Entrepreneur interested in economics, technology, capital, and the natural world.
Earth
Joined June 2024
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The real moat has always been data, distribution and networks. Code used to be one too, but times have changed.
In this age, when the technology itself becomes the moat, you’re probably building something genuinely 0→1.
Otherwise, a lot of tech (code) is commoditized at this point.
I used to pay $40/month for tools like Tally just to collect forms from users.
Now I can vibe code the same thing in 20 mins with Claude, throw it on Railway with a Postgres DB and call it a day.
My Railway bill isn't even going to come close to $40/month.
I wonder how many SaaS businesses are about to have this problem.
Amschel retweeted
Looking for on/off-ramp providers supporting Ghana and Nigeria for an integration.
We need:
• GHS ↔ stablecoins
• NGN ↔ stablecoins
• Bank and/or mobile money rails
• API integration
• Reliable settlement and competitive pricing
what do you offer?
Let’s talk
Amschel retweeted
They have been recently a regular influx of consultants or companies from abroad who market themselves as experts in Africa.
Most of them propose top down solutions that lack local realities.
If we ain’t careful w’ll have unsustainable development projects paid by our expenses
We talk a lot about how much money African startups are raising.
But not all money is the same.
Equity and debt create different incentives, different risks, and different outcomes for founders.
My latest piece for Stories We Tell explores this.
As promised, the follow up article is uploaded:
"Not All Money Is the Same" by @amschelfi
Read it here: storieswetell.xyz/ideas/not-…
@Stories_WeTell is now taking high quality article submissions for publishing. If you are a builder, operator, founder, writer, etc, writing about tech, startups, culture, capital and what building looks like, we are waiting to hear from you :)
Not all capital is created equal 👀
See you Wednesday
@amschelfi and I realized we have been trying to drive the alternative ways of funding conversation in different spaces, so we decided to have a joint one where you all can join.
We will be talking, Capital Stack this Wednesday at 8PM EAT/ 6PM WAT/ 5PM GMT.
Set your reminder builder: xitter.cf/i/spaces/1dGYlae…
Amschel retweeted
@CoinDesk @Cointelegraph @WatcherGuru
@Artizen advertised a $30M+ endowment, then excluded creator match/prizes in its shutdown. My records show payout discrepancies and an unsigned claim marked “Submitted.” Emails, CSV and video preserved. Please investigate. xitter.cf/EmilyLazar_SM/status/2…
I spent months rallying fans to fund September Mourning through @Artizen.
Now it’s ending active operations and invoking “Early Exit”: sales paid, match/prizes/bonuses excluded. René cites serious health issues. I wish him recovery.
Creators still deserve answers.
Amschel retweeted
Should you give up equity for money a loan could have covered?
VC isn't the only way to fund your business, and it's not always the right one.
Join us for The Capital Stack
Wed, 7 Oct | 8pm EAT
xitter.cf/i/spaces/1dGYlaergVLKX
Amschel retweeted
At the beginning of the year, I wrote an article about why I believed the African tech ecosystem had overstayed its old narrative: longtail.substack.com/p/narr…
Over these past 10 months, we have seen much of this broken narrative catchup to our ecosystem in the form of record inactivity.
If 2026 is the year we accept that our old narratives are over, I think 2027 is the year we start our soul search for the new one(s).
In that spirit, I plan to piece together a few thoughts on where I believe our ecosystem is broken and what might help us reinvent ourselves in this critical time.
As always, these are just my perspectives working with African tech over the last decade with a portfolio of about 50 companies + several funds.
I'll start with something seemingly innocuous: conferences.
Amschel retweeted
After a week in Nairobi w/ the team:
1. Two-wheeler EV transition is happening in real-time. Super exciting.
2. The sector is already such a VC bloodbath and will only become worse.
This looks like OPay vs. the field: Kenya edition.
