We believe that the peer-to-peer structure of VC4Africa is what differentiates our platform and gives it a unique strength. The potential for VC4Africa exists within its member base and the personal networks individuals like you carve out within the larger community. This philosophy underpins everything we do and we constantly strive to protect and improve these interactions. Along these lines, here’s an overview of the some of the tools you should already be using:
» Complete your profile, build your own network of contacts and exchange messages to members.
» Join groups (split by country and theme) to share your work with like-minded members.
» Post questions to the Q&A and other members will reply with an answer.
» Post your venture online and use your crunched plan as a tool for networking.
» Initiate your own meetup and bring together members in the area.
Recent feedback from the VC4Africa community combined with emails and personal messages from you inspired our team to launch a flurry of new tools and programs. Here are three additional items for your VC4Africa toolkit to help you bring both your networking and business to the next level: Skills Matchmaking, Mentorship Program and Free Feedback Fridays.
Matchmaking Skill Sets
On your personal profile page you can now select the areas where you require support for your business. We use this input to generate useful member recommendations for you. For example, if you list Legal Advice as an area you need support, our system will now match you with legal experts in the community! This is part of our growing efforts to unlock the potential within our own member base and help you make relevant connections within the community.
Mentorship Program
If you are a registered entrepreneur with VC4Africa you can submit a mentorship request. Outline what you are looking for, the specific type of mentorship you need to grow your business, and we will connect you with expert VC4A Mentors. These requests are screened by the team before being posted to this group. Once these requests are posted a VC4A mentor steps forward and takes the entrepreneur under their wings. The participants don’t charge fees and VC4A doesn’t ask for financial gain. Rather, we do this out of our shared interest to see VC4A entrepreneurs realize their potential.
Free Feedback Friday
Are you working on a promising business but have some burning questions? Well now is your chance to get them answered by VC4Africa business experts. Free Feedback Friday is a mentorship program hosted by VC4Africa and stems from our interest to support entrepreneurs build successful companies on the continent. The next Free Feedback Friday session is hosted by Saskia Reus-Makkink – Head of Investor Relations at VC4Africa. You can see details for the upcoming session and connect with Saskia on Twitter @saskiareus
As a VC4Africa member, we encourage you to make the most of these tools. At the same time, we remain open to your feedback in our effort to constantly improve our platform.