#76, Shola Akinlade - Building for the Long-term, Managing Talent and Growing as a Leader

Building The Future Podcast

My guest today is Shola Akinlade. I met Shola in 2016, while he and his co-founder, Ezra, were at the YC accelerator program. It was the beginning of their Paystack journey, and even then, I was struck by his clarity of thought and radical focus on product development.

Today, Paystack has scaled to seven markets and is responsible for over 40x the value processed online in Nigeria at the time of their founding. Their $200M+ acquisition by Stripe marked a significant milestone for the tech ecosystem in October 2020.

In this episode, which is Shola’s second appearance on BTF, we reflected on:

• Stripe’s acquisition of Paystack, and its impact on Shola, his team, and broader tech ecosystem
• Hiring and managing startup talent at scale, including the necessary changes in management style required at different stages of a startup’s life
• His seven-year benchmark for measuring startup success, and the importance of a long term view in company building

We also discussed the opportunity with “community project” Sporting Lagos FC, and how his experience at Paystack serves as leverage in his new venture of owning a football club. Listen to Episode 11 (Season 1) as context for this one.

Quote: “In the realm of business, prioritizing shared values over personal friendships is paramount when selecting collaborative partners.”

Recommended Books:

The Away Game: The Epic Search for Soccer’s Next Superstars by Sebastian Abbot

Radical Candour: How to Get What You Want by Saying What You Mean by Kim Scott

CREDITS

This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint

Host: Dr. Dotun Olowoporoku
Produced by: The Subtext
Editing: Osarumen Osamuyi, Chinedu Anatune
Show Notes: Grace Obaloluwa
Design: Jonathan Nwachukwu
Voice Overs & Project Coordination: Damilola Teidi
Season Intro Video: Chukwuka Ezeiruaku