A few years ago, I got a call late in the evening. One of our founders, a father of three running a growing retail business in Nairobi, had just discovered a serious inventory problem that would wipe out his monthly profit. He wasn’t calling for money. He just wanted to talk.
“I don’t know how to tell the team,” he said quietly. “I feel like I’ve failed.”
We spoke for an hour. And that night, I was reminded of a simple but often overlooked truth: founders carry a weight most of us will never see.
Everyone celebrates the pitch decks, the glossy branding, the scaling story. But behind closed doors, many entrepreneurs wrestle with doubt, burnout, and decisions that affect entire families and communities.
Even my father told me recently reflecting on his career and the multiple companies he has built over the past 38 years… He said “sometimes I wonder if it would have just been easier if I had taken a job in Mcdonalds and just showed up every day and done my job” This is why capital alone is not enough. What founders need—what we all need—is someone in our corner.
At Kua Ventures, we call this the long walk. We don’t just write checks. We walk with our founders. We check in. We ask about their families, their mental health, their teams. Not because we’re soft—but because we know that business is deeply human. And if the leader cracks, the company does too.
We’ve learned that supporting founders takes three things:
1. Community
There’s a silent epidemic of loneliness among entrepreneurs. And it’s costing us. At one of our recent founder meetups, a woman running a logistics startup said, “This is the first time I’ve said out loud that I’m scared.” Heads nodded all around her.
Safe spaces matter. We’ve seen how group coaching, founder forums, and peer mentoring unlock not just solutions—but sanity. When leaders feel less alone, they lead better.
2. Character support
There’s a temptation to think the smartest founder wins. But we’ve found it’s often the most grounded one. Integrity, humility, discipline—these aren’t soft skills; they’re survival skills. And they can be learned.
One of our founders turned down a major deal with a multinational because they wanted her to slash wages. She said no. Months later, that same integrity won her a better contract—with terms that aligned with her values.
She didn’t choose the easier path. She chose the right one. And that made all the difference.
3. Coaching that goes beyond business
Our coaching isn’t just about financial models or expansion strategies. It’s about helping founders ask better questions: Why am I doing this? Who am I becoming?
One of our most successful partners once told me, “The sessions helped me not just run a better business—but become a better dad.” That’s an impact you can’t always measure, but it ripples through every part of their story.
In the end, we believe entrepreneurship isn’t just about building companies—it’s about building people.
So let’s fund the next generation of African founders. But let’s do it with our eyes open and our hearts engaged. Let’s invest in their growth, not just their KPIs. Let’s be people who stand with them in the storm, not just when the sun is shining.
Because when we walk with them—not ahead of them or above them—we don’t just help them succeed.
We help them last.