Building startup giants and community: lessons from Hubspace, Facebook, Bolt and Uber with Melilizwe Gqobo

E8: Today’s guest, Melilizwe Gqobo (he/him) - Founding Director of Hubspace (Khayelitsha) and Venture Scout, has successfully created space for founders and entrepreneurs to thrive by strengthening and reinforcing their capacity or ability to seek opportunities.

With the hindsight of co-founding Hubspace, a pioneering startup ecosystem or incubator space to bring communal offices and resources to entrepreneurs and founders within the township economy, meaningfully contributing over 5% to South Africa’s GDP, Melilizwe shares key lessons and insights on what it takes to make a successful venture while highlighting examples from Bolt and Uber’s entry to the South African/African market.

What's Covered On This Episode:

(0:00) The Entrepreneurship and Founder Ecosystems

(1:23) Founder Lessons and Challenges

(4:40) Reasons why I became an Entrepreneur

(6:02) The Opportunity Set – NGOs

(8:07) Making a successful venture

(10:51) Does First Mover Advantage Exist?

(12:50) The Role of Enterprise Development

(14:51) The Township Economy

(25:39) The Importance of Patient Capital, Support, Routine and Mindset for Preservation

(32:57) Allyship: Creating space and an intentional community

(38:29) Innovation and AI

(46:17) Wrap-up: Key Takeaways

RESOURCES:

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/04/04/397101933/far-from-silicon-valley-a-disruptive-startup-hub

https://disruptafrica.com/2014/11/15/townships-offer-real-investment-opportunities-hubspace/

https://www.news24.com/news24/partnercontent/the-rise-and-rise-of-the-township-economy-20230621

https://www.parliament.gov.za/news/multifaceted-approach-needed-deal-protection-fee-and-business-extortion-syndicates-ncop-hears

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz5reve8476o

Melilizwe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melilizwe-gqobo-6229a729/

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