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TECHNOLOGY
VENTURES
FROM IDE A TO ENTERPRISE
F I F TH EDITION
THOMAS H. BYERS
RICHARD C. DORF
ANDREW J. NELSON
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Thomas H. Byers is professor of management science and engineering at
­ tanford University and the founding faculty director of the Stanford TechnolS
ogy Ventures Program, which is dedicated to accelerating technology entrepreneurship education around the globe. He is the first person to hold the
Entrepreneurship Professorship endowed chair in the School of Engineering at
Stanford. He also is a Bass University Fellow in Undergraduate Education. He
was a principal investigator and the director of the NSF’s Engineering Pathways
to Innovation Center (Epicenter), which aimed to spread entrepreneurship and
innovation education across all undergraduate schools. After receiving his B.S.,
MBA, and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Byers held
leadership positions in technology ventures including Symantec Corporation.
His teaching awards include Stanford University’s highest honor (Gores Award)
and the Gordon Prize from the National Academy of Engineering.
Richard C. Dorf is professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering
and professor of management at the University of California, Davis. He is a Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) in recognition
of his outstanding contributions to the society, as well as a Fellow of the Institute
of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE). The best-selling author of
Introduction to Electric Circuits (9th ed.), Modern Control Systems (13th ed.),
Handbook of Electrical Engineering (4th ed.), Handbook of Engineering
(2nd ed.), and Handbook of Technology Management, Dr. Dorf is cofounder of
seven technology firms.
Andrew J. Nelson is associate professor of management and associate vice
president for entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of Oregon. He
also serves as academic director of the university’s Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship. Dr. Nelson holds a Ph.D. and a B.A. from Stanford University, and
an M.Sc. from Oxford University. Well known for his research on the emergence
of new technologies, Dr. Nelson serves on the editorial boards of several leading
journals and has received numerous academic awards, including recognition
from the Kauffman Foundation, the Academy of Management, and INFORMS.
At the University of Oregon, he is the only tenured faculty member to have
received the undergraduate business, MBA and executive MBA teaching excellence awards multiple times each.
Courtesy of
Thomas H. Byers
Courtesy of
Richard C. Dorf
Courtesy of
Andrew J. Nelson
vii
BRIEF CONTENTS
Foreword xv
Preface xvii
PART
I
V E N T U R E O P P O R T U N I T Y A N D S T R A T E G Y
1 The Role and Promise of Entrepreneurship
2 Opportunities
3
23
3 Vision and the Business Model
4 Competitive Strategy
51
67
5 Innovation Strategies 99
II
PART
C O N C E P T D E V E L O P M E N T A N D V E N T U R E
FORMATION
6 The Business Story and Plan
7 Risk and Return
121
139
8 Creativity and Product Development
9 Marketing and Sales
10 Types of Ventures
163
183
211
III
PART
I N T E L L E C T U A L P R O P E R T Y,
O R G A N I Z A T I O N S, A N D O P E R A T I O N S
11 Intellectual Property 241
12 The New Enterprise Organization
255
13 Acquiring and Organizing Resources
14 Management of Operations
287
305
15 Acquisitions and Global Expansion
325
ix
x
Brief Contents
IV
PART
F I N A N C I N G A N D L E A D I N G T H E
ENTERPRISE
16 Profit and Harvest 345
17 The Financial Plan
365
18 Sources of Capital
389
19 Deal Presentations and Negotiations
20 Leading Ventures to Success
References 467
Appendices 487
Glossary 535
Index 544
445
433
CONTENTS
Foreword xv
Preface xvii
I
PART
VENTURE OPPORTUNITY
AND STRATEGY
1
Chapter 1
The Role and Promise
of Entrepreneurship­ 3
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
Entrepreneurship in Context 4
Economics, Capital, and the Firm 7
Creative Destruction 11
Innovation and Technology 13
The Technology Entrepreneur 15
Spotlight on Facebook 20
Summary 21
Chapter 2
Opportunities­ 23
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
Types of Opportunities 24
Market Engagement and Design
Thinking 29
Types and Sources of Innovation 34
Trends and Convergence 37
Opportunity Evaluation 40
Spotlight on Airbnb 46
Summary 47
Chapter 3
Vision and the Business Model­ 51
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
The Vision 52
The Mission Statement 53
The Value Proposition 54
The Business Model 57
Business Model Innovation in Challenging
Markets 62
Spotlight on Spotify 64
Summary 64
Chapter 4
Competitive Strategy 67
Venture Strategy 68
Core Competencies 71
The Industry and Context for a Firm 72
SWOT Analysis 76
Barriers to Entry 78
Achieving a Sustainable Competitive
Advantage 79
4.7 Alliances 84
4.8 Matching Tactics to Markets 88
4.9 The Socially Responsible Firm 91
4.10 Spotlight on Uber 95
4.11 Summary 95
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
Chapter 5
Innovation Strategies 99
5.1
5.2
First Movers versus Followers
Imitation 105
100
xi
xii
Contents
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.6
Technology and Innovation Strategy 106
New Technology Ventures 111
Spotlight on Alphabet 115
Summary 115
II
PART
CONCEPT
DEVELOPMENT AND VENTURE
FORMATION
119
Chapter 6
The Business Story and Plan 121
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
6.7
Creating a New Business 122
The Concept Summary and Story 123
The Business Plan 127
The Elevator Pitch 130
An Annotated Table of Contents 131
Spotlight on Amazon 135
Summary 135
Chapter 7
Risk and Return 139
7.1
7.2
7.3
7.4
7.5
7.6
7.7
Risk and Uncertainty 140
Scale and Scope 148
Network Effects and Increasing
Returns 152
Risk versus Return 157
Managing Risk 158
Spotlight on Dropbox 159
Summary 159
Chapter 8
Creativity and Product Development 163
8.1
8.2
Creativity and Invention 164
Product Design and Development 169
8.3
8.4
8.5
8.6
Product Prototypes 175
Scenarios 178
Spotlight on Teva Pharmaceuticals
Summary 180
Chapter 9
Marketing and Sales
180
183
Marketing 184
Marketing Objectives and Customer
Target Segments 185
9.3 Product and Offering Description 187
9.4 Brand Equity 189
9.5 Marketing Mix 190
9.6 Social Media and Marketing
Analytics 195
9.7 Customer Relationship Management 197
9.8 Diffusion of Technology and
Innovations 199
9.9 Crossing the Chasm 202
9.10 Personal Selling and the Sales
Force 205
9.11 Spotlight on Snap Inc. 208
9.12 Summary 208
9.1
9.2
Chapter 10
Types of Ventures
211
10.1 Legal Form of the Firm 212
10.2 Independent versus Corporate
Ventures 215
10.3 Nonprofit and Social Ventures 217
10.4 Corporate New Ventures 221
10.5 The Innovator’s Dilemma 226
10.6 Incentives for Corporate
Entrepreneurs 227
10.7 Building and Managing Corporate
Ventures 229
10.8 Spotlight on OpenAg 235
10.9 Summary 235
xiii
Contents
III
PART
INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY, ORGANIZATIONS,
AND OPERATIONS
239
Chapter 11
Intellectual Property 241
11.1
11.2
11.3
11.4
11.5
11.6
11.7
11.8
Protecting Intellectual
Property 242
Trade Secrets 243
Patents 244
Trademarks and Naming
the Venture 247
Copyrights 249
Licensing and University
Technology Transfer 249
Spotlight on Apple 251
Summary 251
13.3
13.4
13.5
13.6
13.7
13.8
Location and Cluster Dynamics 292
Vertical Integration and Outsourcing 295
Innovation and Virtual Organizations 298
Acquiring Technology
and Knowledge 299
Spotlight on NVIDIA 301
Summary 302
Chapter 14
Management of Operations 305
14.1
14.2
14.3
14.4
14.5
14.6
14.7
The Value Chain 306
Processes and Operations
Management 308
The Value Web 313
Digital Technologies and Operations 317
Strategic Control and Operations 319
Spotlight on Samsung 322
Summary 322
Chapter 12
The New Enterprise Organization 255
Chapter 15
Acquisitions and Global Expansion
The New Enterprise Team 256
Organizational Design 260
Leadership 263
Management 267
Recruiting and Retention 269
Organizational Culture and Social
Capital 272
12.7 Managing Knowledge Assets 277
12.8 Learning Organizations 279
12.9 Spotlight on Intuit 284
12.10 Summary 284
15.1
12.1
12.2
12.3
12.4
12.5
12.6
Chapter 13
Acquiring and Organizing Resources 287
13.1
13.2
Acquiring Resources and
Capabilities 288
Influence and Persuasion 290
15.2
15.3
15.4
15.5
Acquisitions and the Quest for
Synergy 326
Acquisitions as a Growth Strategy
Global Business 333
Spotlight on Alibaba 339
Summary 339
IV
PART
FINANCING AND
LEADING THE ENTERPRISE
Chapter 16
Profit and Harvest 345
16.1
16.2
The Revenue Model 346
The Cost Model 347
325
328
343
xiv
16.3
16.4
16.5
16.6
16.7
16.8
Contents
The Profit Model 348
Managing Revenue Growth 352
The Harvest Plan 359
Exit and Failure 361
Spotlight on Tencent 362
Summary 363
Chapter 17
The Financial Plan 365
17.1
17.2
17.3
17.4
17.5
17.6
17.7
17.8
17.9
17.10
17.11
Building a Financial Plan 366
Sales Projections 368
Costs Forecast 370
Income Statement 371
Cash Flow Statement 374
Balance Sheet 375
Results for a Pessimistic Growth Rate 375
Breakeven Analysis 378
Measures of Profitability 383
Spotlight on DeepMind 384
Summary 385
Chapter 18
Sources of Capital 389
Financing the New Venture 390
Venture Investments as Real
Options 392
18.3 Sources and Types of Capital 395
18.4 Bootstrapping and
Crowdfunding 398
18.5 Debt Financing and Grants 401
18.6 Angels 402
18.7 Venture Capital 404
18.8 Corporate Venture Capital 409
18.9 Valuation 411
18.10 Initial Public Offering 415
18.11 Spotlight on Tesla 429
18.12 Summary 429
18.1
18.2
Chapter 19
Deal Presentations and
Negotiations 433
19.1
19.2
19.3
19.4
19.5
19.6
The Presentation 434
Critical Issues 436
Negotiations and Relationships
Term Sheets 440
Spotlight on Circle 441
Summary 442
Chapter 20
Leading Ventures to Success
20.1
20.2
20.3
20.4
20.5
20.6
438
445
Execution 446
Stages of an Enterprise 449
The Adaptive Enterprise 456
Ethics 460
Spotlight on Netflix 464
Summary 464
References 467
Appendices
A. Sample Business Model 487
Homepro Business Model 488
B. Cases 503
Method: Entrepreneurial Innovation,
Health, Environment, and Sustainable
Business Design 504
Method Products: Sustainability
Innovation As Entrepreneurial
Strategy 511
Biodiesel Incorporated 524
Barbara’s Options 528
Gusto: Scaling A Culture 532
Glossary
Index
535
544
FOREWORD
by John L. Hennessy, President Emeritus of Stanford University
I am delighted to introduce this book on technology entrepreneurship by Professors Byers, Dorf, and Nelson. Technology and similar high-growth enterprises play a key role in the development of the global economy and offer
many young entrepreneurs a chance to realize their dreams.
Unfortunately, there have been few complete and analytical books on technology entrepreneurship. Professors Byers, Dorf, and Nelson bring years of
experience in teaching and direct background as entrepreneurs to this book,
and it shows. Their connections and involvement with start-ups—ranging from
established companies like Facebook and Genentech to new ventures delivering
their first products—add real-world insights and relevance.
One of the most impressive aspects of this book is its broad coverage of the
challenges involved in technology entrepreneurship. Part I talks about the core
issues around deciding to pursue an entrepreneurial vision and the characteristics vital to success. Key topics include building and maintaining a competitive
advantage and market timing. As recent history has shown, it is easy to lose
sight of these principles. Although market trends in technology are ever shifting,
entrepreneurs are rewarded when they maintain a consistent focus on having a
sustainable advantage, creating a significant barrier to entry, and leading when
both the market and the technology are ready. The material in these chapters will
help entrepreneurs and investors respond in an informed and thoughtful manner.
Part II examines the major strategic decisions with which every entrepreneur
grapples: how to balance risk and return, what entrepreneurial structure to pursue, and how to develop innovative products and services for the right users and
customers. It is not uncommon for start-ups led by a technologist to question the
role of sales and marketing. Sometimes, you hear a remark like: “We have great
technology and that will bring us customers; nothing else matters!” But without
sales, there is no revenue, and without marketing, sales will be diminished. It is
important to understand these vital aspects of any successful business. These are
challenges faced by every company, and the leadership in any organization must
regularly examine them.
Part III discusses operational and organizational issues as well as the vital
topic in technology-intensive enterprises of intellectual property. Similar matters
of building the organization, thinking about acquisitions, and managing operations are also critical. If you fail to address them, it will not matter how good
your technology is.
Finally, Part IV talks about putting together a solid financial plan for the
enterprise including exit and funding strategies. Such topics are crucial, and they
are often the dominant topics of “how-to” books on entrepreneurship. While the
xv
xvi
Foreword
financing and the choice of investors are key, unless the challenges discussed in
the preceding sections are overcome, it is unlikely that a new venture, even if
well financed, will be successful.
In looking through this book, my reaction was, “I wish I had read a book like
this before I started my first company (MIPS Technologies in 1984).” Unfortunately, I had to learn much of this in real-time, often making mistakes on the
first attempt. In my experience, the challenges discussed in the earlier sections
are the real minefields. Yes, it is helpful to know how to negotiate a good deal
and to structure the right mix of financing sources, especially so employees can
retain as much equity as possible. However, if you fail to create a sustainable
advantage or lack a solid sales and marketing plan, the employees’ equity will
not be worth much.
Those of us who work at Stanford and live near Silicon Valley are in the
heartland of technology entrepreneurship. We see firsthand the tenacity and
intelligence of some of the world’s most innovative entrepreneurs. With this
book, many others will have the opportunity to tap into this experience. Exposure to the extensive and deep insights of Professors Byers, Dorf, and Nelson
will help build tomorrow’s enterprises and business leaders.
PREFACE
E
ntrepreneurship is a vital source of change in all facets of society, empowering individuals to seek opportunities where others see insurmountable problems. For the past century, entrepreneurs have created many great enterprises
that subsequently led to job creation, improved productivity, increased prosperity,
and a higher quality of life. Entrepreneurship is now playing a vital role in finding
solutions to the huge challenges facing civilization, including health, communications, security, infrastructure, education, energy, and the environment.
Many books have been written to help educate others about entrepreneurship.
Our textbook was the first to thoroughly examine a global phenomenon known as
“technology entrepreneurship.” Technology entrepreneurship is a style of business
leadership that involves identifying high-potential, technology-intensive commercial opportunities, gathering resources such as talent and capital, and managing
rapid growth and significant risks using principled decision-making skills. Technology ventures exploit breakthrough advancements in science and engineering
to develop better products and services for customers. The leaders of technology
ventures demonstrate focus, passion, and an unrelenting will to succeed.
Why is technology so important? The technology sector represents a significant portion of the economy of every industrialized nation. In the United States,
more than one-third of the gross national product and about half of private-sector
spending on capital goods are related to technology. It is clear that national and
global economic growth depends on the health and contributions of technology
enterprises.
Technology has also become ubiquitous in modern society. Note the proliferation of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, and the Internet in the
past 25 years and their subsequent integration into everyday commerce and our
personal lives. When we refer to “high-technology” ventures, we include information technology enterprises, biotechnology and medical businesses, energy
and sustainability companies, and those service firms where technology is critical to their missions. At this time in the 21st century, many technologies show
tremendous promise, including computational systems, Internet advancements,
mobile communications platforms, networks and sensors, medical devices and
biotechnology, artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D manufacturing, nanotechnology, and clean energy. The intersection of these technologies may indeed enable
the most promising opportunities.
The drive to understand technology venturing has frequently been associated
with boom times. Certainly, the often-dramatic fluctuations of economic cycles
can foster periods of extreme optimism as well as fear with respect to entrepreneurship. However, some of the most important technology companies have
been founded during recessions (e.g., Intel, Cisco, and Amgen). This book’s
principles endure regardless of the state of the economy.
xvii
xviii
Preface
APPROACH
Just as entrepreneurs innovate by recombining existing ideas and concepts, we
integrate the most valuable entrepreneurship and technology management theories from the world’s leading scholars to create a fresh look at entrepreneurship.
We also provide an action-oriented approach to the subject through the use of
examples, exercises, and lists. By striking a balance between theory and practice, our readers gain from both perspectives.
Our comprehensive collection of concepts and applications provides the
tools necessary for success in starting and growing a technology enterprise.
Throughout the book, we use the term enterprise interchangeably with venture,
business, startup, and firm. We show the critical differences between scientific
ideas and true business opportunities for these organizations. Readers benefit
from the book’s integrated set of cases, examples, business plans, and recommended sources for more information.
We illustrate the book’s concepts with examples from the early stages of
technology enterprises (e.g., Apple, Google, and Genentech) and traditional ones
that execute technology-intensive strategies (e.g., FedEx and Wal-Mart). How
did they develop enterprises that have had such positive impact, sustainable
performance, and longevity? In fact, the book’s major principles are applicable
to any growth-oriented, high-potential venture, including high-impact nonprofit
enterprises such as Conservation International and the Gates Foundation.
AUDIENCE
This book is designed for students in colleges and universities, as well as others
in industry and public service, who seek to learn the essentials of technology
and high-growth entrepreneurship. No prerequisite knowledge is necessary,
although an understanding of basic accounting principles will prove useful.
Entrepreneurship was traditionally taught only to business majors. Because
entrepreneurship education opportunities now span the entire campus, we wrote
this book to be approachable by students of all majors and levels, including undergraduate, graduate, and executive education. Our primary focus is on science and
engineering majors enrolled in entrepreneurship and innovation courses, but the
book is also valuable to business students and others including the humanities and
social sciences majors with a particular interest in high-impact ventures.
Our courses at Stanford University, the University of Oregon, and the
University of California, Davis, based on this textbook regularly attract students
from majors as diverse as computer science, product design, political science,
economics, pre-med, electrical engineering, history, biology, and business.
Although the focus is on technology entrepreneurship, these students find this
material applicable to the pursuit of a wide variety of endeavors. Entrepreneurship education is a wonderful way to teach universal leadership skills, which
include being comfortable with constant change, contributing to an innovative
team, and demonstrating passion in any effort. Anyone can learn entrepreneurial
Preface
thinking and leadership. We particularly encourage instructors to design courses
in which the students form study teams early in the term and learn to work
together effectively on group assignments.
WHAT’S NEW
Based upon feedback from readers and new developments in the field of highgrowth entrepreneurship, numerous enhancements appear in this fifth edition. The
latest insights from leading scholarly journals, trade books, popular blogs and press
have been incorporated. In particular, Chapter 18 has been improved significantly
to reflect the latest developments in venture finance. Every example in the textbook has been reviewed with many updated to reflect up-and-coming, technologyintensive ventures in multiple industries and based around the world. The special
Spotlight sections highlight 10 new companies that further illustrate key insights
in that chapter. Video resources have been revised to reflect recent compelling
seminars distributed through Stanford’s eCorner series. Cases in Appendix B have
been updated, streamlined, and augmented with the addition of Gusto.
FEATURES
The book is organized in a modular format to allow for both systematic learning and random access of the material to suit the needs of any reader seeking
to learn how to grow successful technology ventures. Readers focused on business plan and model development should consider placing a higher priority on
Chapters 3, 6, 9, 11, 12, and 17–19. Regardless of the immediate learning
goals, the book is a handy reference and companion tool for future use. We
deploy the following wide variety of methods and features to achieve this goal,
and we welcome feedback and comments.
Principles and Chapter Previews—A set of 20 fundamental principles is
developed and defined throughout the book. They are also compiled into
one simple list following the Index. Each chapter opens with a key question
and outlines its content and objectives.
Examples and Exercises—Examples of cutting-edge technologies illustrate
concepts in a shaded-box format. Information technology is chosen for
many examples because students are familiar with its products and services.
Exercises are offered at the end of each chapter to test comprehension
of the concepts.
Sequential Exercise and Spotlights—A special exercise called the “Venture
Challenge” sequentially guides readers through a chapter-by-chapter
formation of a new enterprise. At the end of each chapter’s narrative, a
successful enterprise is profiled in a special “spotlight” section to highlight
several key learnings.
Business Plans—Methods and tools for the development of a business
plan are gathered into one special chapter, which includes a thoroughly
xix
xx
Preface
TABLE P1 Overview of cases.
Cases in appendix B
Synopsis
Issues
Method
A start-up contemplates a
new product line
Part I: Opportunities, vision and
the business model, marketing
and sales
Method Products
A product development
effort runs into problems
Part II: Innovation strategies,
creativity, and product
development
Biodiesel
Three founders consider an
opportunity in the energy
industry
Part I: Opportunity identification
and evaluation, business model
Barbara’s Options
A soon-to-be graduate
weighs two job offers
Part III and IV: Stock options,
finance
Gusto
A founding team endeavors
to scale their culture
Part III and IV Culture, scaling
issues
annotated table of contents. A sample business model is provided in
Appendix A. Links to additional business plans, models, and slide (pitch)
decks are provided on the textbook’s websites.
Cases—Five comprehensive cases are included in appendix B. A short
description of each case is provided in Table P1. Additional cases from
Harvard Business Publishing and The Case Centre are recommended on
this textbook’s McGraw-Hill websites. Cases from previous editions
that are no longer included are available on the textbook’s website.
References and Glossary—References are indicated in brackets such as
[Smith, 2001] and are listed as a complete set in the back of the book. This
is followed by a comprehensive glossary.
Chapter Sequence—The chapter sequence represents our best effort to
organize the material in a format that can be used in various types of
entrepreneurship courses. The chapters follow the four-part layout shown
in Figure P1. Courses focused on creating business plans and models can
reorder the chapters with and emphasis on Chapters 3, 6, 9, 11, 12, 17,
18, and 19.
Video Clips—A collection of suggested videos from world-class entrepreneurs,
investors, and teachers is listed at the end of each chapter and provided on this
textbook’s websites. More free videos clips and podcasts are available at
Stanford’s Entrepreneurship Corner website (see http://ecorner.stanford.edu).
Websites and Social Networking—Please visit websites for this book at
both McGraw-Hill Higher Education (http//www.mhhe.com/byersdorf) and
Stanford University (http://techventures.stanford.edu) for supplemental
information applicable to educators, students, and professionals. For
example, complete syllabi for introductory courses on entrepreneurship are
provided for instructors.
xxi
Preface
Part I
1
The Role and
Promise of
Entrepreneurship
2
Opportunities
3
Vision
and the
Business Model
Outcomes
4
Competitive
Strategy
5
Innovation
Strategies
9
Marketing
and Sales
10
Types of Ventures
Concept
development
and venture
formation
14
Management
of Operations
15
Acquisitions
and
Global Expansion
Intellectual
property,
organizations,
and operations
19
Deal Presentations
and Negotiations
20
Leading Ventures
to Success
Venture
opportunity
and strategy
Part II
6
The Business Story
and Plan
7
Risk and Return
8
Creativity and
Product
Development
Part III
11
Intellectual
Property
12
The New
Enterprise
Organization
13
Acquiring
and Organizing
Resources
Part IV
16
Profit
and Harvest
17
The
Financial
Plan
18
Sources of
Capital
FIGURE P1 Chapter sequence.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many people have made this book possible. Our wonderful research assistants
and special advisors affiliated with Stanford University were Kim Chang,
Stephanie Glass, Liam Kinney, Trevor Loy, Emily Ma, and Rahul Singireddy.
Our excellent editors at McGraw-Hill were Tina Bower and Tomm Scaife. We
thank all of them for their insights and dedication. We also thank the McGraw-Hill
production and marketing teams for their diligent efforts. Many other colleagues
at Stanford University and the University of Oregon were helpful in numerous ways, including the Stanford students who kindly supplied their sample
business model for Appendix A. We are indebted to them for all of their
great ideas and support. Lastly, we remain grateful for the continued support of
educators, students, and other readers around the globe.
Thomas H. Byers, Stanford University, tbyers@stanford.edu
Richard C. Dorf, University of California, Davis
Andrew J. Nelson, University of Oregon, ajnelson@uoregon.edu
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the enterprise
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Faculty Consultants and Student Ambassadors offer insight into how to achieve
the results you want with Connect.
www.mheducation.com/connect
The fifth edition is supplemented by two websites, collectively bringing students
and instructors the most extensive resources available for technology and highgrowth entrepreneurship courses. Visitors to the Stanford-based website at
http://techventures.stanford.edu can access the Video Resources featuring entrepreneurs, CEOs, investors, educators, and other thought leaders noted at the end
of each chapter.
McGraw-Hill Website www.mhhe.com/byersdorf
Accessed with a password, the McGraw-Hill website for instructors features:
■
■
■
■
xxiv
Answers to end-of-chapter exercises
Teaching notes for the cases in Appendix B
Extensive sample syllabi based on the text
Sample presentations from actual courses using the book
P A R T
I
Venture Opportunity
and Strategy
E
ntrepreneurs develop novel solutions to key challenges, fueling progress
in societies worldwide. They use innovation and technology to foster
positive impact and activity in all facets of life. Entrepreneurs identify,
develop, and communicate the essence of an opportunity that has attractive potential to become a successful venture. They describe the valuable contributions
of the venture, and they design a business model that can adapt to changing circumstances. The venture team creates a road map (strategy) that can, with good
chance, effectively lead to the commercialization of the new product or service
in the marketplace with a sustainable competitive advantage. ■
1
C H A P T E R
1
The Role and Promise
of Entrepreneurship
Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.
Albert Einstein
CHAPTER OUTLINE
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
Entrepreneurship in Context
Economics, Capital, and the Firm
Creative Destruction
Innovation and Technology
The Technology Entrepreneur
Spotlight on Facebook
Summary
What drives global entrepreneurship?
E
ntrepreneurs strive to make a difference in
our world and to contribute to its betterment. They identify opportunities, mobilize
resources, and relentlessly execute on their visions.
In this chapter, we describe how entrepreneurs act
to create new enterprises. We identify firms as key
structures in the economy and the role of entrepreneurship as the engine of economic growth. New
technologies form the basis of many important
ventures where scientists and engineers combine
their technical knowledge with sound business
practices to foster innovation. Entrepreneurs are
the critical people at the center of all of these
activities. ■
3
4
C H A P T E R 1 The Role and Promise of Entrepreneurship
1.1 Entrepreneurship in Context
From environmental sustainability to security, from information management to
health care, from transportation to communication, the opportunities for people to
create a significant positive impact in today’s world are enormous. Entrepreneurs
are people who identify and pursue solutions among problems, possibilities
among needs, and opportunities among challenges.
Entrepreneurship is more than the creation of a business and the wealth associated with it. It is the opportunity to create value and the willingness to take a
risk to capitalize on that opportunity [Hagel, 2016]. Entrepreneurs can launch
great and reputable firms that exhibit performance, leadership, and longevity. In
Table 1.1, look at the examples of successful entrepreneurs and the enterprises
they created. What contributions have these people and organizations made?
TABLE 1.1 Selected entrepreneurs and the enterprises they started.
Entrepreneur
Enterprise(s) started
Age of
entrepreneur at
time of start
Year of
start
Mark Benioff
Salesforce.com (USA)
35
1999
Jeff Bezos
Amazon.com (USA)
31
1995
Sergey Brin
Google (USA)
27
1998
Jack Dorsey
Twitter, Square (USA)
30
2006
Rosalia Goyanechea
Zara (Spain)
31
1975
Diane Greene
VMWare (USA)
42
1998
Ma Huateng
Tencent Inc. (China)
27
1998
Mo Ibrahim
Celtel (Africa)
42
1998
Steve Jobs
Apple (USA)
21
1976
Sandra Lerner
Cisco (USA)
29
1984
Robin Li
Baidu (China)
32
2000
Jack Ma
Alibaba.com (China)
35
1999
Elon Musk
X.com, SpaceX, Tesla,
SolarCity (USA)
27
1999
Hasso Plattner
SAP (Germany)
28
1972
Linda Rottenberg
Endeavor (Chile, Argentina)
28
1997
Gil Shwed
Check Point (Israel)
25
1993
Tulsi Tanti
Suzlon Energy (India)
37
1995
Muhammed Yunus
Grameen Bank (India)
36
1976
Nikalas Zennstrom
Skype, Kazaa (Sweden)
37
2003
Mark Zuckerberg
Facebook (USA)
20
2004
1 .1 Entrepreneurship in Context
What organization would you add to the list? What organization do you wish you
had created or been a part of during its formative years? What organization might
you create in the future?
Entrepreneurs seek to achieve a certain goal by starting an organization that
will address the needs of society and the marketplace. They are prepared to respond to challenges, to overcome obstacles, and to build an enterprise.
For an entrepreneur, a challenge is a call to respond to a difficult task and to
make the commitment to undertake the required enterprise. Richard Branson, the
creator of Virgin Group, reported [Garrett, 1992]: “Ever since I was a teenager,
if something was a challenge, I did it and learned it. That’s what interests me
about life—setting myself tests and trying to prove that I can do it.”
Thus, entrepreneurs are resilient people who pounce on challenging problems, determined to find a solution. They combine important capabilities and
skills with interests, passions, and commitment. In 2004, Elon Musk realized that
environmental sustainability was not a priority for the car industry, and that
legacy car manufacturers were reticent to make the investments necessary to
develop electric cars. He founded Tesla with the mission to introduce a highperformance, mostly electric car. Musk raised financial capital by drawing on his
connections in Silicon Valley to start a paid waiting list for the company’s first
model, the Tesla Roadster. Tesla was late to deliver and, in 2007, Silicon Valley
blog Valleywag named the Roadster its “#1 Tech Company Fail of the Year.”
That negative media attention, combined with a declining economy that heavily
impacted the automotive industry, caused many of Tesla’s investments to dry up.
In 2008, Musk invested his own money into the company and pleaded with investors to match him. Tesla released the Roadster that year and subsequently
raised another round of funding. In 2012, Tesla released the Model S sedan,
which became the best-selling plug-in electric car of 2015. In 2018, Tesla released the Model 3, with a price comparable to that of other nonelectric sedans.
Musk's ability to identify an opportunity within a challenge and resilience to
push through adversity have allowed Tesla to make significant progress toward
achieving sustainability, both environmentally and financially.
Musk and other entrepreneurs identify the direction of needs in society and,
drawing upon available knowledge and resources, respond with a plan for
change. This typically involves recombining people, concepts, and technologies
into an original solution. In the case of the Roadster, Tesla partnered with existing companies such as Lotus to leverage their knowledge of car design and powertrains, developed their own in-house technology where needed, and matched
the final product to a network of Silicon Valley investors. Musk matched his
passions and resources to capitalize on an opportunity.
An opportunity is a favorable juncture of circumstances with a good chance
for success or progress. Attractive opportunities combine good timing with realistic solutions that address important problems in favorable contexts. It is the job
of the entrepreneur to locate new ideas, to determine whether they are actual
opportunities, and, if so, to put them into action. Thus, entrepreneurship may
be described as the nexus of enterprising individuals and promising opportunities
5
6
C H A P T E R 1 The Role and Promise of Entrepreneurship
Attractive opportunity
∙ Timely
∙ Solvable
∙ Important
∙ Profitable
∙ Favorable context
The
sweet
spot
Interest, passions,
and commitment
∙ Enjoys the tasks
∙ Enjoys the challenge
∙ Committed to do what
is necessary
Capabilities
and skills
∙ Good at the
needed tasks
∙ Willingness
to learn
FIGURE 1.1 Selecting the right opportunity by finding the sweet spot.
[Shane and Venkataraman, 2000]. As illustrated in Figure 1.1, the “sweet spot”
exists where an individual’s or team’s passions and capabilities intersect with an
attractive opportunity.
Entrepreneurship is not easy. Only about one-third of new ventures survive
their first three years. As change agents, entrepreneurs must be willing to accept
failure as a potential outcome of their venture. But, a person can learn to act as
an entrepreneur, and can minimize the downside of failure, by trying the activity
in a low-cost manner.
After identifying a problem and a proposed solution, the first step is to recognize the hypotheses associated with an idea: What assumptions is the entrepreneur making when concluding that an identified problem is really a problem and
that a proposed solution is good and realistic? Then, the entrepreneur can test
these hypotheses by engaging with knowledgeable individuals, such as potential
customers, employees, and partners. Through these small experiments, the entrepreneur not only develops contacts and mentors critical for executing upon an
idea [Baer, 2012], but also learns more about the opportunity, and what changes
1 . 2 Economics, Capital, and the Firm
TABLE 1.2 Four steps to starting a business.
1. The founding team or individual has the necessary skills or acquires them.
2. The team members identify the opportunity that attracts them and matches their skills.
They create a solution to match the opportunity.
3. They acquire (or possess) the financial and physical resources necessary to launch the
business by locating investors and partners.
4. They complete an arrangement or contract with their partners, with investors, and within
the founder team to launch the business and share the ownership and wealth created.
may be necessary to make it viable. In this way, entrepreneurship is akin to the
scientific method, in that entrepreneurs seek to gather data in connection with
hypotheses, and they refine their ideas based upon their findings [Sarasvathy and
Venkataraman, 2011]. Put simply, as Y Combinator founder Paul Graham advises, there are three key things necessary to creating a successful startup: start
with good people, make something that people actually want and are willing to
pay for, and spend as little money as possible while you validate the market and
your product acceptance by buyers [Graham, 2005].
If team members identify an opportunity that attracts them and matches their
skills, they next obtain the resources necessary to implement their solution. Finally,
they launch and grow an organization, which can grow to have a massive impact,
like those enterprises listed in Table 1.1. The four steps to starting a business appear in Table 1.2. Most entrepreneurs repeat these steps multiple times as they
work to validate an opportunity, making continual adjustments as they learn more.
Ultimately, entrepreneurship is focused on the identification and exploitation of previously unexploited opportunities. Fortunately for the reader, successful entrepreneurs do not possess a rare entrepreneurial gene. Entrepreneurship is
a systematic, organized, rigorous discipline that can be learned and mastered
[Drucker, 2014]. This textbook describes how to identify true business opportunities and how to start and grow a high-impact enterprise.
1.2 Economics, Capital, and the Firm
All entrepreneurs are workers in the world of economics and business. Economics
is the study of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Society, operating at its best, works through entrepreneurs to effectively
manage its material, environmental, and human resources to achieve widespread
prosperity. An abundance of material and social goods equitably distributed is
the goal of most social systems. Entrepreneurs are the people who arrange novel
organizations or solutions to social and economic problems. They are the people
who make our economic system thrive [Baumol et al., 2007].
According to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) researchers, the
United States maintained about a 12 percent entrepreneurial activity rate between
1999 and 2015. Thus, more than one in ten U.S. adults was engaged in setting up
or managing a new enterprise during that period [Kelley et al., 2016].
7
8
C H A P T E R 1 The Role and Promise of Entrepreneurship
These entrepreneurs have had a tremendous impact on U.S. economic
growth. For example, venture capital funds, which invest in companies led by
entrepreneurs, provided most of the early external funding for three of the five
largest U.S. public companies by market capitalization—Apple, Google, and
Microsoft. Of the 1,339 U.S. public companies founded after 1974, 556 were
venture backed, representing 63 percent of the market capitalization and 85 percent of total R&D of the post-1974 public companies [National Venture Capital
Association, 2016]. Another 2010 study found that for all but seven years between 1977 and 2005, existing firms were net job destroyers, losing a combined
average of 1 million jobs per year. By contrast, new firms in their first year added
a combined average of 3 million jobs [Kane, 2010]. Venture-backed companies
such as Amazon, Netflix, Apple, Google, Facebook, and Salesforce have accounted
for significant new employment over the past two decades.
An economic system is a system that produces and distributes goods and
services. Given the limitations of nature and the unlimited desires of humans,
economic systems are schemes for (1) administering scarcities and (2) improving
the system to increase the abundance of goods and services. For a nation as a
whole, its wealth is its housing, transportation, health care, and other goods and
services. Nations strive to secure more prosperity by organizing to achieve a
more effective and efficient economic system. It is entrepreneurs who organize
and initiate that change.
Almost all variation in living standards among countries is explained by
productivity, which is the quantity of goods and services produced from the sum
of all inputs, such as hours worked and fuels used. A model of the economy is
shown in Figure 1.2. The inputs to the economy are natural capital, financial
capital, and intellectual capital. The outputs are the desired benefits and the undesired waste. An appropriate goal is to maximize the beneficial outputs and
minimize the undesired waste.
Natural capital refers to those features of nature, such as minerals, fuels,
energy, biological yield, or pollution absorption capacity, that are directly or indirectly utilized, or could be utilized, in human social and economic systems.
Because of the nature of ecologies, natural capital may be subject to irreversible
change at certain thresholds of use or impact. For example, global climate change
poses a serious threat to sources of natural capital. Financial capital refers to
Natural capital
Financial capital
Economy
Beneficial outputs
Entrepreneurs
as agents of
progress
Intellectual capital
FIGURE 1.2 A model of the economy.
Undesired waste outputs
1 . 2 Economics, Capital, and the Firm
TABLE 1.3 Three elements of intellectual capital (IC).
Human capital (HC): The skills, capabilities, and knowledge of people
Organizational capital (OC): Technologies, processes, characteristics and methods
Social capital (SC): The quality of the relationships with others, such as customers,
suppliers, and partners IC = HC + OC + SC
financial assets, such as money, bonds, securities, and land, which allow entrepreneurs to purchase what they need to produce goods and services.
Intellectual capital includes the talents, knowledge and creativity of people, the efficacy of management systems, and the relationships between various
people and organizations. The sources of intellectual capital are threefold:
human capital, organizational capital, and social capital. Human capital (HC)
is the combined knowledge, skills, and abilities in a population. For example,
Google seeks to maximize its human capital by attracting talented individuals at
the top of their respective fields. Organizational capital (OC) is the hardware,
software, databases, patents, learning capabilities, cultural features, and management methods that support the human capital. For example, Amazon's peer
feedback system ensures that good work does not go unnoticed and encourages
a more open atmosphere. Social capital (SC) is the quality of relationships between people and organizations, along with the impact of these relationships.
For example, Asana sponsors team outings and culinary programs to build community among its employees. These elements of intellectual capital appear in
Table 1.3.
The economy as portrayed in Figure 1.2 consists of the summation of all
organizations, for-profit as well as nonprofit and governmental, that provide the
beneficial outputs for society. These are the organizations that we study and will
label as enterprises or firm.* Entrepreneurs constantly form new enterprises to
meet social and economic needs.
The purpose of a firm is to establish an objective and mission and carry it out
for the benefit of the customer. Thus, the purpose of Merck Corporation is to
create pharmaceuticals that protect and enhance its customers’ health. To carry
out its purpose, each individual firm transforms inputs into desirable outputs that
serve the needs of customers.
A model of the firm as a transformation entity is shown in Figure 1.3. The
transformation of inputs into desired outputs is based primarily on the entrepreneurial capital and the intellectual capital of the firm. Entrepreneurial capital
(EC) can be formulated as a product of entrepreneurial competence and entrepreneurial commitment [Erikson, 2002]. Entrepreneurial competence is the ability to (1) recognize opportunity, and (2) gather and manage the resources
necessary to capitalize upon the opportunity. The accretion of knowledge and
experience over time leads to increased competence as people mature.
* Henceforth, we use the terms enterprise and firm interchangeably to represent organizations such as
businesses, startups, and ventures.
9
10
C H A P T E R 1 The Role and Promise of Entrepreneurship
Inputs
Raw materials
Components and modules
Financial capital
Physical assets
Technologies
The Firm
Output
Transformation
based on:
∙ Entrepreneurial
capital
∙ Intellectual
capital
Products and services
FIGURE 1.3 The firm as transforming available inputs into desired outputs.
Entrepreneurial commitment is a dedication of the time and energy necessary
to bring the enterprise to initiation and fruition. Maintaining commitment of energy and time can become a challenge as people become less interested in or
available for the necessary entrepreneurial activities. Both commitment and
competence are required to provide significant entrepreneurial capital, and they
are required qualities of the leadership team. The presence of competence without any commitment creates little entrepreneurial capital. The presence of commitment without competence may waste both time and resources.
The intellectual capital of a firm can be thought of as the sum of its knowledge assets. This knowledge is embodied in the talent, know-how, and skills of
the members of an organization. Thus, a firm needs to attract and retain the best
people for its requirements in the same way that it seeks the best technologies or
physical assets. Knowledge is one of the few assets that grows when shared. By
organizing itself around its intellectual capital, a new firm can enable its employees
to collaborate, learn, and grow, thus further enhancing the firm's intellectual
capital.
The firm’s intellectual capital is critical to its mission and purpose. Figure 1.4
depicts the business theory of a firm, or how it understands its total activities,
resources, and relationships. First, a firm is clear about its mission and purpose.
Second, the firm must know and understand its customers, suppliers, and competitors. Third, a firm’s intellectual capital is understood, renewed, and enhanced
as feasible. Finally, the firm must understand its environment or context, which
is set by society, the market, and the technology available to it. One hundred
years ago, firms were hierarchical and bureaucratic with a theory of business that
emphasized making long runs of standardized products. They regularly introduced “new and improved” varieties and provided lifetime employment. Today,
firms compete globally with high-value, customized products. They use flattened organizations and base their future on intellectual capital. Firms look to
brands and images to cut through the clutter of messages. In the future, a firm’s
human capital—talent—will become even more important.
As an example of how a firm leverages entrepreneurial capital and intellectual capital to transform inputs into outputs, consider Facebook. From its founding, in 2004, until the company hit 300 million users and became cash flow
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DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI
Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least
the Newala of to-day does; there was once another Newala in a lovely
valley at the foot of the plateau. I visited it and found scarcely a trace
of houses, only a Christian cemetery, with the graves of several
missionaries and their converts, remaining as a monument of its
former glories. But the surroundings are wonderfully beautiful. A
thick grove of splendid mango-trees closes in the weather-worn
crosses and headstones; behind them, combining the useful and the
agreeable, is a whole plantation of lemon-trees covered with ripe
fruit; not the small African kind, but a much larger and also juicier
imported variety, which drops into the hands of the passing traveller,
without calling for any exertion on his part. Old Newala is now under
the jurisdiction of the native pastor, Daudi, at Chingulungulu, who,
as I am on very friendly terms with him, allows me, as a matter of
course, the use of this lemon-grove during my stay at Newala.
FEET MUTILATED BY THE RAVAGES OF THE “JIGGER”
(Sarcopsylla penetrans)
The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,
some 1,600 feet lower down. The way is not only long and fatiguing,
but the water, when we get it, is thoroughly bad. We are suffering not
only from this, but from the fact that the arrangements at Newala are
nothing short of luxurious. We have a separate kitchen—a hut built
against the boma palisade on the right of the baraza, the interior of
which is not visible from our usual position. Our two cooks were not
long in finding this out, and they consequently do—or rather neglect
to do—what they please. In any case they do not seem to be very
particular about the boiling of our drinking-water—at least I can
attribute to no other cause certain attacks of a dysenteric nature,
from which both Knudsen and I have suffered for some time. If a
man like Omari has to be left unwatched for a moment, he is capable
of anything. Besides this complaint, we are inconvenienced by the
state of our nails, which have become as hard as glass, and crack on
the slightest provocation, and I have the additional infliction of
pimples all over me. As if all this were not enough, we have also, for
the last week been waging war against the jigger, who has found his
Eldorado in the hot sand of the Makonde plateau. Our men are seen
all day long—whenever their chronic colds and the dysentery likewise
raging among them permit—occupied in removing this scourge of
Africa from their feet and trying to prevent the disastrous
consequences of its presence. It is quite common to see natives of
this place with one or two toes missing; many have lost all their toes,
or even the whole front part of the foot, so that a well-formed leg
ends in a shapeless stump. These ravages are caused by the female of
Sarcopsylla penetrans, which bores its way under the skin and there
develops an egg-sac the size of a pea. In all books on the subject, it is
stated that one’s attention is called to the presence of this parasite by
an intolerable itching. This agrees very well with my experience, so
far as the softer parts of the sole, the spaces between and under the
toes, and the side of the foot are concerned, but if the creature
penetrates through the harder parts of the heel or ball of the foot, it
may escape even the most careful search till it has reached maturity.
Then there is no time to be lost, if the horrible ulceration, of which
we see cases by the dozen every day, is to be prevented. It is much
easier, by the way, to discover the insect on the white skin of a
European than on that of a native, on which the dark speck scarcely
shows. The four or five jiggers which, in spite of the fact that I
constantly wore high laced boots, chose my feet to settle in, were
taken out for me by the all-accomplished Knudsen, after which I
thought it advisable to wash out the cavities with corrosive
sublimate. The natives have a different sort of disinfectant—they fill
the hole with scraped roots. In a tiny Makua village on the slope of
the plateau south of Newala, we saw an old woman who had filled all
the spaces under her toe-nails with powdered roots by way of
prophylactic treatment. What will be the result, if any, who can say?
The rest of the many trifling ills which trouble our existence are
really more comic than serious. In the absence of anything else to
smoke, Knudsen and I at last opened a box of cigars procured from
the Indian store-keeper at Lindi, and tried them, with the most
distressing results. Whether they contain opium or some other
narcotic, neither of us can say, but after the tenth puff we were both
“off,” three-quarters stupefied and unspeakably wretched. Slowly we
recovered—and what happened next? Half-an-hour later we were
once more smoking these poisonous concoctions—so insatiable is the
craving for tobacco in the tropics.
Even my present attacks of fever scarcely deserve to be taken
seriously. I have had no less than three here at Newala, all of which
have run their course in an incredibly short time. In the early
afternoon, I am busy with my old natives, asking questions and
making notes. The strong midday coffee has stimulated my spirits to
an extraordinary degree, the brain is active and vigorous, and work
progresses rapidly, while a pleasant warmth pervades the whole
body. Suddenly this gives place to a violent chill, forcing me to put on
my overcoat, though it is only half-past three and the afternoon sun
is at its hottest. Now the brain no longer works with such acuteness
and logical precision; more especially does it fail me in trying to
establish the syntax of the difficult Makua language on which I have
ventured, as if I had not enough to do without it. Under the
circumstances it seems advisable to take my temperature, and I do
so, to save trouble, without leaving my seat, and while going on with
my work. On examination, I find it to be 101·48°. My tutors are
abruptly dismissed and my bed set up in the baraza; a few minutes
later I am in it and treating myself internally with hot water and
lemon-juice.
Three hours later, the thermometer marks nearly 104°, and I make
them carry me back into the tent, bed and all, as I am now perspiring
heavily, and exposure to the cold wind just beginning to blow might
mean a fatal chill. I lie still for a little while, and then find, to my
great relief, that the temperature is not rising, but rather falling. This
is about 7.30 p.m. At 8 p.m. I find, to my unbounded astonishment,
that it has fallen below 98·6°, and I feel perfectly well. I read for an
hour or two, and could very well enjoy a smoke, if I had the
wherewithal—Indian cigars being out of the question.
Having no medical training, I am at a loss to account for this state
of things. It is impossible that these transitory attacks of high fever
should be malarial; it seems more probable that they are due to a
kind of sunstroke. On consulting my note-book, I become more and
more inclined to think this is the case, for these attacks regularly
follow extreme fatigue and long exposure to strong sunshine. They at
least have the advantage of being only short interruptions to my
work, as on the following morning I am always quite fresh and fit.
My treasure of a cook is suffering from an enormous hydrocele which
makes it difficult for him to get up, and Moritz is obliged to keep in
the dark on account of his inflamed eyes. Knudsen’s cook, a raw boy
from somewhere in the bush, knows still less of cooking than Omari;
consequently Nils Knudsen himself has been promoted to the vacant
post. Finding that we had come to the end of our supplies, he began
by sending to Chingulungulu for the four sucking-pigs which we had
bought from Matola and temporarily left in his charge; and when
they came up, neatly packed in a large crate, he callously slaughtered
the biggest of them. The first joint we were thoughtless enough to
entrust for roasting to Knudsen’s mshenzi cook, and it was
consequently uneatable; but we made the rest of the animal into a
jelly which we ate with great relish after weeks of underfeeding,
consuming incredible helpings of it at both midday and evening
meals. The only drawback is a certain want of variety in the tinned
vegetables. Dr. Jäger, to whom the Geographical Commission
entrusted the provisioning of the expeditions—mine as well as his
own—because he had more time on his hands than the rest of us,
seems to have laid in a huge stock of Teltow turnips,[46] an article of
food which is all very well for occasional use, but which quickly palls
when set before one every day; and we seem to have no other tins
left. There is no help for it—we must put up with the turnips; but I
am certain that, once I am home again, I shall not touch them for ten
years to come.
Amid all these minor evils, which, after all, go to make up the
genuine flavour of Africa, there is at least one cheering touch:
Knudsen has, with the dexterity of a skilled mechanic, repaired my 9
× 12 cm. camera, at least so far that I can use it with a little care.
How, in the absence of finger-nails, he was able to accomplish such a
ticklish piece of work, having no tool but a clumsy screw-driver for
taking to pieces and putting together again the complicated
mechanism of the instantaneous shutter, is still a mystery to me; but
he did it successfully. The loss of his finger-nails shows him in a light
contrasting curiously enough with the intelligence evinced by the
above operation; though, after all, it is scarcely surprising after his
ten years’ residence in the bush. One day, at Lindi, he had occasion
to wash a dog, which must have been in need of very thorough
cleansing, for the bottle handed to our friend for the purpose had an
extremely strong smell. Having performed his task in the most
conscientious manner, he perceived with some surprise that the dog
did not appear much the better for it, and was further surprised by
finding his own nails ulcerating away in the course of the next few
days. “How was I to know that carbolic acid has to be diluted?” he
mutters indignantly, from time to time, with a troubled gaze at his
mutilated finger-tips.
Since we came to Newala we have been making excursions in all
directions through the surrounding country, in accordance with old
habit, and also because the akida Sefu did not get together the tribal
elders from whom I wanted information so speedily as he had
promised. There is, however, no harm done, as, even if seen only
from the outside, the country and people are interesting enough.
The Makonde plateau is like a large rectangular table rounded off
at the corners. Measured from the Indian Ocean to Newala, it is
about seventy-five miles long, and between the Rovuma and the
Lukuledi it averages fifty miles in breadth, so that its superficial area
is about two-thirds of that of the kingdom of Saxony. The surface,
however, is not level, but uniformly inclined from its south-western
edge to the ocean. From the upper edge, on which Newala lies, the
eye ranges for many miles east and north-east, without encountering
any obstacle, over the Makonde bush. It is a green sea, from which
here and there thick clouds of smoke rise, to show that it, too, is
inhabited by men who carry on their tillage like so many other
primitive peoples, by cutting down and burning the bush, and
manuring with the ashes. Even in the radiant light of a tropical day
such a fire is a grand sight.
Much less effective is the impression produced just now by the
great western plain as seen from the edge of the plateau. As often as
time permits, I stroll along this edge, sometimes in one direction,
sometimes in another, in the hope of finding the air clear enough to
let me enjoy the view; but I have always been disappointed.
Wherever one looks, clouds of smoke rise from the burning bush,
and the air is full of smoke and vapour. It is a pity, for under more
favourable circumstances the panorama of the whole country up to
the distant Majeje hills must be truly magnificent. It is of little use
taking photographs now, and an outline sketch gives a very poor idea
of the scenery. In one of these excursions I went out of my way to
make a personal attempt on the Makonde bush. The present edge of
the plateau is the result of a far-reaching process of destruction
through erosion and denudation. The Makonde strata are
everywhere cut into by ravines, which, though short, are hundreds of
yards in depth. In consequence of the loose stratification of these
beds, not only are the walls of these ravines nearly vertical, but their
upper end is closed by an equally steep escarpment, so that the
western edge of the Makonde plateau is hemmed in by a series of
deep, basin-like valleys. In order to get from one side of such a ravine
to the other, I cut my way through the bush with a dozen of my men.
It was a very open part, with more grass than scrub, but even so the
short stretch of less than two hundred yards was very hard work; at
the end of it the men’s calicoes were in rags and they themselves
bleeding from hundreds of scratches, while even our strong khaki
suits had not escaped scatheless.
NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR
MAHUTA
I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a stillborn child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest wateringplace; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.
MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO
This is the general way of closing a house. The Makonde at Jumbe
Chauro, however, have a much more complicated, solid and original
one. Here, too, the door is as already described, except that there is
only one post on the inside, standing by itself about six inches from
one side of the doorway. Opposite this post is a hole in the wall just
large enough to admit a man’s arm. The door is closed inside by a
large wooden bolt passing through a hole in this post and pressing
with its free end against the door. The other end has three holes into
which fit three pegs running in vertical grooves inside the post. The
door is opened with a wooden key about a foot long, somewhat
curved and sloped off at the butt; the other end has three pegs
corresponding to the holes, in the bolt, so that, when it is thrust
through the hole in the wall and inserted into the rectangular
opening in the post, the pegs can be lifted and the bolt drawn out.[50]
MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY
With no small pride first one householder and then a second
showed me on the spot the action of this greatest invention of the
Makonde Highlands. To both with an admiring exclamation of
“Vizuri sana!” (“Very fine!”). I expressed the wish to take back these
marvels with me to Ulaya, to show the Wazungu what clever fellows
the Makonde are. Scarcely five minutes after my return to camp at
Newala, the two men came up sweating under the weight of two
heavy logs which they laid down at my feet, handing over at the same
time the keys of the fallen fortress. Arguing, logically enough, that if
the key was wanted, the lock would be wanted with it, they had taken
their axes and chopped down the posts—as it never occurred to them
to dig them out of the ground and so bring them intact. Thus I have
two badly damaged specimens, and the owners, instead of praise,
come in for a blowing-up.
The Makua huts in the environs of Newala are especially
miserable; their more than slovenly construction reminds one of the
temporary erections of the Makua at Hatia’s, though the people here
have not been concerned in a war. It must therefore be due to
congenital idleness, or else to the absence of a powerful chief. Even
the baraza at Mlipa’s, a short hour’s walk south-east of Newala,
shares in this general neglect. While public buildings in this country
are usually looked after more or less carefully, this is in evident
danger of being blown over by the first strong easterly gale. The only
attractive object in this whole district is the grave of the late chief
Mlipa. I visited it in the morning, while the sun was still trying with
partial success to break through the rolling mists, and the circular
grove of tall euphorbias, which, with a broken pot, is all that marks
the old king’s resting-place, impressed one with a touch of pathos.
Even my very materially-minded carriers seemed to feel something
of the sort, for instead of their usual ribald songs, they chanted
solemnly, as we marched on through the dense green of the Makonde
bush:—
“We shall arrive with the great master; we stand in a row and have
no fear about getting our food and our money from the Serkali (the
Government). We are not afraid; we are going along with the great
master, the lion; we are going down to the coast and back.”
With regard to the characteristic features of the various tribes here
on the western edge of the plateau, I can arrive at no other
conclusion than the one already come to in the plain, viz., that it is
impossible for anyone but a trained anthropologist to assign any
given individual at once to his proper tribe. In fact, I think that even
an anthropological specialist, after the most careful examination,
might find it a difficult task to decide. The whole congeries of peoples
collected in the region bounded on the west by the great Central
African rift, Tanganyika and Nyasa, and on the east by the Indian
Ocean, are closely related to each other—some of their languages are
only distinguished from one another as dialects of the same speech,
and no doubt all the tribes present the same shape of skull and
structure of skeleton. Thus, surely, there can be no very striking
differences in outward appearance.
Even did such exist, I should have no time
to concern myself with them, for day after day,
I have to see or hear, as the case may be—in
any case to grasp and record—an
extraordinary number of ethnographic
phenomena. I am almost disposed to think it
fortunate that some departments of inquiry, at
least, are barred by external circumstances.
Chief among these is the subject of ironworking. We are apt to think of Africa as a
country where iron ore is everywhere, so to
speak, to be picked up by the roadside, and
where it would be quite surprising if the
inhabitants had not learnt to smelt the
material ready to their hand. In fact, the
knowledge of this art ranges all over the
continent, from the Kabyles in the north to the
Kafirs in the south. Here between the Rovuma
and the Lukuledi the conditions are not so
favourable. According to the statements of the
Makonde, neither ironstone nor any other
form of iron ore is known to them. They have
not therefore advanced to the art of smelting
the metal, but have hitherto bought all their
THE ANCESTRESS OF
iron implements from neighbouring tribes.
THE MAKONDE
Even in the plain the inhabitants are not much
better off. Only one man now living is said to
understand the art of smelting iron. This old fundi lives close to
Huwe, that isolated, steep-sided block of granite which rises out of
the green solitude between Masasi and Chingulungulu, and whose
jagged and splintered top meets the traveller’s eye everywhere. While
still at Masasi I wished to see this man at work, but was told that,
frightened by the rising, he had retired across the Rovuma, though
he would soon return. All subsequent inquiries as to whether the
fundi had come back met with the genuine African answer, “Bado”
(“Not yet”).
BRAZIER
Some consolation was afforded me by a brassfounder, whom I
came across in the bush near Akundonde’s. This man is the favourite
of women, and therefore no doubt of the gods; he welds the glittering
brass rods purchased at the coast into those massive, heavy rings
which, on the wrists and ankles of the local fair ones, continually give
me fresh food for admiration. Like every decent master-craftsman he
had all his tools with him, consisting of a pair of bellows, three
crucibles and a hammer—nothing more, apparently. He was quite
willing to show his skill, and in a twinkling had fixed his bellows on
the ground. They are simply two goat-skins, taken off whole, the four
legs being closed by knots, while the upper opening, intended to
admit the air, is kept stretched by two pieces of wood. At the lower
end of the skin a smaller opening is left into which a wooden tube is
stuck. The fundi has quickly borrowed a heap of wood-embers from
the nearest hut; he then fixes the free ends of the two tubes into an
earthen pipe, and clamps them to the ground by means of a bent
piece of wood. Now he fills one of his small clay crucibles, the dross
on which shows that they have been long in use, with the yellow
material, places it in the midst of the embers, which, at present are
only faintly glimmering, and begins his work. In quick alternation
the smith’s two hands move up and down with the open ends of the
bellows; as he raises his hand he holds the slit wide open, so as to let
the air enter the skin bag unhindered. In pressing it down he closes
the bag, and the air puffs through the bamboo tube and clay pipe into
the fire, which quickly burns up. The smith, however, does not keep
on with this work, but beckons to another man, who relieves him at
the bellows, while he takes some more tools out of a large skin pouch
carried on his back. I look on in wonder as, with a smooth round
stick about the thickness of a finger, he bores a few vertical holes into
the clean sand of the soil. This should not be difficult, yet the man
seems to be taking great pains over it. Then he fastens down to the
ground, with a couple of wooden clamps, a neat little trough made by
splitting a joint of bamboo in half, so that the ends are closed by the
two knots. At last the yellow metal has attained the right consistency,
and the fundi lifts the crucible from the fire by means of two sticks
split at the end to serve as tongs. A short swift turn to the left—a
tilting of the crucible—and the molten brass, hissing and giving forth
clouds of smoke, flows first into the bamboo mould and then into the
holes in the ground.
The technique of this backwoods craftsman may not be very far
advanced, but it cannot be denied that he knows how to obtain an
adequate result by the simplest means. The ladies of highest rank in
this country—that is to say, those who can afford it, wear two kinds
of these massive brass rings, one cylindrical, the other semicircular
in section. The latter are cast in the most ingenious way in the
bamboo mould, the former in the circular hole in the sand. It is quite
a simple matter for the fundi to fit these bars to the limbs of his fair
customers; with a few light strokes of his hammer he bends the
pliable brass round arm or ankle without further inconvenience to
the wearer.
SHAPING THE POT
SMOOTHING WITH MAIZE-COB
CUTTING THE EDGE
FINISHING THE BOTTOM
LAST SMOOTHING BEFORE
BURNING
FIRING THE BRUSH-PILE
LIGHTING THE FARTHER SIDE OF
THE PILE
TURNING THE RED-HOT VESSEL
NYASA WOMAN MAKING POTS AT MASASI
Pottery is an art which must always and everywhere excite the
interest of the student, just because it is so intimately connected with
the development of human culture, and because its relics are one of
the principal factors in the reconstruction of our own condition in
prehistoric times. I shall always remember with pleasure the two or
three afternoons at Masasi when Salim Matola’s mother, a slightlybuilt, graceful, pleasant-looking woman, explained to me with
touching patience, by means of concrete illustrations, the ceramic art
of her people. The only implements for this primitive process were a
lump of clay in her left hand, and in the right a calabash containing
the following valuables: the fragment of a maize-cob stripped of all
its grains, a smooth, oval pebble, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, a
few chips of gourd-shell, a bamboo splinter about the length of one’s
hand, a small shell, and a bunch of some herb resembling spinach.
Nothing more. The woman scraped with the
shell a round, shallow hole in the soft, fine
sand of the soil, and, when an active young
girl had filled the calabash with water for her,
she began to knead the clay. As if by magic it
gradually assumed the shape of a rough but
already well-shaped vessel, which only wanted
a little touching up with the instruments
before mentioned. I looked out with the
closest attention for any indication of the use
MAKUA WOMAN
MAKING A POT.
of the potter’s wheel, in however rudimentary
SHOWS THE
a form, but no—hapana (there is none). The
BEGINNINGS OF THE embryo pot stood firmly in its little
POTTER’S WHEEL
depression, and the woman walked round it in
a stooping posture, whether she was removing
small stones or similar foreign bodies with the maize-cob, smoothing
the inner or outer surface with the splinter of bamboo, or later, after
letting it dry for a day, pricking in the ornamentation with a pointed
bit of gourd-shell, or working out the bottom, or cutting the edge
with a sharp bamboo knife, or giving the last touches to the finished
vessel. This occupation of the women is infinitely toilsome, but it is
without doubt an accurate reproduction of the process in use among
our ancestors of the Neolithic and Bronze ages.
There is no doubt that the invention of pottery, an item in human
progress whose importance cannot be over-estimated, is due to
women. Rough, coarse and unfeeling, the men of the horde range
over the countryside. When the united cunning of the hunters has
succeeded in killing the game; not one of them thinks of carrying
home the spoil. A bright fire, kindled by a vigorous wielding of the
drill, is crackling beside them; the animal has been cleaned and cut
up secundum artem, and, after a slight singeing, will soon disappear
under their sharp teeth; no one all this time giving a single thought
to wife or child.
To what shifts, on the other hand, the primitive wife, and still more
the primitive mother, was put! Not even prehistoric stomachs could
endure an unvarying diet of raw food. Something or other suggested
the beneficial effect of hot water on the majority of approved but
indigestible dishes. Perhaps a neighbour had tried holding the hard
roots or tubers over the fire in a calabash filled with water—or maybe
an ostrich-egg-shell, or a hastily improvised vessel of bark. They
became much softer and more palatable than they had previously
been; but, unfortunately, the vessel could not stand the fire and got
charred on the outside. That can be remedied, thought our
ancestress, and plastered a layer of wet clay round a similar vessel.
This is an improvement; the cooking utensil remains uninjured, but
the heat of the fire has shrunk it, so that it is loose in its shell. The
next step is to detach it, so, with a firm grip and a jerk, shell and
kernel are separated, and pottery is invented. Perhaps, however, the
discovery which led to an intelligent use of the burnt-clay shell, was
made in a slightly different way. Ostrich-eggs and calabashes are not
to be found in every part of the world, but everywhere mankind has
arrived at the art of making baskets out of pliant materials, such as
bark, bast, strips of palm-leaf, supple twigs, etc. Our inventor has no
water-tight vessel provided by nature. “Never mind, let us line the
basket with clay.” This answers the purpose, but alas! the basket gets
burnt over the blazing fire, the woman watches the process of
cooking with increasing uneasiness, fearing a leak, but no leak
appears. The food, done to a turn, is eaten with peculiar relish; and
the cooking-vessel is examined, half in curiosity, half in satisfaction
at the result. The plastic clay is now hard as stone, and at the same
time looks exceedingly well, for the neat plaiting of the burnt basket
is traced all over it in a pretty pattern. Thus, simultaneously with
pottery, its ornamentation was invented.
Primitive woman has another claim to respect. It was the man,
roving abroad, who invented the art of producing fire at will, but the
woman, unable to imitate him in this, has been a Vestal from the
earliest times. Nothing gives so much trouble as the keeping alight of
the smouldering brand, and, above all, when all the men are absent
from the camp. Heavy rain-clouds gather, already the first large
drops are falling, the first gusts of the storm rage over the plain. The
little flame, a greater anxiety to the woman than her own children,
flickers unsteadily in the blast. What is to be done? A sudden thought
occurs to her, and in an instant she has constructed a primitive hut
out of strips of bark, to protect the flame against rain and wind.
This, or something very like it, was the way in which the principle
of the house was discovered; and even the most hardened misogynist
cannot fairly refuse a woman the credit of it. The protection of the
hearth-fire from the weather is the germ from which the human
dwelling was evolved. Men had little, if any share, in this forward
step, and that only at a late stage. Even at the present day, the
plastering of the housewall with clay and the manufacture of pottery
are exclusively the women’s business. These are two very significant
survivals. Our European kitchen-garden, too, is originally a woman’s
invention, and the hoe, the primitive instrument of agriculture, is,
characteristically enough, still used in this department. But the
noblest achievement which we owe to the other sex is unquestionably
the art of cookery. Roasting alone—the oldest process—is one for
which men took the hint (a very obvious one) from nature. It must
have been suggested by the scorched carcase of some animal
overtaken by the destructive forest-fires. But boiling—the process of
improving organic substances by the help of water heated to boilingpoint—is a much later discovery. It is so recent that it has not even
yet penetrated to all parts of the world. The Polynesians understand
how to steam food, that is, to cook it, neatly wrapped in leaves, in a
hole in the earth between hot stones, the air being excluded, and
(sometimes) a few drops of water sprinkled on the stones; but they
do not understand boiling.
To come back from this digression, we find that the slender Nyasa
woman has, after once more carefully examining the finished pot,
put it aside in the shade to dry. On the following day she sends me
word by her son, Salim Matola, who is always on hand, that she is
going to do the burning, and, on coming out of my house, I find her
already hard at work. She has spread on the ground a layer of very
dry sticks, about as thick as one’s thumb, has laid the pot (now of a
yellowish-grey colour) on them, and is piling brushwood round it.
My faithful Pesa mbili, the mnyampara, who has been standing by,
most obligingly, with a lighted stick, now hands it to her. Both of
them, blowing steadily, light the pile on the lee side, and, when the
flame begins to catch, on the weather side also. Soon the whole is in a
blaze, but the dry fuel is quickly consumed and the fire dies down, so
that we see the red-hot vessel rising from the ashes. The woman
turns it continually with a long stick, sometimes one way and
sometimes another, so that it may be evenly heated all over. In
twenty minutes she rolls it out of the ash-heap, takes up the bundle
of spinach, which has been lying for two days in a jar of water, and
sprinkles the red-hot clay with it. The places where the drops fall are
marked by black spots on the uniform reddish-brown surface. With a
sigh of relief, and with visible satisfaction, the woman rises to an
erect position; she is standing just in a line between me and the fire,
from which a cloud of smoke is just rising: I press the ball of my
camera, the shutter clicks—the apotheosis is achieved! Like a
priestess, representative of her inventive sex, the graceful woman
stands: at her feet the hearth-fire she has given us beside her the
invention she has devised for us, in the background the home she has
built for us.
At Newala, also, I have had the manufacture of pottery carried on
in my presence. Technically the process is better than that already
described, for here we find the beginnings of the potter’s wheel,
which does not seem to exist in the plains; at least I have seen
nothing of the sort. The artist, a frightfully stupid Makua woman, did
not make a depression in the ground to receive the pot she was about
to shape, but used instead a large potsherd. Otherwise, she went to
work in much the same way as Salim’s mother, except that she saved
herself the trouble of walking round and round her work by squatting
at her ease and letting the pot and potsherd rotate round her; this is
surely the first step towards a machine. But it does not follow that
the pot was improved by the process. It is true that it was beautifully
rounded and presented a very creditable appearance when finished,
but the numerous large and small vessels which I have seen, and, in
part, collected, in the “less advanced” districts, are no less so. We
moderns imagine that instruments of precision are necessary to
produce excellent results. Go to the prehistoric collections of our
museums and look at the pots, urns and bowls of our ancestors in the
dim ages of the past, and you will at once perceive your error.
MAKING LONGITUDINAL CUT IN
BARK
DRAWING THE BARK OFF THE LOG
REMOVING THE OUTER BARK
BEATING THE BARK
WORKING THE BARK-CLOTH AFTER BEATING, TO MAKE IT
SOFT
MANUFACTURE OF BARK-CLOTH AT NEWALA
To-day, nearly the whole population of German East Africa is
clothed in imported calico. This was not always the case; even now in
some parts of the north dressed skins are still the prevailing wear,
and in the north-western districts—east and north of Lake
Tanganyika—lies a zone where bark-cloth has not yet been
superseded. Probably not many generations have passed since such
bark fabrics and kilts of skins were the only clothing even in the
south. Even to-day, large quantities of this bright-red or drab
material are still to be found; but if we wish to see it, we must look in
the granaries and on the drying stages inside the native huts, where
it serves less ambitious uses as wrappings for those seeds and fruits
which require to be packed with special care. The salt produced at
Masasi, too, is packed for transport to a distance in large sheets of
bark-cloth. Wherever I found it in any degree possible, I studied the
process of making this cloth. The native requisitioned for the
purpose arrived, carrying a log between two and three yards long and
as thick as his thigh, and nothing else except a curiously-shaped
mallet and the usual long, sharp and pointed knife which all men and
boys wear in a belt at their backs without a sheath—horribile dictu!
[51]
Silently he squats down before me, and with two rapid cuts has
drawn a couple of circles round the log some two yards apart, and
slits the bark lengthwise between them with the point of his knife.
With evident care, he then scrapes off the outer rind all round the
log, so that in a quarter of an hour the inner red layer of the bark
shows up brightly-coloured between the two untouched ends. With
some trouble and much caution, he now loosens the bark at one end,
and opens the cylinder. He then stands up, takes hold of the free
edge with both hands, and turning it inside out, slowly but steadily
pulls it off in one piece. Now comes the troublesome work of
scraping all superfluous particles of outer bark from the outside of
the long, narrow piece of material, while the inner side is carefully
scrutinised for defective spots. At last it is ready for beating. Having
signalled to a friend, who immediately places a bowl of water beside
him, the artificer damps his sheet of bark all over, seizes his mallet,
lays one end of the stuff on the smoothest spot of the log, and
hammers away slowly but continuously. “Very simple!” I think to
myself. “Why, I could do that, too!”—but I am forced to change my
opinions a little later on; for the beating is quite an art, if the fabric is
not to be beaten to pieces. To prevent the breaking of the fibres, the
stuff is several times folded across, so as to interpose several
thicknesses between the mallet and the block. At last the required
state is reached, and the fundi seizes the sheet, still folded, by both
ends, and wrings it out, or calls an assistant to take one end while he
holds the other. The cloth produced in this way is not nearly so fine
and uniform in texture as the famous Uganda bark-cloth, but it is
quite soft, and, above all, cheap.
Now, too, I examine the mallet. My craftsman has been using the
simpler but better form of this implement, a conical block of some
hard wood, its base—the striking surface—being scored across and
across with more or less deeply-cut grooves, and the handle stuck
into a hole in the middle. The other and earlier form of mallet is
shaped in the same way, but the head is fastened by an ingenious
network of bark strips into the split bamboo serving as a handle. The
observation so often made, that ancient customs persist longest in
connection with religious ceremonies and in the life of children, here
finds confirmation. As we shall soon see, bark-cloth is still worn
during the unyago,[52] having been prepared with special solemn
ceremonies; and many a mother, if she has no other garment handy,
will still put her little one into a kilt of bark-cloth, which, after all,
looks better, besides being more in keeping with its African
surroundings, than the ridiculous bit of print from Ulaya.
MAKUA WOMEN