ROLLICKING MEMOIR
Funny and insightful view on challenges facing entrepreneurs
Perhaps a formal publishing process would have honed its rough edges, removed some repetition and minimised the cussing
TestedAlpesh PatelPeshmode Operating a business in Africa is ridden with difficulties. The landscape is littered with disasters as ventures trip up over red tape, corruption, a lack of funding and the notion that anything foreign trounces anything made locally. Is there space for another book documenting those difficulties and exhorting entrepreneurs to do their homework, be prepared to battle, or maybe just tackle an easier territory? That essentially is what Tested is — a rollicking memoir by serial entrepreneur and serial failure Alpesh Patel. Serial failure is a bit harsh, but he did leave a trail of "didn’t quite make it" ventures in his wake before hitting the big time with Mi-Fone, the first cellphone brand designed in Africa for Africans. But Mi-Fone never achieved its potential. Patel is essentially a one-man band who wants to do everything himself, delegates reluctantly and badly, and hires people from gut instinct rather than an assessment of their talents. As his busines...
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