In this episode, I speak with Danai Musandu about how she got into VC/PE, the fundraising process and how it differs by LP type, what LPs look for when they evaluate funds, the do’s and don’ts of raising money, and why deep listening and cultural multi-linguality are super powers for investor relations professionals.
Show Notes
Welcome to Track 10 of The Trajectory Africa, a podcast series exploring the trajectory, or pathway, of venture capital and startup formation in Africa. This episode’s guest artist is
Danai Musandu. Danai is a Senior Investor Relations Associate at
HPE Growth, where she leads and supports the public and investor relations function, with a focus on fundraising and strategic communication.
Prior to HPE, Danai was an Investment and Investor Relations Associate at
Goodwell Investments, an early-stage technology private equity firm focused on emerging markets and impact investing. Danai is an advisory board member of
Private Equity International and the Africa Trust Group, and holds a BCom. in politics, philosophy and economics, as well as a postgraduate honors degree in Economics from the University of Cape Town.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How Danai launched her career in venture capital
- Why she pivoted from investing to investor relations
- The fundraising process in investor relations (IR), and how it differs by LP type
- What LPs look for when they evaluate funds
- The do’s and don’ts of raising money
- Why deep listening and cultural multi-linguality are super powers for IR professionals
Danai’s Recommendations & Featured Resources:
DJ Saphir’s Spotify Playlist:
What is The Trajectory Africa?
The Trajectory Africa is a “pop-up” podcast exploring the trajectory, or pathway, of venture capital and startup formation in Africa. With the unique African landscape—market characteristics, business environment, goals, and culture—as a starting point, The Trajectory Africa aims to identify a destination for African tech, as well as the sign posts that signal direction of travel. It’s modeled on the concept of a mixtape, in which each episode, or “track” will feature a conversation with a “guest artist”, and a playlist for inspiration.