How a Tanzanian Tech CEO Built Then Left His Startup

Mohammed Awami led Tanzanian business management platform Settlo from inception through multiple growth phases before stepping down as CEO in September 2024.

Now preparing to launch a new fintech venture, he shares honest insights from his journey building technology in Tanzania.

A Clear Transition

"I left as CEO on September 13, 2024," Awami states, addressing recent ecosystem speculation about Settlo's status. "It was a mutual decision with all parties involved. The company continues operations under new leadership."

The timing felt right: "When you've built a business from scratch and successfully attracted investment and key partners, you essentially graduate from startup school. This transition is both a challenge and an opportunity to apply everything I've learned over the past four years."

Four Years of Building

"Most startups close down after twelve months or twenty-four months. They close quietly; they don't even announce it," he notes. His team kept Settlo running for four years through careful resource management and continuous adaptation.

The company grew in three phases. First came three years of bootstrapping. "We maintained a lean team, leveraging tools like AWS credits for hosting to keep costs minimal," Awami explains. "Most of our spending went into targeted Facebook advertising to reach potential customers."

The second phase brought product evolution and strategic partnerships, including an important collaboration with Vodacom Tanzania. The third introduced external funding through accelerator programs like PesaTech, followed by venture investment.

"Products evolve based on market realities," the former Settlo CEO says. "What we started with wasn't what the market ultimately needed. We had to pivot our business model multiple times to meet actual demand."

Market Understanding

"Being a first-time founder, it took us longer than it should have," Mohammed reflects on finding product-market fit (PMF). "We spent almost a year building a product before talking to potential users. We had to pivot to an agile approach after realizing our mistake."

This shift revealed two distinct customer segments. "There's a new generation of business owners eager to understand everything about their business. They want to bring order to chaos and are willing to invest in tools that bring clarity," he explains. "Then there's a group still hesitant about technology. Some are skeptical about financial disclosure, worried about data privacy, or concerned about tax authority visibility."

Digital literacy emerged as a major obstacle. "We built an internal training team that would visit locations when possible, handle phone support, create video tutorials, and maintain a dedicated learning section in our app. You have to be part of their transition journey."

Learning Technical Realities

As a non-technical founder, Mohammed faced particular challenges. "You're absolutely unaware of what's happening behind the tech stack," he admits. "Technical debt accumulates silently until it impacts scaling. Looking back, I would educate myself more about technical decisions."

The impact becomes clear during growth. "Doubling your customer base from 100 to 200 might not reveal issues. But when you triple or go tenfold, you'll find cracks in the system—particularly in handling multiple transactions and calculations simultaneously. Finding these technical limitations early is crucial."

Tanzania's Investment Reality

Awami sees clear differences between local and foreign investors in Tanzania. "Foreign investors approach Tanzania with deep skepticism. Most lack understanding of our market context and often don't have patience for infrastructure challenges," he notes.

Local investment presents different challenges. "There's money in Tanzania's investor community, but it comes from people in traditional industries like construction, mining, and real estate, he reveals. “Technology investment requires patience; it's a long-term game of building and investing until profitability. We don't know if that takes two, three, or four years."

According to him, the contrast with neighboring markets is remarkable. "If you look at our neighbors, Kenya, for instance—as a startup there, you're more likely to raise money from angel investors or investment firms. They are maybe ten to twenty years ahead of us in ecosystem maturity."

Building Elvt

After October's reflection period, Mohammed began work on Elvt, his new fintech venture in the banking-as-a-service (BaaS) market. "We are taking a different approach this time, focusing first on building core financial services infrastructure and partnerships,” said Awami. “Elvt will offer a mix of consumer and SME products by leveraging APIs from banks and other providers.”

The lessons from Settlo shape his strategy. "This time, we're proving the concept through pure bootstrapping. You need to prove you can make money, show profitability, and demonstrate that people truly need your solution and are willing to pay for it."

"With Elvt, we're leveraging existing infrastructure rather than building everything from scratch," the entrepreneur explains. "We're partnering with payment service provider (PSP) license holders and using available APIs before developing custom solutions. You don't want to face uphill battles—unnecessarily—early on."

Launch is targeted within three months, but Awami stresses the importance of preparation: "If you want to build a startup and secure funding upfront, you need to prove three things first: your concept, your business model, and your revenue potential. The only exception is if you already have strong industry connections."

The Human Side of Building

"Being a founder is a very lonely journey. It's very tough, and nobody's telling you the truth," Mohammed reflects. The challenges extend beyond business metrics to personal costs, including strained relationships and constant pressure.

Experience has taught him to pace himself. "On my second venture, I know which spots to avoid and when not to care. If I do it the way I did with Settlo, I don't think I'll have the energy. For first-time founders, it's really hellish. They should prepare themselves for anything."

The hiring journey brought its own lessons. "We started with door-to-door sales, quickly learning that that while business owners saw technology as an efficiency tool, salespeople (in shops) viewed it as a barrier or a potential threat to their established practices that could increase transparency and accountability," Awami recalls. "Our first key hires were digital content creators. We needed to tell our story through evidence—showing who was using the product and how it made their lives easier."

Finding the right talent proved challenging, particularly in sales. "Selling software differs from selling other products. Software requires understanding how to tap emotions and showing how the product makes life easier. You need storytellers, not just salespeople."

Building for Tomorrow

Infrastructure gaps define the experience of building technology in Tanzania. "Each market is at a different phase of digital transformation. If you're building in Tanzania, you'll face more challenges in API availability compared to Nigeria, where those tools are readily available."

Yet Awami remains optimistic about opportunities for innovation. "A founder's responsibility is to innovate, to create new ways of doing things. You prove the concept. After that, it's up to people with money (investors) and means (policymakers) to take your startup to the next level."

His advice to founders: "Start telling your story boldly. I don't see many founders sharing their stories. For Settlo, making noise and sharing our journey became one of the main reasons we attracted investment."

"The future of any business isn't yours alone," he concludes. "Your job is to prove people need what you're building and are willing to pay for it. The rest comes down to finding the right partners to help you scale."