More Branches Talks To Rotimi Okungbaye .
More Branches caught up with Rotimi Okungbaye, photographer, writer and media intern at Andela from Lagos, we spoke about working with Andela, the tech scene in Nigeria and his advice for tech startups.
What’s it like working for Andela’s Media Unit ?
Rotimi Okungbaye : Fantastic! It is a beautiful experience, I love every aspect of what I do. The people I work with (Communications & Brand) are amazing, they support my growth and I love every part of what I do.
What have you learnt from the experience thus far and what perspective of the tech scene in Nigeria has this opened up to you that people don’t normally know about ?
Rotimi Okungbaye : One thing I have learnt is that, you are limitless! I have learnt to never underestimate the power of learning. At Andela & generally, there is always something to learn from people and the internet. I have learnt to be proactive and to never underestimate anyone and to ask for help/collaboration when I need them. I’ve learn to appreciate the collective power of people. I have been exposed to the Community Building perspective (if that’s a thing) of the ecosystem. I have been involved in different developer community events, I have had the opportunity of documenting some of them. Andela is a big supporter of the Developer community and the ecosystem entirely. Andela sponsors a lot of the events organised for the community.
Tech start-ups always go through a lot of challenges in the scene, being a creative who’s captured different stories. What do you think new companies should learn in starting up ?
Rotimi Okungbaye :
- Let your vision be very clear and let everyone understand it before they join the journey.
- Customer is King! Know who your customers will be and try to build what you think will make them run after you.
- Let your PRODUCT be super awesome that your marketing team won’t have to do a lot of wooing.
- Have a winning strategy.
- Start Lean.
- Frugality is also important.
- Hire the best when you need to.
The developer community is becoming very very visible and that is really amazing, our events are becoming recognised globally, which is good for us.
Why are you inspired to capture the Tech Scene ?
Rotimi Okungbaye : Well, the tech scene needs visibility. The story of our devs need to told, especially those little community gatherings that help shape them in to worldclass developers. Also, people need to see how much effort people are investing in becoming better; they don’t just appear. The Tech Scene is generally interesting to capture, the amazing developments and stories.
What does an image mean ?
Rotimi Okungbaye : An image is a story. Once seen, it should need no explanation.
What’s unique to the African creative scene from the perspective of a visual creative like yourself ?
Rotimi Okungbaye : One unique thing I’ve discovered is the unique touch to our art. The originality and uniqueness is amazing. Also, I’ve seen more collaborations. and this is really impressive. Also, I think our creatives are being more recognised and appreciated.
What’s your vision for both the African creative and tech scene in the next few years ? Any particular start-up you’d like to endorse ?
Rotimi Okungbaye : The future is very bright, there are very beautiful and brilliant ideas coming up. We have amazing visual artists coming up and with more noise (publicity), they can attain global exposure. My vision will be to see people appreciating our own creatives, them producing works that will be highly valued, both home and abroad. It is not bad if a Nigerian I creative can sell one artwork for millions of naira/dollars. We also have amazing startups coming up with great ideas and they need to be encouraged and also patronized! Startups I’m endorsing are: Flutterwave, Paystack, Cregital, SwitchNG & HotelsNG.
