Podcast appearances and mentions of jason njoku

In der Rubrik “Investments & Exits” begrüßen wir heute Jenny Dreier, Investment Manager bei EQT Ventures. Jenny hat die Runde von Zazuu und Preply kommentiert: Das auf Afrika fokussierte Fintech-Unternehmen Zazuu konnte 2 Millionen US-Dollar einsammeln, die es dem Unternehmen ermöglichen wird, ein robusteres Überweisungsangebot für in der Diaspora lebende Menschen aufzubauen. An der Finanzierungsrunde von Zazuu beteiligten sich die panafrikanischen Investoren Launch Africa und Founders Factory Africa, Hoaq Club, ODBA VC, Jonomi Ventures, der britische Rapper Tinie Tempah, der Gründer und CEO von iROKOtv, Jason Njoku, und die Geschäftsführerin von Kuda, Babs Ogundeyi. Zazuu hat sich von einem Chatbot, der Nutzer in Facebook- und Telegram-Gruppen über die täglichen Tarife informierte, zu einem von der Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) lizenzierten Unternehmen im Vereinigten Königreich mit Nutzern in acht Ländern in Nordamerika und Europa entwickelt. Preply, ein Marktplatz auf dem Sprachlehrer und potenzielle Sprachschüler für Online-Kurse zusammenkommen, hat eine Finanzierungsrunde in Höhe von 50 Millionen US-Dollar abgeschlossen. Dabei handelt es sich um eine Serie C. Das frische Kapital wird verwendet, um die Technologie weiterzuentwickeln, die es für den Betrieb der Plattform einsetzt, sowie weitere spezialisierte Inhalte für seine Tutoren zu entwickeln. Owl Ventures führt die Runde an, mit früheren Geldgebern wie Diligent Capital, Hoxton Ventures, Educapital, Evli Growth Partners und anderen Investoren wie Przemyslaw Gacek, Mitbegründer von Grupa Pracuj, Swisscom Ventures und Orbit Capital. Gegründet wurde Preply von Kirill Bigai, Dmytro Voloshyn und Serge Lukyanov. Nothing Phone: https://de.nothing.tech/pages/phone-1

African culture and content is taking over the world - from Afrobeats and amapiano, to Nollywood and Netflix originals, to fashion. To what degree can Africans monetize their creativity not only on the continent but globally? To what extent can Africans, as owners of culture and intellectual property, participate in the upside? And if content has been largely an export product, to date, how do *we* develop the local creator ecosystem, as well?05:11 - A brief history of the creator economy. From aggregation theory to 1000 true fans.07:59 - We start with the platforms, and TikTok's Boniswa Sidwaba.11:11 - A challenge with creator monetization for African creators is the value of their audience to an advertiser. We hear from YouTuber Tayo Aina, with a cameo from another YouTuber, Hank Green.15:33 - Because of limited monetization opportunities from the platforms directly, creators ink brand partnerships and sell direct to their audience. 19:49 - The challenge with monetizing an audience directly in a market like Nigeria is the poor macroeconomic situation. So content remains largely an export product, says Iroko's Jason Njoku. 23:17 - But the local fanbase is still incredibly important, and the local infrastructure still needs to be built. It's what Mr Eazi is trying to do for the music industry. 29:22 - How do we make sure value accrues back to the markets from which the content comes?31:42 - Our retrospective conversation between The Flip's Justin Norman and Sayo Folawiyo.Resources referenced in this episode:What is Aggregation Theory? by Ben Thompson1000 True Fans by Kevin KellySo...TikTok Sucks by Hank GreenTayo Aina's YouTube Creator AcademyThis season is sponsored by MFS Africa.All this season, we're exploring value chains. And in the payments value chain, no fintech has a wider reach on the continent than MFS Africa. Through their network of over 180 partners - MNOs, banks, NGOs, fintechs, and global enterprises - MFS Africa's API hub makes connects over 320 million mobile wallets across 30+ countries in Africa.

Hanson is on the couch today talking about Reevyse, an online marketplace for African talent, started as a job portal. You find a knowledge expert and book a meeting with them. The product is priced per hour and we take a % of it interestingly Inspired by Jason Njoku masterclass sessions

Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about IROKO TV, the Nollywood video platform, we'll give some background on the Nigerian cinema industry, talk about IROKO's founding, early history, different businesses over time and our views on its future outlook. This episode was recorded on Nov 15, 2020. Companies discussed: IROKO TV, Rok studios, iROKING, Netflix & Spark Capital Business concepts discussed: Entertainment Technology, Backward integration, media distribution, Streaming Video on Demand (SVOD) & African streaming video Conversation highlights: (03:10) - Why we’re talking about Iroko TV (03:40) - Market context for Iroko founding: Nollywood, media consumption, etc (17:02) - Jason Njoku and Iroko TV: founding and early history (27:05) - Iroko TV and fundraising (29:03) - Spark Capital - investments and exits (30:05) - ROK Studios - founding, growth and exit / closure (34:20) - iROKING - music label (40:00) - Iroko TV 2015 pivot to mobile and focus on product (45:25) - Iroko TV 2020 layoffs and pivot to NA / Europe (52:20) - Iroko TV and competitive landscape (59:20) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook (1:04:15) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook (1:10:00) - Recommendations, small wins and open questions Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions: Recommendation: "Earnings calls" by Borsa Finance --> It's earning season! Great app to listen to earnings calls Recommendation: Maximum achievement (by Brian Tracy) Small win: Standing during all meetings experiment (going well so far) Other content: Jason's TED talk: Failing All the way to success Other content: Jason's talk: Be Experimental & Find New ways to create things (1m to 10m) Open question: What lessons did you learn from Jason's approach to running IrokoTV? Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions: Recommendation: Shape up - A book about a differentiated approach for product teams to ship high quality products often. Recommendation: Trust The Process - Resignation from Sam Hinkie, former GM for the Philadelphia 76ers Small win: Lots of walking first thing in the morning Open question: Is there hope for an African content business? Or are African consumers going to be subsumed by the global behemoths e.g., Netflix or Spotify? We’d love to hear from you. If you have feedback, topics you’d like to hear, or just want to say hello, please email info@afrobility.com Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes at Afrobility.com

Today on the Techpoint Africa Podcast: Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy: What’s in a name change? https://techpoint.africa/2019/10/28/ministry-communications-digital-economy/ Jason Njoku is taking iROKOtv public. https://techpoint.africa/2019/10/25/irokotv-is-going-public/ Kobo360 is planning an expansion into America, Asia and the Middle East. https://techpoint.africa/2019/10/31/kobo360-global-south-expansion-plans/ Plugs: 1. Attend Techpoint Startup School https://school.techpoint.africa/ 2. Mobility & Logistic startups overthrowing fintech https://intelligence.techpoint.africa/form.php?report=NSFR2019Q3 Listen every Friday at 8 AM (WAT). You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud, TuneIn or anywhere else you get your podcasts. Visit www.techpoint.africa for more stories.

Today on the Techpoint Africa Podcast: Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy: What's in a name change? https://techpoint.africa/2019/10/28/ministry-communications-digital-economy/ Jason Njoku is taking iROKOtv public. https://techpoint.africa/2019/10/25/irokotv-is-going-public/ Kobo360 is planning an expansion into America, Asia and the Middle East. https://techpoint.africa/2019/10/31/kobo360-global-south-expansion-plans/ Plugs: 1. Attend Techpoint Startup School https://school.techpoint.africa/ 2. Mobility & Logistic startups overthrowing fintech https://intelligence.techpoint.africa/form.php?report=NSFR2019Q3 Listen every Friday at 8 AM (WAT). You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud, TuneIn or anywhere else you get your podcasts. Visit www.techpoint.africa for more stories.

Lanre Akinlagun is the Founder & CEO Drinks.ng, a Lagos, Nigeria based e-commerce company specializing in drinks with an extensive range of beverages comprising both alcohol and soft drinks. Before starting Drinks.ng, Lanre was an early executive at Iroko, where he worked alongside Jason Njoku before discovering the problem of finding wholesale liquor in Lagos. Trying to purchase bulk liquor at an open air market on Lagos Island is what inspired Lanre to leave to start Drinks.ng. On this episode you'll learn: Why is Nigeria's e-commerce market so fragmented? How mature is the e-commerce ecosystem in Nigeria What other African markets does Lanre view as similar to the Nigerian market?

Jason Njoku is the co-founder at IrokoTv, a web platform that provides paid-for Nigerian films on-demand. It is one of Africa's first mainstream online movie streaming websites, giving instant access to over 5,000 Nollywood film titles.   Jason is who you can refer to as a serial entrepreneur. With several failed businesses under his belt, he went ahead to create what is largely regarded as the “Netflix of Africa”   Jason founded IrokoTv alongside his friend and then flatmate, Bastian Gotter. See Bastian's interview on IrokoTv here.   This episode is the first of 2-part conversation I had with Jason at his office in Lagos, as part of the mini-series on African video  on demand platform. In this episode you'll learn: When IrokoTv started out, they had no competition. How did they cope with the sudden influx of players in their market? How they had to innovate faster than competitors to maintain their lead in the market What is the importance of winning for small companies? What does winning mean for small companies and why should they focus on it during the initial stages? IrokoTv has raised $40million so far, and yet they have been losing money constanly. According to Jason, Angel investors who invested $80k got bought out for $2.4million. How was this possible? How to raise money from four different investors Why Netflix coming to Nigeria has no impact on their revenue About Jason's dream to IPO IrokoTv In 2015, they had to let some staff go. Find out why and what they had to do to fix the problem Jason thinks IrokoTv would have died in 2015 if certain action had not been taken. What is it? Why he thinks the FinTech space in Africa is overheated The future of tech ecosystem in Nigeria People in early stage companies have a massive valuation disconnect from reality. And more

Jason Njoku is the co-founder at IrokoTv, a web platform that provides paid-for Nigerian films on-demand. It is one of Africa's first mainstream online movie streaming websites, giving instant access to over 5,000 Nollywood film titles.   Jason is who you can refer to as a serial entrepreneur. With several failed businesses under his belt, he went ahead to create what is largely regarded as the “Netflix of Africa”   Jason founded IrokoTv alongside his friend and then flatmate, Bastian Gotter. See Bastian's interview on IrokoTv here.   This episode is the first of 2-part conversation I had with Jason at his office in Lagos, as part of the mini-series on African video  on demand platform.   In this episode you'll learn: About the early beginnings of IrokoTv and what brought about the idea The moment Jason realized he was unemployable and set out to run his own businesses About his struggles growing up and keeping himself n the university. How he became independent as a student The different businesses he tried and why they failed How his investment in hotels.ng helped shape the business Jason made one of the classic mistakes first-time entrepreneurs make. He built a platform before finding out if people wanted the product or not. The importance of company culture The initial revenue model of IrokoTV How were they able to compete with the thriving piracy market on Nollywood movies? Why they raised money even though they were making a lot of money How they spent the $3million they got from Tiger Global in 5 months

Bastian Gotter is the co-founder of Iroko TV, one of the earliest, most successful and largest video on demand platform for Nigerian movies.   Bastian founded the business alongside with his university flat-mate, Jason Njoku, who is the CEO of the company, and a later guest in this show.   This is not Bastian and Jason Njoku's first project together. In mid-2010, Bastian invested in several businesses that Jason was running in Manchester, England, many of which failed. But they stuck together as partners and Bastian invested in Iroko TV after Jason started it, and he then moved to Lagos and joined as a full-time co-founder.   This episode is the first of 2-part conversation I had with Bastian in Cape Town, as part of the mini-series on African video  on demand platform   In the second part of this episode you'll learn: The current challenges IrokoTV is facing How Nigeria is becoming close to the west in their content consumption Bastian thinks the answer to business growth is sub saharan Africa “Always”. Why does he seem to think so? Why he thinks you cannot make a lot of money in the sub-saharan African VoD market The importance of timing when launching a new business. How Spark was created on the back of Iroko and how they invested in companies like hotels.ng, tolet.com.ng, drinks.ng and  paystack. Why and how irokoTv raised money every year Why he left IrokoTv. (He still sits on the board and is a shareholder) What he is doing now. And more

Bastian Gotter is the co-founder of Iroko TV, one of the earliest, most successful and largest video on demand platform for Nigerian movies.   Bastian founded the business alongside with his university flat-mate, Jason Njoku, who is the CEO of the company, and a later guest in this show.   This is not Bastian and Jason Njoku's first project together. In mid-2010, Bastian invested in several businesses that Jason was running in Manchester, England, many of which failed. But they stuck together as partners and Bastian invested in Iroko TV after Jason started it, and he then moved to Lagos and joined as a full-time co-founder.   This episode is the first of 2-part conversation I had with Bastian in Cape Town, as part of the mini-series on African video  on demand platform In this episode you'll learn:   The first business he bet on went bankrupt He didn't go into entrepreneurship early. But Bastian says he doesn't regret it. He came in at the right time. Why? Bastian isn't exactly sure how much money he actually put in. There was no contract or incorporation or vesting period. How did they reach that level of trust? It was a personal journey for Jason to make it a success and Bastian thinks that kind of determination is backable. Why does he think so? How did they raise their first investment? What was unique about the process? How much did they raise? How piracy did Nollywood a favour A venture capitalist has to be convinced about your passion and determination for your business to succeed before giving you money Why a company without a founder is like a company without a heart The importance of a founder's emotional connection to a business Why does Bastian love investing? What is the most interesting thing about being a VC? And more

Jason Njoku is the inimitable Nigerian founder and CEO of the internet and entertainment group, iROKO. In this chat with Andile Masuku, Jason talks about how his group of companies is making lucrative traditional media plays while growing digital content platforms and producing local content for what's likely to be mobile-driven future.

Andile Masuku and Brian Lupiya spent three days last week at DISCOP Johannesburg— Africa’s biggest multi-screen, multi-platform marketplace, assessing trends within the continent’s digital content scene. They spent most of our time collecting insights at the fringe of Digital Lab Africa (DLA)— a DISCOP partner initiative that aims to be a springboard for African multimedia talent looking to launch worthy projects and business ideas within digital music, web creation, virtual reality and video game development. So this week, in place of the bringing you the week’s highlights in terms of digital, tech and innovation news from across Africa, Brian joins Andile on the show to help present cool snippets from four of the many great conversations they taped both at DLA and in DISCOP’s main exhibition area. The aim is to give you a sense of the vibe, as well as point to where the future of digital content production and platforms on the continent might be headed. Look out for audio featuring Harlem Mufoncol, one of the co-founders of Baziks Pulse— a music streaming platform from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwean hip-hop artist-turned-entrepreneur, Nonkululeko Kasongo Vundla a.k.a Black Bird, Ivorian video game developer and co-founder of POINTS by Work’d— Kaba Diakité Amadou, and the inimitable Jason Njoku of Nigeria, who is founder and CEO of the internet and entertainment group, iROKO. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution

This week’s African Tech Round-up is chock-full of important digital, tech and innovation news from across the African continent— not least, the unfortunate rumoured in-fighting and financial distress at Jason Njoku’s media startup, iROKO Partners. Also, we’re happy to have our content producer, Peter “The Enigma” Peele back from a a hectic trip to Dubai where he attended GITEX Technology Week 2015. We managed to convince him to jump on the mic with us this week and share some highlights from his trip. Meanwhile, Tefo Mohapi not only delivered a talk and facilitated a discussion at the the Thabo Mbeki Leadership Institute’s Leadership Conference this past week (the dude got to even have dinner with former South African President Thabo Mbeki himself), but also attended the Brand Africa 100 Awards. Be sure to catch him giving us the low-low on all that in this week’s episode. And finally, Andile Masuku's back from a week-long leave of absence due to eye surgery he had done on his left eye. All said, it's been a super-busy week for the team at the African Tech Round-up. Additional Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Launching a start-up in Africa is not for the faint-hearted. Very few promising ventures-- even those that achieve solid traction, can expect to land Silicon Valley-type investment offers that might allow a founder the liberty to concentrate solely on growth, versus say, survival. This week's discussion is inspired in part by a recent blog post by iROKOtv Founder and MD, Jason Njoku, written in response to a question posted on a popular Nigerian tech message board by someone who was curious to know how many Nigerian startups are in fact profitable. Tefo Mohapi and Andile Masuku weren't quite sure of what to make of both the question and and Jason's subsequent response to it, so they decided to bounce some ideas around to try and determine which of these three: 1) Growth, 2) Profitability, or 3) Being cashflow positive, African startup founders should focus on in order to succeed. Consider this just the start of a very long conversation that will definitely continue. We are joined by Jovago.com Founder and MD, Marek "Chinedu" Zmyslowski on this week's African Tech Round-up while he was in Johannesburg on business. It was very kind of him to let us hijack him for a couple of hours, and include his two cents on this week's news and discussion topic. Be sure to catch all the week's biggest digital, tech and innovation news: -- Kenya and South Sudan are set to start work on a multi-million dollar high-speed fibre optic cable within the next two years, -- The Consumer Federation of Kenya is leading a boycott of DSTV over high cable subscription rates, -- Nigerian e-commerce platform Yudala is keen to pull an 'Amazon' as it plans to roll out a traffic-beating drone-delivery service, -- South Africa’s largest online news platform, News24, has finally opted to disable public comments to articles posted on their website, -- Facebook 2nd Quarter African User numbers reveal some fascinating trends, -- Singtel, Orange, Deutsche Telekom and Telefónica are joining forces to launch a VC initiative spanning Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, and -- A quick reminder to anyone living in South Africa that public comments on the proposed new Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill are to be submitted to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development on or before November 30th.

The race is still on to discover the formula for successfully distributing digital content in Africa. In a recent blogpost, Jason Njoku, the outspoken founder of iRokoTV, announced that his company would soon retire the desktop version of their platform (for African users) to concentrate on building a mobile application that he says will better service the African consumer. The article is basically an eloquent admission that iRokoTV's efforts to "win Lagos" and then conquer the rest of Africa have so far failed. In this week's African Tech Round-up, iAfrikan Executive Editor, Tefo Mohapi and I discuss the challenges that home-grown content streaming platforms like iRokoTV, Wabona, Tuluntulu and others may be facing in their attempts to profitably deliver digital entertainment content to African consumers. While YouTube's growing success in Africa is proof that consumers have an appetite for content streaming, it seems that African platforms are yet to crack the code for how to best to get in on the action. As usual, be sure to catch up on all the week's biggest tech, digital and innovation news from across Africa: --Find out more about a cutting-edge medical innovation that has led to the city of St Louis, Missouri awarding their highest honour to a Nigerian-born scientist, --Get details on how Facebook plans to roll out its Internet.org platform in South Africa in partnership with mobile network operator, Cell C, --Learn why Nigerian e-commerce platform, Konga's acquisition of mobile banking and payment provider, Zinternet is such a smart move, and --Discover what we found odd about Twitter's recent talent call for young Africans. Music Credits: All Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/