How I grew from hawking food to raising funds for top startups – Lanre Messan

David Lanre Messan is a Nigerian serial entrepreneur who has succeeded within the know-how, entrepreneurship and fund-raising sectors.

He spoke to freelance Journalist Tony Ademiluyi on how he began, his methods and his imaginative and prescient for Nigeria and Africa.

Listed below are the excerpts:

How did your upbringing put together you for the difficult job of the cut-throat world of entrepreneurship?

My father taught me the artwork of curiosity and my mom taught me the artwork of entrepreneurship. These two parts are highly effective instruments to creating the most effective of making and delivering worth. Realizing full nicely that my dad and mom maintain a number of the greatest household values in life stored me per the wrestle and most significantly the imaginative and prescient.

You made your first million at 23 by way of your then firms Infinite Impression and Inexperienced Yaggy. Inform us extra about the way you achieved that?

I merely gathered 30 of the books I learn on-line between 12 months 2002 and 2005 and created an automatic book with them. This was an enormous innovation then contemplating the truth that it was the knowledge age. The books had been chosen to give attention to management, enterprise, individuals administration and success components. MTN Foundation led by Kemi Oyagbola from her ChurchGate workplace in Victoria Island and another leaders in key firms purchased 1000 copies at N3000 every and that was it.

Are entrepreneurs born or made? Do you suppose that enterprise colleges could make one a greater entrepreneur?

I believe it’s a mixture of each. I’ve seen individuals who went to a number of the greatest enterprise colleges however didn’t discovered an organization of their very own or begin a enterprise. On the flip aspect, some profitable entrepreneurs like Richard Branson, for instance by no means even graduated from faculty not to mention attend a enterprise faculty. So, to reply the second query, I do imagine enterprise faculty helps to sharpen entrepreneurial minds.

---

You latterly had an occasion in Dubai the place you introduced collectively stakeholders within the know-how sector most notably six start-ups. Inform us concerning the significance of the occasion and the way it can translate into financial positive aspects for the Nigerian know-how sector?

A great query. Let me begin by saying that Africa is gearing as much as be the place the subsequent era of groundbreaking improvements will emerge and world traders are starting to see the potential. At GITEX International, African founders and entrepreneurs reiterated this reality. As you in all probability already know, we’ve develop into group companions to NorthStar Dubai and GITEX International. What this implies for us at FirstFounders and the Nigerian tech ecosystem as a complete is that we are able to anticipate to see much more capital circulate into the nation as a result of Nigeria was nicely represented by these Nigerian startups that had been current on the occasion. As a matter of reality, ShapShap, one of many seven startups we led to the occasion gained the Mobility Class of the Supernova Problem, taking house the profitable prize of $8,000.

You studied Mass Communication on the Lagos State Polytechnic. Why didn’t you apply as a journalist and why didn’t you research one thing extra entrepreneurship associated like Economics or Enterprise Administration as an illustration?

If left to me, I wished to be a pilot which is the explanation I like leaping out of planes as of late in each nation I journey to. Lol – principally skydiving. However, realistically, I wanted to do a course that has the robustness of curiosity, info and communication so I can articulate the very many concepts in my head for world change and entrepreneurial affect. That lead me to check Mass Comm. first however in fact, I’ve performed fairly quite a lot of programs on entrepreneurship and innovation with the likes of Harvard Enterprise College, London Enterprise College, Nexford College, Scalabl Academy and so forth. I’m very huge on private improvement which I did within the earlier years even earlier than learning Mass Comm by way of studying books in my father’s library and exploring the world of enterprise books on the web for years.

In 2020 you launched First Founders Inc which has helped about 250 startups get incubated and lift funds for his or her operations. Inform us extra about First Founders Inc and the motivation for delving into spearheading an incubation hub.

First Founders was based primarily based on my ardour for innovation and affect. We’re a enterprise studio that companions with early-stage founders to construct, scale, and fund their digital ventures. It’s no information that almost all of conceived concepts stay simply that: concepts. They’re by no means executed or developed for myriad of causes, essentially the most notable ones being an absence of capital, expertise, and technical experience. At FirstFounders, we imagine that startups can significantly affect the Nigerian economic system in lots of optimistic methods and that’s the motivation behind our unrelenting help for these budding firms.

You might have raised about $10,000,000 for some Nigerian startups most notably Syarpa, a Fintech which you helped shut a fund-raising spherical of about $500,000. What spurred you to enter fund elevating and what’s the enterprise mannequin behind it?

As I discussed earlier, we associate with startups to construct, scale, and fund their companies. Funding is a vital a part of startup success, particularly of their early phases earlier than income era or profitability is reached. To assist these younger firms safe funding, it solely made sense for me to be taught the artwork of fundraising.

As for the enterprise mannequin behind it, we merely take a proportion of the full quantity raised as compensation for facilitating the deal or we take some fairness within the firm.

You performed a task as a communications marketing consultant within the eight-year administration of former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola and labored as a communications strategist for the Atiku Abubakar marketing campaign group in 2019. You latterly received an appointment to work on the marketing campaign of Dr. Diane Regisford in the same capability. Are you able to share these three experiences with us?

I’m obsessed with nationwide and geo-politics and if I get any likelihood to contribute my quota of data and experience particularly within the space of technique, I’m at all times completely happy to do. So, working with these three leaders was simply my manner so as to add worth to the development of management and the society at massive. For Lagos State, it was purely an appointment to render a service on communications the place I developed communication constructions for all of the ministries below the federal government by way of the Lagos State Public Workers Improvement Centre. For His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, it was a sheer dedication to what I believed can be the start of a affluent Nigeria again in 2019 and I merely gave my all to see it work however for some purpose, it didn’t pan out as deliberate. And for Dianne Regisford, it was my first time to play within the political scene in the UK and I used to be appointed to be answerable for technique which I gave my all too as nicely. Very nice experiences that will stay priceless in any political setting I discover myself once more.

ALSO READ: 383 Nigerian tech startups raised over $2 billion in seven years – Report

Earlier this 12 months, you joined the James Currey Society of Oxford College as a scholar the place you bought to be taught on the toes of one of many founders of the society, famend author, writer and scholar, Dr. Onyeka Nwelue. Inform us the factors in your choice and share your experiences there with us.

I used to be chosen primarily based on benefit following my capability to write down and my drive for bettering humanity with what I do know. It was an expository on the literary world of African authors, writers and the artistic house of African by way of instructors like Dr. Onyeka Nwelue; Stephen Embleton of the African Research Heart of Oxford College. Perceive the other ways to write down about African and so on. One of many outcomes of those can be my two books that I’ll launch early subsequent 12 months.

First Founders Inc has a four-stage course of with which they assist startups scale. Can you’re taking us by way of these processes?

Truly, it’s a three-stage course of which is additional damaged down into six different processes:

1. Construct: By way of intensive market analysis, we generate product concepts for our in-house startups. For shopper concepts, we carry out market validation by designing a easy model of the product to check on the goal customers and validate the concept. As soon as confirmed, the complete product is constructed and made obtainable for beta testing.

2. Scale: Earlier than the product goes dwell available on the market, we develop progress hacking methods for scaling.

3. Fund: We then introduce the product to traders. As soon as funding is secured, the product is scaled even additional to seize even higher market share.

Some entrepreneurs like Michael Bloomberg, Donald Trump and so on have gone on to delve into partisan politics. Can we see that taking place with you?

I’m 100% centered on creating the Nigerian economic system by way of the expansion of modern startups. Nevertheless, I’ll stand for people that I imagine could make Nigeria extra conducive for startups. As for partisan politics, I don’t see myself blindly supporting anyone political get together.

You as soon as hawked edible gadgets in visitors to lift funds to pay in your shopping in your early, humble days. What classes are there for a mean Nigerian youth?

Truthfully, we the older era want to tug them nearer. It’s no information that many dad and mom ignore their kids whereas they work to place meals on the desk. A giant half of a kid’s morals and values are taught by the dad and mom. Some time we learnt by observing our dad and mom, it isn’t the case these days.

In the present day, if you happen to inform a toddler “no”, you want to explain that reply. In abstract, we have now to show them the dignity in labor and assist them perceive that wealth is often acquired over time by working exhausting and sensible. We shouldn’t assume that they’ll simply know that.

How can the general public insurance policies of the Nigerian authorities assist entrepreneurs particularly the youths and people into know-how which has been confirmed to have a really excessive potential to create huge jobs to drastically scale back the excessive spate of unemployment?

You’re in all probability conscious that the Nigerian Startup Invoice has simply been signed into regulation by the president and has now develop into the Nigeria Startup Act. This Act is predicted to make Nigeria a extra conducive and enabling atmosphere for startups. We hope to see the impact of the brand new Act within the coming months. Hopefully, it should convey the much-desired change startups throughout the nation have been craving for.

Lagos – Nigeria’s financial capital is congested. How can we create technological clusters in different elements of the nation much like how the Silicon Valley is in California away from New York, America’s financial nerve centre?

Most startups are concentrated in Lagos as a result of most key gamers and traders within the trade are in Lagos. Naturally, different new startups would need to be the place the motion is, the place there’s a longtime enterprise construction. There’s additionally the plain advantage of networking. As for creating tech hubs and clusters in different elements of the nation, individuals must be given an incentive to maneuver there. Host hackathons in different states, state governments can create insurance policies that make their state extra favorable than Lagos, like tax advantages, for instance. Fact be instructed, it has extra to do with the federal government than people.

Stanford College is the mental energy base of Silicon Valley which has made California the sixth largest economic system on the earth. How can we create universities that may significantly function the mental hub for the tech sector in Nigeria?

Nigerian lecturers want a re-orientation. In colleges like Stanford, lecturers genuinely need to see their college students succeed they usually do all the things inside their energy to offer all of the wanted help. Right here, everyone knows that’s the case. So, step one is the re-orientation of lecturers. Subsequent is revamping our complete instructing syllabus to match with the world we now discover ourselves in. I imagine as soon as these two areas have been handled, different issues will start to fall in place.

How can we create extra tech unicorns in Nigeria which is able to result in huge job creation as witnessed by Flutterwave after they raised $250,000,000 in Collection D Funding which led to their huge recruitment drive?

I don’t suppose something particularly will be performed to create extra tech unicorns. Startups develop into unicorns principally as a result of they’ve an awesome product and large market that’s prepared to pay for the product. These two parts are what makes traders fascinated with deploying funds to scale such companies which in the end will get them to unicorn standing.

Thanks for the privilege of your time and a spotlight!

I’m glad to have had the chance.