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The Cold Chain Mirage: Why $340M in Agritech Funding Evaporated in 36 Months

Jan 13, 2026

Until 2025, VCs sold the “Digitization of African Agriculture” dream. Instead, $340M evaporated as cold storage units failed under unreliable power, high diesel costs, and inaccessible maintenance. Then the shipping containers full of cold storage units started rotting in the sun. This issue of DUG Weekly breaks down why cold chain economics collapsed, how infrastructure assumptions killed margins, and why ignoring physics turned agritech’s biggest promise into its most expensive mistake.

The Venture Debt Trap: Why 73% of African Scale-Ups Defaulted in 24 Months

Jan 6, 2026

Venture debt was sold to African scale-ups as non-dilutive capital, a smarter alternative to down-rounds. Two years later, the results are brutal. This issue breaks down why 73% of African startups that raised USD venture debt defaulted within 24 months, why currency volatility quietly turns debt into a trap, and why interest rates were never the real cost. If you operate in emerging markets, this is the reality behind the pitch.

Why 40% of AI Projects Will Fail While Africa Builds Real Infrastructure

Dec 30, 2025

AI agents are everywhere right now, promising scale without people and efficiency without friction. But beneath the hype, cracks are forming fast. This issue of Data Under Glass explores why nearly 40% of agentic AI projects are set to fail, while African founders quietly win by building infrastructure that works under pressure. It’s a story about intelligence versus utility, automation versus resilience, and why real value still comes from solving hard, physical problems in chaotic markets.

The Infrastructure Arbitrage: Building Where Others Can't (Or Won't)

Dec 23, 2025

Infrastructure arbitrage is the quiet strategy behind today’s most defensible companies. While venture capital pushed asset-light models, the real winners are building warehouses, fleets, cold storage, energy systems, and physical networks in markets others avoid. This issue of Data Under Glass explains how infrastructure arbitrage creates durable moats, why owning the physical layer beats speed, and how founders in Africa and North America win by building where others can’t or won’t.

The Pivot Decision: When to Persevere vs. When to Change Course

Dec 16, 2025

The Pivot Decision: When to Persevere vs. When to Change Course examines one of the most dangerous choices founders face. Using real operator stories and data from Africa and global markets, this issue breaks down how to spot market indifference, avoid the sunk cost trap, and decide when perseverance builds leverage or when a pivot is the only path to survival before capital, team, and credibility run out.

The Founder’s Toll: Mental Models for Building in Chaos

Dec 9, 2025

Building a startup means operating inside permanent turbulence. Currency swings, shifting regulations, talent churn, investor pressure, and the quiet fear that one bad month can erase a year of work. This issue examines the toll founder's pay, breaks down the mental models founders use to build and stay functional inside chaos, why resilience is becoming a core operating skill, and what the data actually says about the psychological toll of entrepreneurship when survival depends on clarity under fire.

The 65% Killer: Co-Founder Collapse Prevention OS

Dec 2, 2025

Most founding teams don’t implode overnight, they rot quietly overtime. Two people who once dreamed in sync start negotiating like hostile diplomats. Suggests are laced with Trojan Horses, vision drifts, trust thins and resentment compounds. By the time the cap table becomes a battlefield, it’s already too late. In this issue, we get into the anatomy of the co-founder divorce, why 65% of startups die from partnership collapse, and the operating systems (OS) that keep a two-person dream from becoming a very expensive breakup.

Category Kings: How Flutterwave Created a Market That Didn't Exist

Nov 25, 2025

Everyone loves the romance of being first. Build the product, educate the market, redefine the category. But the real math is harsh. In Africa, creating a new market category can burn through roughly $119M before returns show up, while entering an existing one costs a fraction and delivers traction three times faster. This issue unpacks the economics of building versus entering, how Flutterwave created a market that didn't exist, and the operator playbook that turned a stalled fintech into a $420M valuation by switching from “create” to “dominate first.”

The Institutional Gap: Why Winners Build What Governments Don't Provide

Nov 18, 2025

Across African markets, the institutions that should create certainty like courts, banks, insurance, are too slow, too expensive, or simply absent. That vacuum isn’t a gap in technology but a gap in trust. This issue breaks down why winners build what governments don't provide. Why the real winners aren’t “formalizing the informal economy,” but becoming the institutions people already rely on: the Market Queens regulating $52B in trade, the 200-year-old lending networks with 98% repayment, and the operators who accelerate PMF by digitizing trust, not replacing it.

The Cash Flow Crisis: Why Profitable Companies Go Bankrupt in 90 Days

Nov 11, 2025

Profitable companies don’t die because sales slow. They die because earned cash doesn’t show up. This issue breaks down the ugly truth behind working capital in Africa: your margins can be perfect, your ARR can be glowing, and you can still go bankrupt in 90 days if enterprise clients treat you like their personal bank. Inside: the 270-day cash conversion trap, the currency erosion time bomb, and the operator playbooks founders are using right now to survive 180-day payment terms. If your cash doesn’t move as fast as your growth, your “profitable” business is already in danger.