• ijioluwa

“…your co-founder for the hustle.” | Business Developer | Certified Therapist |

[Omolara @Omolarablaq]

Last Thursday, I pitched for ₦10 million, and I lost. It was a winner takes all type of competition so I walked away with nothing.

What’s funny is that if you follow me, you could easily think I win every competition I enter.

It’s natural for me to post the wins but what rarely makes it to the internet are the applications that get rejected, and the pitch competitions I don’t win.

Building a startup means getting comfortable with both outcomes.

You celebrate the wins when they come. And when they don’t, you review the feedback, improve where you can, and move on to the next opportunity.

I’ve won some competitions, I’ve lost some but my biggest flex is that I’ve won more than I’ve lost 🫢.

[• ijioluwa @ChaceTryagain]

@Omolarablaq Congratulations, Lara💚

[• ijioluwa @ChaceTryagain]

Why is no one looking at social commerce as a viable market? 🤔

[• ijioluwa @ChaceTryagain]

There should be nothing like NYSC in the entire country till further notice. N40M Ransom? The allowance for a year isn’t even up to 1 million Naira.

[• ijioluwa @ChaceTryagain]

@OPay_NG Allowed them use their phone numbers to receive money. They understood Distribution.

Mama Habeeb, Oga welder, Musa & Ebube become approx. 32% more trusting of you, knowing there is immediate familiarity built within your service. The next is Speed.

[Dr Oludayo Sokunbi @Oludeewon]

What exactly did OPAY do to get so much acceptance from Nigerians🇳🇬?

[• ijioluwa @ChaceTryagain]

Knowing myself, I will definitely want to touch that orb(Earth) we are circling💀🤧

[D.eborahh_ @IhateStresssss]

A repost would definitely go a long way🤲🤲

[D.eborahh_ @IhateStresssss]

MY FRIEND NEEDS HELP!!!!

Due to the recent power outage, her business is on the verge of running at a loss! Buying 1 or 2, or as many as 5 would really go a long way right now. Asides the ones she has had to eat and give out, she still has all these left.

[• ijioluwa @ChaceTryagain]

Hmm, you just sold certainty where there is a colossal structural risk.

The CS has me worrying on people’s behalf.

Do your own research sha, this is influencer math wrapped in “financial advice”.

[Toby @TomolaGroup]

Dangote is about to list his refinery on the stock exchange and the people that need to hear this the most are not paying attention.

Forget everything you think you know about this man for a second and just look at the numbers.

$20 billion refinery. Largest single-train refinery on the planet. Not in America. Not in Saudi Arabia. In Lagos. Already pumping 650,000 barrels a day. Diesel. Petrol. Aviation fuel. This thing is not a plan. It’s not a pitch deck. It’s working. Right now. While you’re reading this.

And he’s offering 10% to the public.

Now here’s where it gets crazy and I need you to read this part slowly.

You buy the shares in naira. Regular naira from your regular account. But your dividends come back in dollars. American dollars. In a country where the naira does nothing but fall. Where your 5 million in savings last year is worth 3.5 million in purchasing power this year. Where you’ve been watching the exchange rate destroy your future in real time.

Someone just handed you a bridge and most of you will be too busy arguing about politics and celebrity drama to walk across it.

$6.4 billion in export revenue backing those dividends. Not projections from a PowerPoint. Real money from real petrochemicals leaving Nigerian ports to the rest of the world and coming back as dollars. Into your pocket. If you own the shares.

Economists are saying this one listing alone could take the entire Nigerian stock market from ₦105 trillion to over ₦200 trillion. One. Company. Nearly doubling everything.

And they’re not stopping. Expansion to 1.4 million barrels a day already in the works. Double what it is now. Within three years.

I don’t care if you have 50k or 50 million. When this IPO opens, you need to be in the room. Not because of hype. Not because Twitter told you. Because the fundamentals are screaming and the opportunity is once in a generation.

The last time something this big happened on the NGX most of you were in secondary school. You missed it. This one is happening in your adult life with your own money and your own decision.

What you do with this information is on you. But don’t come back in 5 years asking why everybody else is collecting dollar dividends and you’re still checking exchange rates on Google with pain in your chest.

You were here. You read it. Now move.

[Adewale Yusuf @AdewaleYusuf_]

Don’t hire an expert too early.

It was an expensive lesson that almost cost me $300,000.

After raising our pre-seed round (over $300,000), we felt unstoppable. Validated. Funded. Ready to “build properly.”
So we did what seemed logical.
We hired an experienced operator from a company that had raised over $30M.
On paper, she was perfect:
• Strong pedigree
• Structured
• Process-driven
• Operationally excellent
But we made one critical mistake.
We were still pre–product-market fit.
We were iterating weekly.
Sometimes daily.
Testing positioning.
Changing messaging.
Tweaking the product.
There was no stability.
And that’s where the friction started.
She needed structure to operate effectively.
Clear scope. Defined systems. Predictable workflow.
We had chaos.
She also came with rules: no work beyond 4 PM.
No work on weekends.
No after-hours email.
And to be clear, she wasn't wrong.
It just wasn’t compatible with our stage.
At that time, it was just my co-founders and me.
She was our first hire.
We were constantly experimenting, trying to reach product-market fit.
Despite having cash in the bank, we were still searching.
Speed mattered more than structure.
Eventually, we parted ways.
No villains. Just a stage mismatch.
Here’s what I learned:
Early stage (pre-PMF) → Hire generalists.
Post-PMF → Hire specialists.
Scaling → Hire experts.
Generalists thrive in ambiguity.
They can switch hats mid-day.
They optimize for momentum, not perfection.
Experts optimize for efficiency and structure, but structure only works when something is already working.
Many founders burn through their runway trying to install enterprise-grade processes in a startup that hasn’t found traction.
Don’t hire for pedigree.
Hire for stage-fit.
The right talent at the wrong time can still be a wrong hire.

Founders: what’s a hiring mistake that taught you something expensive?

[Adewale Yusuf @AdewaleYusuf_]

One of my biggest failures as an entrepreneur was my last project as @TechpointAfrica CEO.

And it taught me a massive lesson in business.

In 2020, we decided to create the 10-Year Report of the Nigerian Tech Ecosystem.

Two years of work.

Partnerships with global companies like Statista and Crunchbase.
Serious data.
Serious credibility.

This wasn’t small.

This was legacy work.

But we made one fatal mistake.

We didn’t budget for marketing.

I believed something dangerous:

“Build it… and they will come.” They didn’t.

After two years of work…

We launched. And sold less than 5 copies.

Five.

Imagine the frustration. The embarrassment. The silence after launch.

That moment humbled me.

That failure changed how I do business forever.

Now? I market everything.

Because here’s the truth:

If you can't sell it on an Excel sheet, you won't sell it in a fancy app.

Great product without distribution is just an expensive hobby.

Stop being ashamed to sell.

If you need to send emails, send them.
If you need to post every day, post.
If you need to dance on TikTok… dance.

But sell.

Because visibility is not vanity, it’s survival.

[SB @seyedele]

Nigerian founders dey try bro.

[Cynthia Ozumba @CynthiaOzumba]

@Judah_d_beloved Visibility is currency

[• ijioluwa @ChaceTryagain]

@CynthiaOzumba

[• ijioluwa @ChaceTryagain]

Thank God, and Thank You so much!@CynthiaOzumba

[Cynthia Ozumba @CynthiaOzumba]

1. Wellfound (formerly AngelList)
If you want to talk to Founders, not automated bots, go here.

You see salary + equity upfront.

1-click apply that actually goes to a human inbox.

https://t.co/tBQd610lYY

[Cynthia Ozumba @CynthiaOzumba]

1. Wellfound (formerly AngelList)
If you want to talk to Founders, not automated bots, go here.

You see salary + equity upfront.

1-click apply that actually goes to a human inbox.

https://t.co/tBQd610lYY

[Adewale Yusuf @AdewaleYusuf_]

I once introduced a founder to a friend.

Two weeks later, he invested $2M in the company.

That startup shut down the same year.

Let me explain.

In 2023, I invited a friend who runs a unicorn company to speak to founders in one of my WhatsApp groups.

After the session, one founder reached out:

“Can you introduce me?”

I did.

The conversation moved fast.
The conviction was high.
Within two weeks, $2M was wired.
Everyone was excited.
Months later, the company failed.

I will never blame a founder for failure. Building is hard. Markets change. Things break.

But here’s what people don’t talk about:

Introductions cost relationship capital.

We’re still on good terms.
But it’s harder now for me to casually make another introduction.

Because when you introduce someone, you’re not just connecting emails.

You’re staking your credibility.
Relationships are assets.
They take years to build.
They compound slowly.
And they can be weakened quickly.

That’s why I’m extremely careful with introductions.

If I introduce you, it means I have conviction.

Your network is not a shortcut.
It’s capital.
Treat it with respect.
The career ladder is long.

This is part II of my Million-dollar relationship series.

[• ijioluwa @ChaceTryagain]

@Manuelfran6ix Lol, I pity you

[Ja Leto @_falsi1ke]

Being debt free is a type of wealth.