Dominating Africa's niche markets is an overlooked but savvy approach • Less competition → lower acquisition costs, higher margins • Solving pain points for underserved customers → stronger brand loyalty & word of mouth • Cornering critical resources → Real defensibility

Ça s’est très bien passé

Back in Boston seeing the familiar with fresh eyes • From afar: clean skylines & simplified narratives • Up close: complex systems with hidden patterns What you see depends on where you stand The key is to constantly change your vantage point

The 'minimum viable infrastructure' playbook for startups in Africa: - Accept that you have to fill some infrastructure gaps - Build only what's absolutely necessary to deliver your core value - Partner where possible for the rest - Design for gradual infrastructure handoffs

Development doesn’t happen to economies, it happens through them • Jobs that build skills + raise incomes • Companies that create ecosystems for local communities to thrive • Markets that drive prosperity Business isn’t separate from development Business is development

“You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” — Maya Angelou

Markets don’t reward hard work They reward solved problems The question isn’t ‘How much effort am I putting in?’ It’s ‘How much pain am I taking out?’

Fantastic masterclass on leadership and the power of asking better questions with Hal Gregersen - "The greatest development opportunity is doing something you can't do yet" - Compound action + compound learning = compound impact - Observe, network, experiment → Innovate

Back online, back to Lagos, back to work

Completed the MIT Kuo Sharper Center Foundry Fellowship last month Gained valuable new perspectives on leadership as an activity (vs a position), ecosystem thinking, & business as a tool for development across Africa Excited to put principles into practice with media-driven initiatives

The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan African founders who win: • Launch fast, despite product imperfections • Replace whiteboard assumptions with real-world feedback • Adapt rapidly & improve continuously Progress beats perfection every time

Good founders build companies, great founders build movements • Apple sells creative expression — not just devices • Patagonia sells environmental activism — not just gear • Shopify sells entrepreneurial freedom — not just software Companies transact, movements transform

A new trend in African startup M&A? E2E deals • Asaak 🇺🇬 → Flexclub MX 🇲🇽 • Moove 🇳🇬 → Kovi 🇧🇷 • dLocal 🇺🇾 → AZA Finance 🇰🇪 Some takeaways: ❶ African startups are no longer just targets — they're becoming acquirers, too ❷ Buyers are no longer just in the US/UK/EU

Unique insights come from listening to the 'wrong' people Your security may understand your staff better than your Head of HR • They see without the lens of hierarchy • They spot truths hidden from execs • They feel the culture day after day Engage the voices you ignore

We often wait for clarity before taking action But clarity is born from action, not thought Clarity follows courage, not the other way around

Many young startups die polishing things customers don't care about - fancy logos, fonts & branding - meaty mission & vision statements - perfect product interfaces But building a startup is like cooking for guests: Don't obsess over plate presentation while they're starving

Everyone chases 'progress' in Africa But that skips steps: - Productivity has to come 1st (skills, digitization, infrastructure) - Then prosperity (economic growth, jobs, quality of life) - Then progress (strong institutions, societal change) Foundation before transformation

Redundancy is survival in many African markets: • Multiple SIM cards because networks drop • Multiple accounts because even banks fail • Generators, inverters, and solar because you can't rely on the grid Where systems are unreliable, redundancy isn't waste — it's wisdom

The biggest risk isn't immediate failure It's slow success in the wrong direction