Hi Nairalanders,

I am participating in the Founder Institute (FI) Lagos Fall Cohort 2023 that runs for 14 weeks. It costs $299 to join but when you add payment charges you may be paying a little over $300.

From the company website, The Founder Institute is the world's most proven network to turn ideas into fundable startups, and startups into global businesses. One of such startup that you are probably familiar with is Udemy.com

You can learn about FI at fi.co

THE STATS
6,800+ Alumni Companies
$1.75BN+Funding for Alumni
200+ Chapter Cities
100+ Chapter Countries
35,000+ Mentors & Advisors
$30BN Estimated Portfolio Value

In Nigeria, we have the Lagos and Abuja chapters. And recently you must have seen the adverts where NITDA sponsored 30 business owners in Abuja cohort. Unfortunately it seems all the intervention by the Ministry of digital economy is limited to Abuja. That is a thread for another day.

In this documentation, I will be sharing my experience, challenges, exercise, assignment, ideas and every other information that can help business owners and executives of companies see how they can drive growth. The experience will also benefit you if you are considering starting a business or a startup company.

We are in the third week, so in the post to follow, I will share my experience in the past two weeks. I will share what I am doing this week as well.

Post Format:
Every Thursday: I will share what I plan to do for the week
Every Wednesday: I will share what I accomplished in the past week.
In Between: I will share any assignment that I need feedback, challenges or some insight.

Sit back and enjoy. If you are following say hi below.

My Background:
I have 10 years experience leading online marketing programs in Cloud Integration, Mobile App Development, Web Design, Web Development, Search Engine Optimization, Pay per Click Advertising and Online Marketing Campaigns and Social Media Marketing Strategy for B2B professional services companies.

After that I have also gain 10 years experience as a Software and Data Engineer, 3 as a Data Analyst and 1 as a Prompt Engineer.

After about 15 years working, I decide it's time to have my own company as the case may be. With little business experience, I think university education will not help me that much and I don't have the time. That is why I turn to FI

WEEK 1
Our first week started with an onboarding session where we were introduced to the Lagos chapter leaders and some Global leaders. All the participants also introduce themselves and share a little insight into what they are building.

We were giving the remaining times of the week to read bunch of materials to familiarize ourselves with the program.

And there is also about 10 exercise to complete in the week. I was able to meet my target even though it was tough because the program started when I was in Abuja for the Digital Nigeria 2023 conference.

My key takeaway from the week was the fact that I was able to schedule consulting hours with some industry leaders to fine tune my business idea.

WEEK 2

Week 2 started slowly for me because I have some other engagement to attend to. But eventually I picked up.
The week focus is carving a Vision and Mission for your business.

I have 10 assignment to complete. The most challenging ones are:

1. Researching my potential customers and following them
2. Customer interviews
3. Market analysis

It was tough that I had to use one of my two opportunity to request for an extension to submit the assignment.

Significant Achievement:
1. What I learn so far prompt me to drop part of my initial idea and to refine it. I had to register a new domain name and secure all the social handle to align my vision and mission with my brand identity
2. I had the privilege to pitch to local leaders, mentors from different companies and some other investors from Chicago who help me to identify loopholes in my business pitch.
3. I was able to gather about 100 feedback from different CEOs and Business owners around the world on what was the hardest part of being a CEO or business owners.
4. Lastly I was able to complete all my assignment and submit it.

Takeaway:
🚀 Unlock Your Business Potential! Calling all CEOs and Business Owners!

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Why Participate?
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Don't navigate the business landscape blindfolded! Let data drive your decisions and propel your success!

NOTE: Based on the program rule, there are some information I cannot share with the public. But if you are a CEO or a business owner in my study group, I can share some more insight with you.

To join our exclusive list of CEO or business owner, fill this one minute survey.

Visit: https://dataspai.com/ceo-survey/