Research

How ideas become ventures, and ventures become economies.

Since 2011 we have studied entrepreneurs, the ventures they build and the projects that carry whole communities forward. Our methods were forged in some of the most difficult environments in the world, and they serve entrepreneurs in every kind of context. What we learn becomes method, and the method goes back into the field.

Entrepreneurs

People are the center of every economy

Identity, purpose and destiny shape what a founder can build. We study how founders discover who they are and how self-knowledge raises the odds that a venture succeeds.

Ventures

Ventures mature like living things

We study the stages a venture passes through, what it needs at each one, and why front-end innovation and dynamic capabilities decide which ventures last in turbulent markets.

Projects

Bankable projects are prepared, not found

We study project preparation in frontier markets: context, stakeholders, value chains, feasibility and the ecosystem that must surround a project before capital will flow to it.

What we have learned

Findings that shaped our method.

  1. Funders and founders are both right

    Funders say there are too few bankable projects. Entrepreneurs say there is too little funding. The money that exists is not released because too few ventures are ready for it. The gap is a problem of flow, and it closes only when ventures and their ecosystems are cultivated together.

  2. Ideas mature as people mature

    An idea is like DNA in a person’s spirit: real but intangible. It becomes a concept, then a seed model strong enough to plant. Founders who invest in their own identity and development carry their ideas further.

  3. Every venture follows a seven-stage life

    Idea, Concept, Seed, Start-Up, Growth, Maturity, and then Rebirth or Death. Resources, funding and partners arrive as a venture matures, so asking for significant capital before a concept is validated rarely succeeds.

  4. Adaptability outlasts efficiency

    In turbulent, fast-changing environments, dynamic capabilities matter more than operational ones. Even established companies without front-end innovation capacity face a high rate of extinction.

  5. Soil matters as much as seed

    The social, cultural, political and economic environment is the soil a venture grows in. Healthy, connected ecosystems help ventures find resources and stay resilient; fragmented ones starve even strong ideas.

  6. Many firms survive but few grow

    In many of the difficult environments where our work was forged, most enterprises are focused on survival rather than growth. Nigeria, for example, counted more than 36 million micro enterprises but only about 68,000 small and 4,600 medium enterprises (Bank of Industry, cited in our 2015 research). Moving firms from survival to growth is the work.

Current research program

African Enterprise Dynamics

A long-term, mixed-method research program on how startups and small and medium enterprises face problems, organize their work, make decisions, innovate, build capabilities and adapt to changing conditions. It begins in Africa and is designed to extend to entrepreneurs in other regions and contexts.

Stage 1 · Complete

Background research

A structured review of existing studies, datasets and measurement approaches, closed in October 2026 as the evidence base for the survey.

Stage 2 · Underway

African Enterprise Complexity, Adaptation & Growth Study

The initial survey study: qualitative discovery, measurement development, cognitive testing and a validation pilot before fielding. It establishes a baseline and follows participating firms over time.

What our background research found

Stage 1 reviewed and integrated research across eighteen topic clusters, from enterprise context and problem ecology to capability, authority, digital adoption, learning, stewardship and measurement. Its central conclusion: enterprise life is multilevel, shaped by context and constantly changing, and many common shortcuts mistake one thing for another.

Turnoveris not the same as value
Getting biggeris not the same as developing
An innovationis not the same as its adoption
Having resourcesis not the same as usable capability
Stated governanceis not the same as enacted authority
Recoveringis not the same as regenerating
  • Context conditions everything. Institutions, infrastructure, finance, markets and social constraints shape which problems a firm meets and what responses are open to it. Some constraints protect; others harm.
  • Capacity is more than staff and assets. Attention, reserves, overload and rework decide what a firm can actually do, and fast improvisation can hide burdens on workers.
  • How work really happens often differs from the organization chart. Hidden work, real dependencies and knowledge lost in leadership transitions explain many bottlenecks.
  • Technology value is a pathway. Access, trial, integration and lasting benefit are separate steps; a gain on one task does not prove a gain for the firm.
  • Staying the same size can be healthy. A firm that keeps renewing itself is not failing, and growth that depletes people, suppliers or land must stay visible.
  • Comparisons need care. Data from several countries does not by itself make countries comparable; translation and measurement must be tested first.

Our working concept map

The background research produced a working map of how the parts of enterprise life relate. Shown here at a high level, it is a design for inquiry: the survey will test these relationships rather than assume them.

PURPOSE AND VALUE · bounds and judges the whole shapes shapes enables builds builds Enterpriseand context Discoveryand innovation Organizationand capability Learningand renewal Working design · relationships to be tested

What the survey asks

  • Which problems do enterprises face, how are they experienced, and how do they couple or cascade?
  • How do problem patterns vary by context, stage, sector and resources?
  • How do enterprises find opportunities and carry out front-end innovation?
  • Which capabilities and how much effective capacity enable or constrain a response?
  • How do decision rights, authority and coordination shape adaptation?
  • How do enterprises explore, exploit and renew their capabilities over time?
  • How do tools, networks, workarounds and AI add to capability, or to the burden?
  • How is purposeful growth different from expansion, revenue and scale?

How we define growth

Growth here means stewardship: extending purposeful contribution and fruitfulness, supported by stronger capabilities, governance, trust and cycles of renewal. Revenue, employment and market reach remain important indicators, read alongside whether expansion strengthens or depletes the enterprise and the wider systems it touches.

Our commitments

Africa is not one context.Countries, regions, sectors and languages are treated on their own terms, and local adaptations are never silently folded into a single global measure.
Evidence beyond self-report.Each survey asks about a real adaptation episode, so reported capability can be checked against what actually happened.
Honest limits.We retain null and adverse findings and make no claims of causation, national representativeness or universal ranking beyond what the evidence supports.
Consent and care.Firms are followed over time only with consent, and sensitive questions are optional.