. That is why most of them have ended up selling their innovation to people that have understood the market trends and how to penetrate it." Supa Shack.

By: Ghana's Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology Provides a Great Model for Developing Techpreneurs in Africa | Afrinnovator

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 10:14:08 +0000

[…] hersman a while back wrote on the ‘developer to tech entrepreneur gap‘,Â one a which holds back young tech innovators in most African countries from really moving […]

By: maqtim

maqtim — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 16:07:36 +0000

Couldnt agree more! I saw this at Uni too. Pals with great concepts, very smart with thorough know how in their technical field.
Guys who will take you through every step of how it all comes together and operates. Even where it can get implemented. Trouble is, making a case for the solution! A business one that goes beyond sustaining the first implementation. Whether there was a need in the first place is another story! Creating both a need and a solution to the needless. Either there was never a need or it was already eliminated in which case devs end up re-inventing the wheel, burning time, since no hard research was done.
There are devs who have done well to push out a great idea and one of the most important decisions they have made is to stick to what they are good at. Letting go of full ownership for the sake of growth with someone else on the biz reigns. I realized collaboration is easiest between developers, the agenda is the same anyway, until you introduce a third guy to step into the shoes of the potential customer and drive the agenda!
Equally surprised how many of us devs equate accounting skills to a full entrepreneur. The numbers are good to crunch but the vision and biz acumen to match a real need and a worthy solution will bring the numbers! I should have been taught this!
I agree, we should churn both content creators and guys who can show the value of the content in monetary terms..better still create an independent system around it. Ratio should be 1:1. That may not come from the formal education sector though. Not because the institutions lack, but because of emphasis on being the “expert”. I still find myself thinking withing the parameters re-inforced for the good of my final year exam in college! Not to say experts are a bad lot, it already seems we need an expert “gap bridger”. Introducing some of these skills in places where innovation is encouraged, formal or informal and soft as they may seem, will go a long way to help two or three different ‘experts’ work together to grow wholesome innovators.
Its good to note that lots of us are increasingly becoming aware and doing something about this gap within the dev community. 🙂

By: Oluniyi D. Ajao

Oluniyi D. Ajao — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 19:22:29 +0000

I can’t help agreeing with you. From my personal experience, I can suggest that partnership is more effective. One business-minded, and the other person the techie.

By: Mbugua Njihia

Mbugua Njihia — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 04:54:15 +0000

Could not have put it better.

By: edis90

edis90 — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 23:05:02 +0000

This is a great post, and something I feel has been missing from the East African tech-entrepreneur community for a while. Being able to demonstrate and prove the commercial viability (market research, hard data), and prove the ability to execute and drive revenue is vital to any pitch. I can tell you from experience in Uganda that cross functional teams are more successful (which makes sense as theyâ€re more scalable).

By: meshach Adeiyongo

meshach Adeiyongo — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 08:06:28 +0000

beautiful write up,i am personally a combination of a technologist and an entrepreneur.i am starting up a youth foundation to run along side my magazine(alien bridge student magazine) and marketing company(fresh marketing and management) to encourage and close the gap between this the two.because as said above,our institutions only teach us to be followers,if the schools can not train leaders,it will become the responsibility of the community and private individuals to create strategies to train leader,because that is one of Africa biggest problem,the lack of leaders.

By: Converse Jack Purcell

Converse Jack Purcell — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 00:29:31 +0000

Its one of those events i look forward to. it was awesome learning new stuff and meeting incredible people. Big up guys from JKUAT

By: wes

wes — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 08:53:08 +0000

Let all the geeky tech gurus pitch in their awesome technical-ness.
Let all the business gurus pitch in the awesome business ideas with market charts and polished presentation skills.
Then pair them up.
Tech guys might not know how to identify the right business partner and vice versa.

8~)

By: Mikul Shah

Mikul Shah — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 06:38:33 +0000

“A friendship founded on business is a good deal better than a business founded on friendship” – John D. Rockefeller.

For developers – Find someone who has the skills that you don’t and work with them! You’ll see that they need you just as much.