British entrepreneur Simon McCann, also commercial director at Launch48, spoke to HumanIPO about the startup scene in South Africa and the United Kingdom (UK) and what it takes to become a successful startup entrepreneur.
HumanIPO: How does the startup scene in South Africa compare to that of the UK?
McCann: Size: In London the startup scene is massive, there are so many people doing it, which is good because from a community perspective it means there are so many people to help, events as well.
There are so many types of events and meeting groups and all of that. The startup community is bigger in the UK.
Money as well – there are more investors. There seem to be better understanding investors, which is based on what I have been told as opposed to what I have experienced.
What are the differences in entrepreneurship approach?
In terms of risks, it is all pretty similar. If you come to an event like ours, you have a high risk threshold because you are prepared to take that chance to do something new.
What was probably slightly different from most of our events was all the entrepreneurs that pitched and was voted in has that mix of social and business.
It seems to be more socially focused rather than just profit focused.
What do think can help South Africa in leapfrogging to compete with upper markets?
South Africa has such big opportunity, just being such a major country in Africa. That is important but obviously you want, like PayPal, businesses to go global and get sold. Once that happens the whole community changes.
So technology is clearly a key with international markets?
Yes, but I think it is a bigger challenge in South Africa because surely there are technologies I have never heard of, especially on text platform like airtime and USSD.
Why is Africa important to Launch48?
It is on the growth stage. Everybody has growth but Africa probably has a lot more growth. Europe is a relatively saturated market whereas Africa is not.
Our event is suited for Africa as well because they are still relatively new to this technology entrepreneurship…because we are a lot more education focused than other event.
In workshops we make sure that we have a lot of structure, a lot of support on hand that is well suited. Everyone who attended said that they preferred the fact that it was more structured.
What makes Launch48 a unique event?
The structure. I don’t know of any other events which have workshops and mentor time, which is exceptionally structured.
The board meetings are also really useful, but they are really quick -10 minutes.
Also, we attend our events. We see all these things personally rather than just asking a local to get involved. It helps our network that we have that points.
Africa is still not there because we don’t have the connections. But as we grow in Africa we will make that connection.
What do you think is the biggest aspect startups should keep in mind?
The one thing we always push them really hard, is around customer feedback. The first thing you do before everyone else is talk to your customers. With all our teams, we push them for contact.
In technology we do want people to build products, but they are not building the right products based on the feedback.
Do you think entrepreneurial success can be linked to a personality or a mindset?
It is the mindset. Just to not to expect anything to be given to you just because you are trying to do something.
It’s the doggedness and that’s really big, especially if you come from a corporate life.
We’ve some very hardcore introverts and we have some very hardcore extroverts. You get a mix. Get the extroverts to build those relationships and [as] for the introverts, they tend to be more technical.
What do you think of entrepreneurial enthusiasm?
I think it is a good thing. You need it.
If you don’t try to create things, you are never going to get crazy, amazing things that is going to change the world.
