Making the transition from entrepreneurship back into the industry
Venture for Africa co-founder Tobi Lafinhan sat down with Dennis Chang’ach, a fellow from our second cohort, to learn more about his journey from building a startup to diving back into a role as a builder with another team. Dennis was placed as a Product Analyst fellow with Kenyan digital commerce startup Sokowatch.
Tell us a little bit about you, your background, and your journey so far.
I have lived in Kenya all my life, although I studied in different towns in Kenya. I started off with primary school in Eldoret, went to high school in Nakuru, and University in Nairobi, where I pursued a degree in mechatronics engineering — a combination of mechanical, electrical and software engineering.
In my final year, I worked with a couple of friends on a project, and due to my background growing up in Eldoret, I was more inclined towards agriculture, which pushed me to look into ways I could build solutions to improve some of the farming methods of farmers.
This inspired me to work on a project where we set out to build affordable cold storage for smallholder farmers. My team and I were fortunate to get some funding for the project before graduating to commercialize and build a scale-up of the prototype, and so after graduating, we decided to incorporate and make it a startup with the aim of providing affordable and efficient products to farmers.
This is what I did for two years, but we pivoted a lot; from targeting different market segments to transitioning from hardware to software products.
Through these two years, my role also evolved, from a technical engineer and slowly into product management, while also developing an interest in Data Science.
Why did you apply to VFA, and what stood out the most for you?
With the startup I was building, we were working mainly on hardware products, and most of the software products we were working on were platforms that we were contracted to build by some of the farmer groups we were working with. This made me want to explore working on scalable products — products that would either span different customer segments or markets, to further grow my skills in analytics and product development.
I was particularly looking for opportunities where I’d get to work on meaningful products that would create impact and also drive business value. This is when I stumbled on Venture for Africa on Linkedin.
I saw some of the startup partners VFA was working with, including Sokowatch, and what immediately drew me to that role, in particular, was that they were looking for someone with an entrepreneurial background who had experience in development plus a bit of analytics. I felt I was a perfect fit for that.
What interested you the most about VFA’s approach to the fellowship?
For me, it was first the mentorship experience.
As I had first started and run my own startup and was making the transition to employment, I felt I needed some guidance and help through that process. Another thing that I found interesting was the way it was structured; where for 3-months, you’d get the opportunity to see if working with a fast-growing startup was something you wanted to do long-term. I think most people sometimes have to take a huge leap of faith when making transitions because of the finality of some of these decisions, but I saw the VFA fellowship as an easier pathway towards making that decision.
Finally, I think the chance to work and network with other fellows in my cohort placed at different startups, as well as interact with fellows from previous VFA cohorts, felt like a good opportunity to grow my network and learn from them as well.
What was your experience like at Sokowatch?
What I first liked about Sokowatch was the onboarding process. During the first week, I got to meet with all the different departments on the team and also got to visit the different warehouses (because I was already on the ground in Nairobi), where I got to see the operations, which gave me better insights into how the company works.
The other thing which stood out for me was Sokowatch had an entire department dedicated to learning and development; as a part of the team, I got access to a lot of paid learning resources, which helped build my skills in the different areas I was responsible for.
In terms of the projects I worked on, right from the first week I was able to work with the team in Tanzania, and I thought that really connected with one of my goals for joining the fellowship — to work on scalable projects with a diverse team.
I thought overall it was a great learning process because this was my first role in Data Analytics right out of building my own startup, and this experience gave me the chance to learn and adapt very quickly.
What was your experience like with the VFA program?
I really loved the weekly check-in calls. They felt like a great way to get to know other fellows better, albeit virtually. Also, it was interesting to learn about the different projects they were working on and the problems they were solving with their respective startups.
On a lighter note, it was nice interacting with fellows from different countries and backgrounds and getting to share our stories. In addition to calls focused on our experiences with our respective startups, there were also calls where we spent a better part talking about popular foods where we were from, and how to make them, sometimes with alternative ingredients depending on what each person thought they might have access to where they were. I found that really fun!
How would you describe the mentorship sessions at VFA?
It was really great. My mentor had a similar story to mine in the sense that he started off his career by building his own startup before transitioning to work with a high-growth company still in the tech industry.
We were able to have conversations about the ways in which he navigated that part of his journey and some of the ways he thought I could best position myself for success on this path.
What’s next for you?
Now that the VFA fellowship has ended, I’ll be joining Sokowatch’s product team full time as a Product Analyst!
My goal is to further build a career in product management, which is something that was the most appealing to me even while I was building my startup.
Final word to anyone considering taking a leap into working with an African startup?
Working with a startup can be quite fulfilling as you’ll get to work on products that are not just transforming lives and helping to create impact, but also driving business value. The key thing is to seek the discomfort and push yourself to take that leap of faith because, at the end of the day, the last thing you want is a wasted experience.
Whether you’re looking for your next challenge or planning a major career move, becoming a Venture for Africa Fellow gives you a unique opportunity to gain real experience and local industry knowledge while contributing to meaningful impact at a leading African startup.
