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Grainger Narrator
When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant, you keep production lines moving and quality on track because there's no room for slowdowns. With Grainger's vast selection of high quality motors, sensors, belts and hard to find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in one place. So nothing gets in the way of getting the job done. Call 1-800-GRAINGER Click grainger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.
Investor/Entrepreneur
It needs to go into the business. So that's the mindset of the investors.
Interviewer/Host
I spoke with two grown men who had, you know, invested in other young people and one of them said that two of them use the money to travel abroad. Is this a genuine concern of some of the investors?
Investor/Entrepreneur
Yes. Yes. And because what people don't understand is, let me even ask you, before we started this Silicon Valley framework of getting funding, because what we're using now is what we call the Silicon Valley framework where you need to prove yourself before you get money. Initially in Ghana and across the continent. What was done was trust. So I knew you, you knew me. I knew where you live, right. You sell, you use your land as collateral, right. And then you go and ask the chief for money. The chief gives you money. And then when the chief gives you money, that's kind of what you use to do what you need to do. You can use the land as collateral, Right. And you can use your. If you're a farmer, you can use your future produce as collateral, right? So now what that means is that that was very doable. Right now we're using the Silicon Valley framework. We actually need you to prove yourself with data, with numbers, with every documentation possible. But back then it was more of a trust currency. So I would come to your place and I'll see it and I'll say, okay, I'll give you the money. So the chief gives you the money or the elder in the community gives you the money. Some of the frameworks are still being used till today. Right. But there's a problem. So let me talk about Susu.
Interviewer/Host
Okay?
Investor/Entrepreneur
Right. Susu is very good. People do. Susan.
Interviewer/Host
Sorry, what does susu mean for my non Ghanaian audience?
Investor/Entrepreneur
Okay. Susu is more like collating people together and then we contribute some amount of money and that money is giving, is collated and given in bulk to one person. Right. So we have numbers. So if you have 15 people, it probably be 15 weeks. Right?
Interviewer/Host
Right. We all collect the money.
Investor/Entrepreneur
Yes.
Interviewer/Host
And then we say, okay, today, let's give it to Diane Yes. And then the next time we all collect it and then give it to Derek.
Investor/Entrepreneur
So. Yes. So you pay weekly. Right. And this, this framework has been in existence for a very long time. But you know what the problem is? It's not scalable. You know why? Because when 15 people is a trusting, it's a trust. We trust the 15 people. I know, you, you know somebody you brought, this person you brought. So you're vouching for people, right? So 15 people make sense. 20 people make sense. 1500 doesn't make sense. Okay, right. Because it's not scalable. Because how am I going to trust a thousand five hundred people? It's going to be really hard to manage. Yeah, right. Same thing. I'm going to make reference to apprenticeship. Right? Apprenticeship existed way before where even when you trace it back to the Igbo Kingdom, right? The Igbos up to today, they still do that. You serve for five to seven years, and then the boss that you serve with, after that, they're going to set you up. So they give you seed capital, they help you set up your business, and they give you some money to go and start your life.
Interviewer/Host
A lot of the churches even use this method, right? Yeah.
Investor/Entrepreneur
Right. And the thing is, again, it's not scalable. How many people can one person take? How many people are even doing this apprenticeship thing? It's not scalable. Can we do 50,000 people? Can we give 50,000 people access to funding this way? It's not scalable. So now the problem is that because these things are not scalable, we've had to adopt other frameworks because we have
Interviewer/Host
evolved, which is why the Silicon Valley framework.
Investor/Entrepreneur
Yes.
Interviewer/Host
Can you explain that to us?
Investor/Entrepreneur
Okay, so when, from Inception, you need. I'm going to talk about your pitch deck, right? Pitch deck. You need a pitch deck. You need a business plan.
Interviewer/Host
Okay?
Investor/Entrepreneur
Right.
Interviewer/Host
What is a pitch deck? What is a business plan?
Investor/Entrepreneur
Okay, so a pitch deck is a summary, a visual summary and emphasis on visual summary, a visual summary of your business plan. Okay, So a pitch deck is just a document that's more like a PowerPoint presentation that is showing all the information about your business. So there are 10 things that actually go inside the pitch deck. Right? Because while I've done a lot of consulting, I've realized that people leave some of these things out.
Interviewer/Host
Okay, what are the 10 things?
Investor/Entrepreneur
So, problem. Okay, so the problem that you're trying to solve, the solution, the market size. Okay. And so you see things like Tam, Sam, some frameworks, right? And this is just to show how Big. The market you are in is. And we go to traction. Okay. So when you started, whatever you have in hand right now, what is attraction? How. And traction means different things for different people depending on the industry that you're in. Traction could mean you have a wait list. Traction could mean that you have active people buying from you already. Traction could mean different things for different people depending on the industry that you're in. We go to so market size, traction, and then we go to competitors. Right. You. You have to do your competitor analysis in every industry. When someone tells me that there are no competitors for what I'm building, I
Interviewer/Host
tell you that you haven't done your research enough.
Investor/Entrepreneur
No. And even that if you don't have competitors, I personally would not go into any business that doesn't have competitors.
Interviewer/Host
Why?
Investor/Entrepreneur
Because the market is not validated.
Interviewer/Host
But you could be the first person validating that.
Investor/Entrepreneur
You could, but that will cost you more.
Interviewer/Host
Right. And it becomes a lot more difficult to get.
Investor/Entrepreneur
Exactly. And then you know what happens? People can copy you and make it better. Huh? Because I learned from your mistakes. Right. And that's why you do competitor analysis. I look at what you're doing that I'm not doing. I look at where you're lacking in something and I improve on that. I would rather that than be the first person coming into the industry and I have to burn a lot of money. You can look at the story of Amazon.
Interviewer/Host
Okay, talk to me.
Investor/Entrepreneur
Right? Amazon had investors that were with them for many, many years. Over 10 years.
Interviewer/Host
Right.
Investor/Entrepreneur
And they were still not profitable. And these at this time, money was being burnt. Right. You probably can't afford that. You are in Ghana. You are somewhere. You have something small you want to start. You don't have the. You want to be the first person that came up with this thing. It's going to be very difficult because it can be capital intensive depending on the industry.
Interviewer/Host
I get it. Doesn't that also mean that we are going to be importing a lot of ideas instead of solving our own problems? Because some of the problems we may have.
Investor/Entrepreneur
Yes.
Interviewer/Host
There may not be competition as such.
Investor/Entrepreneur
Right.
Interviewer/Host
Locally. Locally.
Investor/Entrepreneur
Personally, I don't think any idea is. Is so new.
Interviewer/Host
Right. Novel in its nature.
Investor/Entrepreneur
Yes. People, it's something that someone has probably thought of. Someone has done something little. You probably haven't seen it yet. When I decided to start building something is when I realized that, oh, people are actually building similar things. Right. And they'll reach out to you and all of that. So you get to find out what people are doing. But the thing is, honestly speaking, if you see, our problem is that I took this concept from Vousi. The problem is that we're all trying to be unicorns. We're trying to build the rare one, one in a lifetime, the one billion dollar idea.
Interviewer/Host
And a unicorn is.
Investor/Entrepreneur
A unicorn is a company that is valued at over $1 billion. Right. And people want to be unicorns. Right. Or maybe you just need to be a zebra. You need to be something that is reachable, achievable in wherever you are. I'm not saying that unicorns are not achievable. They are. But do you have the capacity to get to that point and sometimes to.
Interviewer/Host
I guess that's where the TAM comes in. Right. And TAM is total addressable market.
Investor/Entrepreneur
Yes.
Interviewer/Host
We may not have that in a small country like Ghana, but Nigeria may have it. South Africa may have it.
Investor/Entrepreneur
Yes.
Interviewer/Host
And that's the reason why in Nigeria they have, I think they have about five or six unicorns.
Investor/Entrepreneur
Yes.
Interviewer/Host
Ghana doesn't have any.
Investor/Entrepreneur
No. And actually Ghana does have. But they are not Ghanaian owned. Okay. They are multinationals.
Interviewer/Host
Right? Right.
Investor/Entrepreneur
And so when we count, when we count, we don't count them because they're not. They are multinationals. But the problem is that because we're chasing this unicorn framework, Silicon Valley, because this, all this came from Silicon Valley. Right. And so everybody wants to build a billion dollar tech company. A billion dollar. Maybe what you need to do is solve a little problem that actually has consistency. Connected Minds Podcast
Grainger Narrator
Grainger knows. When you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail. Filters ready to clog. H Vac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering and 24. 7 support. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.
Episode Segment: Do Not Be the First Mover – Let Others Burn Money While You Learn From Their Mistakes
Release Date: June 20, 2026
Host: Derrick Abaitey
Guest: Investor/Entrepreneur (Name not provided)
In this thought-provoking segment, host Derrick Abaitey explores the importance of strategic patience in business, particularly within the African and Ghanaian context. The discussion pivots around why entrepreneurs should avoid the pressure of being the first to market—a “first-mover”—and instead, focus on learning from others’ experiences to make informed, less risky moves. The episode dives deep into funding mindsets, traditional versus modern investment frameworks, the myth of the unicorn startup, and culturally-rooted funding methods like Susu and apprenticeships.
On traditional financing models:
“Back then it was more of a trust currency... The chief gives you money or the elder in the community gives you the money.” — Investor/Entrepreneur [00:49]
On the limits of scalability:
“Fifteen people make sense... 1,500 doesn't make sense. Because it's not scalable. How am I going to trust 1,500 people?” — Investor/Entrepreneur [02:48]
On the value of competitors:
“When someone tells me that there are no competitors for what I'm building, I tell you that you haven't done your research enough.” — Interviewer/Host [06:30]
On embracing ‘zebra’ businesses:
“Maybe you just need to be a zebra... something that is reachable, achievable in wherever you are.” — Investor/Entrepreneur [08:50]
This episode provides practical, down-to-earth advice for African entrepreneurs and anyone launching a business in emerging markets. The central wisdom: let others make the costly mistakes while you learn, adapt, and build something sustainable and local.