Speed Questions with Dayo of Africlick

As we gear up for our next event on May 3 — B is for Building at Google Campus, we decided to catch up with one of our speakers for the evening and did a little fun quiz with Dayo Akinrinade. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did 😁.

Ok, let’s go…

Q: Your go-to or favourite form of greeting is…

I would love to say it’s “How far” or “Wagwan” but if I’m honest it’s “Hi”.

Q: Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat?

For me, Twitter. As I’m very private, I’m not really on social media and I do not have a personal Instagram or Snapchat. I was dragged onto Twitter because I was told as a person in tech, I should have it for professional reasons. I think Twitter is useful for first-hand learning from thought leaders.

Q: What unpopular opinion do you have about the tech industry?

My unpopular opinion is based on industry gatekeepers who require early stage startups to have an “unfair advantage”. I think the term “unfair advantage” is predicated on the classic silicon valley founding team which encompasses an Ivy league education, a developer, patented technology and strong networks. This notion can disadvantage less privileged founders. A founder that is a migrant or from a single parent household may possess a unique advantage that could be taken into account.

Q: If B is for Building what does A stand for?

A is for Accelerate because we need to build quickly!

Q: Date at the movies or restaurant?

People often put too much pressure to have dinner on the 1st date. The cost and time of dinners can add up! Alternatives like coffee, walks and galleries are okay.

For people 25 and under, I think the movies are suitable as it’s low cost and low pressure. However for maybe age 25 and above, dinner allows for extended interaction and familiarisation. #datingdavice for a dinner, do not to sit opposite each other, sit beside each other so it doesn’t feel like an interview and you can have more physical proximity.

I wasn’t expecting that.

Yeah this is a very important thing, I would even say men should perhaps call the restaurant ahead of time to request if they can set up the table in this way. It can really switch up the dynamics if you’re both at the corner of the table or sitting next to each other. Nobody really wants to look at someone’s face for that long, no matter how attractive they might be!

Q: What do you think founders like yourself need the most help with?

I think it is more investment that is geared towards African and emerging markets. By saying ‘geared towards’, I mean than the investor has a risk appetite for Africa and understands the market. I often see African startups having to do “double convincing” to investors. You’re just not convincing investors that your startup concept is viable, you have to convince them that Africa is a viable market and it’s often futile. The investor should already be au fait with the African market and focus on evaluating the startup.

Q: One piece of advice for those who are yet to start their venture

Ensure you understand the unit economics of your business model. Research similar startups that have failed and succeeded. A lot of knowledge is out there, so accelerate the process by building on existing knowledge. Sometimes I meet founders who tell me about their idea and I mention 2 other startups that have failed in that industry area, if the founder is not aware, then this impacts perception of their credibility.

Q: What is the most innovative piece of technology since you’ve been alive?

DVDs. My grandma had Betamax, I had VHS and in the rainy season (in Nigeria) the tapes would go mouldy over time. The transition from analogue VHS to DVD was magical!

Q: Puff or Chin Chin?

Chin Chin? No. Chin Chin is a poor version of a biscuit. If we are being honest, Nigerians as people are not great at baking (say, in comparison to Ivory Coast where the French left behind a tradition of baking). So I will choose Puff Puff aka fried doughnut because that’s what really puff puff is. But it must be fresh, hot and crispy. If it goes cold and soggy, I’m not here for it.

Q: Who is your most admired Entrepreneur/Hustler

Jamsetji Tata — the “Father of Indian Industry”. I love the historic and romanticized notion of idea of a family running a conglomerate of successful businesses. Tata started from opium, textiles, steel, hospitality, transportation etc. When I was a Management Consultant at Deloitte, I visited Hyderabad and Tata Consulting had the largest office on the block!

Q: What dating ritual do you think will never change?

Calling your friends after the date to spill all the tea and micro-analyse every interaction that went down! In Africlick app, we have a dating concierge who acts as your impartial and trusted BFF. Your concierge can help you suggest cute dates ideas and aid with the post-date analysis.

Q: What book are you reading now?

The Lean Marketplace by Juho Makkonen. It’s literally all about Marketplace business models.

I think a lot of entrepreneurs do not necessarily always appreciate the marketplace dynamics that are present within their business concept. Examples of marketplace businesses are Airbnb, Uber, and recruitment. I bought the book but you can get the first few chapters for free online incase you are interested.

Q: What is your one tip on networking?

My one tip is: Don’t get stuck speaking to the same one or two people throughout the whole event. A lot of us know how to open and introduce ourselves. But work on mastering the art of graciously closing an interaction. Smiling, shaking their hand again saying “it was fantastic to meet you, I do have your card and I’ll be in touch”. Genuinely connect, smile and keep it moving. A lot of people get stuck in conversations because they think it would be rude to leave.

Q: What are your thoughts on Brexit?

Let me start by saying that I did not support the EU Referendum: votes were cast based on fabricated information. Furthermore, even with perfect information, the average citizen is not qualified to determine if Brexit would yield the best economic outcome for England, personally I think that’s the job of experts.

The campaign was named “Br-exit” and not “Br-emain”, there is bias within the campaign name.

Q: What’s your current favourite quote?

My favourite quote is “Time and tide waits for no man”- even though it’s a slightly genderised quote, but [it still works].

Time is the one commodity we can’t get back. I love how it is symbolised with the tide because man cannot control time, nor the sea.

Thank you.

If you have not registered yet for our event on May 3rd, you can sign up here.

Africlick, is a new networking and dating app for professionals & creatives of African & Caribbean heritage. The mission is to empower us connect to our culture.

Africlick’s matching algorithm will allow members to match by life-goals, personality, ethnicity, tribe, religion etc. You can test the Android beta in Google Play here & give your feedback at the event!

About the Founder

Dayo’s background is IT Management Consulting, with over ten years of delivering analytics and financial transformation programmes at Accenture and Deloitte & Touche. She has designed solutions and led global teams at companies including the London Stock Exchange, Lloyds Banking Group, Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria and the Ministry of Defence. She is an advisor to two African fintech startups, Akkiba and DTL Cafe. Also, Dayo participated as a judge at London’s first Africa Fintech hackathon at Wayra UK.