Founder Features

Spotlights on successful tech entrepreneurs from our community.

Expect to Fail — And Don’t Get Hung Up On It - ALXSango Capital’s Richard Okello on the meaning of leadership, the importance of failure, and what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur.

Richard Okello is the co-founder and CEO of Sango Capital, an innovative African private equity & tech-enabled growth/venture capital business backed by leading global investors. He holds Honours Degrees from both Pace University (MBA) and Swarthmore (BA), graduating a year early from the latter. He has previously served in various roles at Bridgewater Associates, including as a Partner and at Makena Capital based in Silicon Valley, where he was a Principal. Richard sits on several African fund advisory boards and African corporate boards, as well as the boards of Human Horizons USA and the African Leadership Foundation. He shares some of the lessons he’s learned as an entrepreneur, his thoughts on the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Africa, and the critical importance of getting comfortable with failure.

Risking it All for Rwazi: A Tech Founder Feature - ALX"Our mission is to make data accessible to facilitate effective decision making. We work to achieve this mission by creating data collection gigs for qualified young talent."

Ambition is the fuel that drives entrepreneurs, professionals and students all over the world. In Africa — a continent that’s home to the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity — there are a good number of bold and audacious young founders who have chosen to challenge the status quo and are working towards their goals every single day. One such entrepreneur is Joseph Rutakangwa, the co-founder and CEO of Mauritius-based market intelligence platform, Rwazi. ALX Software Engineering Graduate and Fellow in The ROOM, Njagi Ndungo, spoke to Joseph about his experience as a data-driven tech founder.

How to Build a Successful Startup in Africa - ALXRonald "BusMan" Hakiza shares his top 10 tips on building a startup in Africa after pioneering a travel tech company in Uganda.

Known as the “BusMan” by travellers across East Africa, Ronald Hakiza is a visionary entrepreneur steering local solutions in emerging markets. He is the Co-Founder of Treepz UG (previously Ugabus), Uganda’s pioneering online travel aggregator for buses and leading travel tech company serving hundreds of bus travellers. Ronald has been recognised as one of the 2020 Top 50 Africa Business Heroes by the Jack Ma Foundation and is a recipient of the prestigious African Entrepreneurship Award. With his impressive entrepreneurial background, he delivered an informative Masterclass for Fellows of The ROOM, reflecting on his journey and sharing his best hacks for building a startup in Africa. These are 10 of our biggest takeaways from the Masterclass.