Yele Bademosi

"The small change that made a big impact in my life is being curious. I use the phrase “Intellectual Curiosity” a lot which means being very aware and alert of what is going on around you. This is important because, for anyone working in technology, it is super difficult to predict the future or know what the next big thing is going to be. Five years ago when I was in Medical School, there was no way I could have predicted that I would be investing or will be interested in blockchain or crypto and so it’s very difficult to predict the future."

"So my simple advice is to stay curious, spend time researching and talking to people who are doing interesting things around you because that’s where inspiration and good ideas will come from."

"The advice I’ll give to someone starting a company is to have a sense of realism. Starting a company is one of the hardest things that you’ll do and so you need to make sure its something you are genuinely passionate about and something that you can see yourself working on for a very long time."

"A lot of people have watched movies like “The Social Network” where it seems like starting a startup is so easy, you go from 0–100 quickly, there is money chasing you and everything is going well but most times that’s not the case. You need to make sure you are really passionate about the problem you are trying to solve and the market you are going after, so you can weather through the storms and difficulties of starting a business."

"The last advice I’ll give is that if you are going to start a company and aim to raise venture capital for it then you have to understand what venture capital is really about. Most businesses that seek funding are not venture-backable and this is the biggest reason why most companies never raise venture capital."

"Something I have learned and I lean on daily is the importance of focus because you can spend your week being busy but when you look at your calendar or to-do list at the end of the week, you’ll realize that you have not been productive."

"It’s super important to segment your day and filter what’s important and what’s not. Everyone who works with me knows how I am with emails wherein I don’t rush to reply emails because emails are basically what other people want you to do whereas your own to-do list is what you want to do and your calendar is how you actually spend your time."

"The impact of how you spend your time on a day to day basis compounds over time, so I plan my day and focus on what is really important. At the beginning of every day, I spend 15–20 minutes where I think about what I want to get done that day and make sure I get it done."

"It’s never too late to get into tech but I wish I got into it a lot earlier. I am currently 28 years old and I have been in tech for about five years but sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I was aware of startups, programming and the impact technology entrepreneurship can have on Africa at a much earlier age. Right now I’m really interested in raising the awareness level of technology and startups amongst students in Secondary School as I believe that’s one of the best times to get started."