Once you understand distribution, you stop chasing VCs. Like @mrstephendeng said: “Stop selling 10%+ of your company for under $1M in valuation.” The real flex isn’t raising capital - it’s building leverage. Own your narrative, build distribution, and make capital chase you. Last night, I watched the Based Founder Fellowship (BFF) Demo Day, and trust me I learned a lot. Massive respect to the Base Africa team for pulling this off. Here are a few things that stood out to me: > Africa has a huge market gap: tons of potential, low visibility. > 80% of the projects leveraged USDC: clear signal of stablecoin dominance. > Some teams pitched with no metrics or MVP, which honestly isn’t ideal. VCs are your one-shot slot, if you miss it, it’s gone. Don’t rush to raise. Find angels who believe in your product before you chase funding. A few projects that caught my eye; > @mystocksafrica: makes buying on-chain stocks simple. > @payritHQ: travel made easy; swap your local currency in seconds. > @storipodApp: a WhatsApp-style app for writers. Brilliant concept. > @_Minisend: a Farcaster mini-app for quick withdrawals on Base. These teams are early but have serious potential if they focus on PMF and retention. And if you’re building in Africa, here’s what I’ve learned: > AgroTech is an underrated goldmine. > AI & Robotics have huge long-term potential. > Consumer apps might be our biggest untapped market. Learn from apps like @KASTcard, @useTria to understand retention strategies Lessons learned: 🔹Your revenue model and market data are everything. 🔹Bootstrap. Get grants. Validate your product before chasing VCs. 🔹Stablecoins & cross-border payments are Africa’s biggest opportunity right now. Lastly, own your narrative. If it’s not working yet, keep building. Your time will come if your product is good. Congratulations to @Sir_Damilare, @Uyoyo_O, @BasedKago, and @BasedEastAfrica. This was the first of its kind and it was a banger. We never stop building on Base. 🔵