Seven Years of Innovation Support in Namibia
Between 2017 and 2024, I’ve worked to reduce youth unemployment by supporting Namibian early-stage entrepreneurship and innovation, wearing many hats—Doctoral Researcher, Programme Officer, Designer, and Capacity Builder. So let’s take a look at these past years!
The Windhoek Entrepreneurship Ecosystem
This resource includes two valuable assets: 1. An Overview of the Windhoek Entrepreneurship Ecosystem, 2. An Overview of the Windhoek Startup Ecosystem by Category and Startup Development Stage. Combined, this resource is a practical tool for founders seeking suitable support and for support organisations aiming to enhance the entrepreneurship ecosystem. It’s a tangible support system at your fingertips. The insights primarily rely on the perspectives of local ecosystem actors and startups gathered during research fieldwork in 2021-2022.
Is my business viable?
In my time as an early-stage startup coach in Finland and southern Africa, I’ve met plenty of first-time founders without a business or finance background. They’re creatives, coders and experts in their field who got into business for the love of the game - not the business side of things. They might have a lot of talent and if they’re lucky, they have a co-founder who knows numbers.
How to Pitch a Startup: 101
Pitching a startup in under 3 minutes is no easy task. To pack everything from the problem you are solving to your business model, market strategy and Unique Value Proposition feels close to impossible. Can't be done! Or...?
Misfits? No, trailblazers.
Back in early 2019, I asked a group of women in Namibia what holds back female entrepreneurs in technology. Lack of confidence, they said, and self-limiting beliefs. And it’s no wonder - the lack of female representation in technology can make any woman in the space think that they don’t belong. Self-limiting beliefs, while common, feel especially prevalent in countries in southern Africa, where traditional gender roles and cultural norms persist.
Why doing a PhD is like running a startup
Unlike some might think, doing a PhD is not, for me at least, the "Backup plan when I couldn't get a job" or an attempt to travel back in time and "Have fun like in my 20s". I chose to do it to enhance my expertise in an area that is not well-known - the entrepreneurship ecosystems in southern Africa. I'm doing it because I want to understand how technology entrepreneurship can be better supported in the future, and how to do it in a region that is in need of creative, new solutions in job creation.
That's the mission.