From Startup Theater to Startup Systems
Just because you build it, it doesn’t mean they will come...
In our recent posts, Cracking Botswana’s Startup Paradox and Two Countries, Two Playbooks, we’ve made the case that Botswana’s challenge isn’t a lack of energy or ideas. It’s a problem of structure. Or to borrow a phrase we keep coming back to: “It’s not the ingredients, it’s the recipe.”
That’s why Paul O’Brien’s recent article, The Missing Infrastructure of Entrepreneurship: A Policy Guide for Cities and States, struck such a chord. His sharp critique of surface-level support systems: government-funded innovation hubs with free Wi-Fi and imported motivational speakers calls out what many have long suspected but few articulate publicly, “that activity isn’t the same as impact.” And that startup ecosystems, no matter how well-intentioned, can become sterile if they lack the capacity to generate emergent connections, insights, and pathways. See this article from 2016 about the Mara Foundation tech hub in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
This is not an isolated concern. A recent AfriLabs “Hub Solutions Track”, part of their broader initiative to strengthen African innovation ecosystems, is tackling these very themes, shifting attention from short-term visibility projects to solutions that are scalable, locally driven, and measurable. With contributions from across the continent, the conversation is turning toward rethinking how ecosystem support is structured and sustained. The fact that such a track exists, dedicated to infrastructure, systems, and shared learning, is further evidence that this isn’t just Paul O’Brien’s critique; it’s a call being echoed across Africa.
In short, O’Brien nails it: “What gets missed is that real entrepreneurial development requires structure, assessment, platforms, and programming that scale, measure, and actually change founder outcomes.” We couldn’t agree more.
This is exactly the premise behind Vumbua, the role-based ecosystem mapping approach we’re developing. Rather than focusing on individuals and personal networks, Vumbua is designed to reveal the underlying system architecture, the connective tissue between ecosystem roles like founders, funders, incubators, researchers, and policy actors. It’s not about who you know, but how each part of the ecosystem enables (or blocks) others. It’s an attempt to answer the very question O’Brien poses: Are we building outcomes, or just headlines?
What we’ve seen, especially in frontier and emerging markets, is that ecosystems often appear “healthy” on paper. The logos are there. The org charts are tidy. The photo ops are frequent. But the structure that supports inclusive, repeatable value creation, across founder stages and sectors, is often absent or invisible. In these cases, even well-funded interventions can produce disappointing results, and talented founders remain stuck on the sidelines.
That’s why we believe Botswana’s paradox is best approached not as a failure of effort, but as a design problem. One that requires systems thinking, locally grounded tools, and a willingness to step beyond legacy metrics and models.
Paul’s piece also gestures toward an encouraging shift: the idea that regionally rooted infrastructure may be more powerful (and more appropriate) than importing templates from Silicon Valley. That aligns well with our partnership-in-development with Pulaspace, a local innovation research group working to build bridges that fit Botswana’s specific context. Our goal is not to clone someone else’s startup playbook, but to co-create the foundation for something new, and durable.
We’re still early in this journey. But the conversation is moving in the right direction. It’s no longer enough to celebrate the existence of programs. The real work is in examining how they connect, who they empower, and what they actually produce.
As O’Brien reminds us, “ecosystem theater” is a tempting trap. But with the right structure, and the right partners, we can move from theater to systems that consistently deliver outcomes.
We don’t claim to have all the answers. But we do believe better maps, of roles, not just names, can help. And that tools built with local ownership and long-term sustainability in mind can move the conversation from gestures to generative systems.
Botswana doesn’t need to mimic Silicon Valley. It needs to chart its own course—with the right recipe.
As we continue conversations around a potential Vumbua pilot in Botswana, we’re looking to connect with others who see the same need for structural innovation. If you’re building toward the same goals, whether from within government, academia, finance, or the founder community, we’d welcome a conversation.
Let’s stop applauding ingredients. Let’s start building recipes that work.