Everywhere with Scott Hartley
Venture Everywhere
3,2,1...Smile ID: Mark Straub with Jenny Fielding
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3,2,1...Smile ID: Mark Straub with Jenny Fielding

Mark Straub is the founder and CEO of Smile ID, the leading digital KYC (know your customer) and identity verification provider in Africa. Smile ID helps companies scale rapidly across Africa by confirming the identity of their users in real time, using any smartphone or computer. Prior to Smile, Mark was a venture investor for more than a decade at Khosla Impact and DFJ, covering multiple continents including South Asia and Africa. 

This episode is hosted by Jenny Fielding, co-founder and managing partner of Everywhere Ventures (previously The Fund). In this interview, Jenny and Mark discuss the layers of complexity involved in doing business in African countries, and how the idea of creating an “Africa stack” came about. Learn how Mark was inspired by his VC experience and portfolio founders to transition from investor to founder. Listen till the end for a comparison on the mentality of an investor vs founder and an unusual superpower! 

If you liked this episode, please give us a rating wherever you found us and be sure to subscribe to Venture Everywhere. To learn more about our work, visit Everywhere.vc and ideas.everywhere.vc on Substack. You can also follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for regular updates and news.

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Everywhere with Scott Hartley
Venture Everywhere
Venture Everywhere is a podcast exploring the trials and tribulations of building a startup from zero to one. Hosted by Everywhere Ventures, a global pre-seed fund supported by 500+ founders and operators who serve as the hosts and guests for this unique podcast experience. To learn more about our work, visit Everywhere.vc and subscribe to our Founders Everywhere Substack. You can also follow us on LinkedIn for updates and news.