Building a Software Company in Rwanda, 3 Years Later

http://blog.textit.in/building-a-software-company-in-rwanda-3-years-later

by nicpottier • 13 years ago

123 78 13 years ago

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nicpottier21• 13 years ago

OP here, happy to answer any questions peeps have on Nyaruka and our little journey.

wehadfun2• 13 years ago

Do you have to worry about Hutu/Tutsi issues still?

nicpottier21• 13 years ago

No, not at all. Rwanda is probably safer than any place in the states.. you can walk around anywhere in the city in the middle of the night (and I do) and there are no concerns. There is still unrest in DRC but that is very much localized.

KeepTalking• 13 years ago

Nope/Not as much. That was a mid 1990's issue. Rwanada under paul kagame has made some really good strides in development. Raising coffee and tea prices have helped the local economy to a great extent. I agree problems still exist but they are not show stoppers.

Peroni• 13 years ago

You mention you have two young kids. What's the education system like in general for kids in Rwanda?

enewcomer10• 13 years ago

I don't have a lot of experience for what school is like generally, but I can speak about it from an ex-pat's perspective. Our kids go to a Rwandan school (though a prestigious private school). It's far, far cheaper than private school in the states. Like most schools, the experience you have is highly dependent on the teacher you get, but we've been pretty lucky in that regard.

In some ways the academics are a step down and in others they are step up. For example, some of the subjects can be a bit rote, but my youngest has half of his classes taught in french (even though we are not french speakers). On the whole we are quite satisfied with their school. We also remind ourselves that as humans, we learn in so many ways and having our kids experience life in Rwanda (or anywhere outside of America for that matter) is one of the finest gifts we can offer.

joseph• 13 years ago

I have been interested in your company since I first heard of it a while ago so I am glad to see it is doing well. How is the infrastructure in Rwanda with regards to ecommerce? I have investigated doing business in Kenya but two of the biggest problems there are 1) online payments are not easy since few people use credit cards and paying online with M-Pesa is clumsy, and 2) there are no street addresses so it makes certain types of ecommerce difficult since there is no address to deliver a product if you are selling a physical one, or doing any type of pickup/delivery service involving locations. How are these issues dealt with in Rwanda?

nicpottier21• 13 years ago

Yes, both those challenges still exist, payments are actually even worse here than Kenya because there isn't huge adoption of any mobile money platform yet.

Both of those pretty much preclude doing anything ecommerce related

shoover3• 13 years ago

And to look at commerce in the other direction, how is access to things you need for home/work? Say you need a new development laptop, are you going to amazon, local retain, or something else?

More on the consumables side, how's the coffee?

yitchelle• 13 years ago

What is the biggest challenge your have found starting a software company in Rwanda, and how did you resolve it?

nicpottier21• 13 years ago

Rwanda is a small market, so while we tried to build a few products for the local market it just wasn't big enough to make the numbers work out. In the end we decided to build a product that had a global reach and in that respect I think there is much more promise.

From a purely administrative point of view it has been very easy and predictable, well, no harder really than the states that is.

hyung• 13 years ago

This question might be too broad, but how would you compare the infrastructure, English level, technical talent, etc. of Rwanda with other African nations?

nicpottier21• 13 years ago

Africa is a huge, huge place, it is hard to even fathom how big and varied it is. East, West, North, South are all really really different. Within East Africa, Rwanda fares well from an infrastructure point of view, lags a bit in English due to being Francophone until recently and on talent, I'd say most are at similar levels. The talent is everywhere, but really the skills are far behind the west pretty much everywhere as well.

wehadfun2• 13 years ago

Why did you choose Rawanda over South Africa/Nigeria/Morocco which I would think would be easier African countries to work in

nicpottier21• 13 years ago

I can't say that we evaluated every country before choosing Rwanda, to be perfectly honest we didn't look at that many, we just decided that Rwanda was 'good enough' and would probably work so we went for it.

The three countries you list are very very different from Rwanda and from each other, so it is hard to comment on that. In many ways South Africa has more in common with California than it does with Rwanda.

mayank• 13 years ago

I'd be curious to hear more about this decision. I note that it lies somewhere approximately in between the extremes of Kenya/Nigeria/SA on one end and Central African Republic on the other.

mwcampbell2• 13 years ago

I find it sad that a company based in Rwanda, primarily targeting East Africa, decided to use infrastructure owned by an American company and operating in the US. Did you look for an infrastructure provider that's more local? Maybe one of the European hosting providers, if there isn't a good one in Africa?

(Note: I happen to be American. But that doesn't mean I automatically think that the whole world should use our products and services.)

nicpottier21• 13 years ago

I'm ex-Amazon and believe they provide an awesome service, so no, I don't see any problem or sadness in that in the least. The last thing the world needs is propping up inferior systems for the sake of Nationalism, much less in the software sector.

Amazon provides a great product and has never let us down, if an East African competitor pops up and does the same, I'll move in a heartbeat.

mwcampbell2• 13 years ago

For me it's not about nationalism as much as avoiding excessive centralization. I find it appalling that so many services are concentrated in a few buildings in northern Virginia. (Or is it one building?) Did you at least use a region other than us-east-1? I can't tell from reverse DNS lookups or traceroute.

redmattred• 13 years ago

Why is that sad exactly?

They want working, reliable software for their users and Amazon can help them provide that. Some decisions are practical not political.

sorich87• 13 years ago

What's the difference between an american provider and an european one from an african perspective? Neither is local. You seems to be putting all non-american countries in the same basket.

jalayir• 13 years ago

Are you or one of the founders native to Rwanda? What's the electricity situation like? What's the ease of doing business for complete outsiders?

jacquesm5• 13 years ago

What a super project this. It's braver than anything I'd ever attempt, I try to sweep my own street as much as possible but this is so far out of my comfort zone (starting with the climate) that I have nothing but sheer admiration for you.

enewcomer10• 13 years ago

For me, moving from Seattle to Kigali was all about just deciding to do it. After the decision was made it was far, far easier. I've got a wife and kids too. I think if this is something you want, just taking the plunge without thinking too hard about it is the only way it can really happen.

As for the climate, I can say that in Rwanda it is amazing. Pretty much beautiful weather every single day. It's near the equator, but at elevation. So it hovers around 80 degrees most days with a gentle breeze. It can get hot in the middle of the day, but not uncomfortably so. Rainy season brings torrential downpours for an hour or so twice a day -- which is always welcomed.

jacquesm5• 13 years ago

You've got me sold :) How old are your kids? (mine 1, 3 and 19...). If you want to make some quick money you should take out a life insurance on me just before I explain the plan to my s.o.

nicpottier21• 13 years ago

No, no, that is the wrong takeaway! It is not a brave thing at all, that is the point I'm trying to get across. The end result may seem big, but it was from many small steps, no bigger than you are capable of. My advice, just take that first step, get involved in software taking place in the developing world, see what you can do to help. It's just a matter of small steps from there.

jacquesm5• 13 years ago

Right. But from where I'm sitting I see the end result of all your little steps and that end result blows me away. I know that you can do stuff like this (Emigrated to Canada, not exactly the developing world but you'd be surprised at the poverty there in some places, worked and lived there for 5 years to mixed effect).

The brave bit to me is to leave your comfort zone in such a decisive way. Feel free to disagree, I'll call you modest and brave ;)

kfk• 13 years ago

I agree that you guys are brave. I have been thinking of making an important step for a while now, basically moving into software development/startups from a finance/accounting job, and I just can't wrap my head around such a change. I lived in many places, so that is not my silver bullet, but gosh leaving my 9-5 life seems so risky.

How do you do it? What scares the hell out of me is the future. What happens if things go sour? How do I know I can actually be a good programmer or entrepreneur? How do I save up for my pension (I am 27, that might seem premature I know) if things go bad?

davidwparker• 13 years ago

I went to Rwanda last year and it was by far one of the most beautiful countries I've visited.

Being a "Mzungu" ("rich" person- note I'm not really rich, but am compared to most Rwandans) was definitely something I didn't expect. For some reason, I had no expectations about class prior to going.

It's really cool that you started this company there and are looking to help Rwanda from the inside out. Good luck to you- if (when) I go back to Rwanda, I'll be sure to come check out kLab.

ak39• 13 years ago

Mzungu means white man, surely. In Nyanja (Central Africa/Zambia) at least.

jhull2• 13 years ago

mzungu just means foreigner or outsider

jhull2• 13 years ago

Who needs cheese when you have an unlimited supply of matoke?[1]

Have you seen any positive changes in ICT ed from the Carnegie Mellon program[2] that started there?

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matoke [2] http://www.cmu.edu/rwanda/

nicpottier21• 13 years ago

Hah, matoke is most definitely NOT a viable substitute to cheddar!

It is early days still for CMU, they are only just starting their second year, but I think their influence here and in the region will be huge, mostly because there just aren't many (any?) other top tier universities here. Their program isn't straight CS, but it does offer CS courses and the profs are top grade, so the graduates will be head and shoulders above others in the region.

The long term impact of that could be pretty huge.

jorkos• 13 years ago

I notice that the pricing plans don't reward the middle tier as compared to the first tier.....would have expected that middle one to offer savings per SMS sent versus the first tier. My 2 cents feedback. Service looks very useful, congrats!

nicpottier21• 13 years ago

Ya, that's mostly because we decided to discount the lowest plan for launch, it will 'normally' be $49 in the future, so then things will ramp the way you'd expect.

heterogenic2• 13 years ago

Could you be a bit more specific when you say Kigali is "safe"?

Is it safe for me to move to as a woman? Is it safe for me to bring my wife and kids? These things are often relative.

nicpottier21• 13 years ago

Yes and yes.

My business partner, Eric, moved his family here, two young kids and his wife. Moving at night, even as a woman is very safe and commonplace in most parts of Kigali. It really is ridiculously safe here by any standard.

As an example, I am much less concerned about female friends of mine walking around alone at night in Kigali than I am my neighborhood back home in Seattle. (granted I lived in the CD which is higher crime, but still)

heterogenic2• 13 years ago

Sorry, I should have been more clear...

Is it safe for me, a woman, to visit there with my wife and kids? We've ruled out most of Africa in our globe trotting, but have really missed it.

cocoflunchy• 13 years ago

I never thought I'd hear an American complain about lack of good cheese. You guys have never tasted cheese!

Great project anyway, very inspiring!

nicpottier21• 13 years ago

To be fair I spent the first half of my childhood in France, so I beg to differ. :)

But like I said, after years of gouda, even cheddar starts seeming like an incredible delicacy. I even like gouda, you just need some variety!

205guy• 13 years ago

Lived in France half his childhood and likes good cheese != American. Pines for cheddar != French. I can relate (except for the cheddar thing, especially the cheddar that American audiences are thinking of). The digital nomads are from everywhere and from nowhere, and I wonder about our children.

felixr• 13 years ago

The problem with Gouda is that you get it everywhere, but not the quality Gouda. I love a old Gouda (oude kaas). Unfortunately what you get in supermarkets (outside the Netherlands) is not comparable to the really good stuff.

joelhaasnoot2• 13 years ago

This is awesome! Grew up abroad and this seems like a great opportunity.

Was it easy to get a work permit / visa for Rwanda?

nicpottier21• 13 years ago

We are both college dropouts, so the first go around took a bit of convincing, but since we had a pretty lengthy work history we convinced them in the end. After that it has been smooth sailing, Rwanda is pretty friendly to foreign investment in general.

enewcomer10• 13 years ago

Rwanda has a classification specifically for technology entrepreneurs. It's a 3-year visa and if you are a qualified software practitioner, I don't foresee you having difficulty getting a permit to start a software company here. They also pride themselves on same-day business registration.

https://www.migration.gov.rw/services/permits/temporary-perm...

notahacker• 13 years ago

A smart move. How common are those sort of visas in developing countries?

shoover3• 13 years ago

And I assume no trouble renewing at three years, then?

abhiv• 13 years ago

What's the electricity situation like? Do you need to have diesel generators?

nicpottier21• 13 years ago

Power is fine 95% of the time, but yes outages happen though infrequently for long. We work on laptops so it isn't a huge issue, but you do learn to plan around it. (aka, keep said laptop charged)

pekru2• 13 years ago

And the broadband bandwidth and speeds? Is it very pricey to have a 10 Mbps downlink (upto 4Mbps uplink) connection?

contingencies• 13 years ago

I have also lived in weird places (eg. China/Burma border) for extended periods and know exactly what you mean about cheese. We also had matoke equivalents (ie. multiple versions of starchier bananas, almost always tastier than 'normal' bananas).

brianbreslin• 13 years ago

@nicpottier loved the post would also love to see how can we help k lab from the us? Or help in any of the other local initiatives you are doing to foster a community around tech.

greenbush• 13 years ago

Your app is pretty cool. How long did it take to build? How big of a team?

pekru2• 13 years ago

Off track, but I noticed the .in domain that's chosen. Any particular reason to have the India TLD? Or just that it sounds like a phrase "text it in" ...?

enewcomer10• 13 years ago

We'd love to have the .com, but it's not in the cards. But ya, we chose the India TLD for exactly the reason you suspect.. text it in.

Building a Software Company in Rwanda, 3 Years Later

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