show episodes
 
Financial technology in Africa is changing at an accelerating rate, and with it, the very nature of business on the continent. As one of the largest payments companies in Africa, the Paystack team is constantly speaking to teams doing amazing work all over the continent. The Decode Fintech Podcast allows us to hit "record" and share what we're learning! We'll be speaking with a broad range of players from across the African fintech ecosystem, from startup founders, to bankers, to the folks w ...
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The Blind Ambition with Jack Kelly provides a candid look into the top companies in business and tech. Go behind the scenes with industry and workplace leaders and explore work culture, what it takes to land a role at these companies, and how to build, scale and thrive in your career. Hosted by Jack Kelly and Rick Chen and presented by the professional social network Blind.
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show series
 
Lynne Oldham, Chief People Officer at Stash Lynne made it as an HR executive through a circuitous route across companies, industries, and even countries. We tackle all of the different HR tropes out there, including whether HR is your enemy, how they might only serve executives or the companies, and how mass layoffs might happen. Lynne gives us a s…
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Jeff Bogdan, Former Director, Learning & Development - Microsoft Windows at Microsoft Jeff began his career as a software engineer at Microsoft. We explore the company's culture in the '90s and discuss the launches of Windows 95, the Zune media player, and Windows Phone. Jeff shares what he learned from the failures and how they propelled him to ne…
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This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Dare Okoudjou, Founder & CEO of Onafriq (formerly known as MFS Africa). Dare has built a long-running startup success streak on the continent, having started the business over a decade ago to become a multimillion dollar revenue company today. Onafriq is building a…
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Gal Josefsberg, Vice President, Product and Operations - Cloud Platform at Guidewire Software Gal has seen it all as a product management executive. He walks us through what it is like to be a product owner at an early-stage startup, a more mature startup, and how an IPO or acquisition changes the role. We explore how to work with startup founders …
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This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Uka Eje, the co-founder and CEO of ThriveAgric. I've known Uka since 2017, when he and his co-founder, Ayo, received their first institutional investment from Ventures Platform. ThriveAgric empowers nearly one million smallholder farmers on the continent with techn…
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Jayesh Govindarajan, Senior Vice President, Salesforce AI at Salesforce Jayesh explains how AI is already changing how people work. We dig into how copilots work and how people are already using them to get better at their jobs and explore the new roles and career opportunities created. Finally, we explore how Salesforce hires professionals for its…
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This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Deepankar Rustagi, a seasoned tech entrepreneur in Nigeria. I've known Deepankar for over 7 years, dating back to his days at Vconnect. He was one of the first entrepreneurs featured on this podcast—check out episode 8 to hear about his journey from Nigeria to Indi…
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Jack Kelly and Rick Chen respond to Brittany Pietsch's viral LinkedIn status, revealing that she is still looking for a job nearly six months after recording herself as CloudFlare laid her off. We look into why HR and management teams like the impersonal layoff by video and how hiring managers and executives can do better. We also take on the hundr…
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Liz Young, Head of Investment Strategy at SoFi Liz's investment strategies and insights are sought the world over from CNBC, where she is a regular contributor on TV, to SoFi, where she leads the financial technology company's strategy function. We get the tactical low-down into how someone can break into a career on Wall Street, the experience nee…
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This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Elo Umeh, founder and CEO of Terragon Group, a leading data and marketing cloud company in Africa. I've known Elo personally for some time; his leadership at Terragon has been transformative. Founded in 2009, Terragon initially focused on mobile websites and launch…
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Awa Kone, Global Head of Operations at Flutterwave Awa is a go-to expert for multinational corporations and multi-billion-dollar startups looking to expand worldwide, especially on the continent of Africa. In this exclusive episode, she reveals the top three secrets she's used to develop her career and the businesses she's scaled on a global stage.…
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This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Daniel Yu, founder and CEO of Wasoko, a B2B e-commerce platform serving over 220,000 informal retailers across the continent. The first time I saw Daniel, he was playing the keyboard as part of a live band in Nairobi. Since then, we've met at more serious events wh…
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Rich Lesser, Global Chair of BCG Rich didn't start his career in management consulting. We explore how he decided to give up his plum engineering job at Procter & Gamble to join Boston Consulting Group as a consultant. He shares how he rose through the ranks at BCG over 35 years before ending up as CEO and a trusted advisor to CEOs, politicians, an…
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This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Bode Abifarin, one of the leading startup operators I know on the continent. I first met Bode in 2017 when she had just joined Flutterwave, where she served as Chief Operating Officer. I've been continually impressed by Bode’s unique ability to blend operational de…
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George Bezerra, Senior Vice President, Head of Data George explains how he transitioned from academia to industry and why earning a master's or PhD can help you unlock a career in data science or machine learning. We also get George to explain the difference between analytics, data science, machine learning and AI roles and why even companies and h…
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This season of Building the Future was made possible by Moniepoint My guest today is Mark Straub, founder & CEO of Smile ID. Smile ID is building identity verification infrastructure for businesses in Africa. Mark and I were connected by a mutual friend, but I’ve always been fascinated by his transition from being a venture investor to becoming a s…
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Amit Bendov, Founder and CEO of Gong Amit is now the founder of a startup last publicly valued at more than $7 billion, but fundraising and getting the attention of investors and customers weren't always easy. We dig into the inspiration for Gong and how he persevered through the venture capitalists' many rejections in the early days. Amit also sha…
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My guest today is Anu Adedoyin-Adasolum, the co-founder and CEO of Sabi. Sabi is a B2B e-commerce startup that provides digital infrastructure to Africa's informal economy. In October 2023, they announced reaching $1B annual GMV. I've always been fascinated by Sabi, especially their ability to bring seemingly disjointed and complex pieces together …
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Andrea Guerzoni, Global Vice Chair, Strategy and Transactions at EY Andrea, with more than 20 years of experience in taking companies public, advising CEOs and boards of directors about mergers and acquisitions, and helping orchestrate corporate spin-offs, explains how these IPOs and corporate deals really work. We also get a sneak peek into some o…
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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 …
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Whitnie Narcisse, Operating Partner at First Round Capital Whitnie shares how you can work in venture capital without having an investing or finance background. We explore the world of venture capital platform and all the functions and professionals that make a venture capital firm successful for the firm and its portfolio companies. She also expla…
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My guest today is Tosin Eniolorunda, CEO and co-founder of Moniepoint. I met Tosin in Kigali at the Africa Tech Summit in 2020, just before the world went into lockdown. We spent hours discussing the offline distribution of fintech products after our introduction. Since then, I've had the opportunity to be an investor, C-level executive, and board …
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Monty Fowler, Vice President, Revenue Strategy and Enablement at Kentik Monty reveals that at many companies, the most highly paid professionals are often the salespeople, and in some cases, they might make as much as a Fortune 500 CEO. We break down the total compensation and pay structures most common in tech sales roles and a possible blueprint …
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It's been a while. I haven't held the podcast mic for a long time. I must admit, I'm a bit rusty. I’m overwhelmed by the advancements in the podcast space since my sabbatical. The African tech ecosystem has also grown in leaps and bounds, with its fair share of troughs too. And I'm still privileged to be an active participating observer in it. Seve…
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Marta Munk de Alba, Former Director, Talent Acquisition EMEA at Netflix Marta takes us to a world where people haven't heard of Netflix. She recalls what it was like to recruit for Netflix in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, when the streaming giant was first expanding outside of the U.S. We also ask Marta to reveal everything you might want to …
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Dan Black, Global Leader, Talent Attraction and Acquisition at EY Dan leads talent attraction and acquisition at EY and is responsible for the "Big Four" firm's recruiting strategy. We get the inside details into what he and his recruiters look for when hiring and how somebody can get on their radar. Notably, we dig into the diverse roles and backg…
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Valerie Beaulieu, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at The Adecco Group Valerie explains her secret to a remarkable career journey, what she calls her "career backpack," which landed her in the c-suite and on the boards of various public companies and organizations. We look at when Microsoft was a startup and what it was like working in the tech in…
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Senior Director, U.S. Business Acceleration and Integration at RBC Annette tells us how to communicate with executives and what it takes to influence them and drive impact. She also shares how to get started, including everything from networking and meeting CEOs and other c-suite executives at your own company to what to say when you want to get th…
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Ben Morss, Product Manager at Zocdoc Ben shares his nontraditional career path, from studying computer science and music to working as a software engineer, developer advocate, and now product manager. Ben also reveals that many of his colleagues at Google had nontraditional work experience or had to apply multiple times before landing a role at the…
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Ginnie Carlier, Americas Vice Chair, Talent at EY Ginnie reflects on the best professional advice she's ever received: You need to have an adventurous mindset. We explore how adventure and a willingness to step outside your comfort zone can unlock new career opportunities. Ginnie explains how she put the advice into practice and how it landed her h…
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The Honorable Mark Takano of the U.S. House of Representatives Congressman Mark Takano recently introduced a bill called the Thirty-Two-Hour Workweek Act, which would amend the definition of the workweek in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. If passed into law, it would require overtime pay for anyone who works more than 32 hours in one …
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Jack Kelly and Rick Chen react to news that Glassdoor wants your real name. We explore the company's privacy practices and whether company reviews and other information posted to Glassdoor are really anonymous. Jack explains the real-life repercussions of being outed about posts made on Glassdoor and social media and why anonymity matters. Finally,…
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Rick Chen, Senior Director, Head of Public Relations at Blind Rick never set out to work in public relations or communications. Instead, he took his teachers' feedback about disrupting class and combined it with a willingness to take on the tasks and jobs few others want to do. We explore how Rick became a PR executive from the very beginning when …
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Disha Patel, Head of Shopping Product at Cash App Disha explains why finding a craft and refining it over time is essential. It's how she's evolved her career, first as an engineer and then as a management consultant and a product head. We dig into what practicing a craft looks like and how to know if you have the right network and role to thrive. …
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Heather Inocencio, Founder and CEO of The Product Consult Heather is a sought-after product management consultant with more than 30 years of product management experience at large public companies and high-growth consumer startups, including The RealReal and HauteLook. We got her to share the details about how the product management discipline has …
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Jack Kelly, Founder and CEO of Compliance Search Group In this episode, we flip the script and interview our co-host, Jack Kelly! Jack did not always know he wanted to be a recruiter. Instead, he stumbled upon it after visiting a recruiting agency and having a friend recommend he meet someone in the business. We look into the economics of recruitin…
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Jack Kelly and Rick Chen explore what happened with Google's well-publicized blunders with its Gemini AI model. Rick explains what likely happened behind the scenes that resulted in the image generator creating odd illustrations and distorting the reality of historical events. Next, Jack asks if Big Tech and the "Magnificent Seven" group of stocks—…
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Arvind Jain, Founder and CEO of Glean Arvind spent more than 10 years at Google, going from one of the company's first engineers when it was a startup to becoming a distinguished engineer. We find out just how he earned the promotions and what it took to land the title fewer than 1% of all engineers ever earn, including the tips and tricks many sen…
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Justin Zhu, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Stand with Asian Americans Michelle Lee, Counsel at Stand with Asian Americans Asian Americans make up a large proportion of the U.S. professional workforce, but often, they are one of the least represented groups at every leadership level. Justin and Michelle describe how Stand with Asian Americans …
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Bonnie Dilber, Manager, Business Recruiting at Zapier Bonnie leads the business recruiting team at Zapier, focusing on roles in the finance, sales, marketing, people, operations, support, legal and leadership teams. We dig into her untraditional background and why teachers might make the best recruiters and business leaders. Bonnie also shares her …
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Mark Dixon, Founder and CEO of IWG When Mark founded Regus, now known as IWG, he was the first to offer co-working space on a large scale. We explore how workplaces, offices, and even commercial real estate have changed since he started in the company in 1989. Mark explains how companies are increasingly choosing hybrid or flexible work schedules, …
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Neil Dhar, Vice Chairman, Co-Head of Consulting at PwC We explore the secrets and advantages of longevity in the professional services industry, focusing on the advisory and consulting profession. Neil has spent more than 30 years at PwC and has held various leadership roles across the firm's different service lines—everything from M&A deals, risk …
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Katya Laviolette, Chief People Officer at 1Password Katya gives us a sneak peek into how recent mass layoffs in the tech, banking and finance industries have impacted the job market. She reveals that 1Password receives as many as 12,000 resumes every month and job postings for internships can add another 20,000. We ask Katya to break down how to po…
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Michelle Gonzalez, Corporate Vice President and Global Head of M12, Microsoft's Venture Capital Fund Michelle explains how to really network and why most people think it's so artificial, transactional, or even cringe-inducing. She tells us about the cold emails she would send to entrepreneurs, investors, professors and other notable figures and wha…
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Gleb Yushin, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Sila Nanotechnologies Gleb has long been sought out for his background in materials sciences and physics background. Now, he's taken his expertise to clean energy and industries as diverse as connected devices and electric vehicles. We explore how Sila Nanotechnologies was born and how Gleb tr…
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Jack Mardack, Co-Founder of Oyster Jack began his career as an "accidental" marketer before working in banking and finance. Then, he had enough and decided to move to the San Francisco Bay Area to join the startup scene. There, he met like-minded, smart people who shared his interests in entrepreneurship and finding a way to create a human-centric …
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Amanda Richardson, CEO of CoderPad Amanda says her career has been a windy journey. She admits that, at times, she didn't have a clear career path and has primarily created opportunities for herself. It's paid off, as she was hired to become the CEO of a high-performing startup she didn't start. We learn how she became CEO and how a frank conversat…
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Amir Nathoo, Founder and CEO of Outschool We explore what it is like to be a startup founder from the perspective of Amir Nathoo, who knew he wanted to be a software entrepreneur at an early age. Interestingly, he explains how a blog post he published in 2015 about a personal experience led to where he is today, as a founder and CEO of a startup la…
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Max Tagher, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Mercury Max had never worked at a bank, financial services company or even a financial-technology startup before starting Mercury. Instead, he drew from his firsthand experience as a customer of Silicon Valley Bank, the once-popular bank with many startups, and noticed others like him were also…
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Lia Garvin, Former Team Operations and Organizational Effectiveness Lead at Google Lia gives us an in-depth look into Google's program management and team operations. We explore how she became a program manager and what program managers do at Google and other Big Tech companies, including how they work with software engineers, product managers, des…
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