Investor Readiness - Joseph Rutakangwa - Rwazi

Entrepreneurs Talk Africa: Uncovering the Stories of Africa's Rising Business Stars

Listen to Founder Joseph Rutakangwa Share His Entrepreneurial Journey on Entrepreneurs Talk Africa

Summary

In this episode of Entrepreneurs Talk Africa, host Gerald Ami speaks with Joseph Rutakangwa, founder and CEO of consumer insights startup Rwazi. Joseph shares his unique journey across Africa and into entrepreneurship, from early community development projects to launching a profitable startup poised for growth.

Timeline Highlights

0:39 - Joseph introduces his background growing up in Tanzania and Uganda before becoming a student in the US. He started doing community development projects in Tanzania at 19.

4:55 - Joseph pivoted from graphic design and videography to focus on sustainable community impact, leading him to launch Rwazi.

9:53 - He explains Rwazi's model of leveraging mobile technology and local consumers to capture granular consumer data and insights in African markets.

14:45 - Joseph discusses the challenges faced by African startups, including lack of early funding and dependence on revenue versus external capital.

19:52 - Rwazi is now growing quickly in the US, helping American companies export using hyperlocal data from emerging markets.

24:13 - Joseph shares advice for aspiring founders, stressing the importance of sales skills and focusing on revenue generation.

References

For more on emerging market consumer insights, listen to BCGTalks' episode on "The Human Cloud".

Joseph mentions benefiting from Google's AI Impact Challenge grant.

Rwazi's data-driven approach connects with principles in the book "Data-Driven Business Decisions" by Sharda, Delen, and Turban.