Digiskool: How a microbiologist got investors to buy into his IT firm

John Slater, 27, is the brains behind Digiskool, a system that makes the running of a school much easier. Interestingly, despite his passion for computer programming, John is a 2014 microbiology graduate from the University of Eldoret.

He discovered his interest in programming when someone introduced him to it when he was a first year.

John took it upon himself to learn more about IT outside of his microbiology classes, and once he was satisfied he was skilled enough, he set up a programming company, BigBrainz Ltd, with his wife, Debz, in his last year of campus.

And when a job offer with the Kenya Medical Research Institute followed his graduation, John chose to turn it down to focus on growing his company. And he’s now turned BigBrainz into a firm that’s caught investors’ eyes. He explains how.

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work

John discovered his entrepreneurial calling after he finished high school. Rather than idle at home waiting to join university, he decided to tutor students in the neighbourhood.

He earned Sh200,000 from this over three school holidays, and it became clear to him that he wanted to become an entrepreneur.

When he got to campus, he jumped at every opportunity to make an extra shilling. This included downloading lecture notes and selling printouts to his classmates. He also taught other students programming. Aside from making an income, these pursuits taught John about marketing, pricing and money management.

“The money that’s in your pocket is not yours,” he says, “so you need to set up a savings account that is out of reach. Delay gratification and put in the work.”

Success occurs when opportunity meets preparedness

A little while after setting up BigBrainz, John was approached by a friend of his who wanted software designed for his primary school.

He’d gone through several bazaars because of theft and poor record-keeping, and was looking to digitise processes to avoid the headache.

“In the process of researching the problem, I realised several schools faced similar problems. The records were manual, and everything was left to bursars, who could cook the books if they wished to,” says John.

In 2015, he developed software that would not only manage finances in a transparent manner, but would also crunch the wealth of data that schools produce, including role assignments, examination analyses and grading, fee structures, school calendars and events, payroll records and timetables.

“It wasn’t easy work, and the pay wasn’t that much, but the experience and feedback I got proved invaluable in creating what is today Digiskool. Along the way, I saw the system’s potential, and made it dynamic so it could adapt to different clients’ needs, without my having to create a tailor-made system for each new client,” says John.

Confident he was onto a winner, he set off to market the system.

“The early days were hard. I’d arrive in schools in a boda boda and get judged for how I’d dressed. It was hard to sell the idea when nobody took me seriously. Still, I pressed on with motivation from my wife.”

BigBrainz then started attending trade shows to display Digiskool’s capabilities and market it as widely as possible.

“The first couple of expos didn’t quite work out. The brochures weren’t attractive, and to worsen the situation, I wasn’t a good speaker. Fortunately, Debz used her social skills to approach clients, and the next trade shows we attended went much better,” says John.

They also started carrying along a TV screen to draw clients to their stand. People took notice. They’d then demonstrate how the system worked, and how a client could access all sorts of data from their mobile phones.

The couple decided to attend more trade shows and join as many entrepreneurship programmes as possible to market their idea and raise the kind of financing they needed to take the Digiskool countrywide.

Slowly but surely, their strategy worked and the idea gained traction.

The very first person who put money into their start-up was a Dutch investor who came across Digiskool during a business plan competition organised by the Christian Business Angels. He provided Sh1 million in funding last year to boost product development and marketing in exchange for a small stake in the company.

Again last year, John and Debz applied to the Tony Elumelu entrepreneurship programme. They were shortlisted from 42,000 applicants from across Africa, and received Sh500,000 in seed capital, with another Sh500,000 to be released at the end of this year as a loan or equity.

And then Lions’ Den – a TV show that’s part of the Shark Tank franchise – came along.

John submitted his application after realising the show offered the perfect marketing opportunity.

“As luck would have it, we were shortlisted as one of about 70 contestants that qualified for screening in the first season of the show in 2016,” says John.

“I was a nervous wreck the night before we made the pitch. Come judgement day, Debz, usually the confident one, crumbled when the jury started poking holes into the system, and I knew I had to step up.”

One by one, the investors dropped out until just Kris Senanu, one of Telkom Kenya’s managing directors and an entertainment sector investor, was left.

He saw Digiskool’s potential and committed Sh2 million of his own cash for a 30 per cent stake.

“At the time, we’d only made Digiskool sales worth Sh150,000, and other BigBrainz sales of Sh300,000 in the first year, so to get such an established techpreneur as Kris to invest in us was a dream come true. I didn’t just secure funding, but also got an invaluable mentor with vast connections,” says John.

And in the time he’s been working on taking Digiskool mainstream, John has learned a thing or two about success.

“Success is not an overnight endeavour. Success only happens when opportunity meets preparedness. It’s about hard work and persistence.”

Your network is your worth

John has also seen what the right kind of connections and influence can mean for your business’ growth. It is for this reason that he associates with like-minded people, regardless of their age. For instance, in his savings group, all the other members are professors.

“Running a business is a daunting task, especially in the beginning when you are the accountant, the marketer and the sales person.

“Eventually, you need a partner who shares the same vision that you have for the venture and a team that will work towards achieving that goal wholeheartedly.”