“Konga Should Sell to Jumia ” and “The Andela Problem” are two articles I am not happy that I made public. Specifically on the Andela one, an investor in the company wrote to me, and commended my ability to understand the business, from far. The Konga one was a meltdown as many on LinkedIn felt I was demoralizing people. Sure, within days I wrote the article, Konga sold itself. The premise of that piece was based on a press release from Konga.
Practically, what it said it was going to pivot made no sense for a company that had around $100 million of investors money. It would have made sense if Konga had raised about $20 million. So, I simply said: if that was the only thing available in the playbook, sell because you have no future!
In the Andela piece, I wrote, “The business cannot scale outside the blue, because the revenue is the developer, and you cannot mass produce them. There is a space constraint on how many you can have in the offices. Sure – you have more offices, but that also increases cost. For the very fact that these workers remain with Andela, and not leaving, it will quickly run into carry-capacity.”
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But today, Andela is going completely remote which means its carry-capacity problem is eliminated. For that, I will write that Andela has completely evolved. Now, all it needs is to find demand for its services.
Software talent outsourcing company, Andela, has said that it has shut down all its offices and now operates remotely. The remote work idea has been on the pipeline for the company for a long time, but COVID-19 hastened its implementation.
Andela spokesperson said working remotely will help the company to fine-tune the talents in its disposal and serve its customers better.
“The reason behind this decision was that we found that our physical offices at times constrained our ability to connect talent with opportunities. By going fully remote, it opens our access to talent with diverse experiences and skill sets to support our current and future customers.”
Andela CEO Jeremy Johnson said last month the plan is materializing as the company had tested the effectiveness and ascertained that the remote work model will serve it better.
“We’ve now proven that we can operate fully remote by delivering excellent work to our customers over the past couple of months. We will continue to ensure that our engineers have the infrastructure needed to operate at a world-class level,” he said on Medium in May.
Of course, as you might have noticed, I do not write analytical articles anymore. I try to make people happy by celebrating fundraise, happy-hours, etc. Those insightful articles that look at business models are gone from the public. I do not want people to lose confidence in themselves.
Congratulations Andela.
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My question to Andela is simple, how does one claim ownership of remote talents, by wearing your badge?
I think many of the things we call business models today could destroy themselves in few years from now, you cannot cage talents.
Freelancers can easily decimate whatever advantage this model has in few years time, there’s no long-term future here.
As for staying away from making big calls publicly, political correctness doesn’t work well in business survival and sustainability, so it’s important that the calls are made; those losing confidence can as well be seen as never having convictions on the very thing people’s money is thrown into.
Series of successful fundraising doesn’t guarantee survival of businesses, it’s cashflow that decides.
“Andela goes completely remote” is undoubtedly an outcome accelerated by the present Pandemic. Working from home come with challenges for the worker, Client and the working environment in general. One can expect that the company has mapped out strategies to deal with this challenges. These are uncertain times and operational adjustments will shape the new reality.
Analytical articles especially one written by a respected personality, known for accurate predictions can unsettle quite a number of people. Now your company has been spotlighted in this analysis, one that has it ceasing to exist. The potential Loss of Jobs rears its head.
While we appreciate Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe knowledge and analysis of events, I hope his Analysis continue.
Sure – I will continue to write. But it a balance call. I try to ensure some articles are not distributed in ways that de-motivate people. We have not grown very well to accept analytical criticisms in Nigeria. While we do not care how Aso Rock feels when we write about its policies, for founders, it is a different ballgame. People wept after the Konga piece that I wanted them to lose their jobs. And when it happened, most still thing without me bringing it up, they would still have their jobs. Go to LinkedIn and read comments during that period. I felt I made many unhappy. This is not the purpose here. I have found a way to send those perspectives without making people lose confidence. I will be writing as it is liberating when you write!
Excellently correct.
Something is undisclosed here, Full Stop