54 GQ.CO.ZA MAY 2017
PROFILE
GQ: Will traditional lenders have
Kodak moments within a decade?
YH: h e way I look at it is by asking how
long it takes for an incumbent to
incorporate the technolog y of a startup
versus how long it takes a startup to get
access to the market that the incumbent
has. Which one will get which i rst? Will
the startup get the market or will the
incumbent get the technolog y?
GQ: Do you think fi ntech has potential
to redistribute global wealth?
YH: Access to i nance and i nancial
services doesn’t necessarily mean
redistribution of wealth. Fintech is making
access to i nancial services far easier
and at lower cost. Will that result in the
redistribution of wealth? I don’t think so.
Capital structures and power dynamics in
society are not fundamentally changing
the structure of who benei ts and gains out
of those relationships. Tech has improved
the lives of individuals but the gap is still
getting bigger between the haves and have
nots. Redistribution of wealth would have
to come from policy changes and mental
shifts in how we see the role of production
and access to capital.
GQ: Are startups offering services that
compete with existing providers or
were previously not in existence?
YH: I think it’s a blend of both. h ere are
companies trying to give access to people
who never had it through dif erent tools
and technolog y, and there are companies
that are using new technologies to
drastically change the cost base of
servicing a client and which therefore
have an advantage.
GQ: For startups in Africa, would you
recommend B2B or B2C models?
YH: I think a B2B company in South Africa
is simpler to build – not easy – but in terms
of being able to get revenues and cash into
the business earlier, they don’t require as
much capital to get true scale. With the
capital markets we have here, investors
understand their business better and their
appetite to invest in them is higher. If your
business could go either way, the path to
monetisation, scale, capital, growth and
proi tability in this type of market is better
on the B2B side. Outside of this market it
could be very dif erent.
GQ: If you’re bootstrapping a company
how do you get your fi rst investment?
YH: Nothing says invest in me more than
traction, so showing that you’ve been able
to execute and get traction in a short space
of time. h at traction can mean dif erent
things, but generally it means validating
‘Nothing says invest in me more than traction, so showing that
you’ve been able to execute and get traction in a short space of time
is the best way to get an investor to gain confi dence in you’that your idea has merit and you’ve
managed to sign up customers and convert
users and show that there’s some growth
in that. Often, companies think the i rst
thing they need to do is raise funding in
order to get the traction for an idea, but you
need to validate that idea i rst. h en, know
which investors you want to talk to and get
a warm introduction to start talking.
GQ: And how do you fi nd a mentor?
YH: It starts of with identifying an interest
in what someone else is talking about and
saying what you’re trying to do. Take them
out or phone to ask a few questions. If it’s
not someone you’ve met, start by emailing
questions, and be specii c. Be considerate
of the person’s time: ask the right kinds of
questions in your email so that they can
answer quickly. At Techstars, we talk about
giving i rst, so seeing how you can add
value and then building a relationship. h e
fear of asking for help is what stops most
people from reaching out in the i rst place.GQ: What is the role of a mentor?
YH: It depends on the mentor and mentee.
I would say that meeting with someone
once a month for an hour and focusing on
areas that you’re struggling with is good.
We recommend having a mentor pool of
two to three individuals who love what
you’re doing and want to support you.
Also, send out a monthly update email
with a call for help on problem areas.
GQ: Speaking of networking, is there
value in LinkedIn?
YH: h ose tools are incredibly valuable for
a number of reasons. First, getting access
to people through introductions. Also,
advanced searching on LinkedIn is
a powerful way of i nding people with
similar interests and skill sets. We use it
extensively to i nd companies to invest in.
GQ: What single characteristic do you
look for in an entrepreneur?
YH: h e ability to self rel ect. It shows an
ability to learn and grow.Find advice on
how to bootstrap
your business at
GQ.co.za