#74. Building a Unicorn with Philip Johnston

Philip is passionate about helping e-commerce entrepreneurs realize the full value of their brands. He is the co-founder and co-CEO of Opontia, the only digital-first consumer goods group in EEMEA. Opontia was one of the fastest companies in MENA to raise over 40 million dollars in under 9 months. The company was featured as #12 on the Forbes Top 50 Most Funded Startups list in 2021. Prior to founding Opontia, Philip worked for 2 years at McKinsey in their Dubai office on e-commerce strategy, private equity, and post-merger integration. He also spent 2 years working in venture capital across Africa and 5 years in banking between London, Singapore, and New York. He holds an MPA from Harvard University, an MBA from The Wharton School, an MA in Mathematics from Columbia University, and is a CFA Charterholder. In this episode, Philip shares with us his journey of founding Opontia by reflecting on his past and present.Key Timestamps:- [00:46] Introducing Philip and Opontia- [03:10] Philip’s Educational Investment- [06:40] Opontia Launch- [10:25] The Founding Team- [12:10] Breaking Records - [14:20] What VCs Look For- [15:40] Leading in Chaos- [19:10] Startups, Governance, and Leadership- [23:00] Fire RoundKey Quotes from Philip Johnston:- “Your chance of founding a unicorn if you do go to an ivy league is 500 times higher”- “I looked at all the companies which produce the highest number of unicorn founders”- “It took a week to raise $3.5M in seed from scratch with no deck or model”- “You should be looking for the idea that best fits with your founding teams’ skill set”- “You need either an extremely credible founding team or a lot of convincing traction”- “Leadership is a choice; anyone can be a leader if they decide to be”---About Ally Salama:Forbes 30 Under 30:https://www.forbesmiddleeast.com/lists/30-under-30-2021/ally-salama/ Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/allysalama/Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/allysalama/Twitter:https://twitter.com/allysalamaAbout Philip Johnston:Website:https://opontia.com/LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnstonphilip/TechCrunch:https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/08/opontia-gets-42m-to-buy-more-e-commerce-brands-in-eastern-europe-middle-east-and-africa/---Support the show by dropping us a rating and review!©Ally Salama 2022 | Produced by https://www.empwrhouse.com/ ( EMPWR House)