You’ve spent your whole life feeling like something’s wrong with you. Here’s a radical thought: what if you’re not broken - just different? Welcome to Different, Not Broken, the no-filter, emotionally intelligent, occasionally sweary podcast that challenges the idea that we all have to fit inside neat little boxes to be acceptable. Hosted by L2 (aka Lauren Howard), founder of LBee Health, this show dives into the real, raw and ridiculous sides of being neurodivergent, introverted, chronically underestimated - and still completely worthy. Expect deeply honest conversations about identity, autism, ADHD, gender, work, grief, anxiety and everything in between. There’ll be tears, dead dad jokes, side quests, and a whole lot of swearing. Whether you're neurodivergent, neurotypical, or just human and tired of pretending to be someone you’re not, this space is for you. Come for the chaos. Stay for the catharsis. Linger for the dead Dad jokes.
The next African story will be written by Africans, and there are people crafting the narrative now. Join Dotun as he hosts a series of conversation with people whose ideas and work is shaping the African future.
The next African story will be written by Africans, and there are people crafting the narrative now. Join Dotun as he hosts a series of conversation with people whose ideas and work is shaping the African future.
My guest today is Deepankar Rustagi, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and one of the sharpest minds in Nigeria’s B2B commerce space. I’ve known Deepankar for over seven years, going back to his days at Vconnect. He was one of the very first guests on this podcast in 2017, where we discussed his journey - how he started, what led to the company he was building at the time, and the broader lessons from founders navigating Nigeria’s startup landscape. Fast-forward to July 2024, I reconnected with him - this time, to dive into profitability and the evolution of his latest venture, OmniRetail - an asset-light B2B e-commerce platform redefining trade for retailers and suppliers across Africa. Later that month, my team decided to bring one of our podcast episodes to life at our mid-year in-person portfolio event - a live session designed for founders to not just listen, but actively engage, ask questions, and leave with real, applicable insights. Naturally, Deepankar was the perfect guest to expand on our earlier conversation—delving deeper into his business model, the realities of scaling profitably, hiring top talent, and making tough strategic decisions as a founder. What does it really take to build a million-dollar business in Africa’s fast-moving tech ecosystem? In this VP Special Live Podcast, I sit down with Deepankar to unpack it all. Our conversation covers: Navigating Asset-Light vs. Asset-Heavy Models: The conversation unpacks the trade-offs between the two models, emphasizing why OmniRetail's asset-light approach - focused on data ownership and ecosystem partnerships - has been key to its success. The Role of Timing & Infrastructure in Business Viability: Highlighting the importance of aligning business strategy with market maturity, available infrastructure, and shifting consumer behaviors. Data-Driven Profitability at Scale: Discussing how OmniRetail’s meticulous approach to data ensures unit economics remain positive, enabling the company to scale profitably rather than chase top-line growth at unsustainable costs. The Power of Strategic Partnerships & Vertical Integration: How collaborating with key players - rather than trying to own everything - creates efficiency, enhances profitability, and drives long-term competitive advantage. Culture & Team as Key Assets in an Asset-Light Model: A compelling story on talent retention, hiring strategically, and why company culture plays a critical role in building a resilient and high-performing team. Managing Board Relationships Effectively: Reflecting on lessons learned in working with a board, emphasizing the importance of leveraging board members’ expertise while maintaining strategic autonomy. If you are a founder, investor, or just fascinated by Africa’s startup landscape, this is one conversation you can’t afford to miss. Enjoy listening!…
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Dare Okoudjou, Founder & CEO of Onafriq (formerly known as MFS Africa). Dare has built a long-running startup success streak on the continent, having started the business over a decade ago to become a multimillion dollar revenue company today. Onafriq is building a “network of networks” to enable payments interoperability across the continent. After finding product-market fit, the company went through rapid expansion, completing four startup acquisitions in a two-year period (2020 - 22): Beyonic, Baxi, SimbaPay, & GTP (US), and increasing its headcount from 65 people to over 500. In this episode, we explored: The philosophy behind Onafriq’s M&A, including post-merger integration (people, technology, & operations), how to manage growth, and long-term value creation Dare’s vision for Onafriq’s payment network, highlighting why interoperability is important, and the integration of online and offline components to align with purchasing behavior on the continent His growth as a leader, and how management and communication styles must evolve as a company grows Insights on successfully raising capital in the African ecosystem, including the role of timing, rhythm, and relationships in fundraising and business (“Fundraising can never be a stop-start project”) Book Recommendations: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver and La Ambigu (English translation: The Ambiguous Adventure) by Cheikh Hamidou Kane Bonus : Africa’s S-Curves by Stephen Deng. Link Quote: “…you also have to remember that the game is dynamic and what the picture looks like today may not be what the picture looks like in two years, and not the picture looks like in five years.” Transcript I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did. CREDITS Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku Produced by: The Subtext Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi , Chinedu Anatune Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku…
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Uka Eje, the co-founder and CEO of ThriveAgric. I've known Uka since 2017, when he and his co-founder, Ayo, received their first institutional investment from Ventures Platform. ThriveAgric empowers nearly one million smallholder farmers on the continent with technology, credit, and access-to-market. The company started as an idea between two classmates, and their journey so far has involved overcoming operational and financial hurdles, surviving a near collapse during the COVID-19 pandemic, pivoting, and maturing into one of the most impactful businesses in Africa. This year, ThriveAgric was recognized by the Financial Times as one of Africa’s fastest-growing companies, with partnerships with major offtakers like Flour Mills of Nigeria, Dangote Foods, and Nestle. In this episode, we discussed:. The uniqueness and importance of ThriveAgric’s business model, including how they enable capital and market access for smallholder farmers, organizing them into efficient production clusters, resulting in significant yield increases. The challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, including logistical disruptions, and how ThriveAgric fortified its risk management and operational capabilities. The pivotal decision to bring in a more experienced CEO, Adia Sowho, to help rebuild stakeholder trust, stabilize operations, and refocus efforts towards the company’s long-term growth. Uka’s growth as a leader through the different phases of the company’s journey. I am grateful to Uka for having an honest conversation with me. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did. Book Recommendation: The Hard Thing about Hard Things by Ben Horowitz Quote: “Quite a number of people asked me why stepping down was the solution for Thrive Agric. My response was pretty simple, although the process was not easy for me emotionally, considering we built this business, myself and my co-founder, right? But we had to ask ourselves a question: ‘what is most important to us, that this business survives and it continues to be a scalable business, or the idea that it’s on record that there was a step down?’ [...] We also had to think about the future of the business. We wanted to build something for the long haul. [...] people need to trust you enough to do business with you” CREDITS Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku Produced by: The Subtext Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi , Chinedu Anatune Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku…
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Deepankar Rustagi, a seasoned tech entrepreneur in Nigeria. I've known Deepankar for over 7 years, dating back to his days at Vconnect. He was one of the first entrepreneurs featured on this podcast—check out episode 8 to hear about his journey from Nigeria to India and back, where he initially worked for Tolaram Group before founding Vconnect. In this episode, we continue Deepankar's story, focusing on his next venture, OmniRetail, an asset-light B2B e-commerce platform. OmniRetail has been recognized by the Financial Times as the fastest-growing company in Africa, with annual revenue exceeding $100 million. As a board member, I’ve seen Deepankar's thoughtful leadership and execution firsthand. Our discussion covers: How OmniRetail uses decentralized warehouses and partnerships with third-party logistics providers to boost efficiency and scalability, sticking to their asset-light approach. OmniRetail's focus on profitability from day one, following traditional trade practices to achieve sustainable growth with strong gross margins, ensuring long-term success and customer loyalty. The importance of unit economics: distinguishing transaction-level profitability from overall profitability, stressing the need for profitability at the unit level right from the start. The impact of digitizing transactions through OmniPay to streamline payments and improve reconciliation, and the broader role of fintech in boosting profit margins. The inevitability and benefits of consolidation: discussing how combining specialized firms like FinTech and logistics experts enhances value and profitability. The impact of currency devaluation on servicing dollar loans, which can potentially shut down businesses and strategies for converting dollar debt into local currency debt to ensure business stability. Quote: “...don't fantasize about your product in a boardroom. Go out there and see expressions and responses from real stakeholders on what they feel about the product or what they feel about the technology. They might not understand every bit of it, but if they understand the value that you're trying to offer, if they are willing to change their behavior a little to accept that value, then you're working in the right direction.” Educational Recommendation : Business Insider, Entrepreneur.com Transcript CREDITS Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku Produced by: The Subtext Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi , Chinedu Anatune Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku…
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Elo Umeh, founder and CEO of Terragon Group, a leading data and marketing cloud company in Africa. I've known Elo personally for some time; his leadership at Terragon has been transformative. Founded in 2009, Terragon initially focused on mobile websites and launched Twinpine, a mobile ad network, in 2012. Under Elo's guidance, Terragon now offers marketing automation, customer data platforms, and enterprise insights, impacting over 350 million profiles in Africa. They acquired Alcatel Lucent Mobile Advertising across 16 markets, integrating 60 million customer profiles, and also acquired their long term technical partner, BiZense (India). In this episode we discuss: The significance of achieving substantial enterprise value (EV) relative to the capital raised, aiming for a 10x return to ensure strong, scalable businesses and meaningful returns for investors. The unique challenges and opportunities in the African market, emphasizing the need for patient capital, understanding local value chains, and building strong relationships to navigate infrastructure and liquidity issues. The crucial role of leadership and investor responsibility in fostering sustainable businesses, advocating for realistic EV expectations and a focus on long-term value creation and responsible business practices. The importance of staying passionate about your venture, maintaining humility, and focusing on customers to drive long-term success and adaptability in the business world. The differences between creating a product and building a company, stressing the need for embedding the founder's vision, culture, and governance structures to ensure long-term growth and stakeholder engagement. Elo also serves as an Executive in Residence at the Lagos Business School, shaping business leadership in Africa. Join me as we explore Elo Umeh's journey and insights in driving digital innovation on the continent. Book Recommendations: When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi Better, Simpler Strategy: A Value-Based Guide to Exceptional Performance by Felix Oberholzer-Gee Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth Quote: A company is not yet a company if it doesn't deliver a platform for sustained wealth creation. Transcript CREDITS Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku Produced by: The Subtext Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi , Chinedu Anatune Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku…
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Daniel Yu, founder and CEO of Wasoko, a B2B e-commerce platform serving over 220,000 informal retailers across the continent. The first time I saw Daniel, he was playing the keyboard as part of a live band in Nairobi. Since then, we've met at more serious events where we've shared banter about pan-African expansion philosophies for startups on the continent. Daniel is a true global citizen, having worked in or traveled to 70+ countries, and speaks Mandarin, Swahili, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Cantonese, and French. Wasoko raised a $125M Series B in 2022 and opened a new regional hub in West Africa. In December 2023, they announced a merger with Egyptian B2B e-commerce company, MaxAB. In this episode, we discussed: Daniel’s learnings from the M&A process, including the importance of trust and alignment for mergers and acquisitions, as well as the intentionality required to successfully combine company cultures. Key hypotheses in FMCG value chain innovation, including Wasoko’s approach to customer prioritization, vertical integration, and gross margin optimization in a highly competitive market. Frameworks for prioritizing markets for expansion, identifying regional differences, and lessons from Wasoko’s first attempt to build a new regional hub in Francophone West Africa. The key leadership skill of ‘listening’, which he applied from his experience as a member of a performing band Transcript Recommended Book : Infectious Generosity: The Ultimate Idea Worth Spreading by Chris Anderson Quote : “I think that the startup stereotype, at least if you're coming from a California Silicon Valley background [...] is much more, ‘okay let me do this thing for maybe three or four years. And then, Google or Facebook will acquire the company and I'll start the next company or go on to something else.’ And I think what has become apparent to me, and the advice that I give to all founders considering building in the African ecosystem is, ‘are you ready to do this for a decade?’” CREDITS Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku Produced by: The Subtext Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi , Chinedu Anatune Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku…
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Bode Abifarin, one of the leading startup operators I know on the continent. I first met Bode in 2017 when she had just joined Flutterwave, where she served as Chief Operating Officer. I've been continually impressed by Bode’s unique ability to blend operational dexterity with high level strategic thinking. Bode has a background in consulting for KPMG and worked closely with banks in Nigeria to develop and articulate their go to market strategies. Flutterwave gave her the opportunity to operationalize many of her PowerPoint presentations in a high growth, high intensity startup environment. Bode joined the company in its early days, and since then, it has become one of the few unicorns on the continent, valued at $3 billion in its most recent fundraising round. This conversation was recorded while she was still the COO. In this episode, we discuss: The key mental frames and thought process for transitioning from a large corporation to a startup. Including: 1/ the challenges she faced during this transition, 2/ the relationships and other advantages she brought from her corporate experience, as well as, 3/ her learning curve in adapting to the startup environment. Efficiency, operations standardization, and the evolution of the COO role as a company scales. Key actions to take while penetrating into a new market:, blending experienced personnel with local talent, adapting to cultural and regulatory nuances as well as continuous learning and improving. Her approach to finding, shaping, and mentoring talent as a business leader on the continent. Book: Imagine Africa Quote: “Once your strategy, in terms of go-to-market, product, and focus is crisp and clear. Spend time getting that crispiness and the clarity in your own local markets, right? Go deep, go wide, listen to customers, iterate, and be the champion of that market. CREDITS Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku Produced by: The Subtext Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi , Chinedu Anatune Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku…
This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Mark Straub, founder & CEO of Smile ID. Smile ID is building identity verification infrastructure for businesses in Africa. Mark and I were connected by a mutual friend, but I’ve always been fascinated by his transition from being a venture investor to becoming a startup founder — especially considering that I made the transition in the other direction. With Smile ID, Mark is building an important layer of trust for digital transactions across the continent. The company raised a $20M Series B and completed 100 million identity checks in 2023. Mark’s thoughtfulness, deep sector expertise and capacity to attract top talents seems to give him an unfair advantage in the space. In this episode, we explore: The role of fintech as a driver of economic development, and the role of digital identity as an important building block for fintech innovation. The crucial components needed for a successful digital identity system The strategic framework behind the company's expansion and how Smile ID has built differentiation in a crowded market Mark’s framework for attracting and retaining top talent Lessons from his experience as both an investor and entrepreneur Book Recommendation:: Leaving the Tarmac: Buying a Bank in Africa by Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, providing an insightful resource for those interested in African business ventures. High Growth Handbook by Elad Gil a comprehensive guide for scaling startups, covering critical topics such as hiring, management, product development, and fundraising. Quote: “Having payment rails is like having a car.You can drive really fast and you can go from one place to another. You can send value from one place to another. Having good ID systems in place is like having a seatbelt and brakes that work. So you can stop the car from driving off the road and destroying everything in it.” I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did. Transcript CREDITS Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku Produced by: The Subtext Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi , Chinedu Anatune Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku…
My guest today is Anu Adedoyin-Adasolum, the co-founder and CEO of Sabi. Sabi is a B2B e-commerce startup that provides digital infrastructure to Africa's informal economy. In October 2023, they announced reaching $1B annual GMV. I've always been fascinated by Sabi, especially their ability to bring seemingly disjointed and complex pieces together in a connected business model. In this episode, we discussed: The unique challenges and differentiation strategies of operating a B2B e-commerce platform in Africa. Anu emphasizes the importance of understanding market needs and tailoring solutions to address customer needs. We also covered Sabi's approach to building trust, providing logistics, quality services, access to credit, and other resources to businesses. The surprising sophistication of the informal market, including lessons learned from Anu’s past experiences at Jumia and Rensource The decision to adopt an asset-light model, and the critical role of detailed data analysis and segmentation for achieving scale. We also touched on identifying the right expansion strategies, the complexities of fundraising, and Anu’s approach to cohort analysis. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did. Quote: “No one cares about your app. Literally no one cares about that application. [Merchants are] just trying to make money. Help them make money, or don't.” Book Recommendation: Emotion by Design: Creative Leadership Lessons from a Life at Nike. By Greg Hoffman The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Bob Iger CREDITS This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku Produced by: The Subtext Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi , Chinedu Anatune Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku Transcript: https://share.transistor.fm/s/0d6e5d28/transcript.txt…
My guest today is Shola Akinlade. I met Shola in 2016, while he and his co-founder, Ezra, were at the YC accelerator program. It was the beginning of their Paystack journey, and even then, I was struck by his clarity of thought and radical focus on product development. Today, Paystack has scaled to seven markets and is responsible for over 40x the value processed online in Nigeria at the time of their founding. Their $200M+ acquisition by Stripe marked a significant milestone for the tech ecosystem in October 2020. In this episode, which is Shola’s second appearance on BTF, we reflected on: Stripe’s acquisition of Paystack, and its impact on Shola, his team, and broader tech ecosystem Hiring and managing startup talent at scale, including the necessary changes in management style required at different stages of a startup’s life His seven-year benchmark for measuring startup success, and the importance of a long term view in company building We also discussed the opportunity with “community project” Sporting Lagos FC, and how his experience at Paystack serves as leverage in his new venture of owning a football club. Listen to Episode 11 (Season 1) as context for this one. Quote: “ In the realm of business, prioritizing shared values over personal friendships is paramount when selecting collaborative partners.” Recommended Books: The Away Game: The Epic Search for Soccer’s Next Superstars by Sebastian Abbot Radical Candour: How to Get What You Want by Saying What You Mean by Kim Scott CREDITS This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku Produced by: The Subtext Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi , Chinedu Anatune Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku…
My guest today is Tosin Eniolorunda, CEO and co-founder of Moniepoint. I met Tosin in Kigali at the Africa Tech Summit in 2020, just before the world went into lockdown. We spent hours discussing the offline distribution of fintech products after our introduction. Since then, I've had the opportunity to be an investor, C-level executive, and board observer at Moniepoint. This has allowed me to understand the company from both external and internal perspectives. In this episode, you'll get a glimpse of the typical conversation I have with Tosin during our working days. Here are five key takeaways from this episode: Data Driven Decision Making: Utilizing data analytics and insights is fundamental for informed decision-making, optimizing operations, and identifying growth opportunities in a rapidly changing market landscape. First Mover Advantage: Being the first to market is crucial for gaining a competitive edge and establishing a strong position. Customer-focused Approach: Prioritizing customer experience and integrating their feedback enhances loyalty, fosters long-term relationships, and improves brand reputation. Talent Development and Leadership: It's essential to invest in talent development and promote strong leadership for building a resilient, high-performing workforce capable of overcoming challenges and driving the organization forward. 4M Framework: Mastery, Membership, Meaning, and Money are critical components for personal and professional growth. Quote: "People are at their best when they are entrepreneurial, when they say ‘I’m doing this for myself and not necessarily for my boss.’" Book Recommendation: "Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done" by Lawrence Bossidy and Ram Charan.…
It's been a while. I haven't held the podcast mic for a long time. I must admit, I'm a bit rusty. I’m overwhelmed by the advancements in the podcast space since my sabbatical. The African tech ecosystem has also grown in leaps and bounds, with its fair share of troughs too. And I'm still privileged to be an active participating observer in it. Several people have asked me privately and publicly when I'm restarting the podcast. I've attributed the delay to my busy schedule, but I'm more eager to return than those who've inquired about it. At last, I'm back. This season, I aim to revisit the raison d'être of the podcast, and highlight the significant progress in the African tech ecosystem. I'll do this through the perspectives of key players who have raised substantial capital, generated millions in revenue, or added significant value to their businesses. Please enjoy the Season 5 Intro and my interview with the Producer, Osarumen Osamuyi, who collaborated with me on this project.…
My guest today is Sangu Delle. Sangu is an entrepreneur, an investor, author, and someone who is deeply rooted in Pan-African ideology. His latest book Making the futures: Young entrepreneurs in a dynamic Africa explored similar themes and topics that I've often explore on this podcast. So it's not surprising that we started the conversation in this episode talking about the book. We discussed the challenges and opportunities of building a business in Africa. We also deep-dived into the competitive advantage of raising capital and having a longer runway as a startup, the outsized importance of foreign venture capital in African early-stage businesses and the role of government in facilitating a successful startup ecosystem. This episode is packed as we move from one serious topic to another. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. On this episode, we spoke about Sangu’s book and why he wrote it His investment thesis on Africa and her economic growth Why it's not the best ideas that win and find out what wins The relationship between reputation, intentionality and luck(grace) and their impact on the probability of success How philanthropy and unhindered dreams helped him achieve his goals The outsized importance of government and foreign investor in facilitating the African startup ecosystem. Recommended book Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies By Jared Diamond…
My guest today is Andrew Alli. Andrew is a real-life and virtual mentor to a lot of investment professionals in Africa. He is the Partner and Group CEO at Southbridge a pan-African financial advisory firm. Before then, he was the president and CEO of the Africa Finance Corporation, where he was responsible for over $4,5 billion of investments in 30 countries. Andrew's career is an inspiration and signpost to upcoming African investors like me, and it was a real pleasure to deep dive into how he got started and the lessons learnt till date. We also talked about how to reduce investment risk through temporal and geographical diversification in portfolio construction and the importance of a strong ESG framework in a weak socio-political environment that most African countries operate. I really enjoyed this conversation, and I hope you do too. In this episode, you'll learn The importance of numerate and logic skills as a good basis for career optionality What it means to be an investor in Africa, despite the obvious contradictions and challenges The role of boards in corporate governance The importance of ESG in mitigating investment risk Recommended books World Order: Reflections on the Character of Nations and the Course of History by Henry Kissinger Andrew's twitter handle - @afalli…
My guest today is Eloho Gihan-Mbelu; she is the founding Managing Director & CEO of Endeavor Nigeria. Endeavor is a mission-oriented, global organisation that is supporting high-impact entrepreneurship in close to 40 underserved markets across the world. Eloho and I got introduced a few years ago when she started her role with Endeavor Nigeria, and I find her intellectual honesty very refreshing. You can get more of her thoughts on her twitter handle @elohoGM. In this episode, we discussed her early career journey as an investment banker and then in private equity focussed on African growth companies. We discussed her perspectives on the infrastructural and the regulatory challenges of building a startup to scale up in Africa. We also discussed the opportunities that COVID presents for accelerating digital demand on the continent. And how to set up a board at different stages of company life. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did. In this episode, you'll learn... Why did Eloho choose to work with Nigerian companies? The two key factors that contributed to the growth of the African startup Ecosystem Formulating investment thesis for growth-stage companies in Africa There are numerous infrastructural and regulatory challenges to building a startup to scale up in Africa...what's her take? Infrastructural, regulatory and macroeconomic challenges of building a company in Africa The difference between startups and scaleups What is the right size for a board of a growing company? Her tested methods for making the most from your board meeting Timestamps (03:00) Her journey to Endeavour Nigeria, why she wanted to work with Nigerian companies. (15: 22) How resilience helped build the African startup market (27:32) Factors founders need to consider in making the right decisions in the face of competition (31:07) Her thoughts around how to set up a board of directors at different stages of a company's life. (33:57) How board members should be engaged to get the best results (43:00) What she thinks is the right support that businesses need (48:52) Her approach to achieving a healthy work-life balance (51:12) Her current reading list and the new perspective she has recently garnered about business Books she's currently reading Water dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates The hard thing about hard things by Ben Horowitz Social Media @ElohoGM…
My guest today is Tokunbo Ishmael. She's the co-founder and Managing Director of Alitheia Capital, an African focussed PE and VC firm. Alitheia Capital investments include businesses that enable the provision of financial services to the unbanked, and underbanked through traditional and branchless banking models. Alitheia Capital focuses on doing social good and also having a good return on investment. Tokunbo Ishmael is an alumnus of London Business School, and the University of London, she's a chartered financial analyst, and she used to be an investment banker before starting Alethia. She's a member of CFA Institute, she has sat on several boards in the different organization across Africa, including First City Monument Bank in Nigeria, and the African Venture Capital Association. In this episode we discussed... Why Alethea capital is both PE and Venture capital The necessity for developing the ability to reason and present a sustainable argument on the basis of numbers Parallels between early 2000s dotcom burst and the disruptive impact of COVID on startup investing Key success factors for surviving as an entrepreneur during unpredictable times be grounded on core mission but flexible to make opportunities out of the current challenge rethink the value you're bringing to the table understand their existing developmental gaps and where to collaborate to fill up the deficiencies amplify their powers and use that to innovate and re-imagine themselves On discovering the riches at the bottom of the pyramid by building essential goods and services for the mass markets Why entrepreneurs should expand their view to stakeholder value creation and not just profit Books How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back - Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business - John Mackey…
My guest today is Eric Idiahi. Eric is the co-founder and partner at Verod Capital, a private equity firm based out of Lagos Nigeria. Verod is one of the top PE firms in the continent with a significant number of successful exits as well as admirable money multiples record from their previous fund. Eric is someone I've known from a distance, so when we met at a dinner late last year I invited him to be a guest on this podcast and he graciously obliged. In this episode, we discussed how he and his partner, Danladi, started Verod in 2008 by working with other investors on a deal by deal basis. We talked about the fundamental differences between PE and VC model, especially the way it's done in Africa, how to maintain a balance between portfolio support, value creation and investor control. We discussed exits and how investors can think about it and position their portfolio companies for that event. And of course, we discussed COVID, what it means for businesses in Africa and how to frame its inherent challenge and opportunity. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.…
My guest today is Nnena. Nnena is a Principal at Digame Investment, a growth capital investment firm that back tech-enabled businesses in Africa. Their portfolio companies include GetSmarter an online education company based in Cape Town and London that work some of the top global universities to offer premium online short courses to working professionals around the world. GetSmarter was acquired by 2U in 2017 for $103m, demonstrating that the possibilities of a successful exit. We talked about the key difference between the venture ecosystem in Africa and the silicon valley or Europe in terms of startup valuation, capital allocation, returns expectations and timelines. We also spent the time to discuss how COVID is creating both opportunities and challenges for startups in Africa. Why execution matters in building a startup…
This is the second part of my conversation with Yele Bademosi, you can listen to the first part of this conversation in the last episode of this podcast series. Apart from being the founding partner at Microtraction, Yele is also the founder and CEO of Bundle a social application for cash and cryptocurrency transactions. Yele is the first person I go-to for any question I have on blockchain and cryptocurrency. In this episode, Yele and I discussed his previous role as a director at Binance LB and his highly optimistic views on blockchain and cryptocurrency in Africa. We also discussed his thought on credit and other alternative funding instruments for tech startups apart from equity. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did. In this episode we discussed How economic development in Africa is like telephone technology Capital formation, advantages of blockchain technology and how value is created through crypt(12:54) The role of credit in the African tech startup ecosystem (18:59) How to build an organization; learning from the Binance Model (28:15) Quotes Credit is taking a bet on the future Culture is important, but organization structure is as important Recommended Books Loonshots Traction High output management The libertarian mind The lean startup…
My guest today is Yele Bademosi. Yele is the founder of Microtraction, an angel investment platform that funds Africa’s technology entrepreneurs in their early stage. Microtraction is one of the most active pre-seed investment firms in Nigeria. Yele and I have known each other for some time. We’ve worked together closely in the past, when he became the first person to join my previous company, Starta, barely a few weeks after it was founded in late 2015. It is quite fitting that Yele is the first guest on season 4 of this podcast after a long break. We recorded this episode in late 2019, before COVID, so a lot of the things we talked about might be out of kilter with the current post-COVID world realities. This is the first of the two-part interview. In this episode, we talked about how he started his career and why he left medicine to pursue a whole different path. We also talked about leadership, growth and how good relationships often create a funnel of positive serendipity. I hope you’ll enjoy this episode as much as I did. In this episode we discussed; How he left medicine to pursue his Startup dream His first idea for the Nigerian market and why it failed The hype around blockchain and the possibilities it holds for the African startup ecosystem Yele's definition of success and what growth looks like in tech startups If regular management hacks can work for the new tech startups The role good relationships played in his journey and what it means for upcoming generations The two things new tech founders should focus on in their early stage and why…
Venture-backed startups are disrupting existing business models, redefining market potentials and creating new verticals. In Africa, startups are finding innovative models for addressing underserved market segments, repurposing under-utilised resources and facilitating efficiencies and visibilities where none exists before. These companies have catalysed wider conversations, policies and actions from both government and non-governmental institutions on how to leverage democratised access to technology and innovation across the continent. Although the long-term 'financial success' of these companies is still yet to be proven, their potential impact on market opportunities and social benefits in Africa is undisputed.…
We have now come to the end of season 3! It has been such an exciting journey, one I hope you enjoyed as well. Please listen to my review of the season, what you can expect from next season and when we will be returning.
Steve Grin is the Managing Partner at Lateral Capital, a firm that invests in early and growth stage opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa. Their Fund backs technology-enabled businesses that profitably solve significant pain points across critical infrastructure verticals: financial services, energy, healthcare, and education. Steven is a seasoned entrepreneur and investment professional with twenty years of experience investing as a principal and fund manager across the globe. He has extensive experience in real estate development, energy, and venture investing. Prior to co-founding Lateral, Steven was a Director in the Office of the President of Guyana where he held responsibility for the implementation of their low-carbon development strategy and the execution of large-scale initiatives in the energy and infrastructure sectors. Steven graduated from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and has a B.A. in Finance and Philosophy from New York University. In this episode you’ll learn: How he got into the business of venture capital How did he make the transition in his career from real estate investing? According to Steve, “Big ideas hit brick walls fairly quickly”. Find out what he meant What are the market gaps and opportunities in Africa? How did Lateral Capital start? Where were the initial funds sourced from? The importance of SMEs to every economy. What is Lateral Capital’s thesis about? What is the basis for the thesis behind Lateral Capital? What they have learnt and invalidated about investing in Africa? What is the length of time an investor should be expecting returns? Steve has some reservations about the 220 investment model, find out what they are. What is the best way to do venture in Africa? Other ways to get returns on investment without selling it. What kind of LPs do they target and what are the terms of their fund? The growth drivers for your business. Distinction and importance of financial, human and physical capital in a business. And more Selected links from this episode Building The Future Podcast Season 3 is sponsored by Flutterwave Flutterwave drives growth for banks and businesses across Africa through digital payment technology. You can learn more about their activities…
Dustyn Winder is the co-founder and managing partner at Akili.Vc Akili is a pre-seed to Series A fund tailored for Africa. Their philosophy is based on the belief that there are very interesting problems that are often difficult for entrepreneurs to execute on, whether because they are hidden inside corporations, neglected in disaffected communities, or in geographies that present different challenges than traditional startup markets. Thus they are bringing the Prehype model (an organization Akili spun out of) to Africa to help finance African entrepreneurs solving African problems. Prehype is a venture development firm that focuses on building products and companies through collaboration with corporations and venture capitalists. Dustyn has lived in Kampala, Uganda for 10 years and has immense love for Africa as well as big hopes for the African tech ecosystem. In this episode you’ll learn: Why Akili is more focused on generating capital than raising money. Does their approach limit them to the types of businesses they go into? What is the importance of portfolio construction? How they manage venture and corporate funds. The reason behind the decision to Invest majorly in east Africa. What is distinctive and differentiative about their thesis? Why are they in Africa? The Technicalities of raising money from corporates. How to manage the investor/investee relationship. What is Dustyn’s opinion on Exits? Their plans for 2019 and how it will create opportunities for other investors. An introduction to corporate venture. And more Selected links from this episode…
Adam Grunewald is the co-founder and CEO of Lynk, a platform designed to provide technology-based solutions for the massive informal labour sectors in Kenya. Adam has worked at Google as a project manager on new and emerging projects in the United States and Kenya. Driven by the urge to create a reliable employment system for manual workers in Kenya, he created Lynk in late 2015. Lynk has raised $1m in funding and is currently fundraising. In this episode you’ll learn: Adam’s love for Kenya and how he began living in the country How was Lynk ideated? Why Lynk sticks to a manual vetting process for labour getting on their platform How to ensure a successful match between demand and supply? What is the difference between the Lynk model and an open marketplace? The difference between a horizontal and vertical marketplace What are the three questions you have to answer before building an online marketplace? How to ensure your total addressable market is big enough for scale Dealing with quality control in a lead generation market place How do you minimize platform leakages? How does Lynk reduce friction for platform users? The disadvantages of scaling prematurely And more Selected links from this episode Selected books from this episode Don’t miss new episodes of Building the Future Podcast Building The Future Podcast Season 3 is sponsored by Flutterwave Flutterwave drives growth for banks and businesses across Africa through digital payment technology. You can learn more about their activities…
Ekechi Nwokah is the CEO and founder at mines.io, a startup that provides technology infrastructure which enable local institutions such as banks, mobile phone operators, retailers in emerging market to offer credit to their customers. Mines use a combination of big data, AI and Machine learning algorithm to provide on-demand credit ratings and decision-making where there is no existing credit history. In 2018, Mines raised $13 million Series A funding from several VC within and outside Africa. I have a strong view and criticism against micro-lending businesses, especially in places where the poor pay disproportionate high interest rate, Ekechi made a strong counter argument to my criticism, and offered good explanation that changed my mind on a lot of them. Ekechi has PhD in computer engineering, and has extensive experience working as a software engineer at Amazon. In this episode you’ll learn: Lessons from his early days as an upcoming musician in United States How he fought depression after his music career did not take off How was MINE-IO ideated? Why did he go back to paid employment for 8 years? How and why did his milk importation business from Uganda to Nigeria fail? What were the challenges? That Ekechi tried for ten years to create a successful business before he finally hit with Mines.io What was driving him in the midst of all that failure and challenges? Moving back to Nigeria, the challenges and overcoming them. How to mitigate business risks without the support of a strong legal system. Why does he think the banks do not need to be disrupted? The importance of local founders in building the Nigerian future The importance of partnerships in the success of a business At Mines.io, how do they intend to deal with the challenge of people not paying their loans? What delivers business success in Nigeria? Taking tech built in Nigeria outside the continent And more Selected links from this episode Echo VC Singularity Trans sahara Greenhouse capital Flutterwave Paystack Interswitch 9mobile…
Tunde Leye is the author of four novels, including his latest: Afonja, The Rise. He began his writing as a blogger during his mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). Tunde ran this blog for three years during which he wrote seven series including wildly popular Finding Hubby. He studied Computer Science at the University of Lagos and tried numerous things including music and lecturing. In this episode you’ll learn: The process of publishing books in Nigeria, challenges and opportunities The two publishing options available to a Nigerian writer How do you know if your work is good as a writer? How was Tunde able to self-publish successfully? How to make your writing a product The importance of checks and balances The difference between a strong system and a strong leader A breakdown of his book - Afonja, The Rise What the sequels you can expect from Tunde? A brief but thorough history of the old Oyo empire And more Frequent Yoruba words in the podcast and their meanings Alaafin - King of the old Oyo empire Aremo - Crown prince Bashorun Gaa - Military leader in old Oyo empire Oyo Mesi - King making council of the old Oyo empire Ajele - Loyalists to the Alaafin Selected books from this episode…
Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin is the founder of Pearls Africa Foundation. Pearls Africa Foundation is a non-governmental organization that provides young girls living in underserved communities through training in technology, skill acquisitions and mentorship. One of their projects, “GirlsCoding” has reached more than 400 beneficiaries, including girls from orphanages and correctional homes, in addition to young women fleeing the Boko Haram insurgency. Abisoye was recently named “CNN Hero of the Year”. This year, she joins nine other people in the world who will receive $10,000 in support of their heroic endeavours. In this episode you’ll learn: How she fought the stigma of not gaining admission into the university on time Her struggle to gain admission into the university How did she turn to programming as a succour during these times? Abisoye thinks a lack of education makes you voiceless. Find out why That she was delayed for two extra years after becoming a university student Her frustrations about wanting to travel outside the country for greener pastures How did she learn to code without a background in sciences? How to combine schooling and working efficiently About her first trial at registering a business Why is volunteering so important to growth? The difficulty in getting access to the Makoko community About her nomination for CNN Heroes How the Makoko girls built a working product What are the next projects Abisoye and her team have in mind? And more Selected links from this episode…
Nnamdi Azodo is a product owner at ALAT by Wema bank, Africa’s first mobile-only bank. ALAT is a fully digital bank in Nigeria, designed to help customers save more. A savings account can totally be opened in 5 minutes with a debit card delivered. To open an ALAT account, you need your BVN, a phone number, email address and a few documents. Nnamdi joined Wema Bank as a youth corps member during his mandatory 1 year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) period. After his service, he stayed on in the bank for a couple of years before being drafted into the initial 13-man team that gave birth to ALAT. ALAT was launched on May 2nd 2017, and as at November this year they have almost 400 thousand accounts. In this episode you’ll learn: The history behind Wema bank becoming a regional bank and later expanding operations to become a national bank. How ALAT was ideated within the bank itself. The difficulties tied to incubating a bank within a bank Why did Wema bank decide to build ALAT? What were the different options they tried before settling for ALAT? Nnamdi thinks “innovation can be scary”. Why does he seem to think so? ALAT chose to go after a small segment of the market. Find out why The Nigerian banking industry is subject to numerous regulations. How were they able to scale through? The challenges of innovating inside a corporate The importance of simplicity in building a new product. What are the differences in the culture of ALAT and that of Wema bank? The cost of acquiring users and their acquisition process. How they were able to modify the Paypal referral model to grow ALAT effectively What are their plans to innovate for startups in the near future? How to build on the infrastructure of a national bank. The results, challenges and solutions of their Facebook onboarding trial And more Selected Books from this episode Selected links from this episode…
Olumide Soyombo is the Co-Founder of BlueChip Technologies. BlueChip Technologies is a systems integrator specialized in Data Warehousing, Analytics and Business Intelligence Solutions. Olumide is also the co-founder at Leadpath Nigeria, a seed capital fund that specializes in providing short, medium and long-term funding to small and medium-sized start-up businesses. They have invested in companies like Paystack, Fashpa, Piggybank among others. He is a systems engineering graduate from the University of Lagos and holds a masters in Business and Information Technology from Aston University. In this episode you’ll learn: What got him interested in angel investing? The usefulness of having mentor networks How did BlueChip Technologies come about? What were the first businesses they invested in? Which is more important when building a product? Scalability or Profitability? The evolution of the Nigerian startup ecosystem How did they raise $1million without actually looking to raise money? Olumide is focused on tech consumer based products. Find out why What was the flaw with their initial accelerator model? The selection criteria for the accelerator Olumide has written a lot of cheques. Some succeeded and others did not. Which businesses survived the cheques he wrote and why? What is the risk of focusing on profitability at the expense of growth? How they became profitable within a very short time How big data helps businesses How the invention of ai and machine learning is shaping their business model Learn about Blueprime a new product they developed and are pushing out to the market The biggest challenge he thinks founders face in Nigeria in being able to sell Why repeatedly backed the Piggybank founders And more Selected Books from this episode Selected links from this episode…
In 2012 Lexi Novitske moved to Nigeria from The United States. Lexi worked for Verod Capital Management, a Nigeria-based private equity firm. Prior to joining Verod, she had spent her career developing an expertise in financial services through her time at New York-based Sandler O’Neill Asset Management. In 2014, Lexi joined Singularity Investments as the Principal Investment Officer where she oversees the firm’s operations in Africa. In this episode you’ll learn: Why Lexi decided to move to Africa from the United States The key unique qualities unique to the Nigerian tech market What were the key assumptions Lexi had about the Nigerian market before coming here? How many of them have proved to be true? How to deal with the barriers to infrastructure and regulation The difficulty of the African market “In this market, the management or entrepreneurs drive the success of the business”. What does Lexi mean by this? What are the disadvantages of giving away too much equity as a founder? How much power the Telcos wield in this ecosystem Despite numerous challenges, why did Lexi choose to stay in the African market? Why did she move from Private Equity to Venture Capital Investment.’ The crucial differences between Venture Capital Investment and Private Equity What do investors look out for in early-stage deals? How private equity works What is Lexi’s personal thesis about the African ecosystem? Find out the kind of entrepreneurs she wants to back And more Selected links in this episode Flutterwave Paystack Andela Singularity Investments Wifi.ng Cars45 Selected books from this episode Anti fragility Profit first…
Frederik Obasi is the co-founder of Hypebuzz, a platform that connects top-tier influencers with businesses looking to build their brand and expand their reach. Frederik is also the co-founder and MD of Colour Me Digital, an African sports and entertainment marketing agency that has worked with notable Nigerian football players including Alex Iwobi, Ola Aina, Ademola Lookman; and brands including LG Electronics and DStv. A serial entrepreneur, he also ran a business called UniSmart, a university aggregator and application platform, that enables African students to discover and apply to universities in the UK. Frederik attributes some of his experience to his his time at Rocket Internet. He takes us through the pivot of Unismart to Study Search, the lessons he learnt from raising money, and why he decided to bootstrap his business. In this episode you’ll learn: The similarities and differences between the Nigerian and UK tech ecosystems About his experience at Rocket internet What are the assumptions he made before coming to Nigeria? Did they prove true or false? What is the difference between the way technology is used in Africa and how its used in the UK? The first business he ran when he returned to Nigeria shut down. Find out why What was initial business model they had in mind when they were validating and testing their business idea? “Seed rounds are usually a gamble”. Find out why Frederik think so Importance of content marketing and social media to businesses Why they stopped running the study search businesses before pivoting to their current business How to launch an MVP (minimum viable product) without a tech platform The logic behind building tech platforms to raise money from investors The flexibility of running a business without the pressure that venture capital bring And more Selected Links from this episode Savannah Fund Accelerator DealDey Paystack Andela Rocket Internet Selected Book from this episode…
Dr Joe Abah trained as a barrister in Nigeria. Afterwards, he gained extensive experience in the governance sector, working on public sector reform programs for the U.K. Prime Minister’s Office. He has spent more than 10 years managing governance programs in Nigeria for the U.K. Department for International Development, including on the DAI-led State Partnership for Accountability Responsiveness and Capability project. From 2013 to 2017, Joe took a post with the Government of Nigeria as Head of the Bureau for Public Sector Reform. He has now returned to DAI to serve as Country Director for Nigeria, where he provides technical and strategic inputs to DAI’s existing portfolio of projects, in addition to supporting business development initiatives. In this episode, you’ll learn: About Dr Joe Abah’s childhood growing up in FESTAC part of Lagos The dynamics of population in Nigeria. According to Dr Joe, the population of Abuja for instance defers by time of day What are the difficulties in planning for infrastructure in Nigeria? Why does Nigeria need a fundamental rethink in the societal structure? How does this directly impact our economy? The structure of the current Nigerian constitution and how it creates challenges What is Dr Joe’s political ambition for the future? Why we should or should not consider constitutional reform About Dr Joe’s ideas on achieving social cohesion in Nigeria. What are the key learnings you should know from governance in Nigeria? According to Dr Joe, “Government does a woeful job of explaining to people how things work.” What does this mean? The complexities within government. About Dr Joe’s greatest achievement in public service He is currently the country director for DIA in Nigeria. This is a $600M company. What is the biggest business pain point? And what are their growth metrics? And more Selected links from this episode Selected Book from this episode…
Akin Oyebode is the Executive Secretary, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF). The fund was established to provide financial support to residents of Lagos State, for job, wealth creation and to tackle unemployment. Established in 2016, the fund seeks to invest N25 billion over four years. Though he began his career as a Research Assistant at the Lagos Business School, Akin has an extensive record of working in the Nigerian banking industry. Before his appointment, he was the head of SME banking at Stanbic IBTC Bank and prior to that, He was the Head Research, Insight, strategy Department at FCMB.In this episode you’ll learn: The influence of books on him as a young child Akin thinks feminism has been alive in Nigeria for a very long time. The stories have just been untold What was growing up on campus like? Akin says it was a sheltered make-believe life because basic needs were met Why aren’t the best brains Nigeria taking up teaching jobs? What was the effect of the collapse of the Soviet Union on its sustainability as an economic model? The importance of ideology in shaping the economic and political landscape in Nigeria The government and startups have similarities in the problem that they deal with. What is it? How and why governance is more than politics Akin has a long history in the banking sector. How did he make the switch from banking to holding a political position? What does LSETF seek to critically and radically change? What is the runway for LSETF? Is there limitless cash to make the mission a reality? And more Selected Books from this episode Selected links from this episode…
Obinna Okwodu is the founder and CEO of Fibre.ng, a real estate company looking to provide middle-income tenants the option to pay monthly for rented properties. Renting real estate in Lagos is a lot of hassle especially for the demand side. Landlords would typically demand 2 years rent upfront. Fibre set out to solve this problem and is growing fast in Lagos. Obinna who is an MIT graduate and ex-Morgan Stanley Investment Bank analyst has been listed as Forbes as one of the most promising young entrepreneurs in Africa in 2018. In this episode you’ll learn: How and when Obinaa got the idea to establish Fibre.ng The previous he ran before Fibre Majority of Fibre’s market are the millennials. How did this happen? How do you build a solution for a particular age bracket? How do you validate your business idea? Obinna shares how they validated their idea using a flash page and a tweet There has been a shift in the problem Fibre is solving. What is it? What were the challenges they faced from property owners? How did they solve these challenges? How will they deal with the challenge of new competition? How to use data for predictive analysis when developing your product What are their expansion plans into other markets? Fibre.ng has raised a total of $800k so far. Find out what their plan is for raising money in the future What is the biggest pain point of this business? And more Selected Books from this episode Selected links from this episode…
Uche Ofodile is the CEO of MTN Liberia. Uche has extensive expertise in building businesses in emerging markets. Before her role in Liberia, she was the CMO of Vodafone Ghana. In this position, she was instrumental in the transformation of Vodafone Ghana from a struggling business, with deteriorating market share, into the country’s #2 telecommunications provider. Uche is somebody you can call a fixer. Uche was recruited to serve as CEO of Tigo DRC and transform the business. In 18 months, she rebuilt the business strategy, ignited 20% year-over-year growth, positioned the company for rapid market share gains, and revitalized the workforce through strategic cultural and diversity programs. In this episode you’ll learn: The institutional, cultural and economic barriers for a woman to become c-level executives in Africa How are women rising against this challenge? The impact of more women being educated and going to school How technology is accelerating the empowerment of women The importance of the opportunities women get to lead companies The difficulty of being a CEO as a woman with a family Why did Uche move to Nigeria from America? How did she cope with the transitioning? The big shift in internet marketing and how you can be a part of it The importance of partnering with other businesses to reach new markets What are the challenges faces Telco operations in Africa? How do you understand and use customer experience to your advantage? The Telcos plan to expand the ecosystem. How do they seek to do this? Tips on leading an organization that operates in multiple countries. And more Selected books from this episode Homecoming Children of Blood and Bone…
Tonje Bakang is the Founder and CEO of Afrostream. Afrostream is Afrostream is subscription video on demand (SVOD) which provides millions of fans with unlimited access to Afro-American and African movies and TV series. In 2017, Tonje penned an open letter announcing the closure of the business. The service closed in France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and in 24 African countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and Togo. This is the second part of his two-episode conversation with Dotun. In this episode you’ll learn: Why it was hard to raise money as a startup in Europe How they tested the idea of Afrostreams with a Facebook fan page and got 50k fans without a product The importance of clean design to brand reputation Why did his project not last as long as long as he wanted it to? Affordability or competition? Why adoption rate became a problem? What was the cause of the churn? The intricacies of a subscription-based model Why Tonje chose to go ahead with running Afrostreams even though he knew he had not raised enough money The biggest challenge they had communicating with investors and what you can learn from it The one thing he would do if he had to go back in time The importance of data in the sustainability of VoD Tonje does not intend to try a VoD platform again. What does he have in mind? According to Tonje “I don’t know any VoD platform who is making money”. If no one is making money where’s the value in VoD platforms? What he is doing now after Afrostreams? And more The first part of this conversation was published last week…
Tonje Bakang is the Founder and CEO of Afrostream. Afrostream is Afrostream is subscription video on demand (SVOD) which provides millions of fans with unlimited access to Afro-American and African movies and TV series. In 2017, Tonje penned an open letter announcing the closure of the business. The service closed in France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and in 24 African countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and Togo. This is the first part of his two-episode conversation with Dotun. The second part will be published next week. In this episode you’ll learn: Why Entrepreneurship is not just about becoming rich About growing up in Paris and his love for the creative industry How did he stumble intro entrepreneurship? Why being an inspiration to other immigrants was important to him How he moved from being an intern to being a music video director Why he decided at 21 to own his own production company The role of mentors in his decision to become an entrepreneur The alternative to studying business if you can’t afford a business school Why testing your MVP is important and how Tonje was able to test his before launching his first business At the age of 24, he launched a comic street show in France. How successful was it? What were the challenges? His pilot for his debut as a movie director failed. Why? What lessons did he learn? What decisions did he make afterwards? Why and when he started attending hackathons and bootcamp to understand how tech works for business Why did he quit from theatre, production company and entertainment? And more…
Jason Njoku is the co-founder at IrokoTv, a web platform that provides paid-for Nigerian films on-demand. It is one of Africa’s first mainstream online movie streaming websites, giving instant access to over 5,000 Nollywood film titles. Jason is who you can refer to as a serial entrepreneur. With several failed businesses under his belt, he went ahead to create what is largely regarded as the “Netflix of Africa” Jason founded IrokoTv alongside his friend and then flatmate, Bastian Gotter. See Bastian’s interview on IrokoTv here. This episode is the first of 2-part conversation I had with Jason at his office in Lagos, as part of the mini-series on African video on demand platform. In this episode you’ll learn: When IrokoTv started out, they had no competition. How did they cope with the sudden influx of players in their market? How they had to innovate faster than competitors to maintain their lead in the market What is the importance of winning for small companies? What does winning mean for small companies and why should they focus on it during the initial stages? IrokoTv has raised $40million so far, and yet they have been losing money constanly. According to Jason, Angel investors who invested $80k got bought out for $2.4million. How was this possible? How to raise money from four different investors Why Netflix coming to Nigeria has no impact on their revenue About Jason’s dream to IPO IrokoTv In 2015, they had to let some staff go. Find out why and what they had to do to fix the problem Jason thinks IrokoTv would have died in 2015 if certain action had not been taken. What is it? Why he thinks the FinTech space in Africa is overheated The future of tech ecosystem in Nigeria People in early stage companies have a massive valuation disconnect from reality. And more…
Jason Njoku is the co-founder at IrokoTv, a web platform that provides paid-for Nigerian films on-demand. It is one of Africa’s first mainstream online movie streaming websites, giving instant access to over 5,000 Nollywood film titles. Jason is who you can refer to as a serial entrepreneur. With several failed businesses under his belt, he went ahead to create what is largely regarded as the “Netflix of Africa” Jason founded IrokoTv alongside his friend and then flatmate, Bastian Gotter. See Bastian’s interview on IrokoTv here. This episode is the first of 2-part conversation I had with Jason at his office in Lagos, as part of the mini-series on African video on demand platform. In this episode you’ll learn: About the early beginnings of IrokoTv and what brought about the idea The moment Jason realized he was unemployable and set out to run his own businesses About his struggles growing up and keeping himself n the university. How he became independent as a student The different businesses he tried and why they failed How his investment in hotels.ng helped shape the business Jason made one of the classic mistakes first-time entrepreneurs make. He built a platform before finding out if people wanted the product or not. The importance of company culture The initial revenue model of IrokoTV How were they able to compete with the thriving piracy market on Nollywood movies? Why they raised money even though they were making a lot of money How they spent the $3million they got from Tiger Global in 5 months…
Bastian Gotter is the co-founder of Iroko TV, one of the earliest, most successful and largest video on demand platform for Nigerian movies. Bastian founded the business alongside with his university flat-mate, Jason Njoku, who is the CEO of the company, and a later guest in this show. This is not Bastian and Jason Njoku’s first project together. In mid-2010, Bastian invested in several businesses that Jason was running in Manchester, England, many of which failed. But they stuck together as partners and Bastian invested in Iroko TV after Jason started it, and he then moved to Lagos and joined as a full-time co-founder. This episode is the first of 2-part conversation I had with Bastian in Cape Town, as part of the mini-series on African video on demand platform In the second part of this episode you’ll learn: The current challenges IrokoTV is facing How Nigeria is becoming close to the west in their content consumption Bastian thinks the answer to business growth is sub saharan Africa “Always”. Why does he seem to think so? Why he thinks you cannot make a lot of money in the sub-saharan African VoD market The importance of timing when launching a new business. How Spark was created on the back of Iroko and how they invested in companies like hotels.ng, tolet.com.ng, drinks.ng and paystack. Why and how irokoTv raised money every year Why he left IrokoTv. (He still sits on the board and is a shareholder) What he is doing now. And more…
Bastian Gotter is the co-founder of Iroko TV, one of the earliest, most successful and largest video on demand platform for Nigerian movies. Bastian founded the business alongside with his university flat-mate, Jason Njoku, who is the CEO of the company, and a later guest in this show. This is not Bastian and Jason Njoku’s first project together. In mid-2010, Bastian invested in several businesses that Jason was running in Manchester, England, many of which failed. But they stuck together as partners and Bastian invested in Iroko TV after Jason started it, and he then moved to Lagos and joined as a full-time co-founder. This episode is the first of 2-part conversation I had with Bastian in Cape Town, as part of the mini-series on African video on demand platform In this episode you’ll learn: The first business he bet on went bankrupt He didn’t go into entrepreneurship early. But Bastian says he doesn’t regret it. He came in at the right time. Why? Bastian isn’t exactly sure how much money he actually put in. There was no contract or incorporation or vesting period. How did they reach that level of trust? It was a personal journey for Jason to make it a success and Bastian thinks that kind of determination is backable. Why does he think so? How did they raise their first investment? What was unique about the process? How much did they raise? How piracy did Nollywood a favour A venture capitalist has to be convinced about your passion and determination for your business to succeed before giving you money Why a company without a founder is like a company without a heart The importance of a founder’s emotional connection to a business Why does Bastian love investing? What is the most interesting thing about being a VC? And more…
Telling the African story is not new. For a very long time, Africans have expressed the narrative of their culture, beliefs, fears and exploits using stories passed from one generation to the next. Through oral traditions and accounts of eyewitnesses, we know about the riches of Mansa Musa, the exploits of Sango, the majesty of Nefertiti, and the conquests of Shaka Zulu. What has changed is the medium through which these stories are told. In this season I will be chronicling part of that story. I will be starting with a mini-series that features some of the key figures that have built video on demand platforms specifically for African content. Sponsors Season 3 is in partnership with Flutterwave. Flutterwave’s business is about connecting global businesses to Africa and building new businesses out of Africa through payment and technology. All opinions expressed by me and the podcast guests are solely ours and does not reflect the opinion of Flutterwave. To get started, go to Credits Truth don die by Femi Kuti Eddie Quansa by Peacocks Guitar Band Ti Oluwa Nile by Mainframe Studios…
Its been a great pleasure to do this. To have conversations with interesting, smart and awesome people who are shaping the future of Africa. This show has been one of the most exciting things I’ve done as an entrepreneur. It’s fun and I get to learn from a lot of people. We’ve now come to the end of season 2. And I want to take this time to reflect on some of the lessons I learned in the conversations I’ve had. I will be touching on 4 of them. These not all the lessons learned in this season, its a snippet. It’s my reflection of some of the things that stood out for me. And I’m sure you may have a longer list than me. I’m grateful to the entrepreneurs and thought leaders who shared their stories with me. I'm also grateful to the British Council in Nigeria for partnering with us in season 2. Their financial support went a long way in making this season a success. So many thanks to Tomi Soyinka and Maria Williams from the council. Season 3 starts on July 30th. So see you then!…
Prince Kwame Agbata is the co-founder of Coliba, It is an early stage waste management platform that leverages on SMS to help users separate their waste, schedule and request a pickup and get waste picked at the comfort of users home. Coliba pays the user for the waste generated. Prince is a first class graduate of Information Technology, being the only member of his family to have completed university, his initial goal was to end up working for Google Ghana. As fate would have it, things changed for him. In 2016, Coliba won the British Council Ghana Investor’s pitch session. In this episode you’ll learn: How Prince lost his close friend due to defective waste disposal system in Ghana How did he cope with this tragedy? That prince met his three other co-founders on a bus during a trip Prince was the first member of his family to complete university education. How did this shape him? The importance of partnering with established companies and how they can help your business Prince and his co-founders have an ambitious 5 year plan. What is it? Most businesses face the challenge of breaking into a new market after being successful in one. Coliba currently runs in two markets, and they’ve done so from inception. Find out how? How to run a company with four co-founders in four different companies. Coliba has a co-founder each in Ghana, Nigeria, Abidjan and Burkina Faso. And more Selected links from this episode Google Ghana British Council Wecyclers EcoFuture…
Timothy Kotin is the co-founder of SuperFluid, a data solution platform helping businesses to harness untapped potential through predictive data analytics, business intelligence and dynamic customer insights leveraging both traditional and alternative data sources. Timothy grew up in Tamale, Ghana and had to flee along with his family as a child due to ethnic violence and unrest in the 90s. Kotin holds an MPhil. in Engineering for Sustainable Development from the University of Cambridge and a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Harvard University. Prior to co-founding Superfluids Labs, he worked as a research scientist at IBM as part of a team which developed financial services innovations for multinational enterprise clients in Africa. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Timothy was able to rise above the trauma of nearly being killed as a teenager The many ways businesses can take advantage of data SuperFluid has some challenges they’ve been dealing with. Listen to Timothy explain What is the importance of value proposition to your business? How and why should you create more value for your clients? “You should frame the outcome, rather than the tool”. What does this mean for your business? About SuperFluid’s pricing model and what you can learn from it Timothy seems to think machine learning helps computer learn data better than humans. Find out why About Timothy’s dream for a scholarship foundation And more Selected book from this episode Selected links from this episode…
Seun Onigbinde is the co-founder of BudgIT, a non-governmental organization that helps citizens access and understand public budgets. BudgIT breaks down the national budget in simplistic charts, and track contracts and projects the government are working on. This is a classic case of doing good with tech. In 2012, he was awarded the Future Awards prize for Science and Tech Innovation. In 2014, the Omidyar Network invested $400,000 in BudgIT, In January 2017, BudgIT raised an additional $3 million grant from Omidyar Network and Gates Foundation. Seun is an ex-banker whose goal was to become the CEO. Along the line his goals changed after coming second in a hackathon organised by CCHUB. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Seun got the idea for BudgIT while working for Firstbank Seun’s initial dream was to become the CEO of a bank. Why did that dream change? What is the spirit of timing? Seun referred to it as a crucial factor in the success of Budgit How do you determine the right time to launch your product/startup? After the hackathon where BudgIT was born, Seun forgot about the idea. Why did he go back to it? Seun was reluctant to leave his paid employment to run BudgIT full time. But he eventually did? What was the deciding factor? What can you learn from this challenge he had? Why every Nigerian should be involved in governance? The importance of believing in Nigerian youths Seun said technology gave BudgIT a big jump. What did he mean by this? Seun’s first startup failed. Why did it fail? The importance of hackathons and how you can take advantage of them That Seun is interested in politics and looks to going in at some point And more Selected links from this episode Selected book from this episode…
Opeyemi Awoyemi is a tech entrepreneur with 10 years experience in internet startup business development. He has founded and managed three technology startups including WhoGoHost, a web solutions company. He is also the co-founder of Jobberman. Jobberman is Nigeria’s largest job search portal with over one million job seekers and 10,000 companies registered. Jobberman’s mission is to solve the unemployment problem in Nigeria. Opeyemi Awoyemi calls himself an ‘unrepentant entrepreneur’ and is enthusiastic about Africa, web startups and any innovative business idea. His life goal is to be a world business leader in the tech space and to die empty.In this episode you’ll learn; Opeyemi’s journey into entrepreneurship and his first business – a design agency – founded while he was a student at the university How he was able to intern at his own company as a student How Jobberman was ideated and how the name came to be Why the initial excitement to launch Jobberman fizzled out and how one of his co-founders helped put them back on track At what stage of the business did Tiger Global reach out to them? How were they able to get investors in the early stages without trying? It was a struggle getting job seekers and companies on the platform. How did Opeyemi and his team hack this? How they were able to track growth in the early days How to validate your business idea Why should you focus on SEO for your new business? How did this help Jobberman? And more Selected links from this episode Selected book per episode…
This was a live podcast with an audience Nasir Yammama is the founder of Verdant, an agritech platform that aims at providing agricultural data science, market information, managerial support, and access to financial services to rural farmers for improved food production using mobile phones. Verdant though a simple low-cost technology, is solving one of the biggest challenges and transforming Nigeria’s agriculture sector. Verdant is working with Oxfam and GIZ to help 25,000 farmers double or triple their yields. Nasir’s passion for Nigeria's agricultural development has taken him to unexpected heights – from being mentored by world-renowned business tycoon, Sir Richard Branson, to landing on the Forbes Africa 30 under 30 list. In 2017, Nasir was recognized by The Queen’s Young Leaders Programme for his work in AgricTech. In this episode you’ll learn: How Nasir’s background influenced his interest and decision to go into agriculture Nasir started building his business prototype while he was in the university. Why didn’t the prototype work out? How did they solve this challenge? As at the time of this interview, Verdant had 18,000 farmers on the platform. Learn how they got the farmers on the platform and the challenges Why does Nasir think the banks are not in tune in farmers? Why the pyramid of Kano disappeared and Nasir’s opinion on whether it should come back or not. The validity of problem solving and how it can propel your business forward. What you need to do to get government intervention for your business Nasir’s goals for Verdant and how he intend to achieve them. And more Selected links from this episode Selected book from this episode…
This was a live podcast with an audience Lola Shoneyin is a Nigerian poet and author who launched her debut novel, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives, in the UK in May 2010 She is currently the director of Book Buzz Foundation, Nigeria- a non-governmental organisation whose main aims are promoting literacy through the creation of reading programmes for children and developing reading spaces. The foundation also organises the Ake Arts and Book Festival, an annual literary, cultural and arts event that takes place in Abeokuta, Nigeria Lola is also an award-winning writer and a cultural activist. In this episode you’ll learn: How she developed a relationship with the late Bola Ige. In 1996, she got 10000 from Bola ige to publish her poem Lola wrote her first literary piece when she was six years old. How? How did Lola cope as a 6 year old boarding school student in England? The importance of making a connection between a book and the writer What is the advantage of engaging with and consuming literature at a very early age? “It is important to be in a space where you love what you are doing” What did Lola mean by this? The difference between approval and acceptance The biggest tragedy of the country. What is it? How does it affect creative young people? Ake festival has always held in Abeokuta. Why is it moving to Lagos? What is the vision for the festival? Lola is working on a reader app and an innovation hub for creatives. What should you expect? The importance of data in leading the future Lola says she is jealous of scientists. What does she mean? And more Selected links from this episode Sterling bank Amazon Kindle Roving heights Ake festival Select book from this episode…
Onyeka Akumah is the CEO and co-founder of Farmcrowdy, an agric-tech platform. Farmcrowdy gives Nigerians the opportunity to participate in Agriculture by connecting farm sponsors with real farmers for the purpose of producing high-quality farm produce. Onyeka returned to Nigeria from India in 2016 and has since then worked with business like Konga, Wakanow, Jumia and Deloitte before going ahead to start his first business, QuickGist. Though QuickGist did not work out, Farmcrowdy is doing phenomenally well. In 2017, they raised a $1M round. In this episode you’ll learn: The importance of transparency to your customers and investors when running a business Understanding the demand and supply side of the market at a macro level and how to use that to your business’s advantage Why starting small is important to the success of your business especially if you need to test your idea Farmcrowdy uses sponsors. What does it mean? How does it work? How can you implement it for your business Why you need four streams of income to be successful The challenge of replicating successful business models in other markets in the Nigerian market How to handle your public relations for a new product with a relatively low budget Onyeka left Wakanow to join Sabunta. When he did so, he took a 40% pay cut. Find out why About QuickGist, his first business, the triumphs, challenges and why it didn’t work out Why repeat founders are important for the African ecosystem Why did they go with a crowdfunding platform? And more Selected links from this episode Travel beta Wakanow Jumia Konga British council Deloitte Tiger global Rocket internet Cregital Techstar Selected book from this episode How to sell your startup from the beginning Start with why Good to create…
Akin Alabi is the founder of Nairabet, an online sports betting platform. Akin grew up with the hopes of being rich. According to him, he wasn’t too particular about his profession as long as it was legal and it made him rich. He started his career by selling ebooks, CDSs, audio tapes and manuals. In 2009, he launched Nairabet. Last year, he launched his book...Small Business, Big Money. A book that teaches how to start, grow and turn a small business into a “cash generating machine.” Akin is the founder of Youth Enterprise Conference, an annual conference held in March every year where successful young experts and business people share their success stories with Nigerian youths . In this episode you’ll learn: How the business model of a sports betting company works How to understand and use to your advantage the effect and psychology of your customers buying power Why was Akin not interested in looking for a job after his HND? What is the most valuable pricing lesson Akin learnt has an entrepreneur? About the previous businesses he started before and failed at. And his determination to keep trying again What are the factors you need to consider if you are going into publishing? What are the lessons from Akin’s story? What is the disadvantage of selling your products for cheap? How does it affect upselling? There are many ways of building a minimum viable product. One of them was mentioned in this chat. Find out what it is Who should be your biggest investors? And how can you appeal to them? Akin is a politician and intends to run for Federal House of Representatives. What is his motivation? How does he intend to innovate the process? And more Selected links from this episode Selected books from this episode…
Erik Osiakwan is an entrepreneur and an investor with 15 years of ICT industry leadership. He is the manager partner in Chanzo Capital, a growth capital firm investing in Africa’s digital economy. Erik is a consultant for the world bank. He has worked in 32 African countries setting up high-tech startups He serves on the board of Farmerline, Forhey, Teranga Solutions, Siqueries, Amp.it, SameLogic, eCampus, Bisa App, SeeSayDo and Wanjo Foods, - some of which are his investments. Erik describes himself as a pan-African and is fully confident in the ability of African entrepreneurs. In this episode you’ll learn: The countries Erik described as the KINGS of Africa. Why does Erim think they will be at the forefront of developing the African ecosystem? Erik is currently an investor and has successfully created several businesses. How did he become an entrepreneur and an investor? What steps did he take? What was the main attraction of investment into the early African tech ecosystem? Africa has a lot of young people. Why does Erik see that as an advantage? The struggle to build mobile networks and how entrepreneurs made it work for Africa Africa is witnessing a lot of innovation today. What is the catalyst? According to Erik, the GSM evolution was started by entrepreneurs “The next 20 years will be a creativity era” What does Erik by this Why Africa is moving on from consuming content and why it’s time to create our own tech The emerging middle class to the African market and how the ecosystem can take advantage of it Selected links from this episode Selected book from this episode…
Adeyinka Adewale is the co-founder and CEO of Kudi.ai, a financial service provider that allows you pay people and businesses over messaging interfaces like Messenger, Skype ,Slack and Telegram. He is a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University. Kudi.ai is not Yinka’s first foray into running a business, he was the co-founder and CEO of Sanwo Touch2pay, which started out as a payment platform for universities in Nigeria. In 2014, he also co-founded clinicfy , a cloud based financial software for hospitals to track their revenues and invoices for both walk in patients and health insurance patient. Kudi.ai is a graduate of the Y Combinator Winter 2017 batch. They raised an additional seed funding from a group of angel investors in the valley and in Nigeria. For payments generally, trust is a key factor. Adeyinka discusses getting people to understand and trust Kudi.ai with their financial information. In this episode you’ll learn: In this podcast, you will learn: What was the idea behind Sanwo? The business he co-founded as a student. How did he juggle being a final year student with running his business? Yinka takes the African tech ecosystem very seriously. He doesn’t think he has earned a place in the ecosystem yet. Why does he seem to think so? Building Getting people to make payments through their chat boxes is phenomenal. But Kudi.ai also has to contend with earning trust. How has the journey being so far? His previous business clinicfy was not running on a sustainable model and as such it had to close down. What was the model? There was a make-or-break challenge for the team when they were about to launch. They had help with one of the payment companies and solved that challenge in a week. What company is this? And more Selected links Selected book by Brad Stone…
Raphael Afaedor is the CEO and co-founder of Supermart, an online store for groceries and basic home amenities. Raphael describes himself as a pan-african entrepreneur. He is a graduate of the Harvard Business School and a former CEO at Jumia. Raphael was a co-founder and co-CEO of Jumia and he set up Supermart shortly after he resigned. Supermart.ng is an online grocery delivery service that partners with local stores to upload their inventory online and deliver everyday items to customers. Supermart tries to tackle the problem of time wasting that people face while trying to shop for their homes. Raphael’s story is one of hardwork and persistence coupled with good thinking and great planning. He tells us about his entrepreneurship journey and if you’re an entrepreneur or you’re planning to start a business you’ll surely find this podcast interesting. In this podcast, you will learn: The skills he learnt to make him a pan african entrepreneur How his work experience prepared him for his entrepreneurship future. Why he chose to build his business in Lagos How he made the decision to go into e-commerce The limitations of his first business and what he learnt from them How Jumia came to be How he got a cofounder His beliefs on teams and the principles behind working together Why he left Jumia How Supermart works and is gradually being accepted How they have raised money And more Selected links Kluklu Dealfish Selected book by Michael Wolffe by Mark Manson…
Fikayo Ogundipe is the CEO and cofounder of ToLet, a real estate company he founded with his friends while in the university. ToLet is a web-based platform for property, rentals and sales. The founders all made a monthly contribution of N20,000 to start the business. Interestingly, they had to hit the ground running as there was a competitor they needed to beat to the market. Starting out involved a lot of ground work such as reaching out and getting landlords/agents listed on their platform. In 2016, they raised $1.2million from Frontier Digital Ventures. A year later, they acquired Jumia House Nigeria in a bold and unexpected move. In this episode, you’ll learn: Their inspiration for running a business together. How have they managed to keep the team together? What are the dynamics involved? The importance of having startup capital no matter how little. Fikayo and his co-founders all committed to contribute N20,000 every month to their business. They did this for a while before joined Spark Incubators and later raised $250,000 The importance of business models and how to find one that suits your business. What was ToLet’s previous business model? What were the challenges? What competition validated their market? How did they validate the market and why did ToLet accelerate their market launch. How they raised $1.2million. How many investors did they reach out to? How many got back to them? Why ToLet acquire JumiaHouse? What is the proposed outcome of this acquisition? And how has it helped them so far? Despite raising close to $1.5million, Fikayo says they are still not profitable. Why is this so? And more Selected Links Selected book Peter Thiel…
Franz Struwig is the cofounder of iKubu, Franz started out as a lover of technology before going on to study Computer Engineering at the University of Pretoria. He is a lover of technology, business and people. He started with advising, consultancy, building products for others. Looking for interesting solutions to problems was the bane of the company. A totally random cycling day happened to give birth to a whole idea of helping cyclers prevent accidents. Over time they developed their product and started working on taking it to the next level of marketing it and releasing it. In this phase, they learnt a lot of lessons as they had to keep on trying new methods as the old ones were developing hiccups. They eventually succeeded in selling not just the product but also the company. If you are looking to start a business and learn about the various roles one can assume in achieving success, Franz’s story is one you’ll find captivating. In this episode you’ll learn: How he went from playing with technology to working in tech and then building his own company Initially, we were all over the place. We were building products that were complete failures. What did Franz mean by this? How did they turn the situation around? Franz and his team tried to raise funding and according to him “it was a complete waste of time” Why did he think so? What were the challenges? And how can the story help your business? Why big companies have less capacity to execute than small companies. How to take your product to market. That crowdfunding is not a way of getting money. Why does Franz think it’s going to cost you a lot more money than you are going to make? How to market and brand your product yourself. How can you take advantage of influencer marketing to help your business growth? And more Selected links from the episode Selected book from this episode By Adam Makos…
Trevor Kimenye is the CEO of Ongair, a web based social CRM tool that enables businesses to interact and communicate with their customers on popular Instant messaging platforms from a single dashboard. This is a global solution built in Africa. Businesses, regardless of where they are stationed need to communicate with their customers. This is what Trevor and his team make happen. The journey of Ongair is one that businesses should monitor and study closely, as it is one of the most successful ways of starting and running a business. They had an idea and tested it using Whatsapp. Then they allowed a business use their service for free, thereby validating their idea. The next step was to build a landing page and see how many people wanted their service. And that's how the journey began. If you are looking to start a business and validate your idea, Trevor’s story is one you’ll find interesting. In this episode you’ll learn: Trevor left a well-paying job in Australia to come back to Kenya and start his business. He was inspired by a lot of things. Find out what they were. He met his co-founder at a hackathon called Garage48, how did they move forward to starting a business together? What were the dynamics involved? The idea for Ongair was developed while having an off-day at work. How did they come about it? How do you build a CRM from Whatsapp? That’s exactly what they did. They started their business from Whatsapp. Find out why What is the importance of having an MVP? How did it help the business? Ongair made use of growth hacking. It is responsible for 35% of their customers.How can you take advantage of growth hacking? What should you learn from the relationship between Ongair and zendesk? Trevor looks forward to a good accelerator running in Africa. What were his reasons for this? What was their initial payment infrastructure like? What challenges did they have to deal with? And more Selected links from the episodeSelected book from this episode By Jake Knapp…
Rasaq Ahmed is the co-founder and CEO of CowryWise, an automated savings platform. CowryWise aims to make savings worthwhile for everyone by making it simple to do and highly rewarding. Rasaq has one of the most interesting stories in the Nigerian ecosystem. His family narrowly escaped death while they were living in the northern part of Nigeria. They relocated to the south and that gave him the opportunity to attend the university - something he probably wouldn’t have done if he had stayed in the north because he was learning to repair generators. Rasaq graduated with a first class degree in Economics from Obafemi Awolowo University, and is also a CFA Charter holder. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why the definition of success should be relative and different. Success means different things to people. How do you define what success is to you? Getting caught in a tribal crisis as a 14 year old must be difficult. How did Rasaq deal with it? The best experience he had as a student in the university was outside the classroom. What did he mean by that? He was learning to repair generators while in secondary school. When he moved to the south, he decided to move to the university. What influenced him? “I felt very bad because I wasn’t very used to rejection” What did Rasaq mean by this? Why is it hard for FinTech companies to fit into the current regulatory framework? What is the solution? Corporate governance is important to the longevity of businesses. Why? Trust is CowryWise’s biggest pain point. What does this mean for the business? What is your view about private universities and federal universities? Dotun and Razaq had a bit of discussion on the topic. Find out what they think in this episode And more Selected links from this episode…
Adia Sowho was the Head of Digital Media and Director of Digital Business at Etisalat Nigeria. She started her career as an engineer with United States Cellular, a CDMA operator in the US. She obtained her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management. After a stint at Deloitte Consulting, she returned home to Nigeria. Adia’s story is one that resonates with Nigerians who have spent a long time abroad and have returned home.…
Aisha Pandor is the co-founder and CEO of SweepSouth. An online platform for booking, managing and paying for home cleaning services Sweepsouth is the first South African startup to be accepted into 500 Startups. Aisha did not start out as an entrepreneur, she is a scientist who completed her PhD in Human Genetics at the university of Cape Town. In 2016, Forbes Africa featured her as a top African millennial. In this episode you’ll learn: What growing up with parents who were deeply involved in the anti apartheid struggle was like. Her family had to move to Botswana on exile before returning back to South Africa. Aisha was part of the first crop of black students to go to an all white school. How did that shape her? She recalls the times she had breakfast with Nelson Mandela and visited Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s home. She made a move from human genetics to founding a startup. Find out why she made this decision The consequences of doing something that is not impactful Why she couldn’t stand being an employee. 1. She hated the bureaucracy… How she and her husband quit their jobs at the same time because they weren’t fulfilled as employees. What did they do next? That SweepSouth wasn’t the business they tried to run. What was it? And why did they make the decision to drop it? How they raised upwards of $1m in three funding rounds And more Selected Links Uber 500 Startups Forbes Selected Books from the episode Connect with us…
Odunayo Eweniyi is the co-founder at Piggybank.ng She is also the Chief Operating Officer at SharpHire Global Limited, the organization behind Push CV, Piggybank and a new product in the pipelines. Piggybank is an online savings platform that securely makes saving possible by combining discipline plus flexibility to make you grow your savings to reach your savings target. The idea of Piggybank was born out of the desire to do something for people after they had gotten jobs (Push CV). The next logical thing was...how to help people save their salaries. Odunayo is a Computer Engineering first class graduate. In this episode you’ll learn: How she joined SharpHire Global Limited immediately after graduating. She turned down a regular 9-5 job and decided to take her chances with a startup. Why did she make the decision? Why Odunayo thinks investors need to take more risks with startups. Piggybank came as a result of the team wanting to do more for people after PushCV. There was a defining moment on social media. Call it the “lightbulb” moment. Find out what it was. The culture of Piggybank is humanity. Being careful with customer service. How has that helped piggy bank so far? And how can it help your business? In 2016, they had saved 26 million Naira on the Piggybank platform. By the end of 2017, almost 1 billion naira had been saved! What was responsible for the spike in growth? Listen to find out! SharpHire has 6 co-founders. How easy has it been running their businesses? There are tons of lessons you can pick from their structure. Selected Links Selected Book from the episode Connect with us…
Chika Uwazie is the CEO of TalentBase. TalentBase makes it easier for businesses to manage their HR processes such as payroll, benefits, staff evaluation and time tracking. Chika joined the startup as the VP of business development immediately after moving back to Nigeria from the states. She has since then risen to the position of CEO and has gone on to represent TalentBase at 500 Startups. She has a lot of tips for young people looking to start businesses especially if you are just moving back to Nigeria. In this episode you’ll learn: She met the founder of Talent Base in 2013. And she decided to come home in 2015 to join the startup. Why did she make this decision? She was in a race to come back to Nigeria before she hits 40. How did her father influence that decision? She didn’t think working in HR for any of the big corporations in America was going to be enough fulfillment for her. Why did she think so? And has moving to Nigeria to work in a startup paid off? She joined TalentBase as VP of business development. That basically meant bringing in more business. As someone who just moved back to the country how did she get the job done? There is a distinct change in the mindset when you own a part of the business. Your approach is different, the decisions you make are different. How did Chika move from employee to CEO? What challenges did she face? 6 “There’s a big difference between being a founder and an entrepreneur, even though most founders are entrepreneurs”. Why was this statement made? Find out at 14:38 Chika credits 500 Startups for helping her tell the TalentBase story. She is confident about pitching her story in any gathering. Why is this important to her? And what is the importance of being able to pitch your story as a business? Moving back to Nigeria? lessons from Chika Uwazie 1 Build your network before moving back fully Chika has been coming to Nigeria for years, forming a network and building her connections. Having that network made a difference when she decided to move back home and work in a startup. 2 Move home with your relatives If you are moving back to Nigeria, have someone; could be an aunt or an uncle you can stay with for the few months. It helps provide a soft landing while you prepare to be on your own and run your business. Join this thread at 10:00 Fire Round Questions Q: What is your business pain point? A: Talent Q: What is your number one growth metric? A: How many companies we are adding on every month Listen to other fire round questions and her answers at 56:00 Selected Links…
Catherine Luckhoff is a serial entrepreneur. She founded her first business as a fourth year undergraduate. Her wide-ranging business acumen consists of business development, mobile, big data, music, startups and innovation in Africa. She now runs NicheStreem, an end-to-end solution for anyone including content owners, artists and music enthusiasts who want to launch their own audio/music streaming service. Catherine and her team raised 250,000$ in 5 days without a product. They are currently finishing a funding round which will bring the total of funds raised to $1.5million She believes that for a founder to thrive, he has to be able to deal with rejection well and focus on the goal. In today’s episode, you’ll learn: Catherine took a gap year after high school. She thinks everyone should take a gap year before going on to the university. Why does she think? What purpose does this serve? Running a service business has it’s pros and cons. Catherine had to move on from her first business because it was heavily reliant on her personal relationships with the businesses. Why? What effect does this relationships have on businesses? Nichestreem is currently dealing with a challenge. Users loathe paying with credit cards. Why is this a problem? How has this affected the growth of the business? How is it being solved? Catherine has two big dreams for her business. One. She wants to work with the Nigerian gospel stream...why? Find out what the second stream is Catherine has one key to building a great startup, what is it? How did her business raise $250,000 in five days based on just a concept? Her biggest business pain point is funding. Why? Selected links from the episode Selected Book from the episode…
Olamide Brown is the founder of Flying Doctors Nigeria. Already, you understand how unique and important what she is doing is. Millions of people have lost their lives because they could not be transported to the right doctor or medical facility in time. Her sister, was one of these people. She decided to do something about it. Flying Doctors Nigeria (FDN) Limited is a Medical Emergency Service that specializes in air ambulance, medevac, remote site medical solutions, and infrastructural development and training. She had a lot of people tell her the idea couldn’t work. How did she pull it off? In today’s episode, you’ll learn: Ola hasn’t done much of flying or practice medicine in years. Why? What does this have to do with running the business? And how difficult was this decision? How did she become a pilot and a medical doctor at the same time? It was difficult getting people to believe in her business at the start. More difficult because it was a fairly new concept in Nigeria. But she had a lucky break after a lot of hard work. What was it? Find out Her biggest business pain point is managing herself. What does this mean? Ola does not want to own a plane. She prefers leasing. What is the rationale behind this business decision? How has it worked so far? Would you agree with her reasons? Selected links from the episode Selected Book from the episode…
On today’s episode, we have Demi Owoseje, founder of Majeurs Chesterfield. Majeurs Chesterfield specialises in “preloved” leather and fabric furniture. They also deal with brands such as classic twentieth century pieces. They’ve got a fondness for Chesterfield sofas, and pride themselves in delivering nothing short of stunning. Demi has an interesting story. She has excelled in a male dominated industry. In this episode, she weaves an interesting story about her journey and the defining moments she had to go through… such as turning down a potential promotion for a gut entrepreneurial feeling. Over a period of time, she has added some major milestones to her long list of achievements. In 2014, she hosted Prince Charles to a royal visit at her studio and got an invite to speak at No 10, Downing Street. She is currently started operations in Nigeria and is looking forward to contribute to the change happening here. On this episode, you’ll learn: Why she walked away from a promotion offer Why you should know the value of what you are selling About her love for architecture and building things How the idea of furniture business was born How to listen and trust your guts. The essential thing you need if you are trying to scale The importance of media attention for your business and how to get it The importance of social media and how they are leveraging it to get clients Why you need to be able to run your business even if you are physically absent How to avoid getting stuck in your comfort zone About another industry she’s interested in And more Selected links from this episode Clements House Selected Book from this episode Image of Africa. Chinua Achebe…
Temie Giwa-Tunbosun is the founder of LifeBank. LifeBank is a platform that makes blood available when and where it is needed in Nigeria. LifeBank has one goal… to save lives. In 2016, Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg found her work intriguing and rightly said “If she can actually pull it off, she’ll show a model that will impact not just Lagos, not just Nigeria, but countries all around the world.” She tells an enthralling story, particular is the “switches” she had and how they shaped who she has become today.. In today’s episode, you’ll learn: Temie had to leave Nigeria as a 15 year old to America. How did that influence her? Her parents had to leave to the US to create a better life for their children. Temie decided to come back to Nigeria. Why? She wanted to become a lawyer and was on course to attend law school, but changed her mind at the last minute. Why did that happen? What was the deciding factor? What did she mean by “I could not be an African and be a lawyer in the US?” Kofi Annan and Nelson Mandela where huge influences in her life. Find out why What changed for her career-wise when she witnessed a breech birth in the northern part of Nigeria? How was LifeBank born? What is the story behind it? And more Selected links from episode…
This is to introduce the Season 2 of Building the Future Podcast. One-on-one interviews with people who are using technology, entrepreneurship and innovative ideas to shape the future of Africa. This season is in partnership with the British Council Nigeria.
We have come to the end of Building The Future Podcast Season 1! It has been an interesting journey full of learnings and exposure. Season two starts next year, and already we have an impressive lineup of entrepreneurs as well as a special series planned I have given a bit of insight into what you can expect on Buildng The Future Podcast season 2. I look forward to sharing this journey with you!…
This was a live podcast recorded in Abuja! Tola Onayemi is in the economic team of the office of the Vice President. He serves as a Special Adviser on the industry, trade and investment cluster by providing technical policy assistance. Tola is strongly of the opinion that crude oil is not the solution Nigeria desperately craves. He says, “ if we are ever going to take off as an economy, it’s not just oil.” This discussion dwells on progressively and sustainably making Nigeria and easy place to do business. This is the recording of a live podcast. In this episode, you’ll learn: Tola studied law in as his first degree. How did he make the shift into policy and economic decision making? How did he get the call to serve on the economic team of the Vice President? What options did he have at the time? And why did he make the decision to join the team? What is like on a day to day basis? Tola breaks it down in four streams. Find out what they are He is of the opinion that the civil service is one of the most powerful aspects of government. Do you agree with him? Find out what his reasons are What can be done on the short term to make it easier to do business in Nigeria? What does Tola says is being done currently? What does Tola mean by consequence management? And how does this term affect business in Nigeria? And more Selected links from episode…
Michael Simeon is the Co-founder and CEO of VoguePay, a user-friendly online payment system in Nigeria. Michael believes that to launch a product, it’s essential to research the market. In his words “You have to build something that fits for a purpose.” VoguePay is a multi-million dollar business that never received any funding or grant. In today’s episode, you’ll learn: How Michael’s sister influenced his decision to start Voguepay. She owns an e-commerce platform in the UK and wanted a payment platform that could collect payment from Nigeria. She expected Michael to solve the problem. How did he decide to start a business from that? How did Michael build his first business while he was still at the university? How successful was the business? There were five co-founders who put money in the business every month from their personal pocket. How easy was it to bootstrap? And what does this have to do with Michael’s belief about collective effort? Voguepay marketed to developers instead of merchants. What was the reason behind that? Why did VoguePay ensure that all their strategies were self-sufficient? And how did they manage it? How do you build a multi-million dollar company without raising funds? Michael has some tips What is their biggest pain point? And more Selected links from episode…
Paul ziem is the founder and CEO of NerdCore, a digital entertainment studio poised to make very entertaining games, comics and other related products and services. Paul is of the opinion that gaming can change the African narrative. By the kinds of games developed, the storylines, the characters we can tell our stories and share our uniqueness with the rest of the world. According to Paul, gaming is the “new golf” CEOs play over drinks. In today’s episode, you’ll learn: Why did Paul move into gaming? What did his childhood have to do with it? Why Paul believes he has had more profound experience from video games than from books and movies? Are people already gamers without thinking about it? Why does Paul think so? What makes a really good game? Why does Paul believe a good game has to make you question yourself as a person? What does Paul mean by “gaming is a scalable distraction?” Why did Paul decide to set up his own gaming studio? Paul was a student of accounting before dropping out. Why did he make the decision? How easy was it for him? How is NerdCore monetized? How do they make their money? What is their biggest pain point? And more Selected links from episode Selected books from this episode…
#20, Edem Dotse Edem Dotse is the founder and CEO of Swiftly, a disruptive peer to peer platform making shipping affordable for everyone. If you are shipping a container, you can find someone to share your extra space. Sending a package by Air, add it to someone who has extra space or yet still collaborate to fill your shipment and share cost. Edem has a brilliant view about sharing. He thinks it’s pretty wasteful to ship a half-full container by sea or a half-full air package. In Today’s episode, you will learn: When Edem first faced the shipping problem in 2012. He had wanted to ship a gear box and found the expense too high? What did he do next? Why is Edem deeply inspired by Uber and Airbnb? What are they doing differently? And how is Swiftly similar? What Swiftly’s initial MWP was? What the challenge was, and how they solved it. How does Edem think you should deal with the pressure of raising money? What has this got to do with creating and nurturing a fantastic team? Why does Edem think freight forwarding hasn’t seen much disruption? How big is this industry? And how is Swiftly filling this gap? What Edem considers their biggest pain point? What is the outcome they’d like to have? And more! Selected links from the episode Selected Book from this episode…
Akin Jones is is the co-founder and CEO of Aella Credit, a provider of financial employee benefits. Aella credit is working towards eliminating the hassle of standard loan applications and enabling employees to borrow at competitive and fair rates through their employers. Akin Jones is one of the few startup founders that got multiple offers to join some of the best accelerator programmes in the world. In Today’s Episode, you will learn: Why Akin believes there is no real credit system in the country because banks are built to be conservative. The difference between investing for immediate dividend and investing for an exit. Why startup investors should choose the latter. Why it isn’t advisable to put too much information in your pitch deck. What event gave Akin this insight? What should you do instead? How Aella credit got into Barclays accelerator What is the golden rule in fundraising? Akin has just one rule and if you are keen on raising funds from investors, you should get this golden rule How Akin got access to investors? What Akin considers a “foolproof” way to get investors Why did an initial $4million term sheet agreement fall through? How Aella credit went back to the drawing board and finally raised money. What did Akin think of the whole process? How has Aella credit achieved a repayment rate of 99%? What is Akin’s disposition to risk? Why does he think Nigerians are very afraid of risk? What does Akin mean when he says “Macroeconomics is more damaging to entrepreneurs?” What are the single most common mistakes Startups in the Nigerian ecosystem make? And more! Selected links from the episode Selected Book from this episode…
Okechukwu Ofili is the co-founder and CEO of Okadabooks, a book reading and publishing platform that has powered over 14,000 books, 137,000 readers and a million book downloads. They have bootstrapped their startup for the past three years and are now in the process of raising money from investors. Okadabooks has gone on to become one of the biggest digital publishing site in Africa for authors. In Today’s Episode, you will learn: How the idea for Okadabooks was born out of Okechukwu’s frustration. Learn about his personal experience with book distributors who owed him N1.5m from sales of books and how he decided to do something about it. How Okechukwu and his partner bootstrapped their business for three years with their personal funds and how they psychologically prepared themselves to stop funding the business. How and why did Okechukwu take a meeting in the toilet? Why does he believe “if you want something bad enough, you have to find it? No excuses? Why Okechukwu believes the “Mark Zuckerberg story” doesn’t work for everybody? How has he dealt with his own peculiar situation? How did he position himself to run a full-time job and run his startup as a side hustle at the same time? How did Okechukwu split his time? What does Okechukwu feel is the most effective way of getting a CTO? What are you wrong? What is the right tactic to adopt? How did Okechukwu combine all these to get his CTO? Why it is important for businesses to know their sticky points. How was Okadabooks able to find out what made their customers stay? What tips can you pick from his experience? Selected links from the episode Selected Book from this episode This episode is brought to you by . Have you ever left a negotiation feeling that you have lost, over-committed or will be over-paying? Negotiation is one of the most important skills you’ll ever require as a business person. That is why you need to attend this online masterclass put together by JEE Client Services on 14th November 2017. At the end of the webinars you will understand how to gather intelligence and prepare for negotiation, how to set expectations, how to bargain across cultural borders, how to deal with deadlocks during negotiation, and a lot more. Go to and register. The first masterclass is free for listeners of this podcast. To register go to JEE Clients Services is organising a free negotiation masterclass on 14th November. If you recognize the value of negotiation skills, get your seat here.…
“Always provide a fantastic service” On today’s episode, we have Kendall Ananyi, co-founder of Tizeti which operates as Wifi.com.ng Wifi.com.ng provides unlimited uncapped internet to users for less than $25 per month. Kendall has an interesting. He has studied as an engineer and has worked with ExxonMobil, Microsoft, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. He started Wifi.com.ng in order to solve their personal problem. He wanted unlimited and fast internet. He was told by experts that the idea wasn’t going to work. He was resisted by few people. He had big competition along the way. And he turned turn down $1m funding from a VC because the terms weren’t right. He then bootstrapped to a significant revenue before getting into Y Combinator accelerator programme. On this episode, you’ll learn: What the original idea for the business was and how they started wifi.com.ng How to go after and actualize an audacious goal Why several people told them the idea wasn’t going to work and what they did That wifi.com.ng was a side hustle and that Kendall had a full-time job How to turn a personal problem into a business opportunity Why competition is not bad for you How to identify your unique selling point How they bootstrapped their company to massive revenue Why they turned down $1m VC funding How they got into Y Combinator Why they launched as Wifi.com.ng instead of Tizeti The lessons they learned from YC The next challenge Kendall intends to solve after Wifi.com.ng And more Selected links from this episode This episode is brought to you by . Have you ever left a negotiation feeling that you have lost, over-committed or will be over-paying? Negotiation is one of the most important skills you’ll ever require as a business person. That is why you need to attend this online masterclass put together by JEE Client Services on 14th November 2017. At the end of the webinars you will understand how to gather intelligence and prepare for negotiation, how to set expectations, how to bargain across cultural borders, how to deal with deadlocks during negotiation, and a lot more. Go to and register. The first masterclass is free for listeners of this podcast. To register go to…
"Leadership is not about titles or positions, leadership is about solving problems." Oby Ezekwesili is a force. She was recognized by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the world and by New York Times as one of the 25 Women of Impact for 2015. She was Vice President of the World Bank (Africa Region) with responsibilities for operations in 48 countries and a lending portfolio of about $40 billion. And also worked for as the Nigerian Minister of Education and later as Minister of Solid Minerals. She exudes passion and strength. We recorded this episode as a live event at the Ventures Platform in Abuja with few people in the audience. Recording this podcast was an insight into her phenomenal mind. In this episode we discuss: Not everyone is called to politics, but every citizens is called to governance. Good entrepreneurship is a form of participating in governance. Courage is an expression of inner conviction. Technology has given Africa an unprecedented access to the ‘4th industrial revolution’. The winners are not yet determined because everyone is almost starting at the same time. Leadership is not a title or position. It’s about solving problems. Knowledge is at it’s cheapest and available to everybody. Africa can claim the 21st century. Towards the end of the interview, I asked her what she would have been doing if she was 20 younger. “I probably build 20 startups” She said. RECOMMENDED BOOK Selected links from this episode Please enjoy this wide-ranging conversation with Dr Oby Ezekwesili! This episode is brought to you by . Have you ever left a negotiation feeling that you have lost, over-committed or will be over-paying? Negotiation is one of the most important skills you’ll ever require as a business person. That is why you need to attend this online masterclass put together by JEE Client Services on 14th November 2017. At the end of the webinars you will understand how to gather intelligence and prepare for negotiation, how to set expectations, how to bargain across cultural borders, how to deal with deadlocks during negotiation, and a lot more. Go to and register. The first masterclass is free for listeners of this podcast. To register go to…
“No matter the rules, delivery is key” On today’s episode of Building the Future, we have Cecil Nutakor, Founder of eCampus. eCampus literally puts the classroom in your palms, giving you the power and control to self learn and explore at your own pace. Cecil is using technology to disrupt self-paced education in Africa. Cecil has an interesting story. He failed his senior secondary school certificate exams… thrice. He was written off as a failure. But he believed the system had failed him. So he set out to proof this. He learnt how to write software programmes, and built an learning management system application. That application got him a scholarship and a job at a University in Ghana. And he then built a business on the back of that. He is innovating the education system…. He is making it easier for others that might have ‘failed’ because of the system. Listen to the conversation . On this episode, you’ll learn: How he built his first computer from scratch How failing SSCE exams three times inspired him to build E-campus The MVP when they first started back in 2003 How he won two scholarships through E-campus.. Why he dropped out of his first scholarship and how he won the second one. How he self taught himself to code. About the challenges and bottlenecks in reforming the existing educational system How the brain learns and how best you can take advantage of it How he got his accreditation for a course he created titled “open source technology program” while still a student. Winning the education startup of the year and the Singularity University Global Impact Challenge (April, 2017) And more RECOMMENDED BOOKS Selected links from this episode…
“The customer is not just the king, he runs the business” On today’s episode of Building the Future, we have Oluyomi Ojo, Co-Founder of Printivo. Printivo is a DIY (do it yourself) web-to-print-to-doorstep platform. This startup is trying to redefine the digital printing business by offering consumers a radically easy solution for meeting their printing requirements. Oluyomi has always been an entrepreneur. Specifically, he has always been involved in the printing industry. He grew up learning from his dad who was a printing broker and ran a print business as a side hustle while in college. On this episode, you’ll learn: How his first employee became one of his co-founders Why he doesn’t favour pay-on-delivery and what he things the better model is Their first investor meeting, how unprepared they were and how they were able to pull through How he and his co-founders invested their life savings - $60,000 to launch their business. His first business (Urbanbase) and how it’s still doing well despite his absence About the challenges and bottlenecks of running a print business in Nigeria. The underlying principle of Printivo How and when they got their first client About Printivo’s initial Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and what changed And more Selected links from this episode…
On today’s episode of Building the Future, we have Afua Osei, Co-Founder of She Leads Africa. She Leads Africa is a community that helps young African women achieve their professional goals with engaging online content and pan-African events. Afua’s journey to entrepreneurship has been an interesting one: from working in the Office of First Lady Michelle Obama and working in other political campaigns to consulting for Mckinsey in Lagos and finally started SLA with fellow McKinsey consultant, Yasmin Belo-Osagie. Through it all, Afua has always been interested in jobs that allow her work with women. On this episode, you’ll learn: More about Afua’s work with Michelle Obama and how her experience working with the First Lady shaped her views on branding and communications. How business school opened her mind to the opportunities that abound outside of politics The ‘aha’ moment for SLA and why SLA is focused on African women instead of the entire African population. Why the first iteration of SLA was not successful, how SLA v2 came to fruition with help from her co-founder, Yasmin The science behind approaching potential sponsors and partners. Afua doesn’t reach out to sponsors and hope one of them takes the bait. How SLA makes money And more Selected links from this episode:…
On the podcast today, we have Michael Ocansey, the CTO and Co-Founder of AgroCenta. Michael runs an interesting business. Agrocenta aggregates small holder farmers in rural farming communities, and give them access to market, capital and resources. Agrocenta aim to sign up 1000 farmers and working on 1000 hectares in Ghana. And they are barely scratching the surface of opportunity! On This Episode You’ll Learn: How Agrocenta is using technology to make the sale and transportation of produce seamless Agrocenta’s fool-proof way of onboarding farmers How Agrocenta is helping farmers access credit from financial institutions, as well as educating them so they can cultivate better produce. More about Swappaholics, Michael’s first startup, and how it pivoted into Agrocenta Some thoughts on the Ghanaian startup ecosystem and the opportunity for growth And much more Selected links from this episode…
On the podcast today, we have the CEO and Co-Founder of Paystack, Shola Akinlade. Paystack is a payments processing company which lets businesses accept payments via debit card or money transfer on their websites or mobile apps. Paystack was the very first Nigerian company to get into YC - which is no small feat! Shola is a software engineer by training and his foray into software engineering started when his uncle gifted him a computer. We discuss his journey as a developer, from being a part of the vibrant tech ecosystem at Babcock University to building a tracking tool for Heineken to getting his first 10 Paystack customers. As at 2015, no other payment processor or gateway was facilitating recurring payments for merchants. This was Paystack’s x-factor and entry point. An important aspect of entrepreneurship is finding a tribe of mentors/advisors who believe in the product, are able to give advice and make introductions on your behalf. Shola was able to leverage relationships he had to get him interesting opportunities On This Episode You’ll Learn How Shola and his co-founder, Ezra Olubi met at Babcock and ended up working together. Hint: YC helped make this match happen More about Babcock University’s tech ecosystem which inspired Shola to build his first project: a voice-activated tool for websites. This tool landed him his first job Shola talks about his previous business, Precurio, an intranet enterprise tool he built which he quickly monetized and is still running today. How working consulting jobs for banks, a little tinkering with Mastercard’s API led him to what is now known as Paystack The most important lessons he learnt at Y Combinator around product and hiring talent Shola’s biggest pain point, Paystack’s growth metric and much more The relationship between Paystack and Flutterwave. Selected links from this episode…
On the podcast today, we have Ngozi Dozie, Co-Founder at One Finance (OneFi). OneFi is a platform that provide access to finance by leveraging data and technology. One of their major product is a lending mobile app which enable people to get access to short term loans in Nigeria as quickly as possible. Ngozi has an interesting background…. he has First Class degree in Physics from Imperial College London. MSc in Computation from Oxford University. And MBA from The Wharton School. Before he started his business. He had a career as a finance man. He used to be an investment banker with JPMorgan. A risk consultant with Arthur Andersen UK, and worked as a financial analyst with Deloitte. But now, Ngozi wears many hats as an entrepreneur. He is involved in several other businesses such as Cafe Neo, a coffee chain with outlets in Lagos and Kigali. A large franchise of Mr. Biggs quick-service restaurants in Nigeria. And a company that processes and export coffee from Rwanda. In this episode, we spend a bit of our time time talking about the opportunities and challenges in running multiple businesses at the same time. And the paradox of focus for African entrepreneurs. I met Ngozi in 2016 we had coffee at one of his coffee shop and since then we’ve done some projects together, and also had several conversations about the growth and impact of tech-enabled businesses in Africa. This episode is an attempt to record one of those conversations (watch out for Ngozi’s laughter at 29 mins) On This Episode You’ll Learn: Why Ngozi thinks running many different ventures may not be the wisest decision for anyone to make. 3 major ways to invest in growth companies - private equity, venture capital and venture building Ngozi’s theory on how building companies from scratch is easier to do than trying to scale an existing business. And a brief story on how his parents built Diamond bank The risks involved in giving small unsecured loans to individuals which Ngozi believes is the same with lending to companies or individuals with higher net worth. A surprisingly statistic: Paylater’s rate of non-performing loans is arguably lower than that of commercial banks. Why he left Wall Street and quit his job working in investment banking to start up in Africa The future of lending and credit in Nigeria His biggest pain point running his businesses and the growth metric he measures The importance of solving real/big problems as a startup in Nigeria right now. Opportunities that abound in logistics, healthcare, power, etc And more Selected links from this episode…
Bob Collymore is the CEO of Safaricom one of the leading telco in Africa and pioneer of Mpesa, the world’s most developed mobile payment system. If there is any poster child of how innovative mobile technology is changing Africa, Mpesa will be a top contender. Bob was originally born in Guyana, but his work experience spans across diverse countries such as Japan, South Africa and the United Kingdom where he has held various senior roles in marketing, purchasing, retail and corporate affairs. It was such an honour speaking with Bob and I’m excited to share this deeply insightful episode with you. He was more than glad to share his rather impressive reading list most of which I had to check out right after the podcast. We also talked about the future of technology and machine learning,industrialization creating jobs and using tech to solve real problems that people face in Africa In this episode, you’ll learn: How safaricom won in Kenya by making their product accessible and affordable to the ‘man on the street’ Why not to engage in price wars with your competitors. How Safaricom won as the No.1 telco in Kenya Mpesa success is attributed to the problem it’s solving The companies that start with purpose will do well Use tech to address problems in Africa, rather than bringing Silicon Valley type of solution… Disruption is going to happen. Better to disrupt your company than allow others to disrupt you There can be no alternative to learning. Why reading long form content will make you smarter Purpose, People and Profit Selected Links in This Episode Airtel - Jerry Kaplan - Oliver Theobald - Olivia Fox Cabane and Judah Pollack - Paul Kalanithi…
“One of the biggest mistakes online businesses make is to think that just because your service is delivered online, it means your customers can only be acquired online” Our guest this week is Marek Zmysłowski Marek is the cofounder of Jumia Travel (formerly Jovago) and HotelOga. is a hotel management system which enables hotels in Africa to have their own booking engine, websites and customer relationship management system. Earlier this year, HotelOga merged with Savanna Sunrise, another travel and hospitality marketing company based in Kenya. Prior to starting HotelOga, Marek was the Managing Director at Jovago one of Rocket Internet companies in Africa Marek was born and grew up in Poland, where he founded two startups. He now calls Nigeria home, and he is making a big bet on the future growth of the continent. In this interview, we discussed Marek’s journey into the startup and Africa. How Jovago grew to over 20,000 hotels in Africa. His view about how to start and scale internet businesses in the continent. And we discussed the future of the online travel agencies in Africa, in a wider context of how online aggregators shape fragmented market On this episode, you'll learn: Why startup ecosystems need hype to attract talents and investors at the macro level, and why founders should avoid the distractions these hype may bring How to lose $100,000 in startup by doing the wrong things How to raise money from investors on the back of learnings from past failures How increase your runway by generating cash from Validate your business model, understand the scale of the demand and do customer development before investing in technology. Customer > Product How the the Jovago team in Lagos signed up 500 hotels before they launched their website. Why it is important to raise enough money to build high growth business in a frontier market Why you should avoid raising seed investment that is contingent on meeting unproven KPIs. Why scale is important in startup, because it enables you to have significant impact How to leverage on existing offline channels to acquire customers for your online startup Why it is important to disrupt your business before other does it for you Why there are very few CEOs that can take high growth startups through all the stages of its growth from idea to maturity. Selected links and resources Book -…
“In business, emotions should play a secondary role and logic a primary one” Deepankar Rustagi is the Co-Founder and CEO at Vconnect, Nigeria’s largest online business directory and local search engine. Vconnect was one of the first players in the Nigerian tech ecosystem and has been active since 2010. This episode is a lesson on how to get traction for your startup by focusing on ‘One Metric that Matters’! It is very tempting to do a lot of things at the same time as an entrepreneur. Deepankar had the same challenge. But he had a good advisor who told him to focus on one thing only. That focus on a single metric - the number of businesses added to Vconnect platform within a specific geography - was a major contributor to their early success. One of my biggest takeaway from this episode is this: ecommerce business is harder and more complex than people think it is from the outside. It’s one of the most difficult business to scale. And success is dependent on a lot of factors that is beyond the control of one company. Successful ecommerce companies are built on a lot of existing and continously innovated infrastructure, such as payment, logistics, stock management, consumer online behaviour, merchant education and trust. Stay humble, stay focussed, stay grounded. If you run a business that sells, or has a potential to sell via ecommerce platform, this episode is for you. On this episode, you'll learn: How he started Vconnect after an accident on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway Why he pursued a degree in software engineering as well as the jobs he did before starting vconnect. How to get traction by focusing on ‘One Metric the Matter’ and specific market segment. The advice given by a member of the Vconnect Advisory Board that significantly shaped the business. The conversation he had with his previous employers when he informed them that he was about to leave to start his business, and how they ended up funding his startup! How well-funded competition helped educate the market, and what they learn from them. How Vconnect tried to pivot into ecommerce business model, why it failed and and the biggest takeaways from taking that experiment. Why you need to really care about unit metric of your startup The key things that matters before setting up an ecommerce business in Africa Why it is important to build around your core competencies as a businesses rather than do-it-all Why it is important to get your team to speak into significant changes you are making as as business. What Vconnect’s plan for the next few years is as well as an interesting add-on they've included in their directory services Why African tech ecosystem will be strengthened through collaboration Selected links from this episode This episode was brought to you by is a legal firm that specialise in working with early stage startups in Africa. They understand the peculiarities of business as a startup. They are trusted by many other startups including the likes of paystack, callbase, pass.ng, techcabal, printivo, wecyclers, and many others. To get free consultation as a listener of this podcast… fill out the form on is a ridiculously simple online accounting platform specifically designed for small and medium scale businesses in Africa. Accounteer simplifies your financial report, help you to create invoices, track your expenses and avoid overpaying taxes. It is integrated to local payment solutions such as PayStack in Nigeria and DusuPay in Uganda, Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania. To get an exclusive 75% off your first year subscription, sign up FREE at…
Kola is the founder of Ventures Platform, an early stage fund and startup accelerator for founders across Africa. Within a year, Kola and his team have invested in over 20 startups through the programme. Kola bootstrapped his original business, Emerging Platform from idea to a significant success by mixing healthy dose of risks with grit. I met Kola last year, and we seem to immediately connect due to our shared belief in entrepreneurship as a viable way to accelerate growth potentials in Africa. He recently wrote . On the show, we discussed his journey to entrepreneurship from grad school to running family business and starting Emerging Platforms. Kola also provides some insight into the kinds of businesses Ventures Platform would accept into its accelerator program. On This Episode You’ll Learn: Important lessons about being a serial entrepreneur he learned from his father who took big risks bootstrapping several businesses with a family in tow. How to sell your product to big clients through ‘proof-of-concept’ sales pitch Handing a family business over to another family member may not necessarily be the best thing for the business. How productising your service business can significant transform your revenue and make it more predictable. And much more Selected links from this episode This episode was brought to you by: is a legal firm that specialise in working with early stage startups in Africa. They understand the peculiarities of business as a startup. They are trusted by many other startups including the likes of paystack, callbase, pass.ng, techcabal, printivo, wecyclers, and many others. To get free consultation as a listener of this podcast… fill out the form on is a ridiculously simple online accounting platform specifically designed for small and medium scale businesses in Africa. Accounteer simplifies your financial report, help you to create invoices, track your expenses and avoid overpaying taxes. It is integrated to local payment solutions such as PayStack in Nigeria and DusuPay in Uganda, Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania. To get an exclusive 75% off your first year subscription, sign up FREE at…
One of the major challenge for doing business in Africa is lack of data. It’s hard to get information about private businesses in the continent. There are lots of consultants and researchers scouting around the continent for every bit of data they can get on businesses. Rob Withagen used to be one of those researchers. Until he got stucked in traffic in a sweaty taxi on the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos. And then he had the aha moment. How about building a data platform that provides trackable research and analysis of thousand privately held companies in Africa? Rob shared his idea with his colleague, Greg Cohen and Asoko Insight was born. Asoko Insight is a platform that provides data and analysis on African companies to global corporates, investors, governments and potential partners. Basically they provide visibility and transparency needed for doing business in Africa. They've raised more than $1.3m seed capital from investors such as CRE Venture Capital, Singularity Investments, North Base Media, Emergo Partners amongst others I met Rob in 2015 when I was working as a Venture Partner at Potential VC. I find his business fascinating and I am convinced it's going to do a lot of good for so many companies in Africa. But more importantly I find Rob interesting….and we’ve been good friend since then. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to move from ‘aha’ idea moment to building an MVP for your business Why it is important to recruit a CTO as early as possible for tech startup; and how you can do so as non-technical founder even when you can’t afford to pay them. The key is to have a compelling vision Why it is important to leave your employers in good terms, because they may support you in your venture How Asoko Insight is run by team across several countries and 3 continents What is technical (code) debt and how to avoid one in your startup How you can make money with services that can’t scale on your way to building a scalable product. How to segment your target customers by geography and annual revenue turnover. The future of data in Africa is machine learning….there is a big opportunity for those who can provide the talent Links: . This episode is brought to you by is a legal firm that specialise in working with early stage startups in Africa. They understand the peculiarities of business as a startup. They are trusted by many other startups including the likes of paystack, callbase, pass.ng, techcabal, printivo, wecyclers, and many others. To get free consultation as a listener of this podcast… fill out the form on…
“Your product is only as good as its distribution channels” Mark Essien is the founder and CEO of hotels.ng an online hotel booking platform in Nigeria. With over 8000 hotels on the platform, hotels.ng is one of the largest online aggregator in Sub-Saharan Africa. He has raised over $2m from the likes of Spark, EchoVC and Omidyar Network. Mark is one of the most impressive founders I know. when I was planning to come to Nigeria in 2015 to get involved in the tech ecosystem, Mark dominated a lot of my research as someone I should meet. Since then we’ve met several times, and he was a speaker at the High Growth Africa Summit 2016 that I hosted in Lagos. There are so many gems in this episode for anyone trying to build a company or currently runs one in an emerging market. The first 25 minutes of this podcast is like a lesson in how to start a startup in difficult places. We talked about he validated his idea, the grunt work done to gain traction in the early days. How he ran out of money, and yet was able to pull a winner. We discussed how to raise money and why founders should not take money from everyone. We talked about why focussing on developing talent will drive the growth of the startup ecosystem in Africa. In this episode, you’ll learn: A “formula” for building a company (in an emerging market) that your customers actually need About the earliest version of Hotels.ng’s, how it worked compared to how it works now. Building relationships that led to Hotels.ng very first investors The different business models that they tried to arrive at the model they currently use. Some thoughts on why Lagos is the place to be for businesses in Nigeria. How the ecosystem has changed between 2012 and now. Mark’s list of things you need to run a successful company as well as some predictions for how the ecosystem will change over time And much more Selected Resources Mentioned in this Episode Gnumm The Podcast is brought to you by? is a legal firm that specialise in working with early stage startups in Africa. They understand the peculiarities of business as a startup. They are trusted by many other startups including the likes of paystack, callbase, pass.ng, techcabal, printivo, wecyclers, and many others. To get free consultation as a listener of this podcast… fill out the form on…
Tayo Bamiduro is the co-founder of Max.ng. He is an interesting guy…. and I’ve got lots of time for him. I understand his business. My first startup was trying to solve similar problem. Max.ng is a hyperlocal, on-demand delivery service based in Lagos, Nigeria. Max.ng aims to tackle Lagos’ notorious logistics problem (traffic) using proprietary geotagging technology and also help reduce youth unemployment rate in the city. So about 50% of MAX’s Delivery Champions are below the age of 30. And they aim to create 500+ more jobs this year. Since launching in 2015, Tayo and his team have been up to a lot of good! They acquired food startup, Easy Appetite and also founded Max.Go, Nigeria’s first motorcycle transport app. The Max.ng team was the first African team to be admitted into the Techstars startup accelerator programme in New York, raised a funding round of almost US$1 million afterwards. They were named runner-up at the TechCrunch Startup Battlefield event in London and named a “Top 12 Global Inclusive Growth Idea” by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Harvard Center for International Development. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to gather a team around your vision and product How Max.ng is solving a big problem and doing social good in the process by employing internally displaced people from Chibok Real hustlers… the founders learnt how to ride a motorbike in order to validate their business hypotheses Why they turned down Plug and Play accelerator programme in New York Raising money is not a walk in the park… Tayo pitched to over 100 investors and got less than 10 to invest and the kind of people they employ Innovative companies solving Africa’s deep-seated problems Notable quote “The way Africa will leapfrog into first-world status is using technology” Resources/links mentioned in the podcast:…
플레이어 FM에 오신것을 환영합니다!
플레이어 FM은 웹에서 고품질 팟캐스트를 검색하여 지금 바로 즐길 수 있도록 합니다. 최고의 팟캐스트 앱이며 Android, iPhone 및 웹에서도 작동합니다. 장치 간 구독 동기화를 위해 가입하세요.