FIP 43: Bootstrapping with Audrey Cheng

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Audrey Cheng is the Founder and CEO of Moringa School, where she is transforming higher education in Africa – starting with computer science. During her time at the venture capitalist firm, Savannah Fund, Audrey noticed a mismatch between the skills of job seekers and the needs of employers. Moringa School aims to close this skills gap by accelerating high-potential individuals across Africa to become world-class software engineers.

On this podcast, Audrey takes us through the origins of Moringa School and what it means to bootstrap your business without sacrificing results or deviating from you mission along the way. We’ll specifically cover:

• What it means to bootstrap and the downfalls of chasing grants and investment too early in your business’ growth
• How to use your current situation to identify gaps in the market, specifically, how to explore these gaps and challenge the status quo
• How bootstrapping can appeal to investors down the road when you are ready to start scaling your business or social enterprise
• The importance of being intentional with every dollar spent and every hire. Does every decision need to contribute to the bottom line? (Hint: yes)
• Get people to “buy into” solving the problem with you (ie. Let’s change the face of education in Africa). Sell the vision.
• How you hire matters – Part-time? Consultant? Internship program? What are the benefits of each?
• Is bootstrapping easier for certain industries? Who can do it?
• The importance of building traction before seeking outside funding or getting distracted by grants
• Moringa School is growing! If you’d like to partner with Moringa and be a part of their exciting journey – Audrey wants to hear from you.

Resources:

• Moringa School
• Huffington Post – Audrey Cheng

Connect with Audrey:

• Twitter @audreypcheng

What was your favourite lesson from this episode? Let me know on Twitter by clicking here!