Sean Keough's guest appearances

Sean Keough

The East Africa Business Podcast: African Start ups | Investing | Entrepreneurship | Interviews

Young African Entrepreneur

Feleg Tsegaye

Elizabeth Rossiello

Daniel Goldfarb

Lauren Russell

Kenny Ewan

Audrey Cheng

Neil Gordon

Daniel Yu

Paul Nyambe

Chris Kulei

Sian Roses

Nathan Masyuko

Ludique Works

Luke Davey

Inspira Farms

OwlTail

This is an episode which I really hope you stick with. As you’ll have seen from some of the other episodes, I find that often the “unsexy” aspects of doing business in East Africa are the most interesting and important. Financial modelling is not necessarily top of most people’s lists to think about, however, in this episode, Sean Keough puts forward a pretty compelling argument why you should. Sean has worked in Ethiopia for many years and has been building up businesses in the country which haven’t previously existed. He began with advising other companies on their growth and found that it was difficult to forecast what the impact would be of different business decisions. Entrepreneurs knew the ins and outs of their business, but couldn’t run through scenarios of how external factors affect their business, and as such were running blind, and also not having the rigour to attract foreign investment. Long story short, Sean has now written a book which takes entrepreneurs through how to model their business. It’s available on Amazon by searching for the somewhat cryptic title of “Financial Modelling in Developing Countries”. You’ll also find a link in the podcast description: Financial Modelling for Developing Countries The interview also allows us to speak more about the nuance of doing business in Ethiopia, one which is fundamentally different to others in East Africa owing to its closed economy legacy. There are tons of insights here around the different dimensions of working in Ethiopia, as well as the life aspect of running a business in the region. For more episodes from Ethiopia search for Ride Hailing and Takeaways in the archives, but now, it’s my great pleasure to introduce Sean Keough. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/09/27/financial-modelling-entrepreneur-and-author-sean-keough-explains-its-importance-in-developing-countries/

This is an episode which I really hope you stick with. As you’ll have seen from some of the other episodes, I find that often the “unsexy” aspects of doing business in East Africa are the most interesting and important. Financial modelling is not necessarily top of most people’s lists to think about, however, in this episode, Sean Keough puts forward a pretty compelling argument why you should. Sean has worked in Ethiopia for many years and has been building up businesses in the country which haven’t previously existed. He began with advising other companies on their growth and found that it was difficult to forecast what the impact would be of different business decisions. Entrepreneurs knew the ins and outs of their business, but couldn’t run through scenarios of how external factors affect their business, and as such were running blind, and also not having the rigour to attract foreign investment. Long story short, Sean has now written a book which takes entrepreneurs through how to model their business. It’s available on Amazon by searching for the somewhat cryptic title of “Financial Modelling in Developing Countries”. You’ll also find a link in the podcast description: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Financial-Modeling-Developing-Countries-Entrepreneurs-ebook/dp/B07FZ7NNMW" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Financial Modelling for Developing Countries</a> The interview also allows us to speak more about the nuance of doing business in Ethiopia, one which is fundamentally different to others in East Africa owing to its closed economy legacy. There are tons of insights here around the different dimensions of working in Ethiopia, as well as the life aspect of running a business in the region. For more episodes from Ethiopia search for <a href="https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/02/22/ride-hailing-building-a-localised-version-of-uber-in-ethiopia-with-habtamu-tadesse-of-zayride/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ride Hailing</a> and <a href="https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/02/15/takeaways-running-a-food-ecommerce-platform-when-the-power-goes-out-with-feleg-tsegaye-of-deliver-addis/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Takeaways</a> in the archives, but now, it’s my great pleasure to introduce Sean Keough. READ MORE AT: <a href="https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/09/27/financial-modelling-entrepreneur-and-author-sean-keough-explains-its-importance-in-developing-countries/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/09/27/financial-modelling-entrepreneur-and-author-sean-keough-explains-its-importance-in-developing-countries/</a>

Entrepreneur and author Sean Keough explains the need for a different financial model in developing markets

Sean Keough is the managing director of Ethiopia Investments and executive director of EQOS Global, Ethiopia’s first outsourcing company specializing in data entry, digitization and contact center solutions. Before that, Sean was an investment banker in San Francisco. On the verge of burnout, he decided to move to Ethiopia in 2014 where he worked as a volunteer for the NGO TechnoServe. Sean planned to take a 3-month sabbatical, but he ended up never leaving. In this episode, Sean shares how he leveraged Ethiopia’s low cost environment to constantly experiment and test new ideas as an entrepreneur. Over the span of four years, he has founded an advisory firm, set up an investment fund worth millions of US$, and is currently managing the day-to-day operations of a thriving outsourcing business. We chat about the growth hack that Sean used to develop his advisory business, why he avoids the 7-10 year financial model for his investment fund, and his thoughts on failing forward. Sean’s first book on financial modeling for entrepreneurs in frontier markets will be available via Amazon in June. Make sure you stay tuned for that. The show notes are live at yaepodcast.com. Check it out for links, resources, and actionable advice from Sean. Without further ado, here’s my conversation with Sean Keough.

Sean Keough is the managing director of Ethiopia Investments and executive director of <a href="https://www.eqosglobal.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">EQOS Global</a>, Ethiopia’s first outsourcing company specializing in data entry, digitization and contact center solutions. Before that, Sean was an investment banker in San Francisco. On the verge of burnout, he decided to move to Ethiopia in 2014 where he worked as a volunteer for the NGO TechnoServe. Sean planned to take a 3-month sabbatical, but he ended up never leaving. In this episode, Sean shares how he leveraged Ethiopia’s low cost environment to constantly experiment and test new ideas as an entrepreneur. Over the span of four years, he has founded an advisory firm, set up an investment fund worth millions of US$, and is currently managing the day-to-day operations of a thriving outsourcing business. We chat about the growth hack that Sean used to develop his advisory business, why he avoids the 7-10 year financial model for his investment fund, and his thoughts on failing forward. Sean’s first book on financial modeling for entrepreneurs in frontier markets will be available via Amazon in June. Make sure you stay tuned for that. The show notes are live at <a href="http://yaepodcast.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">yaepodcast.com</a>. Check it out for links, resources, and actionable advice from Sean. Without further ado, here’s my conversation with Sean Keough.

009: Sean Keough: Running an Ethiopia Investment Fund at 30 years old 