Founders Cable
I watched startups break from the inside. So I started Founders Cable.
Africa has founders, ideas and problems worth solving. Many founders still lack the practical training, honest community and a path to investors to turn them into lasting companies. Founders Cable closes that gap.
Great ideas. Funded startups. Then, within a short time, the doors closed. I saw it up close, and money was rarely the only cause.
What actually breaks a startup
- No structure. One founder made every decision. There was no CFO, no accounting lead, no HR and no head of business development.
- Too few people. The team was overworked and working overnight. A startup phase became the plan.
- Mixed-up money. Flashy spending started in the first year, including cars for staff. Company money was not kept apart from personal money. Profit should go back into the company first.
- No focus. At another company we started things and dropped them, with no single priority for a full year. Customers waited on products they had paid for.
No single mistake did it. Together they broke the company.
My one rule
Structure first, speed second.
Put heads in place for money, people and growth. Keep company money apart from yours. Then pick one thing and stay on it long enough to see it work.
Why Founders Cable exists
We want to see more startups and founders emerge from Africa, solving Africa’s problems. Founders Cable exists to help: research on how great companies work, training, mentors, the Dear Founder series and a community of founders.
Why we start in universities
Future founders are in lecture halls today. Reach them there and they leave school already knowing how to find a problem, find a co-founder, launch a first version, win customers and raise funding.
Why the problems are the opportunity
Africa is still a developing economy, so the problems are everywhere: power, healthcare, payments, transport, education, food, jobs. Each one is something people already pay to fix. Solve the right one well and it can become something monumental.
The context
The problems are real. So is the gap.
Your path
From first idea to first investor.
Stories
Documentary breakdowns of how great companies are built, turned into systems you can take, repeat and reuse.
Watch the stories →Cableheads
The open community for founders, operators and anyone planning a startup.
Join Cableheads →Cable Campus
Startup training for African undergraduates and fresh graduates, from problem to launch.
See Cable Campus →The Circuit
A closed, in-person circle for working founders. Circuit nights in Lagos first.
Request to join →Transformers
The investor network we’re building, for founders who have trained and proved themselves.
How introductions work →Plug in. Start with Cableheads.
Questions, partnerships or feedback? Write to hello@founderscable.com.