On Monday June 15, 2015, we were honored to host software entrepreneur and Founder of Meltwater Group and Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST), Jorn Lyseggen.

MEST was founded in 2008 and it provides entrepreneurs with MBA-style training in software development with an opportunity to launch their own software company with seed investment from MEST.

Jorn, who is Kenya to launch MEST’s expansion into the country, spoke to attendees at Nairobi Garage about entrepreneurship, what inspired him to start as well as culture in business.

In terms of vision, Jorn said he was inspired to start by the internet. His love for the internet saw him venture into unchartered waters; quitting his job and armed with $15,000 started Meltwater.

He has so far grown Melwater into a globally recognized organization with over 23,000 corporate clients.

Regarding MEST, Jorn took us through his vision emphasizing the need for Africa to innovate.

“The vision for MEST is to train excellent, self-sustaining entrepreneurs who can recruit top talent in Africa and around the world”, he said.

Jorn also said that MEST occasionally hosts Afri-Tech events in San Francisco to enlighten Silicon Valley about African entrepreneurship.

Part of MEST’s programme also involves giving entrepreneurs access to angels/investors as well as mentors to ensure wholesome learning.

“We source angels and mentors internationally as well as locally”, he mentioned.

The session by Jorn was wound down with a Q & A session which lasted an hour. This shows how impactful his talk was as Nairobi Garage members, and attendees alike, fielded questions in regards to his journey, his vision for MEST as well as his take about the future of entrepreneurship.

It was a great session and we look forward to hosting Jorn and his team again.