{"id":147909,"date":"2025-05-31T22:38:18","date_gmt":"2025-05-31T22:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/147909\/"},"modified":"2025-05-31T22:38:18","modified_gmt":"2025-05-31T22:38:18","slug":"how-nigerian-startups-are-surviving-tough-reforms-olumide-soyombo-explains-it-all-on-drinks-and-mics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/147909\/","title":{"rendered":"How Nigerian Startups Are Surviving Tough Reforms \u2014 Olumide Soyombo Explains It All On Drinks and Mics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"251\" data-end=\"514\">In a high-energy episode of Drinks and Mics, hosts Ugo Dre, Tunji Andrews, and Arnold Dublin-Green sat down with one of Nigeria\u2019s most prolific tech investors, Olumide \u2018Otunba Sho\u2019 Soyombo, to unravel how startups are navigating Nigeria\u2019s tough economic reforms.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"516\" data-end=\"934\">Sho, co-founder of Bluechip Technologies and lead investor in over 100 startups, didn\u2019t hold back. From discussing founder discipline to how investor money sometimes funds jet-set lifestyles, the conversation cut deep into startup realities. He reflected on lessons from investing in companies like PiggyVest, the emotional toll of founder betrayal, and why investing in people often trumps the business model.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"936\" data-end=\"1251\">Amid reforms ranging from fuel subsidy removal to currency devaluation, Soyombo noted that Nigerian startups must now build leaner, think longer-term, and measure success with fundamentals, not vanity metrics. He also spotlighted Africa\u2019s demographic advantage, urging founders to optimise for digital-first users.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1253\" data-end=\"1373\">For anyone building or backing startups in today\u2019s Nigeria, this episode is a masterclass in resilience and reinvention.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1375\" data-end=\"1527\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Watch the full episode now on Nairametrics TV on YouTube!<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a high-energy episode of Drinks and Mics, hosts Ugo Dre, Tunji Andrews, and Arnold Dublin-Green sat down&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3094],"tags":[51,3187,3134,3322,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-147909","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-entrepreneurs","10":"tag-entrepreneurship","11":"tag-startups","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114604848453244770","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}