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| are we silently growing tech cabals instead of tech eco-systems? |
"a tech ecosystem is an interconnected, interdependent network of various players that combine to create innovative products and services in tech. These players primarily include tech startups; more established tech companies; tech company founders; investors and investment groups; mentors and organisations that provide business support. A successful tech ecosystem allows for many smaller companies to bring innovation to market. "
after reading this it becomes clearer that we're far from having a tech eco-system in Nigeria, though a few people like Mark Essien (boss at hotels.ng), OO Nwoye (the Nigerian) and a few others are endlessly trying to build such environments, our inherent nature to have cabals keeps diminishing the efforts of these great men.
I'll give you a personal account; I attended a "tech party" last December (where we were to ♮shake our body like a bungalow♮), the entire essence was to connect and mingle with other tech founders both successful and upcoming, just have a good time generally. Awesome concept and I loved this, it was different from every other meetup I had attended and I was eager to be there. On arriving at the venue I saw my bosses (I'm a very observant human being), all the big boys in tech in Nigeria at the time who were around, clustered together in a a particular area wearing on them a "don't come close to me look" I usually would ignore such look anyways, choosing to be the hero of my time according to boss Asemota I approached one of them, not minding if I die. "Good evening", followed through immediately, he looked at me, drew out his card, and asked that I send him a mail, lol, I was wondering why he was giving me his card, I just wanted to interact for a while and get some views from him, but he looked less interested probably cause I wasn't a "member" of that group...
I'm hoping in years to come the tech community doesn't grow to become an irritating cabal of people, just like we have in the music industry, oil & gas, politics, banking etc...
So far I'm enjoying the freedom of expression and equal opportunities having a tech business gives, 'cause on like some other businesses your customers are on the internet and accessing them is not restricted.
Though things like raising funds for your startup and the likes are gradually being cabalised, 'cause the big boys will always refer top investors who often come to them for referrals to startups and founders in their circles not necessarily the top performing or value-adding ones.
Thanks guys for reading today's post, my blog posts are an honest expression of how I really feel yeah, so don't take me out of context 😉