The BIG5D Podcast is supported by The 2025 BigFive Summit Sponsors
We want to extend our thanks to the amazing group of companies that supported the 2025 BigFive Summit in Cape Town.
The Summit’s supporters include Premium Sponsor Absa Group, as well as Dialog, NSPYRE, Networds, AfriGIS, and Pragmattica Digital Consulting. We also extend sincere thanks to Vendasta, Telkom, and Realm Digital for their support.
Stay tuned for announcements coming regarding future BigFive Digital initiatives, including the 2026 BigFive Summit in Cape Town and other BigFive Digital initiatives.
Welcome to Episode 54 of the BIG5D Podcast, a production of BigFive Digital and the Africa B2B Tech Report.
This episode continues our recent practice of sharing great conversations from the recent BigFive Summit in Cape Town. Today we share a panel discussion on “Supporting Startups — How Financial and Financial and Non-Financial Resources Are Essential to Startup Success.”
We had a great group for this discussion, and we think you will find yourself nodding your head recognition during this conversation, especially if you are a current or former tech investor or founder.
Our panelists were Lucie Fink, the CEO of Thinkroom Consulting (from Grindstone Ventures and Knife Capital); Egla Ntumba, CEO of MsFiT Ventures, a fund that supports SMEs with working capital; and Thapelo Nthite, the co-founder of Botlhale AI, a South African conversational AI startup.
The four of us talked openly about what tools entrepreneurs really need and the real struggles of entrepreneurship and how to better support founders.
Startup in a Box?
This discussion went down many paths. One of the more interesting discussions came when I deliberately asked a “stupid” question. But it was also a sincere one.
I asked why there isn’t a more reliable “startup playbook” after all these years of well-documented startup struggle.
The looks on the panelists’ faces betrayed what they thought of the question. And it was a bit like asking why I can’t learn brain surgery on YouTube (or can I?).
While the question may have been stupid, the discussion that followed was not.
As Egla points out in her example of a Nigerian pharmacy supply startup, every founder needs to reinvent the wheel because their startup is taking on a brand new challenge. A playbook that might have worked in a developed market is unlikely to make much sense in an emerging market.
Lucie did note that her firm is building an e-learning platform for founders to learn the basics of building a company. Yet she fully agreed that even with optimal knowledge-sharing, each startup is a bespoke experience.
Clip 1: Why Isn’t There a Reliable “Startup-in-a-Box”?
A Weird Journey
No panel on startups is complete without a few war stories. Thapelo obliged with an on point anecdote about renting a house for the team without any real sense of how they were going to pay for it.
This story led to some reflection by Egla on “founder wellness” that was one of the panel’s best moments.
Clip 2: The Struggle is Real
Episode 54 Timestamps
Here are time markers for some of the highlights of our conversation with Lucie, Egla, and Thapelo. We encourage you to listen to the full podcast (or watch it on YouTube). However, if you prefer to skip around, these timestamps offer a good sense of what these tech leaders had to say about what it takes to truly support African startups.
Panelist self-introductions {01:20}
Financial vs. Non-financial, which matters more? {06:25}
Why is there no reliable ‘startup playbook’ {11:33}
Fundraising best (and worst) practices {17:44}
What is an ‘investor-ready founder’ {27:56}
Bootstrapping war stories {30:21}
More problems, more opportunities {34:53}
Founder wellness {38:16}
Would you prefer to watch this conversation on our YouTube channel? Here it is.
Sponsored Message
Thank you Local Knowledge for supporting the BIG5D Podcast.
Recommended Reading
The following is an aggregation and curation of recent, relevant news and analysis from around Africa, the Middle East, and the world related to B2B tech, digital marketing, small business, startup life, venture funding, M&A, and more.
For 19th June 2025
Meta to Begin Running Ads on WhatsApp Updates
LemFi Acquires Pillar in Sign of Growing Remittance Competition
MTN, TransUnion, Chenosis Launch Credit Score via Mobile Call Data
South African Agritech Startup Nile.ag Raises $11.3M
Moove Seeks Unicorn Status via $300 Million Infusion
Jumia Battles to Rebuild Investor Trust
About the BIG5D Podcast
The BIG5D Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring in-depth conversations about tech and business in Africa with the leaders who are building, investing in, or taking to market the digital products and services designed to make the continent’s businesses more successful.
This podcast is a BigFive Digital and Africa B2B Tech Report production. The pod is hosted by me {BigFive Digital Co-founder Charles Laughlin}. I’m an independent journalist and event moderator with decades of experience covering B2B technology. Our ambition is simple. By any measure, we want this to be the No. 1 podcast about tech and business in Africa.
The BIG5D Podcast is available here on Substack as well as on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen. Please follow, comment, rate, and review the BIG5D Podcast. Your engagement helps others discover us so they can learn more from the amazing builders and thought leaders we feature on the show.
Want to recommend a guest or learn how to sponsor an upcoming episode?
Reach out to us at info@bigfivedigital.org.
Share this post