Re: Why most Zimbabwean start-ups AREN’T failing. That is the question.

I now have a fair bit of money I can give away to certain "start-ups"
but eveytime they pitch me an idea the problem is that they are too in
love with the goods of their project and the millions of benefits that
it can bring that they forget to realise some of the major hurdles
standing right infront of them and these are the main things that the
man with the money will be looking at.

The love for the product is overwhelming. I remember one case where I suggested to the guy he considers a free to download version 1.0 and then a paid 2.0 or when there has ben sufficient market adoption. The guy would have none of it because he thought he would be losing money in the process. i suppose greed is also to blame, and even to the point where the product cannot be mass marketed or mass produced. In a different case, the guy wants so much control over the product and to know who is using it that every sale is on a "on demand" basis. inherently he cannot therefore sell even 1000 copies of his software because he will be generating keys etc by hand, and himself because he trusts no one but himself. I have had so many exciting observations and experiences. I mean, if he could just think of the bigger picture he could easily make US$1 million (and of course probably see his software pirated to the value of say US$10 million). But what is better, to hold on to the "one of a kind" software with limited sales or make millions even though pirated? after all a competitor can rise up with a better product soon. Software knowledge is the same world over.