My The Builders Summit (TBS) Nuggets - Sim Shagaya's Session
I spent a little over an hour listening to Sim Shagaya at The Builders Summit last year, and honestly, I’ve been thinking about that session ever since. It wasn’t just another founder story…it was layered, vulnerable, and filled with the kind of lessons you only learn by being in the trenches. From experimenting with business models to navigating failure, battling macroeconomic forces, and rediscovering purpose through education…his journey is a blueprint for anyone building anything meaningful on the continent. So I did what I usually do when something won’t leave my head: I wrote it down. Here are 22 lessons that stuck with me.
A single moment can ignite a lifetime of curiosity. For Shagaya, it was 1986…the year he got his first computer. That early brush with technology quietly planted the seeds for what would become a lifelong pursuit.
Sometimes, the boldest decisions are the ones that go against everything expected of us. The man didn’t follow his father's wish into the military, and he returned to Nigeria when it made more sense to stay away. Each decision, difficult as it was, became a building block for the entrepreneur he would become.
Tip: When faced with a tough choice, list your personal convictions vs external expectations and lean into what aligns with your long-term vision.
Many great founders aren’t chasing one big idea. They’re experimenting. Sim Shagaya tried a bunch of things: a dating site, a Yelp-like directory, a classifieds platform, Nollywood streaming, e-commerce. Each venture sharpened his instincts. Each one taught him something different.
Tip: Design your journey as a series of low-cost experiments. Test fast, learn faster.
Failure is often the best teacher. Facebook made his dating platform irrelevant. Google Maps crushed his local directory. Competing with global platforms taught him the hard truth: some ideas, while good, can’t win in every market.
Tip: Do a post-mortem on your last failure. What exactly did you learn and how will that shape your next move?
Sometimes you walk away too soon. His classifieds platform didn’t survive, but similar models like Jiji that lingered flourished later. Timing matters. Patience matters. He realized they might’ve shut down just before the breakthrough.
Tip: Before quitting, ask: is this truly the end or just the hardest part? Seek external perspective before pulling the plug.
Not every venture has to start with dollar signs. What if the goal was simply to do meaningful work and make just enough to keep going? For Shagaya, building a business that allowed him to return to academia was enough. That clarity was freeing.
Tip: Define your “enough.” What lifestyle, impact, or flexibility are you really chasing?
Freedom. It’s underrated. Shagaya wasn’t running away from 9 to 5. He was chasing autonomy. The space to think, create, and move without asking for permission. Entrepreneurship was his way of reclaiming that space.
Cash flow is still king. His digital billboard company, Emotion, wasn’t flashy or “techy,” but it worked. It generated revenue from day one and investors noticed. Not every good business needs to be a Silicon Valley-style startup.
Platforms change the power game. With billboards, you rent attention. With YouTube, you own the content and the distribution. That insight changed how Shagaya saw the media and where the real value lies.
Tip: Re-evaluate your dependence on platforms. Are you building brand equity or just traffic for someone else?
Building looks glamorous from the outside, but it’s messy. Konga’s early days were filled with friction: delivery challenges, shifting from motorcycles to drivers, constant trial-and-error. Growth demanded grit.
Tip: Normalize chaos. Build operational slack and emotional resilience into your growth strategy.
Growth is sometimes macro-driven. Nigeria’s economy was booming between 2010 and 2014, and that rising tide lifted Konga too. A strong GDP can make even average execution look like brilliance.
Tip: Track macro trends. Align your growth plans with economic tailwinds, not just internal KPIs.
E-commerce is hard…really hard. It’s not just selling products. It’s warehousing, payments, delivery. Retail meets fintech meets logistics. And doing all that in Nigeria? Another level entirely.
Competition isn’t always healthy. Konga vs. Jumia turned into a price war. Deep discounts won customers but drained margins. Sometimes, winning too fast comes at the cost of long-term survival.
Tip: Define your competitive edge beyond price. Think service, brand, ecosystem. Then double down on that.
Strategy is everything. In hindsight, Shagaya believes Konga should’ve gone all-in as a marketplace. They should not have held inventory. That one shift could have changed the entire business trajectory.
Tip: Take time quarterly to question your model. What’s working? What assumptions need revisiting?
Investors mean well, but their goals aren’t always aligned with yours. They pushed for inventory at first, then reversed. Founders must develop the courage to trust their instincts when the pressure mounts.
Tip: Keep a founder’s compass. Write down your “why” and revisit it before each major investor decision.
A fragile economy can break the best businesses. Currency devaluation, inflation…these aren’t just headlines. They’re threats to margins, capital, and survival.
Grief and failure can strip you down, but they can also rebuild you. After Konga and personal losses, Shagaya found a new purpose in education. Sometimes, starting over is exactly what we need.
Tip: Turn personal low points into inquiry. What part of you is trying to emerge stronger?
Don’t let pride trap you. Shagaya speaks freely about what didn’t work. The ventures that failed. The missteps. His ability to move across rooms—tech, media, academia—is powered by that humility.
Tip: Schedule regular feedback sessions with people who’ll be brutally honest. Stay teachable.
Education is one of the continent’s greatest challenges and greatest opportunities. Nigeria’s university deficit is staggering. That’s the gap Miva was built to address.
Tip: Look at the biggest pain points in your society. Is your work helping solve one of them?
Tech isn’t just about apps. It’s about impact. Miva uses technology not for vanity metrics, but to solve deep, systemic problems in education. Access. Scale. Quality.
When the market is massive, competition is a gift. It means you’re in the right space. Sim Shagaya welcomes it in the online education space because the need is far greater than any single company can meet.
Tip: Use competitors as validation, not threats. Watch where they’re betting, then find your differentiation.
Build a real business. The kind that customers love and that actually makes money. Funding is useful, yes, but fundamentals? That’s what keeps the lights on.
Tip: Talk to customers often. Measure satisfaction, not just sales. Build what people truly want.
That conversation with Sim was a reminder that building isn’t always about having it all figured out…it’s about taking the next right step, even when the path isn’t clear. And that’s what The Builders Summit captures so well. This year, the theme is Momentum—because sometimes, what you need isn’t a massive breakthrough, but the courage to keep going, to build consistently, to stay in motion. Whether you’re just starting out or scaling something big, The Builders Summit 25 is where you’ll find momentum—real builders, honest stories, and actionable insights. Get your ticket, come with your questions, and let’s build momentum—together.
