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Frontier Founders

Business & Economics Podcasts

Join Jonathan Shaw and Baraka Kasali as they take you through the ins and outs of starting a business in one of the toughest markets in the world, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Each episode documents the unique challenges of starting a business in...

Location:

United States

Description:

Join Jonathan Shaw and Baraka Kasali as they take you through the ins and outs of starting a business in one of the toughest markets in the world, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Each episode documents the unique challenges of starting a business in the context of a frontier market and covers what works and what doesn't. The hope is that the podcast, by documenting the experience of one start-up in a frontier market, will inspire entrepreneurs from around the globe to do like-wise.BIO Jonathan Shaw is the CEO and co-founder of Nuru Electric, a solar start-up based in the eastern part of the DRC. He is also the founder of Cafe Kivu, a coffee start-up that seeks to keep the value of Congolese coffee mostly at origin. From 2013 to 2015, Jon founded and directed the Integrated Research Institute (IRI) at the Universite Chretienne Bilingue du Congo in Beni, DRC. Today, the IRI is a leading research institute on land governance and agribusiness in the DRC. Jon received his Ph.D. in African history from the University of Michigan in 2017. He is currently based in Nairobi, Kenya. Baraka Kasali joined Nuru Electric in 2018, where he is the Director of Strategic Development and Partnerships. Baraka has nine years of experience directing and managing social entrepreneurship programs. Six of those years were spent as the Country Manager for the award-winning Eastern Congo Iniantive in Goma. He is based in Illinois, USA. Links Nuru's Website https://nuru.cd/Frontier Founders' Twitter https://twitter.com/FrontierFounderFrontier Founders' Facebook https://web.facebook.com/Frontier-Founders

Language:

English


Episodes
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Frontier Founders Episode 3: What it's Like to be a Young Entrepreneur in the DRC

5/14/2020
Today on Frontier Founders, we interview Rachel Sangara, a Nuru employee and entrepreneur, and discuss the challenges and issues she faces trying to start and run a successful beauty business in the DRC.

Duration:00:38:14

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Frontier Founders Episode 2: The COVID Crisis and the Six Forces of Competition

5/1/2020
Today on Frontier Founders, we discuss the COVID crisis and how the DRC may be more resilient in such situations. We also delve into Micheal Porter's five forces of competition and discuss how there might be a mysterious sixth force.

Duration:00:47:45

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Frontier Founders Episode 1: Intro

4/22/2020
Today on Frontier Founders we introduce ourselves and discuss the origins of Nuru Electric, our company in the DRC. We also discuss "disruption" and how it applies, or doesn't, to a frontier market.

Duration:00:18:08