Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) was opened in Accra, Ghana, to train young Africans to become globally competitive software entrepreneurs in 2008, which is increasingly gaining renown for churning out impressive startups from Ghana, standing out of the intense competitions between 500 Starups and local entrepreneurial incubators.
The founder, Jorn Lyseggen, was given birth in South Korea and grew up in Norway, who is the founder and CEO of Meltwater Group as well which he bootstrapped to $200 million in annual revenue. Jorn has also founded 3 startups, including one IPO.
Jorn earlier shared his story with Capital & Growth, making this excellent African incubator more clearly to the public. Here comes some opinions concluded from the chat.
The idea for MEST came out to fix the formal schooling education.
An aspiration to do something in the non profit world always ricocheting in Jorn’s brain.”I was always bored and felt that schools and universities killed creativity and individual thinking,” Jorn Lyseggen says, which push him to establish a school to help entrepreneurs. MEST was designed as an attempt to fix this by focusing on entrepreneurship.
Teaching one to fish is better than giving him fish.
Jorn believes that the most valuable currency today beyond talent is commercial skills. Money is cheap, and the most valuable thing is really expertise, competence, passion and conviction. If talented youths in economically disadvantaged areas were taught in the high value commercial skills , the huge power of the brilliants’ net will burst forth, making a giant leaf for the society. Meltwater is expert and experienced in nurturing and developing talent, laying the reliable groundwork for ambitious startups.
Why is Africa：it’s becoming a destination for top technology companies and plays.
“I had never been to Africa before I started MEST,” says Jorn. For this reason he used to regard Africa as a continent where people would really benefit from the program until finished his fact-finding trip across Africa .Concerning about the social influence MEST brought in Africa, South Korea and Norway, Jorn finally made up his mind to settle on Ghana. South Korea and Norway already have lots of investment.
Ghana processes a strong education system and good infrastructure, politically stable. It has direct flights to U.S. and European hubs, and the spirit of the Ghanaian people impress him a lot.
3 important elements（school, seed fund and incubator）working model.
Three important elements consist of MEST, including school, seed fund and incubator.
The school is a graduate level program that emphasizes learning by delivering real-world projects. The selection process is rigorous and applicants are needed to take an aptitude test, write essays and do three sets of interviews— phone, in-person and group.
Upon admission, candidates are setting down on the process of coding, business models and marketing strategies training. At the end, they simulate the process of starting a company by forming a team and building a prototype.
The final exam is a pitch to investors flown in from Silicon Valley. MEST then fund the students who can convince this panel of professional investors–typically about $60,000 to $100,000. At that stage, the funded companies move into incubator.
The admission of MEST is not an aptitude test, but a challenging mind.
The aptitude test is important because coding experience weight less in the project. A high IQ is a necessary for to complete the advanced software development training MEST provide–the MEST program is challenging.
How does the incubator work？
The MEST incubator is a place for the graduates of MEST who receive seed funding to go to build their businesses.At the end of the two-year training program, the students pitch a business idea. They have been working in teams on these final ideas for the final six months at the school. If they impress the MEST and get seed funding, they will found the company and move into the incubator.
In addition to office space, electricity and Internet, the companies gain access to a team of international fellows, advisors and mentors both on the ground in Ghana and based internationally, helping to bridge the gap to both San Francisco and London.
Successful stories take place in MEST slowly but effectively.
Successful stories take place in MEST slowly but effectively. 33 companies were raised, and 11 companies successfully graduate, including Saya, Dropifi, and so on.
One of the project MEST incubated was acquired by an Accel backed company. Saya, acquired by a US company, is the first African company to pitch at TechCrunch Disrupt. Their idea was basically a WhatsApp for feature phones, which are still widely used in Africa. And then there is a company that has grown profitably to become a major player in E-commerce. It is now used by more than 10,000 merchants all over the world.
Do something you believe in and that is worthwhile.
A friend of Jorn, a Harvard MBA, came to him with his idea for a gambling business. Making lots of money is fun, but if you have the luxury of being an entrepreneur—and it is a luxury—it should be about more than just money. Create something that the world needs. And do something you believe in and that is worthwhile.
IKMer convinced the positive innovation will bring Africa close to the new world.
MEST has done a great job in Africa, not only the contribution on the commerce, but the ambition it brought to the entrepreneurs. Regardless of how much fortune and property you own, you can dream to change the world.
