– HBS Professor Anywhere Sikochi
Harvard Business School Case Study on Harambeans: Scaling at the Speed of Trust
Harvard Business School’s Professor Sikochi moderated the Guild Session titled ‘Scaling at the Speed of Trust’ during the Harambeans Global Summit 2022 in Franschhoek, South Africa. This pivotal Guild Session invited Harambeans into a dialogue about their personal journeys within the Alliance, exploring how they scaled their impact and moved toward achieving Unicorn status.
Creating a Trust Ecosystem
Professor Sikochi began by reflecting on his research for the HBS case study Harambe: Mobilizing Capital in Africa, which explored the unique ecosystem of trust that Harambe has built. He shared an Alibaba case study to illustrate the role trust plays in scaling businesses, emphasizing the need for trust between investors and entrepreneurs. “When it comes to Harambe, the same level of trust is needed by and between investors and entrepreneurs,” Sikochi said. He pointed out that while capital markets globally have checks and balances to maintain trust, African entrepreneurs often lacked such systems, making it challenging for investors to feel confident in their investments. “People weren’t interested in Africa… and many were fed up with hearing about the same stories of corrupt governments and a hopeless continent,” he noted. Harambe, however, solved this problem by building an ecosystem that connects local and global investors, partners, and entrepreneurs. “Today, Harambeans are not only entrepreneurs but also investors, advisors, and partners. Harambe is a true ecosystem that recycles its ‘nutrients’ to sustain itself,” Sikochi added.
Finding Friends, Team Members, and Investors in the Alliance
Mr. Iyinoluwa Aboyeji H’10, co-founder of Flutterwave and Future Africa, and a co-founder of two Harambean unicorns, recounted his early days within the Alliance. Aboyeji, who initially joined from the University of Waterloo, recalled how inspiring it was to be surrounded by like-minded individuals who shared his ambition for Africa. “Having a community of people like Harambeans who could identify with what I was trying to do with my life was helpful, and the relationships grew from there,” he said. While his first venture, Project Cheetah, failed, Aboyeji found new opportunities within the Alliance, presenting his next project, Fora, at a Harambean Colloquium at the Harvard Club in New York in 2013. There, Mr. Pule Taukobong, a wealth manager at Investec, was so inspired by Aboyeji’s vision that he invested $10K in the venture the following day. Taukobong would later co-found CRE Venture Capital, Africa’s largest venture capital firm. “I call Harambe a self-funded Alliance,” said Aboyeji, highlighting that his ventures were primarily funded by other Harambeans. “I will always accept money from Harambeans before I accept it from anywhere else,” he added, emphasizing the trust and shared values within the Alliance.
It Takes a Village to Grow a Business
Mr. Tesh Mbaabu H’21, founder and CEO of Marketforce360, a Harambean Oppenheimer Fellow, spoke about the strength of the community within Harambe. “Once you’re accepted to the Alliance, you find a family in entrepreneurship like no other,” he said, likening the group to a “village” that helps entrepreneurs grow. Mbaabu’s company had struggled initially but found support and investment from six Harambeans, including the Prosperity Fund. “Before joining the Alliance, we hadn’t been accepted into Y Combinator and hadn’t raised our pre-seed capital, but they believed in us. Harambe means community and family to me,” Mbaabu reflected.
Trust Helps Companies Scale Faster
Byeronie Epstein H’21, co-founder of Deep Medical Therapeutics, joined Harambe in 2021 and quickly felt the impact of the Alliance’s trust-based culture. She shared an experience from a Bretton Woods gathering where members openly discussed their biggest failures. “We had to be vulnerable among a room of strangers, but there is power in vulnerability. From then on, I have felt that I was not alone and that we have a family,” Epstein explained. She highlighted how this environment of trust accelerates the scaling of companies, noting the willingness of Alliance members to help one another, whether through sharing insights or making valuable introductions.
Using Our Privilege to Do Harder Things
As the Harambeans movement continues to grow, Aboyeji reflected on the road ahead. “When we started this journey, believing in Africa was the hard thing. Now that we’re starting to see some fruit, the worst thing we could do is believe that we have arrived and stop there,” he said. With Harambe now gaining global recognition, Aboyeji emphasized the responsibility that comes with this newfound privilege. “The first five years of Harambe were about building the people, the next ten years were about building the businesses, and now we must think about the economies,” he concluded. His vision for the future is clear: “If the businesses in the Alliance over the next ten years cannot double Africa’s GDP, at the very least, then we have failed.”