What we learned from The Chowdeck story
#1: Lessons from our interview with The Chowdeck team
Chowdeck, a food logistics startup, has made a significant impact in the tech ecosystem. Recently, we shared our interview with the Chowdeck team, including Femi Aluko (CEO), Lanre Yusuf (COO), Olumide Ojo (CTO), the operations team, and their riders.
We learned about Femi’s childhood and how his experience at Paystack prepared him for his entrepreneurial journey. This time, however, we delved a little deeper into the core of the Chowdeck story, speaking with various team members about their roles and insights, as well as the riders about their experiences and how Chowdeck has impacted their lives.
We explored Chowdeck's journey from its inception to becoming a leading startup in the ecosystem, and the factors such as their acceptance into Y Combinator and receiving initial funding from Ezra Olubi that shaped their journey. The Chowdeck story is one to inspire you, and we’ve learned a number of lessons from their journey so far. Here are a few:
Build for a Solvable Problem: Although Femi and his co-founders lacked experience in food delivery or logistics, they recognized a widespread frustration among people. So, they dedicated themselves to solve it. However, it wouldn’t have been possible to build for it if it wasn’t solvable. The Chowdeck story teaches the importance of addressing solvable problems.
Surround Yourself with People That Understand Your Vision: If there's one thing I remain in awe of from this story, it is the support system Chowdeck has built. Femi surrounded himself with people who not only understood the vision, but also took ownership of that vision. This emphasizes the importance of aligning with those who understand your mission.
Embrace a Learning Mindset: Femi and most members of the Chowdeck team were open to learning, despite their lack of expertise. They embraced the trial and error, recognizing that mistakes are part of the journey. This teaches us the importance of being open to learning about new things.
Listen to Your Audience: A big part of Chowdeck’s success is their ability to listen to their customers. In this interview, Femi mentioned how the preferences of people in Yaba differ from those in Ikeja, underscoring the importance of centering your customers to scale a business. We agree with him. It is important to always listen to your audience because remember, you are building for them.
Execute Fast: Femi and the team at Chowdeck were relentless in their efforts, executing quickly and learning from their mistakes until they achieved success. This teaches to embrace the “fail fast to learn faster” philosophy.
Be Willing to Help the People Around You: At Chowdeck, everyone supports each other. It's a culture built on openness and trust, emphasizing the significance of empathy and kindness in your interactions with colleagues. This collaborative environment fosters honest feedback from colleagues.
Persist in the Face of Challenges: It took Chowdeck a year to close Chicken Republic, one of the leading QSRs in the country. But they kept at it until they got that close, and this significantly affected the growth of the company. What this teaches us is to be resilient and to keep trying until you get it right.
Insist on Excellence: One of Chowdeck’s core values is to insist on excellence and we love it. Their commitment to excellence sets a high standard for quality and performance. It also means putting your all into everything you do, an admirable value we should emulate.
I hope these lessons resonate with you. Until next time! 💜
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