Founders Connect

Founders Connect
  • 5.0 (2)
  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Founders Connect is on a mission to document the stories, journeys and ideologies of leading and emerging African entrepreneurs and operators. The podcast aims to create meaningful insights that can be shared and beneficial to other founders, entrepreneurs, knowledge seekers, consumers and the world in general - targeting a wide variety of audiences.

  1. This Investor Who Has Seen 500M+ in Deals Explains Why Startups Shouldn't Take VC | Nichole Yembra

    1D AGO

    This Investor Who Has Seen 500M+ in Deals Explains Why Startups Shouldn't Take VC | Nichole Yembra

    Nichole Yembra is a force of nature in the African tech ecosystem. As a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and an Obama Foundation Leader, she has overseen over $500 million in capital raises and fostered the growth of giants like Flutterwave and Max. In this deep-dive interview on Found Connect, Nichole shares the raw, unfiltered reality of what it takes to build, fail, and scale in Nigeria and beyond.Nichole discusses her transition from a high-flying career at EY in Atlanta and Brazil to becoming the "Chief Problem Solver" in Lagos. She opens up about the "Mamba Mentality" she adopted from Kobe Bryant—a relentless, competitive drive that pushed her to leave her comfort zone and redefine success. She explains why she dropped "loyalty" as a top value after facing a betrayal that forced her to start from scratch, and why she now prioritizes authenticity and curiosity above all else.This conversation goes beyond business metrics. Nichole talks about the physiological nature of emotions, the "cognitive loneliness" of leadership, and the power of female friendships. She breaks down why most businesses are actually not "venture-backable" and provides a masterclass for founders on the importance of timing, execution, and customer money over investor funding. Whether you are an aspiring entrepreneur, an investor, or someone looking for the motivation to "craft your life," this episode is packed with gems.From her early days as a "terrible child" jumping gates in Lagos to building 143—a wellness and Pilates sanctuary—Nichole’s story is one of evolution. Learn how she balances being a mother of twins, a managing partner, and a creative spirit while maintaining a deep sense of gratitude and peace in the chaos of Nigeria. Subscribe to Found Connect for more stories of the founders shaping Africa’s future.Timestamps00:00 - Intro03:38 - Growing up as a creative and competitive child in Lagos06:01 - A childhood lesson on earning money and honesty10:51 - Turning 39 and the legacy of her mother12:11 - Why being in Nigeria is more liberating than the US14:42 - Breaking down core values: Freedom and Authenticity20:43 - The Mamba Mentality: How Kobe Bryant influenced her drive22:54 - The mindset of greatness vs. mediocrity33:25 - Moving back to Nigeria36:34 - Building Greenhouse Lab and the Google partnership37:42 - The truth about raising your first $1M in Africa43:55 - Why Venture Capital often "makes no sense"56:29 - What Chrysalis Capital actually does for companies1:07:02 - Transitioning into the wellness industry with 1431:11:15 - Losing everything and starting over from scratch1:20:47 - The Trust Equation: Competence, Reliability, and Authenticity1:26:19 - The importance of ambitious female friendships

    1h 31m
  2. She left Oil & Gas at 40 With No Business Experience to build a Billion-Naira Empire

    1D AGO

    She left Oil & Gas at 40 With No Business Experience to build a Billion-Naira Empire

    What does it actually take to build a business that lasts 25 years in Nigeria — through recessions, exchange rate crashes, COVID, counterfeit competitors, and a rapidly changing economy? Mrs. Temilola Adepetun has the answer, and it is not what most people expect.This episode of Founders Connect is one of the most layered and honest conversations about what entrepreneurship really looks like over the long term. Temilola breaks down exactly how she validated a business idea in her head before there was internet, how she dragged inventory through the streets of New York in winter with stiff hands and no nails left just to keep the business stocked, and how she survived two major competitors rising up to take her market — not by going to war with them, but by refusing to compromise on quality until her customers came back to her on their own.She talks about the real cost of growing too fast, the discipline of growing organically, and why staying focused on your lane in the early years is one of the most underrated business decisions a founder can make. She walks through what it took to go from being the sole operator of a seasonal business to building a head office, hiring a COO thirteen years in, doubling revenue within two years of that hire, and then using that momentum to attract private equity. She explains what due diligence actually looked like for a brick-and-mortar business and why the most powerful thing she ever did was bank every single naira she made and keep audited records from day one.She also shares her mental model for leaving corporate life, the Yoruba philosophy that shaped her decision to take the leap, how she read the market before anyone else saw it, and the specific mindset shift that helped her see a seasonal business not as a limitation but as a puzzle to solve. And she opens up about succession planning, the deliberate decision to pass operational control to a younger leader whose values aligned with hers, and why she believes that letting other people in — truly in — is the most important thing a founder can do to make their business outlast them.If you have ever wondered whether it is too late to start, whether a simple idea can become something serious, whether a non-tech business can scale, attract capital, and compete globally, this episode is the answer. Do not miss it.Timestamps:00:00 - Intro02:21 - Walking the Runway at Lagos Fashion Week at 6506:06 - What It Really Takes to Run a Business for 25 Years09:14 - The Solution-Oriented Mindset That Saved the Business11:23 - Was It Risky to Start a Business at 40 With a Family?20:52 - On Mistakes: The Estate That Fought Back & Lessons in Cutting Losses24:05 - Recruitment Errors, Internal Fraud & Trusting the Wrong People25:42 - Balancing a Business, Travel & Three Sons28:45 - Parenting Lessons for Female Founders: What Actually Works33:57 - On Integrity: Why Honesty Is a Business Strategy, Not Just a Value37:27 - Staying Relevant Through Recessions, COVID & Changing Technology41:52 - From Bootstrapping to Private Equity: How the Deal Happened42:56 - The Four Divisions Most People Don't Know About44:28 - UNICEF, Humanitarian Aid & the Year That Made Her First Billion50:05 - How COVID Lockdown Became Their Most Productive Period55:19 - Succession Planning1:00:13 - Two Life Lessons She Learned the Hard Way1:01:37 - What She Loves (and What Surprised Her) About Getting Older1:08:42 - One Word to Describe Her Life Journey1:10:00 - Final Thoughts: On Faith, Conviction & Minimizing Regret1:15:30 - Closing: On Legacy, Succession & What the Business Is Really ForFollow Founders Connect for more conversations with the builders, operators, and entrepreneurs shaping the African business landscape.

    1h 16m
  3. Samuel Okwuada on building Healthtech in Nigeria and the Challenges that come with it

    FEB 22

    Samuel Okwuada on building Healthtech in Nigeria and the Challenges that come with it

    Samuel Okwuada sold his first software company for hundreds of thousands of dollars at 17 while studying pharmacy in the UK. Today, he runs Remedial Health, a YCombinator-backed Nigerian Healthtech startup that has raised over 50 million dollars, employs 450 people, operates 100 vehicles across three Nigerian cities, and delivers 100 million medicines annually to thousands of pharmacies and hospitals across Africa. But the journey from bedroom coder to healthcare logistics pioneer was anything but straightforward.You'll hear how Samuel started Remedial Health as healthtech without the tech, literally taking WhatsApp orders and scrambling to fulfill them manually before building the actual platform. He reveals why he would never build this company again, not even in his wildest dreams, despite raising over 50 million dollars and achieving massive scale. The operational nightmares of running what feels like running a city, managing 450 people from motor boys to engineers, dealing with law enforcement extortion on every delivery route, watching a truck carrying 50 million naira worth of medicine flip over on terrible roads just an hour after celebrating a major government contract.Samuel breaks down the real cost of building in Nigeria, explaining why Remedial Health is actually two businesses in one because you cannot outsource pharmaceutical logistics in a country with no dedicated cold chain infrastructure. This conversation goes deep into founder mental health, with Samuel candidly sharing how he oscillates between feeling invincible and wanting to quit every single day, how he manages burnout by binge-watching entire Netflix series in one sitting every two weeks, and why he stopped celebrating wins too much so failures don't hit as hard. He reveals the leadership lesson that changed everything when he crashed and burned trying to do everything himself, learning to throw new hires into the deep end and stay out of their way.For aspiring founders, Samuel shares tactical advice on raising venture capital as an African founder, explaining why you need to solve locally relevant problems that have proven models in developed markets so investors can see the vision, why resilience means taking countless rejections without taking them personally, and how to increase your surface area for luck by putting yourself in positions where opportunities can find you. He discusses the myth that startup journeys get easier with scale, the truth being you just face different problems whether it's having enough money in the bank or dealing with regulatory raids on your warehouses.The interview includes rapid-fire insights on honesty as his non-negotiable value, doing good while making profit in healthcare, why he would choose fundraising over bootstrapping despite the trade-offs, his leadership style of staying out of the way, early mornings with coffee as his productivity hack, and why if Remedial Health hits a billion dollar valuation he would only take one month off because more than that and he probably wouldn't come back to the company.Whether you're a founder navigating the chaos of African tech, an investor trying to understand the operational realities of frontier markets, or someone curious about what it really takes to digitize a traditional industry in Nigeria, this conversation delivers unfiltered truth about building at scale in challenging environments. Samuel doesn't sugarcoat the pain, the setbacks, or the moments where quitting felt like the rational choice. But he also shows why stubborn builders who refuse to give up eventually figure it out, one impossible problem at a time.This episode is sponsored by ObiexHQ

    1h 39m
  4. How to Benjamin Dada Built A Media Company While Climbing Corporate Ladders

    FEB 16

    How to Benjamin Dada Built A Media Company While Climbing Corporate Ladders

    What is it like to build one of Africa's leading tech media platforms while also moving up in the corporate fintech world? Benjamin Dada, founder of Condia (formerly benjamindada.com), joins us to share his story of balancing two careers, facing identity challenges, and making tough choices between passion and profit.Benjamin’s path has been far from ordinary. He got into tech journalism by chance after tweeting at Bella Roase , and has since become a well-known voice in African fintech. He talks openly about growing Condia to reach over a million readers each year, all while holding full-time roles at companies like Softcom, Stitch, and Moniepoint. He also shares what it’s like to be seen only as a media person, even though he’s also an experienced product manager, partnerships lead, and fintech operator.In this honest conversation, Benjamin talks about the challenges of building in public, why he decided to rebrand from Benjamindada.com to Condia after six years, and how he managed employee turnover while bootstrapping. He also explains why he hasn’t raised funding, even as competitors grow with venture capital. Benjamin shares his views on why media businesses in Africa often struggle financially, what he’s learned from being both an employer and an employee, and why he thinks all fintech companies will eventually focus on remittances.You’ll hear practical advice on handling corporate politics when you have a public profile, why talented team members sometimes leave, and how founders can get media coverage. Benjamin also talks about what it takes to keep journalistic integrity while working in the industry you report on. He shares his thoughts on being a generalist versus a specialist, why he chose a corporate career over media for quicker financial rewards, and the cross-border payments trend he nearly started a company around.This isn’t a typical founder interview. It’s a lesson in juggling priorities, building with limited resources, staying independent in a world full of venture-backed companies, and figuring out your identity when you don’t fit into one category. Whether you’re a founder learning about media, a journalist building your own platform, or someone managing more than one career, this conversation will make you rethink what success and identity mean, and what it takes to truly own your story.Benjamin shares frameworks on outcome-focused work versus activity, the importance of high agency in both startups and corporate environments, practical advice on building personal brands for founders, and why exchange programs between media and startups might solve the ongoing tension between the two ecosystems. He also discusses his proudest moments covering stories like the NSA protests, major fintech regulatory changes, and investigative pieces that earned citations from Financial Times and TechCrunch.Some of the main topics include moving through the fintech world from payments to cross-border remittances, understanding IMTO licenses and payment service provider rules, handling large-scale forex trading, creating content marketing strategies that boost email open rates, managing products in enterprise fintech, and exploring the less visible sides of African tech media.If you’ve ever wanted to know how to build two careers at once, keep your editorial independence while working in the same industry, or turn a personal blog into a well-known media brand without outside funding, this conversation has answers you won’t find anywhere else.

    1h 22m
  5. How June Angelides Went From Yaba to Backing $100M+ Startups Across Africa & Europe

    FEB 6

    How June Angelides Went From Yaba to Backing $100M+ Startups Across Africa & Europe

    June Angelides MBE is a globally recognized venture capitalist, entrepreneur, and one of the most influential voices in tech, inclusive leadership, and investing in Africa and Europe. In this Founders Connect episode, June Angelides sits down with Peace Itimi to share her journey from growing up in Yaba, Lagos to becoming a leading investor backing startups across Africa and the UK.June opens up about her childhood in Nigeria, moving to the UK at 16, building her career at Thompson Reuters and Silicon Valley Bank, and why she decided to leave a stable corporate career to launch Mums in Tech, the UK’s first child-friendly coding school for mothers. She breaks down the realities of building a startup without profit, the emotional toll of shutting down a company, and what founders must understand about fundraising, runway, and paying themselves.This conversation goes deep into venture capital, diaspora investing, building global companies from Africa, and the differences between African and Western startup ecosystems. June also shares powerful insights on women in tech, wealth creation, venture capital diversity, and why founders must think global from day one.If you are a founder, investor, tech professional, or aspiring entrepreneur, this episode is packed with real lessons on startup funding, venture capital, diaspora capital, and building impactful companies in emerging markets.This episode is sponsored by Obiex. Instantly buy and sell bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies at zero fees here: https://www.obiex.finance/Connect with us:Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundersconnectshow/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundersconnect_X: https://www.x.com/thefcshow_

    1h 19m
  6. How Tayo Oviosu is Building The fintech Giant of Africa

    FEB 2

    How Tayo Oviosu is Building The fintech Giant of Africa

    Building a business for 16 years in the African tech ecosystem requires more than just a good idea—it requires "crazy" resilience and the ability to pivot when the market shifts. In this episode, Tayo Oviosu, founder and CEO of Paga, shares the raw, unfiltered story of building one of Nigeria's leading mobile money infrastructures. From getting fired from his first job after college to navigating the complexities of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the NDIC, Tayo reveals what it actually takes to survive and thrive in the fintech space.We dive deep into the 2022 pivot that transformed Paga from a consumer-first app into the "infrastructure for African finance," much like how Amazon built AWS. Tayo explains why he opened up Paga's core technology to competitors and how this B2B move is shaping the future of payments across the continent. If you are an entrepreneur wondering if you are "too early" for your market or how to manage investor expectations over a decade-long journey, this conversation is a masterclass in long-term strategic vision.Tayo also breaks down the evolution of the Nigerian fintech landscape from 2008 to 2025. He discusses the "white spaces" still left in the market, the importance of "ownership" as a core company value, and why Paga chose to stop announcing funding rounds to focus on building a sustainable, net-income-positive business. Whether you are a founder, investor, or tech enthusiast, Tayo’s insights on financial maturity and the "going together" proverb provide a roadmap for building a business that lasts.This episode is sponsored by Obiex. Instantly buy and sell cryptocurrencies at zero fees here: https://www.obiex.finance/Connect with us:Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundersconnectshow/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundersconnect_X: https://www.x.com/thefcshow_

    1h 25m
  7. Destiny Ogedengbe on breaking the cycle: How a poor kid from Benin made it to Harvard Law

    JAN 23

    Destiny Ogedengbe on breaking the cycle: How a poor kid from Benin made it to Harvard Law

    Is it possible to move from the streets of Benin City to the most prestigious law firms on Wall Street? In this episode of Founders Connect, Peace Itimi sits down with Destiny Ogedegbe, popularly known as "Mr. Possible." This isn't just a career interview; it is a masterclass in the psychology of excellence, the necessity of grit, and the transformative power of imagination. Destiny’s trajectory from being rolled to school in a wheelbarrow to closing high-stakes M&A deals in New York serves as a blueprint for anyone who feels limited by their current environment.Despite the challenges of his upbringing, including hawking food with his mother and working on cassava farms, Destiny maintained a standard of excellence that saw him finish at the top of his class from KG to his final year at the University of Benin (UniBen).In this video, we explore:- The Benin Years: Growing up with an intellectual father who taught Shakespeare and the Periodic Table at home, and the street-gymnastics and football that built his social grit.- The Academic Streak: The discipline required to earn a First Class at UniBen and the Nigerian Law School.- The Harvard Transition: What it feels like to move from a "survivalist" mindset in Nigeria to the intellectual freedom of Harvard Law School.- The Wall Street Reality: The high-energy, high-complexity world of M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions) and why speed is the ultimate currency.Connect with Destiny:Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundersconnectshow/Connect with us:Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundersconnectshow/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundersconnect_X: https://www.x.com/thefcshow_

    1h 19m

  8. 10/20/2025

    They Built Nigeria’s Biggest Brands — But You Hardly Hear Their Names | UNSUNG Documentary

    In Nigeria’s thriving tech ecosystem, we often celebrate founders and engineers - the builders, the innovators, the faces on the covers. But behind every viral campaign, every trusted brand, and every startup that broke through the noise, there’s a different kind of builder: the marketer.Unsung is a raw and reflective documentary exploring how marketers shape perception, drive growth, and create culture in Nigeria’s fast-growing tech space. These are the storytellers who translate technology into emotion — who connect founders’ vision with the everyday realities of users.This film dives deep into their world. It’s about the brand strategists, growth marketers, content creators, community managers, designers, and performance leads who make sure the products we talk about actually reach us. From traditional media to digital-first marketing, we trace how storytelling, creativity, and data have evolved to define the Nigerian tech identity.But Unsung doesn’t shy away from the tough parts. It uncovers the struggles marketers face in a product-driven industry - being undervalued, underfunded, and often the first to be let go when budgets shrink. It reveals the fight to prove marketing’s worth beyond vanity metrics and to claim a seat at the table where business strategy is shaped.These voices - from industry veterans to emerging talents - speak honestly about the burnout, blurred roles, and pressure to constantly deliver results. Yet through it all, they remind us why marketing is not just about selling; it’s about storytelling, empathy, and connection.Featured voices include Feranmi Ajetumobi, Joshua Chibueze, Bukayo Ewuoso, Tochy Emereole, Ama Udofa, Izzie Ekong, Tega Gabriel, Grillo Adebiyi, Mojisola Fagbohungbe, and Ore Badmus. Together, they share what it truly takes to build brand love, loyalty, and trust in an ecosystem obsessed with code and capital.This is more than a marketing story. It’s a story about being seen, being valued, and finding meaning in work that often goes unnoticed.Sponsored: Get personal or business loans, invest, earn, lend, or borrow from friends, pay bills, and transfer money in Nigeria. Download the app today: https://sycamore.ng/Timestamp:00:44 - Intro03:06 - What marketing really is and why It matters18:45 - How great marketers actually work40:27 - Do all marketers wear multiple hats?1:02:12 - Seeing Marketing as a cost centre1:07:24 - The urge to quit as a marketer1:11:21 - What success looks like for a Nigerian marketer in 5 years1:23:40 - Outro#Unsung #FoundersConnect #NigeriaTech #MarketingInTech #documentary Consequence - Wonders by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

    1h 25m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Founders Connect is on a mission to document the stories, journeys and ideologies of leading and emerging African entrepreneurs and operators. The podcast aims to create meaningful insights that can be shared and beneficial to other founders, entrepreneurs, knowledge seekers, consumers and the world in general - targeting a wide variety of audiences.

Information

  • Creator
    Founders Connect
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    106
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Founders Connect
  • Show Website
    Founders Connect