Building the rooms Africa's founders wish existed.
Africa has the talent. Belief, networks and the right room are what turn it loose. So I stopped chasing a single win and started building places: communities, hack houses, honest rooms where a stranger walks in with an idea and walks out with a team.
Strategy underneath, warmth on top. Done right, an ecosystem feels inevitable, like it was always going to exist.
What guides my work.
The mission, the vision, and the beliefs underneath every room I build.
No founder should build alone.
To make sure every builder in Africa has a room, a team and a mentor within reach. The Power of One, at scale.
A unicorn can rise from anywhere.
A continent where talent meets belief, real networks and equitable capital, and the next great company comes from a room we built.
Problem-first. Movement over perfection.
Fall in love with the problem itself, and the right solution follows. Leave the house before you feel ready. And always, we rise by lifting others.
The Power of One.
One introduction, one room, one person who shows up can change a founder's entire trajectory. Everything I build bets on that moment.
Answers to common questions.
It's Sheng for the startups' guy, a friend to the ones building. The community gave me the name for the role I play: the one who picks up the phone, makes the introduction, and shows up when it counts.
The belief that one introduction, one room, one person who shows up can change a founder's entire trajectory. Everything I build is a bet on that single moment happening more often.
Start a conversation and tell me what you're building. Startinev, Hackhouse and Attic Chapter each have their own front door, and I'll point you to the right one.
I build the ecosystems around founders more than I write cheques. If you want to back the rooms, sponsor a night, fund a house, open equitable capital, that is a conversation I always make time for.
Based in Nairobi, building for the whole continent. Remote works for most things; the best things still happen in a room.