Hi Guys
Sorry I am late on my emails but I think Elizabeth handled it quiet well :)
Just to add few comments on my side :
*1. What mechanisms exist for someone with an idea to find the right people
to be co-founders?*
Abroad you have events like, "find your co-founder", "adopt a CTO" etc...
networking is key and internet can help you in the process
*2. Is it easy for a technical founder to find a co-founder who has
complementing skills e.g. a technical founder connecting with someone who
has business expertise. *
Maybe... I know few people who did in Mauritius.
*3. How do/should startups go about hiring technical talent?*
Try careerhub.mu it is free !
*4. If I need to hire security or UX experts, is that talent available? If
not, are graduates able to 'level up' their skills quickly? *
Yes ! local talent are available, there are plenty of Mauritian well
trained and passionate in the field of UX. Come to MSCC meetings, the
Devcon etc... you will meet them
*5. Are there schemes for startups to quickly employ foreign talent if
local talent is unavailable?*
Yes ! Mauritius is a great place for doing business
6. What path is there for those people to connect and to advise?
Be social :)
*8. Do I need a prototype or must the company be profitable?*
It depends your type of business, startups promotes themselves with
"unconventional" metrics and indicators. It can be your Turnover for sure
but also your user base, potential for growth ...
*9. How important is the business plan (it sometimes seems to me to be as
accurate as plucking numbers out of the sky)? *
I kind of agree with both you and Eliz. I did many BP in the past and they
never been true. Writing a BP is forcing you to put on the paper your
vision on the project. It is a good exercise even if you no it is never
going to be true.
*10. The less glamourous side of startups can be fights over the
shareholder agreements (equity, restrictive covenants, etc) and the
direction of the company. How should Mauritian founders address these
issues without destroying their relationships? *
Like in any deals, respect your partners, be open, fair and take others
people feelings/point of views into accounts.
Down the line a shareholder agreement is just a contract. Things can change
over time implicate your shareholders/partners in those evolution instead
of growing appart from them.
*BONUS QUESTION!!!*
*Given the culture, is a different approach needed to those used elsewhere?*
I think so, you have to adapt to the local context.
Good night
*VINCENT POLLET *| *CO-FOUNDER*
*WWW.ICT.IO <
http://www.ict.io/> *
EBENE CYBERCITY - MAURITIUS
e: hello_at_ict.io
m: +230 52520766
skype:vincent.pollet67
On 26 February 2016 at 11:11, Turbine Mauritius <hello_at_turbine.mu> wrote:
> Hi Stephen,
>
> Thanks for your questions. If I may, I'll try to answer as many of them as
> succinctly as possible.
>
> Please note many of your questions can be entrepreneurship-related, but
> not exclusively, touching also on education, HR, general human relations,
> etc.
>
> *1. What mechanisms exist for someone with an idea to find the right
> people to be co-founders?*
> - To be co-founders, individuals must usually know each other before
> starting the project. Many co-founders meet through similar interest
> groups, social circles, etc. It is not usually recommended to "hire" a
> co-founder because of the equity implications.
>
> *2. Is it easy for a technical founder to find a co-founder who has
> complementing skills e.g. a technical founder connecting with someone who
> has business expertise. *
> - Founders may choose to "hire" co-founders in particular cases, but
> generally speaking, it is more advisable to "hire" a CEO (who does not have
> to be co-founder) who can have more business expertise or a CTO (who also
> does not have to be a co-founder) to strengthen the project's overall
> technical background.
> - To answer whether this is easy or not, many factors can come into play,
> such as the local ecosystem, education system, personality fit, etc. Just
> like hiring in general :)
>
> *3. How do/should startups go about hiring technical talent?*
> - Just like you'd hire any other kind of talent! Through recruitment
> channels, universities, trade fairs, social circles, etc.
>
> *4. If I need to hire security or UX experts, is that talent available? If
> not, are graduates able to 'level up' their skills quickly? *
> - I've put both these questions together. For the first one, it seems to
> refer to education - are there trained individuals in the field? (You can
> answer this yourself :) Are there existing programs at the local
> institutions? For the second one, it seems to refer to personality (which
> you can screen for in interviews processes) - are the individuals
> self-motivated? Are YOU willing to mentor these individuals to help them
> level up and do you have the skills to do so and capacity yourself?
>
> *5. Are there schemes for startups to quickly employ foreign talent if
> local talent is unavailable?*
> - As of this month, the Board of Investment has expressed interest in
> changing its restrictive policy towards foreign talent for start-ups. The
> way it currently stands is that foreigners must be offered a valid work
> contract from a local employer (who has a quota for hiring foreigners) and
> apply for an Occupational Permit that is delivered from the Immigration
> authorities. This can take anywhere between 1 week and 6 months.
>
> *6. What path is there for those people to connect and to advise?*
> - There are currently lots of opportunities for mentors and external
> experts. Through social networks (such as this one if we can consider it as
> such!), groups such as Linux users, Makers, through the different
> incubators, etc. Just reach out :)
>
> *7. How can startups acquire funding and what percentage of equity would a
> startup be approximately expected to give up at the seed stage? *
> - Funding can come from many places. Let me emphasize this - the first
> place funding has to come from is the entrepreneur!!! It definitely builds
> confidence with any kind of investor if the entrepreneur has committed to
> the project in financial way over and above the rest. Personal savings are
> most common. The second place start-ups usually find funding is from the 3
> "F"s: friends, family and fools! If your family, your friends and the fools
> around you can't contribute, that's one thing - but if they don't WANT to
> contribute, that's sometimes a red flag for the entrepreneur's character
> (*these are general contexts, always different for each person*). Then,
> once you've gotten something to show for, banks/loans + business
> angels/equity + vc funds/equity are some of the different options. Kindly
> note that all these options ARE available in Mauritius.
>
> *8. Do I need a prototype or must the company be profitable?*
> - It's not even a matter of being profitable - by the way, how are you
> going to be profitable if you're not selling something? To sell, you're
> generally past the prototype phase... The prototype is key to securing
> serious investment. Only very novice business angels and vc funds will
> invest in a project that does not have a prototype - and you probably want
> more experienced investors to back you. As for banks, as it is known, there
> are even harder to convince so a prototype is probably helpful :)
>
> *9. How important is the business plan (it sometimes seems to me to be as
> accurate as plucking numbers out of the sky)?*
> - A business plan shows you've done research and that you have at least
> some understanding of your product/service, your market and the
> opportunities. Sure, the numbers might turn out completely different when
> you actually move forward, but the business plan stands as a strong basis
> for your project. This may be - actually it is - a silly comparison, but
> imagine you want to prove to someone you want to a bake a cake: if you can
> put together a relatively logical list of ingredients and describe the
> different steps in a seemingly logical way, that person is probably more
> likely to buy the ingredients for you. They'd probably be even more
> convinced if you could have them taste a cake you've already baked! Sure,
> going forward, you can tweak the recipe and change some ingredients, but
> the first ingredient list you put together was important to convince them
> you knew what you were doing. Same goes for a business plan in some way...
>
> *10. The less glamourous side of startups can be fights over the
> shareholder agreements (equity, restrictive covenants, etc) and the
> direction of the company. How should Mauritian founders address these
> issues without destroying their relationships? *
> - Shareholder agreements are important *because* they might prevent
> founders from destroying their relationships going forward. If you can't
> agree on basics from the start, it's a pretty good sign of how things might
> pan out later once the business might have might lots of profit! It's
> always best to be honest, transparent and open when negotiating a
> shareholder agreement between founders. It might save your relationship
> going forward when things become more complicated.
> - As for new shareholders along the way, see it as building new
> relationships - they have to go both ways - there is a part of give and
> take. Is bringing in a new shareholder/investor bringing in new networks,
> potential clients, expertise, services to your business? Are all those
> benefits worth the value of the shares they are receiving in return? This
> is tricky to answer, because it always depends on both parties. Some
> investors want a piece of the pie that is just too big compared to what
> they can bring to help grow the entire pie. On the other hand, some
> entrepreneurs want to keep the whole pie and eat it too. Start-ups should
> always feel they get something more than just money, otherwise they can
> look elsewhere or wait a little longer. But that's just advice, and it
> always comes down to gut feeling.
>
> *BONUS QUESTION!!!*
> *Given the culture, is a different approach needed to those used
> elsewhere?*
> - Every culture is different - even between individuals in the same
> ecosystem! There is no magic trick for this. The one thing that does
> normally help is this: if you have something to show, you have more
> bargaining power. If you've got nothing to show, you're more likely to end
> up with nothing...
>
> Voilà! Hope this helps a least a little :)
>
> Elizabeth
>
> On Fri, Feb 26, 2016 at 12:57 AM, Stephen Naicken <
> stephennaicken_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hello Vincent,
>>
>> On 25 February 2016 at 15:37, vincent pollet <vincent_at_pongosoft.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi SM
>>>
>>> After thinking twice, I think I would like to be a panelist instead of
>>> organizer.
>>>
>>> I have a lot to say about startups ecosystem :)
>>>
>>
>> Sounds good. I'm looking forward to seeing how things progress over the
>> next few months.
>>
>> I have a few questions about starting a startup in Mauritius that I
>> would like to throw out there. I'm not expecting answers from you or
>> anyone else, but maybe it will help in some way. Perhaps for future events
>> or perhaps for those who might be thinking of becoming a founder.
>>
>> What mechanisms exist for someone with an idea to find the right people
>> to be co-founders? Is it easy for a technical founder to find a co-founder
>> who has complementing skills e.g. a technical founder connecting with
>> someone who has business expertise.
>>
>> How do/should startups go about hiring technical talent? If I need to
>> hire security or UX experts, is that talent available? If not, are
>> graduates able to 'level up' their skills quickly? Are there schemes for
>> startups to quickly employ foreign talent if local talent is unavailable?
>>
>> Lots of people don't want to start a startup, but I think some of them
>> could act as mentors to founders, especially with the incentive of being
>> given equity. What path is there for those people to connect and to advise?
>>
>> I've read many different things about funding, some of it contradictory.
>> How can startups acquire funding and what percentage of equity would a
>> startup be approximately expected to give up at the seed stage? Do I need a
>> prototype or must the company be profitable? How important is the business
>> plan (it sometimes seems to me to be as accurate as plucking numbers out of
>> the sky)?
>>
>> The less glamourous side of startups can be fights over the shareholder
>> agreements (equity, restrictive covenants, etc) and the direction of the
>> company. How should Mauritian founders address these issues without
>> destroying their relationships? Given the culture, is a different approach
>> needed to those used elsewhere?
>>
>> These are just some of the issues I've mulled over and I hope they can
>> be of use to others.
>>
>
>
>
> --
> <http://www.turbine.mu>
>
Received on Fri Feb 26 2016 - 19:08:11 PST