Why to succeed innovators must get it right

Dar es Salaam. Young innovators have been advised to concentrate more on concepts that address actual social issues rather than merely focusing on the creation of mobile applications.

Speaking yesterday on the countdown to the launch of the book Diary of an African Innovation Hub Manager, the author and Chief Executive Officer of Sahara Ventures, Jumanne Mtambalike, said that there is a need to cultivate a culture that encourages people to come up with ideas and innovative concepts that solve pressing issues.

He said that part of the book highlights the problem he termed ‘the App syndrome’ or Idea syndrome, which is common among young innovators in both Tanzania and the continent and leads to many startups failing in their infant stages.

Mtambalike noted that real innovations start with the problem that one is trying to solve; one has to make sure that the problem she or he is trying to solve is real and validated, and chances are people will be willing to pay for the end product, and that is the whole essence of designing with a user perspective in mind.

“In the book, I call it the App or Idea syndrome, where one comes up with an idea for the sake of coming up with an idea. First, there is nothing wrong with that; we want to encourage a society where people come up with ideas, we want to have a society where people are creators of solutions and not just consumers,” he said.

He added that a startup is a business that involves taking a gamble.

 countries in the world in terms of their social and economic prosperity, all have prospered because people created solutions to their problems, and thus young people need to be encouraged to come up with ideas that actually address real problems.

“We understand that the whole startup lifestyle, entrepreneurial culture, vibe, and excitement started in the US. Seeing people like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and the like come up with innovative digital applications and become billionaires overnight in one way or another has its negative consequences for most African youth and innovators,” he said.

consumers," he said.

He went on to say that when you look at all the countries in the world in terms of their social and economic prosperity, all have prospered because people created solutions to their problems, and thus young people need to be encouraged to come up with ideas that actually address real problems.

"We understand that the whole startup lifestyle, entrepreneurial culture, vibe, and excitement started in the U.S. Seeing people like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and the like come up with innovative digital applications and become millionaires overnight in one way or another has its negative consequences to most African youth and innovators," he said.

He said that the first problem is that many young innovators think that the only way to succeed is to work on a mobile application, and the second problem is that they think even doing so is easy and so they don’t appreciate and respect the process.

"They believe you can just have a logo and T-shirts and you are already a CEO and co-founder, and that is all it takes to build a multi-million business which is okay to dream, but you have to be realistic when you pursue your dream by making sure that what you are working on actually makes sense," he said.

He added that a startup is a business that basically involves taking a gamble because it has an untested business model, and operates in an unproven market, yet it has the potential to grow, and even though it is a gamble, one must ensure that they increase their chances of succeeding.

"Innovators should always ask themselves ‘what am I trying to solve, whom am I trying to solve it for, what am I doing different, what is my value proposition, why should someone pay for my product, what is so important about my product’ and so forth," he added.

He said that value addition is key, citing as an example that there has never been a seminar to train people on how to use Facebook, and there was never special training given for people to understand how to use Uber because it creates value and therefore people are willing to pay and learn how to use it.