Welcome to Data Under Glass

Exclusive weekly deep-dive analysis uncovering the data-driven stories behind the most successful scale-ups!

Latest

The 65% Killer: Co-Founder Collapse Prevention OS

Dec 2, 2025

Most founding teams don’t implode overnight, they rot quietly overtime. Two people who once dreamed in sync start negotiating like hostile diplomats. Suggests are laced with Trojan Horses, vision drifts, trust thins and resentment compounds. By the time the cap table becomes a battlefield, it’s already too late. In this issue, we get into the anatomy of the co-founder divorce, why 65% of startups die from partnership collapse, and the operating systems (OS) that keep a two-person dream from becoming a very expensive breakup.

Category Kings: How Flutterwave Created a Market That Didn't Exist

Nov 25, 2025

Everyone loves the romance of being first. Build the product, educate the market, redefine the category. But the real math is harsh. In Africa, creating a new market category can burn through roughly $119M before returns show up, while entering an existing one costs a fraction and delivers traction three times faster. This issue unpacks the economics of building versus entering, how Flutterwave created a market that didn't exist, and the operator playbook that turned a stalled fintech into a $420M valuation by switching from “create” to “dominate first.”

The Institutional Gap: Why Winners Build What Governments Don't Provide

Nov 18, 2025

Across African markets, the institutions that should create certainty like courts, banks, insurance, are too slow, too expensive, or simply absent. That vacuum isn’t a gap in technology but a gap in trust. This issue breaks down why winners build what governments don't provide. Why the real winners aren’t “formalizing the informal economy,” but becoming the institutions people already rely on: the Market Queens regulating $52B in trade, the 200-year-old lending networks with 98% repayment, and the operators who accelerate PMF by digitizing trust, not replacing it.

The Cash Flow Crisis: Why Profitable Companies Go Bankrupt in 90 Days

Nov 11, 2025

Profitable companies don’t die because sales slow. They die because earned cash doesn’t show up. This issue breaks down the ugly truth behind working capital in Africa: your margins can be perfect, your ARR can be glowing, and you can still go bankrupt in 90 days if enterprise clients treat you like their personal bank. Inside: the 270-day cash conversion trap, the currency erosion time bomb, and the operator playbooks founders are using right now to survive 180-day payment terms. If your cash doesn’t move as fast as your growth, your “profitable” business is already in danger.

Your Dashboard Is Lying: Tracking Vanity Mere-tricks vs. Actionable Metrics

Nov 4, 2025

Some dashboards don’t just lie, they flatter. They tell you the story you want to hear while your business quietly drifts off course. This issue exposes the 80% of mere-tricks that don’t matter—the vanity signals clogging your reports and masking weak fundamentals. Inside: The Actionable Metrics Framework—how one founder cut tracked metrics from 47 to 9 and raised revenue 34% in a quarter. If it doesn’t change behavior, it’s not insight. It’s entertainment.