Hey! thank you for reading issue 083 of Startup Definition Sunday (SDS). You can read past issues here.

SDS is the only newsletter that is redefining support for Africa's emerging founders. Every other Sunday, we cut through the fundraising and ecosystem noise to bring actionable insights to {{active_subscriber_count}} emerging founders.

I've missed this. Sitting at my computer with a blank page that will become an issue of Startup Definition Sunday. I started writing this newsletter 3 years and 8 months ago when I still lived in Accra. Today, I have published 90 unique pieces with over 45,000 words written and call Nairobi home. Alongside these newsletters came countless posts on X, two to three times a day, and eventually LinkedIn too. All of it added up to more than 22,000 social media followers and over 2,000 committed readers of this newsletter.

Then, five days before my 33rd birthday this year, I wrote what turned out to be the last issue you got. What followed was two and a half months where I couldn't find any more words to write. Smarter people than me call this writer's block or burnout, which is interesting because the newsletter stopped but my life didn't.

I've travelled a lot (did someone say jet lag?), hurt my back in the gym and currently in physio rehab (don't you dare say old age), written more than a few deal memos, laughed countless times with my friends, eaten great meals, and even got a promotion at work that I worked hard for. But the newsletter couldn't get me to sit back down.

Here is the honest reason why. SDS was built to explain things to emerging founders getting into the startup arena who didn't have the knowledge or the networks to access what investors expect. Somewhere in the last year, explaining things stopped being worth anyone's time. You can get a competent explanation of any startup concept in four seconds now. Just prompt Claude, or Gemini, or ChatGPT, or Kimi, if you're into open source. Your inboxes and timelines are filled with think pieces that have nothing to do with what actually happens in the grey area between founder and investor. And I did not want to spend my Sundays adding to that pile.

So, I paused, went and lived some life, until I could work out what would replace it.

This is what I have landed on. I spend my week on the other side of the table from founders at all stages, from pre-seed to beyond Series C. I run diligence, write memos, negotiate term sheets, and look for exits in my existing portfolio of companies. Almost none of that process is visible from where you're sitting, and most of what emerging founders believe about it is wrong. That is the only thing I have that you cannot get elsewhere, so that is what SDS is now. Every issue I will type out myself. A small missive from me to you that hopefully makes a small impact on the brave journey you've undertaken to build a startup, work at a startup, invest in startups or just be curious about what it would mean to take the leap to build your own startup.

Now here's where I'd love your help. I want to know what the last almost four years have meant to you, if you've been here since day one, or what the last two months of silence felt like, if you only caught the most recent issue before I went quiet. My goal is simple. Either be worth your time in your inbox, or leave you alone. 

I know asking for your time is asking a lot, especially from an inbox that just went quiet for two and a half months. But five questions, thirty seconds, is what it would take to help me get this right. Hit the button below:

I will read every answer myself. In exchange, I promise not to add to the AI slop you're tired of reading.

Until next time,

Jasiel

Find me on X, and LinkedIn

The information contained in this newsletter is intended for discussion purposes only. This newsletter contains the current, good faith opinions of the author but not necessarily those of Accion Impact Management, LLC (“AIM”). The newsletter is meant for educational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation of any type.  The documents may contain forward-looking statements.  These are based upon a number of assumptions concerning future conditions that ultimately may prove to be inaccurate. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and may be affected by various factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.  Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and AIM assumes no duty to and does not undertake to update forward-looking statements. This newsletter is not an offer or a solicitation for the sale of a security nor shall there be any sale of a security in any jurisdiction where such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. An investment with AIM involves a degree of risk, and may only be made pursuant to the respective offering documents and organizational materials governing such investment.