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Failing To Win : Hard-earned lessons from a purpose-driven startup
In 2009, Canadian entrepreneur Mike Quinn packed his backpack and moved to Lusaka, Zambia on a mission to find African entrepreneurs building scalable, high-impact businesses. There he stumbled across two South African brothers who had founded a business to help unbanked smallholder farmers receive mobile payments in a market where cash was king. After convincing his retired parents to mortgage their house and lend him $100,000, Mike joined as a co-founder of Zoona and became CEO for nine of the next ten years.
With his partners, Mike built a network of more than 3,000 entrepreneur agents across Zambia and Malawi that enabled millions of unbanked consumers to send and receive $2.5-billion in money transfers and remittances. Headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, Zoona raised over $35-million of venture investment and operated on the leading edge of Africa’s emerging fintech ecosystem.
Mike’s remarkable story gives a rare and honest glimpse into the workings of a pioneering African startup through the lens of a purpose-driven entrepreneur who went “all in”. Zoona faced tremendous adversity along the currency crises, investment round collapses, ruthless pushback from the major mobile network operators, and a continuous internal struggle to discover and execute a growth strategy that matched the company’s billion-dollar ambition. It was by failing to win that Mike learned what entrepreneurship is all about, and it was what motivated him to double down and try again.“Failing To Win is a captivating account of an incredibly talented and unusually forthright entrepreneur who built an ambitious purpose-led company that started in Zambia. At Oxford I have taught the Zoona case study to countless MBA students to show how fundamental principles of entrepreneurship can be meaningfully applied in a novel context. It just takes courageous and smart individuals who are not afraid of failing (in order) to win.”- Thomas Hellmann, DP World Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Saïd Business School, Oxford University
“This raw, honest account is a must-read for anyone thinking about starting a company and for every entrepreneur who feels alone in the journey.”- Elizabeth Yin, Co-Founder and General Partner of Hustle Fund
I would highly recommend this book as a quick study for mission-driven people who aspire to impact the lives of others and move from success to significance.”- Fred Swaniker, Founder of African Leadership Group
“Startups are hard. Most people understand this. However, most people don’t understand why. Mike’s story is a rare glimpse into how challenges present themselves — and ultimately how to overcome.”- Matt Flannery, Co-Founder of Kiva and Branch“I have known Mike as a fellow entrepreneur in Africa for the last decade. I was inspired by the team culture of performance and family he built at Zoona and I remember vividly visiting their HQ and thinking I wanted to re-create this in my own company. Mike’s humility, resilience and depth of knowledge of how to build a pan-African business is unique, and his testimony of experience is an important short history of the fintech boom on the continent.”- Elizabeth Rossiello, CEO and Founder of AZA
“Far too often we focus on startup success stories – but you will learn so much from Mike’s tale of ‘failure.
With his partners, Mike built a network of more than 3,000 entrepreneur agents across Zambia and Malawi that enabled millions of unbanked consumers to send and receive $2.5-billion in money transfers and remittances. Headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, Zoona raised over $35-million of venture investment and operated on the leading edge of Africa’s emerging fintech ecosystem.
Mike’s remarkable story gives a rare and honest glimpse into the workings of a pioneering African startup through the lens of a purpose-driven entrepreneur who went “all in”. Zoona faced tremendous adversity along the currency crises, investment round collapses, ruthless pushback from the major mobile network operators, and a continuous internal struggle to discover and execute a growth strategy that matched the company’s billion-dollar ambition. It was by failing to win that Mike learned what entrepreneurship is all about, and it was what motivated him to double down and try again.“Failing To Win is a captivating account of an incredibly talented and unusually forthright entrepreneur who built an ambitious purpose-led company that started in Zambia. At Oxford I have taught the Zoona case study to countless MBA students to show how fundamental principles of entrepreneurship can be meaningfully applied in a novel context. It just takes courageous and smart individuals who are not afraid of failing (in order) to win.”- Thomas Hellmann, DP World Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Saïd Business School, Oxford University
“This raw, honest account is a must-read for anyone thinking about starting a company and for every entrepreneur who feels alone in the journey.”- Elizabeth Yin, Co-Founder and General Partner of Hustle Fund
I would highly recommend this book as a quick study for mission-driven people who aspire to impact the lives of others and move from success to significance.”- Fred Swaniker, Founder of African Leadership Group
“Startups are hard. Most people understand this. However, most people don’t understand why. Mike’s story is a rare glimpse into how challenges present themselves — and ultimately how to overcome.”- Matt Flannery, Co-Founder of Kiva and Branch“I have known Mike as a fellow entrepreneur in Africa for the last decade. I was inspired by the team culture of performance and family he built at Zoona and I remember vividly visiting their HQ and thinking I wanted to re-create this in my own company. Mike’s humility, resilience and depth of knowledge of how to build a pan-African business is unique, and his testimony of experience is an important short history of the fintech boom on the continent.”- Elizabeth Rossiello, CEO and Founder of AZA
“Far too often we focus on startup success stories – but you will learn so much from Mike’s tale of ‘failure.
265 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 27, 2021
7 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 27, 2021
Hugely impressed with Mike for writing so openly about his Zoona experience.
I've read a few startup books, but this one is exceptional for its straightforward acknowledgement of failures and the corresponding lessons to take from them. Also just a very fun read that I couldn't put down - I finished it in ~24 hours.
This book should be helpful to anyone building a company, especially in Africa. Fully recommend.
I've read a few startup books, but this one is exceptional for its straightforward acknowledgement of failures and the corresponding lessons to take from them. Also just a very fun read that I couldn't put down - I finished it in ~24 hours.
This book should be helpful to anyone building a company, especially in Africa. Fully recommend.
December 20, 2021
As a Zambian, I could relate to the Rise, Rise and Rise of Zoona and then the fall. It was good to know the "behind the scenes" story. Thanks to Mike for sharing lessons which we all can apply in our corporate and entrepreneurial lives.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews