One on one with Ade Olufeko

Ade Olufeko, a technologist and designer, who is passionate about technology and digital media. Olufeko is keen at advancing entrepreneurship in Africa has impressive recognitions and awards such as the IBM Gerstner Award – 2003. 

Are you a hunter or a gatherer?

I am a hunter and gatherer but mostly a hunter. The global ecosystem and perspectives require you being both, especially when you oversee businesses with exceptional unique value propositions.

In response to Q1. Why a hunter/gatherer and how does that personality apply to your life as an entrepreneur?

I am visionary who is consistently in the vanguard. A peer in the field who started with me around the dotcom bubble calls me an entrepreneur-outlier of some sort. I stay mindful of the social economics factors and the federal regulators who try to maintain a reasonable pace. I am a big picture guy, this tells me I am a hunter.
What do you typically tell people when they ask you what you do?

It depends on the audience or inquirer. For those who can process complex context, I AM A POLYMATH with roots coming from 2nd and 3rd digital revolutions.. For the simple minded I say I am COGNITIVE TECHNOLOGIST who studies human behavior and how the emerging markets respond to innovation.
What has been the most exciting moment during your entrepreneurial journey?

Founding Visual Collaborative a parent group of The Avenue Creative LTD here in Lagos, a global outfit for creative professionals, this was initiated from Minneapolis Minnesota and New York City in United States. It’s a platform that came from a Satori moment of deep meditation and contemplation. It could also be coming from my influences when I lived in  Surulere Lagos during its industrial heyday in the 1980s – 90s

How has entrepreneurship changed over the years since you began?

Yes it has. Entrepreneurships is glamorized because it sounds good. The western millennials and Africans in the diaspora have flooded the markets with this kind of lingo without actually understanding or having the foundations of what an entrepreneur factually is.

Looking back, what’s the one thing you wish you knew about entrepreneurship?

There is always something to learn, especially now that the sub-sahara is competitive.  But if there is one thing I look back I would say the art of delegation.

The world is now focused on Africa, what’s the one thing you wish Africans knew that you feel we seem to overlook?

That the world is no longer patriarchal as some of text books show. As long as there is  heavy importation from the West or East to the Africas, our culture though beautiful cannot sustain concepts or ideas imported with just a consumer mentality (this applies to most tribes). We have to create and innovate and give way of the younger folks.  Trust has to be cultivated even through tough love.

The world’s tech giants are all rushing to invest in Africa, why do you think this is the case? Is this a desire to hit the ground before competition or are there opportunities we still haven’t tapped into?

There are many opportunities we have not tapped into.  But there is also an inferiority complexity in corporate governance and responsibility. But if we are to be fair, then I would say that Africa’s population and numbers is what is attractive to foreign investors.

Entrepreneurship is now the “it thing”, it’s cool to be called an entrepreneur.  As a mentor, what advice would you give a young person who wants to get into entrepreneurship for the supposedly glamorous lifestyle?

Humble your self and find a mentor.  It’s a must!  Knowledge always has a expiration date.  So you have to consistently ask yourself if you enjoy doing what you do.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received? The worst?

The best: To push the limits and that only independent people can make interdependent choices.

The Worse:  That there is only one kind of education and only one-way to learn.