One of Nigeria’s most prolific investors, Olumide Soyombo on Tuesday launched “Vantage”, a memoir of his early beginnings, foray into entrepreneurship and investing as well as key lessons from his business journey.
In August, TechCabal reported that Olumide Soyombo, the co-founder of Bluechip Technologies and founder of Voltron Capital, announced his business memoir, “Vantage,” and on Tuesday, the book was formally launched at an event in Lagos. The memoir—divided into three parts—captures Soyombo’s early beginnings, his foray into entrepreneurship and investing, and lessons from his experience as a veteran in Africa’s tech ecosystem.
Soyombo’s book follows an uncommon culture of Nigerian business leaders sharing the untold stories of their industry. In the book, Soyombo—one of Nigeria’s most prolific investors and earliest backers of some of the country’s notable startups, including Paystack and PiggyVest—answers questions about his business journey and pioneering role in the evolution of Nigeria’s tech ecosystem. Herbert Wigwe, Group CEO, The Access Corporation, in the foreword of the book, described “Vantage” as “the most important book so far written on the burgeoning tech space in Nigeria.” [ad]
One key takeaway from Soyombo’s business journey is the role of mentorship in the success of businesses and their owners. In the book, he referenced a scathing email he received from his dad—and first investor—on the 11th of February, 2013, after he and his partner, Kazeem Tewogbade (Kaz) splurged on two Mercedes Benz E-Class cars. Two years later, Olumide sent a similar mail to the co-founders of PushCV—the company that later transitioned into PiggyVest—questioning their spending of the last $50k he invested in the company. “The idea is not to harvest your rewards in the beginning, especially when you know that with the prospects of your startup, the reward will come in droves,” Soyombo wrote in the book.
At the book launch event, the Olumide Soyombo Education and Entrepreneurship Foundation was launched to place one million copies of “Vantage” in the hands of one million young Africans. The thinking with this knowledge-sharing is to nurture the next generation of business leaders and tech entrepreneurs on the continent. Soyombo said, “I am very optimistic about the future for investing in Africa. I believe that the best place to build is in Africa and in Nigeria.”
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