bigdot1759: must we be follower ? must africa go into something like fbk & the rest ? or is that the only thing we can do to bring popularity to the contnent? why can't we come together & meditate what even the number one & wotld power 'll never think of in the next 100yrs. Can't Nigeria or African programmers & the likes in I. T INDUSTRY come 2gether to think of this?

We mustnt be. In fact your suggestion is in line with the idea behind the article. It is time we start to lead too.

Ajibel:

Bro, sorry u've got to research well on starting up. Maybe thats why u havent come up with a start up. Do u think founders of those big companies u mentioned waited for angels before starting Its short-sighted and lazy folks that would say i have no money so cant start up. Havent u heard of kickstarter Nd co. Code/develop that unique idea of urs and promote it online, investors would come after u not d other way round. Thats d path i'm following. Change ur mindset bro

Gbam!!!

I thought Chinedu Echerue was paid $1billion by Apple for his site.

vanunu: I thought Chinedu Echerue was paid $1billion by Apple for his site.

I doubt. The amount was never disclosed.

Artorius:
I see you bro. Definitely not same ideas but we're in similar shoes. All the people i have around me are dumbass, who are just so shortsighted and have no lifetime ambitions and they have the same ideologies: go to school, graduate and bring money home. That's all. The same cycle for every child born. I differed an admission last yr cos i wanted to take a programming course in java and python, it was as if God himself was against me, tempers flared from parents, relatives and the like. I can't find people with similar ideas and ambitions, I'm really surprised but what i read here on nairaland especially on this thread, I'm surprised to see like minds but we are scattered around the country, separated by distance, and where science has provided for us to communicate over long distances, we are separated by lack of power supply all fueled by corruption and discriminatory prejudice.
But i know one thing for sure, i have sworn to make a difference and breakthrough against all odds, to achieve all my hopes for the future, i may be young, foolish and inexperienced but that makes me more daring.

yeah! Its good to know pple lyk u exist too!

To the guy that said he has an idea of making a spec of phone tailored to the needs of a particular customer, sorry but nokia already has that and its working right now.They have exhausted all phone styles they could probably think of so they now they are open to the wants of individual users.You simply visit http://inventwithnokia.nokia.com/home to make your mobile phone request and it will be delivered to you after payment

Nmeri17: Africa may not produce such sites like facebook but i'm sure an african can produce such outside this continent.How can someone with a 'facebook idea' have programming skills and at the same time have a laptop and 24hour electricity.I guess nature is cheating us

the story of chinedu echerue is indeed proof of what i said earlier.He is a nigerian but studied abroad and created an app the world's biggest tech company went out of their way to acquire. $1bn; thats how much the app is worth so if its talent we've got it.We just dont have the right 'soil' to grow it

Well for me, as a programmer, I will like to say that neccesity is the mother of invention, programming was not essential part of our culture and does not neccesarily solve any of our basic needs of food housing and clothing. Infact until recently our constitution did not recognise "internet". Our ministry of technology and research is technically non functional and even if u come up with any application idea or design an applet you may not really know where to take it to register it in your name, your best bet is to sell it to the westhern world(that is if u know how to). We are talking intellectual material here and if u are not careful wit it while looking for sponsors u will loss it. So, you may as well save urself the hypertension and design programmes on demand. Come to think of it how much demand is there anyway!

Hmm, everyone has complained and lamented, shared and outline same and similar thoughts that contributed to the dire situation and challenge we are facing buh as usual we Nigerians would criticise and not profer solution. So for a teenager/youth who wants to launch start a start up, what path should he follow What is the best advice on how to overcome this challenge for someone facing them Or should we wait to be provided with adequate power and have access to loans and an enabling environment before we start up Or maybe wait till we are into our mid/late 20's before thinking of starting an online biz Or most preferably put our hands up and give up and join the many job seekers out there pushing for a job in oil companies!!! I expected the adults here to advice us buh instead joined us in our lamentations and whinings

Growing an idea into a multi-billion dollar company goes in phases. The most essential stage is from the point of developing a groundbreaking idea to when venture capitalist come in. These venture capitalists come in because they see potentials in the business idea. But before that, an innovator needs angel investors (those who are willing to invest their resources even when there are no visible signs of success).
Getting an angel investor in Nigeria requires the grace of God. I've being there, started an online testing portal and had to approach two banks but was turned down on some issues that had to do with bank policies. This same project is growing, and might take a longer time.
However, I do not subscribe to the fact that an African cannot produce a Google, or a Facebook, it's just that the African will have to put in more effort, and this invariably leads to longer period of time.
All I can say to the world is watch out for me.

Nmeri17: To the guy that said he has an idea of making a spec of phone tailored to the needs of a particular customer, sorry but nokia already has that and its working right now.They have exhausted all phone styles they could probably think of so they now they are open to the wants of individual users.You simply visit http://inventwithnokia.nokia.com/home to make your mobile phone request and it will be delivered to you after payment

And was dat sopose to discorage me? Afterall there was hi 5 before facebook. 2go b4 whatsapp, photobucket b4 instagram.
What i need is encoragement and support, opptunity. If ure inttelegent that can come out with a ground breaking idea, u would take over no matter hw many existed! Thats what i belive

Btw nokia would nt offer andriod, linux and firefox opreating systems!
So there is xtralarge hope. Knowing fully well must pple prefer andriod



Ive read all what its about! Its totally diffrent 4rm my idea but usefull tho! At that site u get paid 4 giving nokia a usefull idea! Not building a personally made fone :p

Ajibel: Hmm, everyone has complained and lamented, shared and outline same and similar thoughts that contributed to the dire situation and challenge we are facing buh as usual we Nigerians would criticise and not profer solution. So for a teenager/youth who wants to launch start a start up, what path should he follow What is the best advice on how to overcome this challenge for someone facing them Or should we wait to be provided with adequate power and have access to loans and an enabling environment before we start up Or maybe wait till we are into our mid/late 20's before thinking of starting an online biz Or most preferably put our hands up and give up and join the many job seekers out there pushing for a job in oil companies!!! I expected the adults here to advice us buh instead joined us in our lamentations and whinings

The truth is like we have all said, a lot of obstacles stand b4 any1 trying to build a startup mostly without finance.

However the answer to the question of "Can we succeed or @least survive without any major finance, Structure and other obstacles?" Is YES WE CAN.

Teachnology today has greatly bridge the gap btw startups, small businesses and Large companies.

Individual entrepreneurs with a Laptop and Internet connection can have access to data management services, cloud computing, Business mgt softwares in SaaS, and all sort of Information they need to grow, all this at very minimize fees (some even for free!).

So where do we start from?

1) Understanding that being an entrepreneur isn't a ride in the park. Its tough, rough and frustrating, even in developed countries. So complaining about what we don't have won't change much. But with any luck the end is always worth it.

2) Find your peers. Motivation is a medicine that helps every entrepreneur continue to fight for what they believe. I get amazed at how little entrepreneurs I see at great event especially in Lagos. Events like TEDx and d likes expose entrepreneurs to meet other great minds, entrepreneurs and even investors and capitalist. I still remember meeting "chinedu echerue" at TEDx Ikoyi last year.

3) Start already, but start small. Most startups even in developed countries are advised to start small and gradually grow. Its funny wen pple talk abt funding while half of the biggest internet companies today all started in some boys dom room! Except u don't hv access to a Laptop and say internet and lack the proper programming skills, I don't see why you can't start small.

4) Finally have a plan. In fact have plans from A - D if possible. Know what you need to succeed, know who has it or where it is and device a strategy to get it!

5) Lastly, Don't give up!

I hope this helps someone

Speaking of Starting small and been innovative, I don't know how many people have read this article on techloy about a Nigerian mobile gaming company Founded by Abiola Olaniran. His games have gotten up to a million downloads worldwide.

http://techloy.com/2013/08/06/gamsole/

Afam4eva: There's hunger in the land. That's why. What inspires a lot of Nigeria programmers is money and not really passion. The passion may be there but it's minimal. The situation of things in the country rarely encourages one to setup up such applications that will shake the web world.

dats it o ma broda, most people are always after what they would eat. Getting rich thru one's application shud be the last thing on someone's mind cos u neva know if it will be widely accepted. Even the environ doesn't encourage dat, schooling is the only language dat is understood in dis country, before u can even think and come up with somthing great is very tough but all the same try ur best. On abt funding projects I don't think anyone would just release fund for just any idea, whats d assurance that it will workout as planned. Our country needs refurbishing my oga, an hungry man cannot think anytin except to eat.

I agree with u that we have talented guy in Africa, but the main problem we are having is joint business brouhaha some have the idea but no money to implemnet it

IF U HAVE IT IDEAL MAIL ME FOR JOINT BUSINESS abdulg2009@yahoo.com

Africans can create hugely successful tech products that will sweep the world off its feet. There are several entrepreneurs out there waiting to break through, but their ideas might never see the light of day because of a lack of seed finance by Mfonobong Nsehe

seye15627: dats it o ma broda, most people are always after what they would eat. Getting rich thru one's application shud be the last thing on someone's mind cos u neva know if it will be widely accepted. Even the environ doesn't encourage dat, schooling is the only language dat is understood in dis country, before u can even think and come up with somthing great is very tough but all the same try ur best. On abt funding projects I don't think anyone would just release fund for just any idea, whats d assurance that it will workout as planned. Our country needs refurbishing my oga, an hungry man cannot think anytin except to eat.

I cannot even signup on the audupad sef. Na wich kain pad be that?

I think that for an enterprising African to make it in the IT field he or she has got to go it alone. Simply have an IT concept that you believe in and press on until you are found out.

Zynga as a company isnt as valuable as it was wen founded.it has lost half of its value. In my opinion its very very hard to make continously high profits from trivial things like browser/phone games. How many more diner dash and angry bird will a company churn out bf bcmg predctable and boring and (not-so profitable)?
Groupon was a ground breakg concept for its time but it was a concept for a viable model - merchandizing. Selling of stuffs. So it was gauranteed to b a winner right outta d door. In my opinion jobberman is crap. I dont see y d praise of it. Its neither innovative nor does it solve d job problem. Its revenue model sucks and it's a zero sum game for d mugus wu subscribe to it. Just tht money was poored into it to make it stand out like a bump on d head.
Jumia,conga operate the merchandising track -plain old buyg and selling - its a safe route and a stable industry . Again mostof dis companies,jumia,conga, make a name cuz the spent their way into public consciousness.
While amazon is a merchandizer,amazon is also a semi-core i.t company. They hav the amazon cloud hosting service and amazon tablets and d kindle platform. So they ,amazon, display vision and diversity. Somethg nigerian companies arent very good at. Mayb,except gtb. Dealdey, is a groupon clone, nothg against copyg a good idea. Good companies do it all d time, the issue how versatile will 9ja i.t startups b to stay at the forefront continentally and globally. Take google for instance.
It started with search, diversified into android, researched google glass, self driving cars, fielded its own tablet and browser and it aint stopping there. The google we see today has come a long long way. But a visionary ceo is needed to direct it. Which 9ja company can u really really say is visionary?! 2.) where is d environment to sustain such a company. Lagos is d only viable environment for nurturg a startup in 9ja. Abuja ,is just artificial. The north is a write off, the other states are too impoverished and civil-servant mentallity minded to b of any use.

I agree with the user on creativity. Just how much does it cost Developers/Innovators to get your ideas out there? There are several I.T schools that focus on a range of programming language, I'm currently with TeamTreeHouse _(ref), there is also Lynda.com among others. All these schools teach people to program in languages like PHP, Ruby, iOS, and several others. With a solid background in these languages, you're able to kick-start your projects.

I maintain two Virtual Private Servers (Linode & DigitalOcean) for under $40 monthly. You can get started at Digital Ocean for $5/monthy (N800+) and a domain name would cost anywhere from $10 - $30 annually.

So what's it you say about funding exactly? Do you need a $2,000 Apple computer to run Xcode to compile your iOS apps? Well, you can go on chupamobile.com, buy a template, write a quality android app and read about how to earn from your apps, maybe ads? Start a blog, write and share quality content, learn the SEO basics and earn from views. There are several ways to get started, it seems to me like most people are just lazy.

equams: We have nigerian's who are Good and so Hot..
I and A team Just designed a social Network that was lunched 4weeks ago www.equams.com
Its a social Network like facebook,twitter and co..Check it out

Just another example of a short-lived project. The domain expired and was snapped up. Care to explain why you gave up in less than a year?

[n3rve:
]I agree with the user on creativity. Just how much does it cost Developers/Innovators to get your ideas out there? There are several I.T schools that focus on a range of programming language, I'm currently with TeamTreeHouse _(ref), there is also Lynda.com among others. All these schools teach people to program in languages like PHP, Ruby, iOS, and several others. With a solid background in these languages, you're able to kick-start your projects.

I maintain two Virtual Private Servers (Linode & DigitalOcean) for under $40 monthly. You can get started at Digital Ocean for $5/monthy (N800+) and a domain name would cost anywhere from $10 - $30 annually.

So what's it you say about funding exactly? Do you need a $2,000 Apple computer to run Xcode to compile your iOS apps? Well, you can go on chupamobile.com, buy a template, write a quality android app and read about how to earn from your apps, maybe ads? Start a blog, write and share quality content, learn the SEO basics and earn from views. There are several ways to get started, it seems to me like most people are just lazy.

the cost of startg growg and establish a startup is signifcant. Thts y there are ppl to fund this stuff in developed countries.
- contempt for d software profession in nigeria and afrca will ensure tht this sector remains non-existent.
Nigerians can buy tablets for tens of thousands but not software.
If your mobile app cost beyond N200 theyll not buy.
If ur business app cost beyond N20k theyll not buy. But they hav no problem buyg an offce chair for 5 times tht.
Ppl present themselves as lawyers,bankers,doctors,architects - when last did you see/here any notable person tht was a software dev/programmer?
The artcle sited a south afrcan who created a very useful software tht cud help farmers- yet there was no adoption.
Africa a.k.a the dark continent isnt ready for software yet. There are some ambitious youths but they wont shine in africa,they shine wen they go to countries tht value their skills. Not africa,not nigeria.
Even venerable nairaland,as popular as it is has how many members (duplicates included)?
If nairaland were in china,u.s,russia how many members wud it boast of? Do the maths.

asalimpo:
the cost of startg growg and establish a startup is signifcant. Thts y there are ppl to fund this stuff in developed countries.
- contempt for d software profession in nigeria and afrca will ensure tht this sector remains non-existent.
Nigerians can buy tablets for tens of thousands but not software.
If your mobile app cost beyond N200 theyll not buy.
If ur business app cost beyond N20k theyll not buy. But they hav no problem buyg an offce chair for 5 times tht.
Ppl present themselves as lawyers,bankers,doctors,architects - when last did you see/here any notable person tht was a software dev/programmer?
The artcle sited a south afrcan who created a very useful software tht cud help farmers- yet there was no adoption.
Africa a.k.a the dark continent isnt ready for software yet. There are some ambitious youths but they wont shine in africa,they shine wen they go to countries tht value their skills. Not africa,not nigeria.
Even venerable nairaland,as popular as it is has how many members (duplicates included)?
If nairaland were in china,u.s,russia how many members wud it boast of? Do the maths.

And this exactly is the despair of a Nigerian programmer.

asalimpo:
the cost of startg growg and establish a startup is signifcant. Thts y there are ppl to fund this stuff in developed countries.
- contempt for d software profession in nigeria and afrca will ensure tht this sector remains non-existent.
Nigerians can buy tablets for tens of thousands but not software.
If your mobile app cost beyond N200 theyll not buy.
If ur business app cost beyond N20k theyll not buy. But they hav no problem buyg an offce chair for 5 times tht.
Ppl present themselves as lawyers,bankers,doctors,architects - when last did you see/here any notable person tht was a software dev/programmer?
The artcle sited a south afrcan who created a very useful software tht cud help farmers- yet there was no adoption.
Africa a.k.a the dark continent isnt ready for software yet. There are some ambitious youths but they wont shine in africa,they shine wen they go to countries tht value their skills. Not africa,not nigeria.
Even venerable nairaland,as popular as it is has how many members (duplicates included)?
If nairaland were in china,u.s,russia how many members wud it boast of? Do the maths.

Asalimpo, I love and respect your passion but I will have to disagree with you with the statement of 'Africa a.k.a. the dark continent... software yet'. I believe that Africa specifically is ready for Software. I feel like Software or Technology is whats going to light us up and make us the best continent of the world. Look how we have leap frogged laptops and desktops. We are the future, the problem is that we need more creators. That is why I urge all African Developers not only to come to Nairaland/programming to see tutorials and free ebooks that others have posted but to create their own version of apps/clones with whats given. Even if Electricity or Internet is not 24/7, there are still offline stuff that many people can use. Africa is ready for software and I believe its our time to shine.

davidsmith8900:

Asalimpo, I love and respect your passion but I will have to disagree with you with the statement of 'Africa a.k.a. the dark continent... software yet'. I believe that Africa specifically is ready for Software. I feel like Software or Technology is whats going to light us up and make us the best continent of the world. Look how we have leap frogged laptops and desktops. We are the future, the problem is that we need more creators. That is why I urge all African Developers not only to come to Nairaland/programming to see tutorials and free ebooks that others have posted but to create their own version of apps/clones with whats given. Even if Electricity or Internet is not 24/7, there are still offline stuff that many people can use. Africa is ready for software and I believe its our time to shine.

Na true o, some of us are speedily preparing myself, gathering GEAR and GADGETS and all. We are going to storm the African Market with softwares the likes of which has never been seen in Africa before. In fact, we are going to revolutionalize software production is Africa.

dhtml18:

Na true o, some of us are speedily preparing myself, gathering GEAR and GADGETS and all. We are going to storm the African Market with softwares the likes of which has never been seen in Africa before. In fact, we are going to revolutionalize software production is Africa.

I want the world to note this:
By mid 2017, I see myself on this list

Very good, it is noted

Hmmmmmmmm.......had to sigh