How one goof at a pitch changed my life forever

Most people would agree that life is a journey; not a race, and our actions and experiences will shape how far we get to travel through life. I believe this hypothesis also applies to the Startup world in the sense that, your encounters/experiences, and the way you respond can and will significantly shape your journey.

Like I always try to remind myself, it has only been a year since I made the jump to full time entrepreneurship, and the experience has been amazing. Though it could be rough at times, the feeling of excitement and fulfillment never goes away and that’s what keeps the fire burning. During this period, I’ve had the opportunity to travel the world, and if I’m not traveling somewhere to speak, it’s to go pitch to an investor, to check with the team in Lagos or to attend an accelerator/Incubator. You get the drift. Like our people would say in pidgin “I don waka well well“. Lol.

Suffice to say, I’ve had all sorts of experiences through my voyage and I share below with the hope that some of the younger entrepreneurs can learn a thing or two.

September 2016, ScholarX got accepted into Diaspora Demo Accelerator by Tiphub. It was a 7-week program that brought together some of the best and brightest entrepreneurs from the continent. The first 6 weeks of the program was done remotely and then in the final week, we all had to convene in Washington DC for a daylong event at the World Bank, followed by a Demo Day at the US Chamber of Commerce, where each startup got to pitch to investors. I had a very interesting experience with one of the speakers at the World Bank event who happens to be a Partner at a top Africa/Middle East VC based in Lagos, I believe. While the session was ongoing, I had my laptop on and I was putting finishing touches to our Pitch Deck. I was running out of time as the deadline was fast approaching, then I heard “… you in the checkered shirt.” I looked up and the lady before me went, “…so how much are you looking to raise?” Remember my attention was divided because I was working on the deck. So, I responded with an amount without giving a breakdown of how we intended to use the funds. Let’s just say she “finished” me. Lol. I was still trying to recover when she then asked, “so what exactly do you need the money for?”. I wasn’t ready. I made another error. Of all the things we needed funding for, ‘office space’ was the first thing that came out my mouth. Oh brother! She really went in on me, but somehow I managed to stay calm and took it in good stride. I really saw it as “tough love”.

You know, now that I think about it, it was funny though how a few people came to pat me in the back after the event saying that I shouldn’t let that incident discourage me. What that incident did to me however, was the opposite. It charged me up! Made me set my eyes on what mattered most as a startup owner and keep it top of my mind at all times. And as if I wasn’t already motivated enough, it took me to the next level. The key lesson here is to stay focused always and allow difficult situations motivate you to get better. Just like athlete’s train hard every day to get better, we entrepreneurs need to do the same.

My friend Muse Akinsola of filmlocations.com.ng asked me the other day, “do you ever stop working?” and I responded with a smile. What I actually remembered was this famous quote by former US Secretary of State, Colin Powell that reads, “there are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”