Episoder
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In this episode, we had Tayo Oviosu, the CEO of Paga, who broke down the business behind the fintech company.
We discussed Paga's progress over the years, from simplifying payments to digitizing cash transactions and providing financial services to everyday people.
We also talked about Paga's go-to-market strategy in Nigeria, which combines offline and online channels.
Tayo shared some interesting facts and figures about Paga, including reaching ₦1 trillion annual total processed value (TPV) for the first time in 2021, with plans to double that by 2023.
He also shared valuable lessons learned from more than a decade of running a business and building financial products.
Don't forget to share this episode with your friends and colleagues. Subscribe to our newsletter, and follow us on Twitter @TeardownPodcast for more insightful takes and stories.
Timestamp
00:00 - 00:37 Intro
00:38 - 04:00 Stories from the trenches
04:01 - 05:15 Importance of good relationship with coworkers
05:16 - 08:09 What is Paga and how has it evolved over the years
08:10 - 15:00 What the first launch with Paga was like
15:01 - 17:47 How frequently Paga released products/pushed things to production
17:48 - 18:59 Building Micro-Services
19:00 - 22:55 Evolution of business model
22:56 - 28:50 Competitors and their adoption of the agency banking model
28:51 - 31:00 Processing 7 Trillion Naira in a year
31:01 - 32:45 How much margin they had to reduce for growth
32:46 - 34:38 Technology Inflection Point that unleashed the barrage of retail agency banking
34:39 - 39:11 Can the market support all the businesses that leverage retail agency banking
39:12 - 42:05 How to get started with a retail agency banking
42:06 - 42:45 Could an agency banking be built using Paga
42:46 - 44:23 Customer Acquisition Cost and agent commission
44:24 - 45:15 At what point will an idiot be able to run Paga
45:16 - 45:55 Outro
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Welcome to this episode of the African Startup Teardown Podcast, where we have VytautasPaukstys, the CEO of Eskimi, breaking down the business behind the ad tech platform.
We start by discussing the evolution of Eskimi from its early days as a social media company to its foray into payments, ad tech, and every other business. Vytautas takes us through each era of product development and businesses, including the chat app, social site, payments, and ad tech platform.
We also discuss the components needed to create a successful social media product back then, and how that has changed compared to building a successful social media app now.
For our listeners who are building consumer products, Vytautas shares some of the experiments he tried to increase user growth and retention, including what worked and what spectacularly failed.
Vytautas also shares his insights on the margins of digital ads and the economics of running a DSP.
Don’t forget to subscribe and share the podcast with your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Twitter @TeardownPodcast and sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest insights and stories from successful African entrepreneurs.
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Mangler du episoder?
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In this episode, the CEO and co-founder of Identity Pass, Lanre Ogungbe, shares the story behind the company and its mission to provide a world-class compliance and security infrastructure for Africa.
The company offers a variety of products, including biometric authentication, data and document verification, and compliance and data security solutions.
With over 1 million verifications processed since launch, Identity Pass charges between 10 and 20 cents per verification based on the number of endpoints a business connects to.
Yemi discusses with Lanre about the differentiation of Identity Pass from other players in the AML/KYC compliance space, the challenges of acquiring business customers, and the potential for future growth and expansion.
Subscribe to our podcast and share it with your friends and colleagues to stay up-to-date on the latest insights and stories from successful African entrepreneurs.
Timestamp
00:00 - Intro
00:31 - Story from the Trenches
04:41 - What is Identity Pass?
07:11 - Innovations enabled by products Identity Pass offers
10:16 - Why does identity verification have so many players
15:51 - Dynamics within the the industry that allows for multiple companies
20:51 - Opportunities for players in the industry to share APIs
23:56 - How would a customer know Identity Pass is the right one for them
27:31 - How does wide range of business product create better outcomes for Identity Pass
32:15 - Interesting stats worth knowing
36:06 - Components that had to be put together to make Identity Pass work
41:30 - How much Identity Pass makes per business acquired
46:06 - Business Margin for Identity Pass
52:51 - What a typical sales cycle looks like
55:06 - How Identity Pass got it's first customer
56:56 - Stereotyped faced being seen as Gen Z
59:56 - Bull Case for Identity Pass
1:02:16 - Outro
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On this episode, we had a stimulating discussion with Olajumoke Kujero, Country Manager for ShopEx.
Olajumoke makes a case for ShopEx business model and how it compares to other traditional e-commerce platforms. She also shares her personal growth experiences having worked at Jumia and other leading Startups.
To ensure you don’t miss any episodes, or updates, and for additional information on the hosts, follow @teardownpodcast on Twitter.
If you would like to get all the insider’s gist first, subscribe to our newsletter here: [africanstartupteardownpod.substack.com](http://africanstartupteardownpod.substack.com/)
Please leave a review, comment, share, and like whenever you listen. We want to hear from you and appreciate your feedback. Better ratings mean more people get to listen to the show, and it helps us grow.
Timestamp
00:00 – intro
00:30 – Elevator Pitch for Shopex
02:40 – Stories from the trenches
09:20 – Why does Tele-shopping matter in this age of online shopping
18:50 – Conversion rate of Tele-shopping/Tele-sales
21:50- How Shopex gets customers to make up their minds quickly and get potential customers who would have missed the airing of the ad on TV
27:01 – Shopex’s business model/Economics behind business model
30:50 – Shopex’s gross margin
31:57 – Shopex’s customer acquisition cost, marketing cost and retention
37:31 – Shopex’s margin performance of TV ad spend
40:51 – TV ads compared to other digital channels
46:01 – Lessons from running just TV ads
50:30 – Why manufacturers work with Shopex
53:41 – Difference in purchasing behaviors between users of Shopex and Jumia
59:12 – How long and average Tele-cell call lasts
1:00:37 – How could Shopex double or triple revenue in the next year
1:07:06 – How soon can Shopex run on autopilot
1:11:07 – Outro
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On this episode, we had a great time talking to John Colson, CMO of Yellow Card.
John shares his personal life stories and lessons on building and growing Yellow Card to expand to 16 countries. He explained how the business operates, acquires and retains customers, and the outlook for the future.
To ensure you don’t miss any episodes, or updates, and for additional information on the hosts, follow @teardownpodcast on Twitter.
If you would like to get all the insider’s gist first, subscribe to our newsletter here: [africanstartupteardownpod.substack.com](http://africanstartupteardownpod.substack.com/)
Please leave a review, comment, share, and like whenever you listen. We want to hear from you and appreciate your feedback. Better ratings mean more people get to listen to the show, and it helps us grow.
*Timestamp*
00:00 – 00:39 – Intro
00:39 – 08:17 – Yellow Card early days/ How John joined Yellow Card.
08:17 – 10:26 – Breadth of Yellow Card products
10:26 – 12:00 – Yellow Card Customer pitch
12:00 – 18:09 – Yellow Card expansion
18:09 – 22:13 – How Yellow Card Scales
22:13 – 29:07 – Yellow Card Customer Acquisition Strategy
29:07 – 34:11 – Yellow Card Customer Acquisition philosophy
34:11 – 40:21 – Growth lesson
40:21 – 44:35 – Customer Relations
44:35 – 47:26 – Naira liquidity problem
47:26 – 50:42 – Yellow Card Bull case
50:42 – 53:01 – Yellow Card Resilience
53:01 – 58:30 – John’s Yellow Card stories/advice.
58:30 – 59:42 – Final words/Outro.
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From giving loans to Nigerians at a low-interest rate to building a digital bank that offers free transfers, this episode tears down another Fintech company - Carbon.
Yemi is joined by the CEO & Co-founder of Carbon; Chijioke Dozie to share the story so far.
Chijioke shares his thought on Fintech, how Carbon evolved over the years, how they acquire/retain customers, and how they make money from offering financial services.
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If you would like to get all the insider’s gist first, subscribe to our newsletter here: [africanstartupteardownpod.substack.com](http://africanstartupteardownpod.substack.com/)
Please leave a 5-star review, comment, share, and like whenever you listen. We want to hear from you and appreciate your feedback. Better ratings mean more people get to listen to the show, and it helps us grow.
Timestamp
00:00 - 01:24 - Intro
01:25 - 10:47 - How Carbon evolved over the years
10:48 - 13:59 - Carbon products and revenue
14:00 - 16:56 - How customers think about fees
16:57 - 19:02 - Carbon transaction numbers and revenue
19:03 - 28:31 - The boom of digital banks
28:32 - 47:23 - Economics of a Carbon user
47:24 - 49:07 - Key metrics for Carbon
49:08 - 52:23 - Lessons learned from building Carbon
52:23 - 55:49 - The future of Carbon
55:49 - 57:00 - Final words/Outro
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From Africans gaming referral programs to solving cross-border transfer problems in Africa, this episode tears down a Fintech company - Eversend.
Yemi is joined by the CEO & Co-founder of Eversend - Stone Atwine to explain what the business does and how it operates.
Stone shares his thought on Fintech generally, how Eversend started, their value proposition to customers, and how they got to process $240,000,000+ transaction within 3 years.
To ensure you don’t miss any episode, updates, and for additional information on the hosts, follow @teardownpodcast on Twitter.
If you would like to get all the insider’s gist first, subscribe to our newsletter here: [africanstartupteardownpod.substack.com](http://africanstartupteardownpod.substack.com/)
Please leave a review, comment, share, and like whenever you listen. We want to hear from you and appreciate your feedback. Better ratings mean more people get to listen to the show, and it helps us grow.
Timestamp
00:00 - 01:00 - Intro
01:00 - 02:43 - What is Eversend
02:43 - 05:23 - Bundling and unbundling of financial services
05:23 - 09:24 - Building a differentiated product from others
09:24 - 13:00 - How Eversend started
13:00 - 17:12 - Eversend unique selling point
17:12 - 23:12 - Eversend pricing and fees
23:12 - 28:21 - Eversend growth in transaction volume
28:21 - 31:58 - Fintech customer LTV
31:58 - 39:30 - Eversend acquisition strategy
39:30 - 48:00 - Lessons learned from building Eversend
48:00 - 51:03 - Eversend market expansion
51:03 - 54:20 Eversend competition
54:20 - 56:44 - Bull and bear case for Eversend
56:44 - 60:00 - Outro
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In this episode, your favorite hosts, Yemi and Nnamdi, were joined by the General Manager, Nigeria of M-Kopa Babajide Duroshola.
Babajide talks about how M-Kopa helps the underbanked in 4 African countries access credit facilities with no collateral. He explained how the business operates, acquire customers, and the growth journey so far.
To ensure you don’t miss any episodes, or updates, and for additional information on the hosts, follow @teardownpodcast on Twitter.
If you would like to get all the insider’s gist first, subscribe to our newsletter here: [africanstartupteardownpod.substack.com](http://africanstartupteardownpod.substack.com/)
Please leave a review, comment, share, and like whenever you listen. We want to hear from you and appreciate your feedback. Better ratings mean more people get to listen to the show, and it helps us grow.
SHOWNOTES
0:00 - Intro
2:10 - Who is Babajide Duroshola
4:08 - What is M-Kopa
10:36 - How M-Kopa handles price inflation
13:15 - M-Kopa unique value proposition
16:44 - How M-Kopa achieve PAYG payment
20:30 - How M-Kopa acquires customer
29:47 - M-Kopa growth so far
37:07 - What assumptions is M-Kopa built on
39:40 - How M-Kopa retains customers
44:05 - Outro
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In this episode, your favorite hosts, Yemi and Nnamdi, were joined by the VP, Global Marketing for Chipper Cash, Hasan Luongo.
Hasan talks about how he joined Chipper Cash, how Chipper has evolved over the years, how they were able to sign one of the biggest afrobeat artists as a partner and ambassador, including what the future looks like for Chipper Cash.
To ensure you don’t miss any episode of our release and for additional information on the hosts, follow @teardownpodcast on Twitter.
If you would like to get all the insider’s gist first, subscribe to our newsletter here: africanstartupteardownpod.substack.com
Please leave a review, comment, share, and like whenever you listen. We want to hear from you and appreciate your feedback. Better ratings mean more people get to listen to the show, and it helps us grow.
CREDITS:
Oluwapelumi Kunuyi - Researcher
SHOWNOTES
0.00 Introduction
0.34 How Hasan joined Chipper Cash
1.51 What is Chipper Cash
2.54 Chipper Cash and products rollout
4.45 Chipper Cash and competition
6.14 How Chipper Cash makes money
11.42 Chipper Cash and acquisition
16.34 Chipper Cash and brand attribution
17.55 Chipper Cash and retention
20.58 Chipper Cash’s products as it relates to business economics
22.47 How Chipper Cash decides to add more products
24.00 Back story to signing Burna boy
28.44 What the future is for Chipper Cash
30.51 Chipper Cash and its use cases
33.17 What it took for Chipper to become a unicorn
34.34 Chipper Cash payment network effects
35.40 How soon Chipper Cash can run on autopilot
38.21 Outro
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In this episode, your favorite hosts Yemi and Nnamdi were joined by MAX’s CFO, Guy-Bertrand Njoya. Guy talks about the growth process, challenges, and what the startup is doing to build a resilient transport business.
To stay in tune with all episode releases and additional information about the hosts, follow @teardownpodcast on Twitter.
If you’ll like to get the insider's gist, subscribe to our newsletter here: https://substack.com/profile/24047883-african-startup-teardown-pod
Please leave a review, comment share, and like wherever you listen to podcasts. We want to hear from you and appreciate your feedback. Better ratings mean more people get to listen to the show and it helps us grow.
0:00 - Introduction 5:00 - What is MAX 18:10 - How MAX makes money 22:10 - MAX business model 25:10 - MAX and Competition 29:21 - MAX Future Plan/Features 34:12 - MAX and electric cars 42:37 - MAX and Retention 45:52 - MAX and User Acquisition 46:38 - MAX and Resilience 49:32 - MAX and Future Business Growth 52:25 - Outro -
Yemi shares his idea about a business he would love to build, how he will go about it and what stopped him from doing it. He hopes someone gets to do it after listening to this episode.
To stay in tune with all episode releases and additional information about the hosts, follow @teardownpodcast on Twitter.
If you’ll like to get the insider's gist, subscribe to our newsletter here: https://substack.com/profile/24047883-african-startup-teardown-pod
Please leave a review, comment share, and like wherever you listen to podcasts. We want to hear from you and appreciate your feedback. Better ratings mean more people get to listen to the show and it helps us grow.
[0:00] Intro
[2:20] The business idea
[14:30] Is it really marketplace?
[18:36] Data and integration
[29:12] Business model fit
[35:25] Go to market
[45:43] Channels of acquisition
[55:00] Regulatory concerns
[57:12] Acquisition and Retention
[1:07:15] Why didn't you build it
[1:13:55] Brand name
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In this episode, Yemi and Nnamdi talk about the sports prediction market, how they make money, grow, and what is the end game for them.
To stay in tune with all episode releases and additional information about the hosts, follow @teardownpodcast on Twitter.
If you’ll like to get the insider's gist, subscribe to our newsletter here: https://substack.com/profile/24047883-african-startup-teardown-pod
Please leave a review, comment share, and like wherever you listen to podcasts. We want to hear from you and appreciate your feedback. Better ratings mean more people get to listen to the show and it helps us grow.
Follow The Time Stamps
[0:00] Intro
[3:05] Topic of discussion
[5:56] How they acquire customers
[13:50] Customer activation
[23:18] How they retain their customers
[27:25] How they make money
[35:00] Referral
[37:03] How much they make in a month
[42:40] Thoughts on the market growth
[43:47] Product-market fit
[45:41] Product channel fit
[46:47] Model market fit
[50:11] Channel model fit
[51:22] Outro
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Many conversations around Jumia focus on why eCommerce is hard or how it's hard to do deliveries in Nigeria, but they are often surface-level analyses of Jumia's opportunity.
We go in deeper and cover all of Jumia. How they make money, how they think about launching businesses, their growth prospect, and their strategic direction.
This is an episode you will love. Plus the audio on this is the best so far. You will love it!
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We recorded this episode back in April 2021 and we discussed how we would think about growth for some of the early stage/series A VC-funded startups in Nigeria. We talked about Stears, EdenLife, Moove, Rise, and a lot of others.
This episode is great in understanding how to think of user acquisition.
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We discuss why they are so many property listing websites in Africa. We reversed engineered how the biggest players in the space acquire renters and estate agents and how property listing sites think about retention and monetization.
If you have ever wanted to start a marketplace or listing site, this is a must-listen.
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In this episode we reverse engineer how Jiji.ng grows and answer the question "Can they can become a $10m revenue company?". We go over their growth framework and share what we have discovered
![Paga: Running a Fintech Before it Was Possible To Run a Fintech[S2, Ep10]](https://is3-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts116/v4/4f/de/d5/4fded560-9e21-8e67-b36c-591d409271d2/mza_2372041101635001047.jpg/80x80bb.jpg)