5 Startup lessons from Facebook IPO

So you are Tengesa, Forgetmenot, Dariro, 6tm solutions, and countless other Zimbabwean and African startups that are hoping to change the world and you are looking at Facebook’s IPO; you realise that Mark Zuckerberg and co have reached the promised land. And that’s $104 billion worth of real estate. For perspective Econet has a market capitalisation of $710 million and the MTN Group $30 billion.

Last year Techzim, ZOL and other partners launched the inaugural Startup challenge with the view of assisting promising local start-ups on their way to tech stardom. The overwhelming response of entries demonstrated sheer belief among local techies that they too can emulate their counterparts in Silicon Valley and other technological hubs globally.

Looking at the Facebook’s IPO, the third largest ever, here are some lessons that local technology entrepreneurs can take away. This is a timely moment of reflection because the winner of the ZOL start-up challenge Mukela Travel is still operating in stealth mode as it seeks more funding. The lessons may also offer invaluable insights for the other top place finishers Sadomba- Mahari andSoftwareHouse, not to mention countless other start-ups that are sprouting in the Zimbabwean technology firmament.