Midweek Check-In: Building Solutions That People Actually Want 🙏
... You can't 'fake it till you make it' on this one. That's not how it works.
Heeey, Dear Innovator🫠
How’s life been treating ya?
Twice every week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays (by 4pm), you keep an eye out for our newsletters ‘cos you 🫵 know that in order for you make a dent of influence with this innovation thingy, you’ll need a lot more than vibes and inshallah…
And NOBODY serves the unfiltered truth like we do.
In keeping with that pov, you should know that today’s topic headline was supposed to be: ‘If your tech is so great, how come nobody is using it?’…but, home training… 👀
Seriously though, when was the last time you heard yours or your solution’s name in these tech streets? 🤔 (and no, Bisola, people in your social circle don’t count)
Have your social media people ever brought up a reference to your product by a very random person on the internet? Ever heard a complete stranger speak highly of your solution, especially in a place where one would least expect it?
The truth is, while a lot of your users might not know what they want, they do know what they don’t want, what frustrates them and what pain points they don’t want to deal with. Use that like mad!
If your solution is solving a frustration that affects regular people on a daily basis, and you’re not the loudest in the room, you’re veryyyyy wrong for that 🫣
If your users are a little more niched, you had better be in their faces so much that they’d have no other option than to try it, just out of curiosity (leverage the fact that they have limited options anyways)
In everything that you do, know that the first quarter of 2025 is almost over sha🤝
Social Experiment:
Review 10 of your biggest/most frequent users. If they are directly connected to you, you still have a lot of work to do.
Tech Ecosystem Updates
1) Stashwise: Gamified Savings Platform for Africa's Future
As an amazing member of the Consonance Community of Innovators, Stashwise is on a mission to help you reach your financial goals effortlessly!
If you enjoy testing new products and sharing honest feedback, they’d love to have you on board for their beta testing program. Join ‘em here ✨
2) PAPSS to Launch African Currency Marketplace
The Pan-African Payments and Settlement System (PAPSS), backed by 15 central banks, is set to introduce the Africa Currency Marketplace later this year.
This platform aims to enhance cross-border trade by enabling direct exchanges of local currencies, reducing reliance on intermediate currencies like the dollar. Click the headline for deets!
ICYMI
Missed any of our reads? No worries
You’re so good at looking busy…
Click to see if your solution can pass any of these real-life tests 🤷
Other Tech News For You:
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Africa has everything—talent, resources, and a booming digital economy. Yet, expanding a startup from Lagos to Nairobi is harder than launching the same company overseas.
Are we truly building for Africa this way? On Saturday, we’ll get into it 👋