Blindspot Alert: Growth is not only about becoming a unicorn.

What if our measurements for growth suffer from a blindspot?

Sherlock Holmes famously detected that something was out of whack when he walked into the house where a murder had occurred and immediately encountered a yappy dog that would not stop barking. Holmes would stop in his tracks and get a look on his face that signaled he’d landed on some aspect of his investigation that didn’t fit with the usual pattern. “Odd, none of the witnesses mentioned a dog barking when the murderer entered the house.” He’d conclude it must have been an inside job and could quickly narrow down the suspects to someone inside the household. 

This month, I had a similar Sherlock Holmes moment when I spent an intensive residency with MIT Fellows, focused on bringing their companies to the next level of growth. Accustomed to leading strategic sessions, I had dozens of conversations about companies in Africa focused on rethinking the critical role entrepreneurs can play in agtech, healthcare, fintech, logistics, and manufacturing. But it was hard to put my finger on what was so different about these talks.

Spending time with Program Director, Dina Sherif and one of the Center’s most recent strategic partners, President Dr. Mokgweetsi EK Masisi of Botswana unlocked the answer.

The Sherlock Holmes moment? Realizing that unicorns, companies that have an extremely high valuation from an investor perspective, were not viewed as the singular metric for success.

Instead, the emphasis was on establishing an interconnected infrastructure. The metrics for evaluating success were grounded in steady growth, economic agency, and job creation. [You can see examples of some of the companies at the end of this post.]

While I was there, the Center formed a partnership with Botswana, and I had a chance to visit with President Dr. Mokgweetsi EK Masisi to understand how his country’s Vision 2036 could be served through MIT’s programs and how they bring this definition of growth to life.

President Masisi explained that for Africa to realize its full potential, it would need a surge of innovation and a wave of entrepreneurs who can translate ideas into scalable solutions. “Diversifying our economy and transitioning to a knowledge-based economy driven by Deep tech, science, and innovation is my government’s top priority.” 

With a median age of 23, he’s convinced that Botswana’s workforce is ripe to lead this vision. And according to MIT’s Dina Sherif, the metrics for the partnership will include economic sovereignty, “We’re focused on accelerating the pace of change, not simply on building a handful of unicorns.”

In my sessions at MIT with the Fellows, I opened my mind up to new metrics::

• Is the VC investment model the only way to fund big ideas?

• Is becoming a unicorn the only success metric (or even the best one?)

• What’s the best way to accelerate growth? 

To recognize blindspots, we need to step back and ask different questions.

---

Try this…

Assume there’s a new initiative you’re experimenting with right now. Sit down with your team and get clear on how you define success:

1. Are you stuck in a mindset about unicorns or bust? Ask your team to paint two paths: one that drives toward becoming a unicorn and the other that drives toward steady revenue generation. 

2. Lead a session on accelerating growth through ecosystem relationships, novel customer acquisition strategies, and innovative applications of technology. 

3. How might you leapfrog your mastery of technology (AI, Deep tech) to drive growth?

Here’s a list of the inspiring teams from last month’s residency.

MIT Fellows

Freezelink: Cold chain logistics in Ghana, Benin

Chanja Datti: Waste management, Nigeria

Clikafrik: Financial services, Gabon

Abze: AgTech, Kenya

Student Funding Company: Education, South Africa

BuuPass: Transportation, Kenya

Mngm: Ecommerce, Egypt

DRU: Healthcare/Pharma, Egypt

Cosmopolitan Property Development: Real Estate, South Africa

Goshen Farm Exporters: Agri-Circularity, Kenya

Impact Amplifier: Capital Infrastructure, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali, Cameroon, Nigeria,Zambia

KarmSolar: Energy Infrastructure, Egypt

What might your Sherlock Holmes moment be?