Speed Questions with Urenna of Cashmere App

In preparation for our next event on May 4, we did a little fun quiz with one of our guest speakers Urenna of Cashmere App. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Check out how fast she answered these questions at the end.

Ok, let’s go…

1. Android or iOS?
   
   iOS of-course.
2. Your number 1 source for tech news is…
   
   Don’t really have one source but I mainly get my news from Twitter.
3. When I commute to work, I usually… (e.g. sleep)
   
   I’m on Twitter [Laughs].
4. What book are you reading right now?
   
   I’m currently reading a book called Brand Famous.
   It’s about how to get everyone talking about your business and getting fans of your business.
5. Name 2 of your favourite Nigerian startups
   
   One I like which is quite similar to what I’m doing is Piggybank.
   The other (which was founded by one of my schoolmates) is called Flutterwave.
6. If you were given £1 million to fund a startup, what kind of startup would it be? (This cannot be your own startup and you would be solely acting as a VC, not a founder or employee).
   
   It’ll probably be an Afro-Caribbean salon/barbers with a modern luxurious experience and great customer experience.
   Because right now the salons are a bit informal and most have bad customer service. So one that is affordable and makes you feel happy being there. It’s actually something I do plan to do in the future.
7. What unpopular opinion do you have about the tech industry?
   
   We tend to praise fundraising over more important things like getting customers for your business and making a return on the investment.
   The focus should be more around ‘Is the startup able to turn the £50million raised into £500million?’. That’s what important- what you actually do with the money. Fundraising is too glamourised and takes away from the work that should be done to grow a business.
8. What technological change/leap are you shocked by in the last ten years
   (E.g. If this was 1970, people may have said ‘man on the moon’.)
   
   I think it would be the democratisation of influence via social media.
   In the sense that nowadays anyone can be an influencer as long as you have a smartphone.
   I remember in the early years of Youtube, I primarily used it to watch music videos but now I mainly watch videos from Vloggers which is something I thought would never happen.
   Same goes for Instagram, it was mainly used for posting personal pictures but now, a lot of people use it to run their business.
   So I think that’s been interesting and it’s only really exploded in the last 5 years.
9. What is the most innovative tech since you’ve been alive?
   
   [Laughs] I’ll probably say the iPhone.
   When it came out in 2008/2009, It caused a huge shift. We were used to phones with keypads and flip phones and then the iPhone came out.
   Now there is rarely any phone that comes out today which isn’t based on the design of the original iPhone and I think that has been the most innovative tech for me.
10. What are your thoughts on putting red stew on Jollof rice?
    
    [Laughs] I wouldn’t say I’m against it but I wouldn’t say I’m for it.
    Added question: Do you put red stew on Jollof rice?
    I don’t personally, but I’ve seen people do it and I wouldn’t judge them for it. For all I know, the Jollof rice could be dry and needs some sort of sauce on it [Laughs].

Urenna will be speaking about her awesome startup on May 4. If you’re interested in what we have in store for that day then register here.

And the time is:

Thanks for reading.