When we talk about how a startup gets off the ground, we often encounter stories of young talent leaving major companies to develop a new idea. In 2016, that’s exactly what Andrew Olaleye and Aneto Okonkwo did – they left their jobs to start Chatdesk, a software company that helps businesses scale their customer support and drive sales. But, what makes Chatdesk’s story unique is its founders’ decision to build a team for their new company in Nigeria.
“My dad’s Nigerian, and I’ve always had this vision of working and building something on the continent,” said Olaleye. “We were excited about being part of that story of products built by the hands of Nigerians, but used by people around the world.”
This decision was strategic – Olaleye and Okonkwo embraced the opportunity to play a role in Nigeria’s fast-growing tech industry. But beyond that, this choice was personal. They headquartered the company in New York City and also set up shop in Enugu, the hilly city of one million people in Southeast Nigeria where Okonkwo grew up. The New York team focuses on machine learning and customer success. The Enugu team work as software engineers, sales analysts, and data analysts.
Building a team in Nigeria was smart. The country has a population of almost 200 million people, and over 64% of that population is under the age of 24. English is the official language in Nigeria, which makes it easy to work with international clients. So far, Nigerian engineers have built companies like Paystack (acquired by Stripe for $200M), Andela ($700M valuation), Flutterwave ($600M valuation), and more. Just four years after its founding, Chatdesk now works with leading brands across 4 continents, including Vera Bradley, BarkBox, Mented Cosmetics, Thinx and AutoAnything. Along the way, Olaleye and Okonkwo have developed a strong team in Nigeria and learned valuable lessons in the process.
Africa Rising: the Growth of the Continent’s Tech Industry
In pursuit of jobs and education, millions of Africans have left the continent since the turn of the century – but, as we become more globally connected through technology, African entrepreneurs like Olaleye and Okonkwo are returning home to build their businesses and expand African tech.
Born and raised in Atlanta, Olaleye previously worked as a consultant at McKinsey, where he covered Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa. There, he advised some of the top businesses and government leaders. In one instance, he implemented a new customer experience model for a major financial services provider with operations in over 30 countries. At the same time, Okonkwo was a Product Manager at Google, helping to build products like Voice Search and the Google Assistant. Soon, the two Nigerian entrepreneurs connected, and in 2016, they left their jobs to build Chatdesk full-time. They also teamed up with some of Okonkwo’s longtime friends from Enugu like Ebuka Ezeani, an expert in remote translation services who had done projects for Microsoft, Samsung and the University of Maryland. Ezeani set up the Chatdesk office in Enugu and now leads the data operations team.
In 2017, a survey by Jacana Partners found that nearly 70% of African MBA students at the top 10 schools in the US and Europe planned to return home and work after graduation. So, as the tech industry in Africa grows, more emerging entrepreneurs are opting to build their businesses on the continent.
“Both being Nigerian, we knew that we wanted to build a team on the ground,” said Olaleye. “When people talk about technology in Nigeria, they think about Lagos, but there are many other hubs across the country that are growing in Abuja, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Kano and more.”
On the Ground: Recruiting Talent for a Startup
While working at McKinsey and Google respectively, Olaleye and Okonkwo both noticed an opportunity for innovation in the customer support space. Though ecommerce has revolutionized the way consumers shop, the staffing side of the customer support industry hasn't changed in decades. They discovered that the top customer support companies in the world earn billions in revenue, but they are mainly outsourcers, rather than technology businesses. So, the idea for Chatdesk emerged as a way to use technology to efficiently scale customer support teams and drive sales conversions.
Once they got the company off the ground, it was time to recruit software engineers.
“To be honest, hiring engineers is tough,” said Olaleye. “Even in the States, it’s tough to pick the engineers that are best for your company. We did a lot of upfront work to identify the values we wanted our team to have. It’s not just about having a good engineer – they also have to be a cultural fit.”
Fortunately, Chatdesk had contacts at the best universities and startups in the area, which helped them to connect with young, creative software developers. They looked for candidates with the strongest raw ability and problem-solving skills, rather than those who had the most work experience.
Occasionally, recruiting an African team posed cultural challenges. Some new recruits were reticent to voice new ideas or critiques, accustomed to the cultural norm that what the boss says goes. But in cases like this, the answer is simple: communicate transparently with your team.
“We want our team to think of ideas and push back if they think there’s an easier way to get the job done,” said Olaleye. “I had to tell my team, ‘You have the green light to bug me.’ It’s all about how we make the best product for our customers, and if someone has a better way to do that, we’re all ears.”
With regular visits to the team in Nigeria, Olaleye and Okonkwo worked with Ezeani to build a strong team that they could trust. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, travel between the New York City and Enugu bases became difficult. But, because of their strong foundation in Enugu, their team of more than sixty employees was able to seamlessly transition to remote work, maintaining their same level of productivity while staying safe.
“We could never get this done if we didn’t have amazing leaders here. They’ve been able to build a team that we’re super proud of,” said Olaleye.
“Do the Hard Work:” Developing a World Class Team
After developing their software with African engineers, Chatdesk developed their sales team in Nigeria as well. Friends encouraged Olaleye to keep sales in the United States, as they were worried that the Nigerian team wouldn’t be able to understand the needs of customers in the United States and Europe. But on the ground in Nigeria, Olaleye felt differently.
“I knew I could teach a team in Nigeria, but it started with making sure that I could do the process myself,” he said. “I played sales analyst for three months. I did cold calling and cold emailing. I learned what worked and what didn’t. You have to be on the ground and do the hard work.”
By working with Chatdesk’s Nigerian team, Olaleye knew what issues his staff was facing. It’s not enough to simply share a document about sales best practices – rather, he had to think deeply about what it means to sell their products from Nigeria. What happens if they have internet issues, or they can’t access certain information about a company because they have a Nigerian IP address?
Despite others’ doubts, Chatdesk’s sales development team now has twice the average conversion rate of the US team on cold emails.
“It’s not going to work if you’re hiring talent in Nigeria just because the costs might be lower,” said Olaleye. “If you’re not vested in their development, then it’s not going to work because they’re going to see it as just a job. They’re not going to develop leadership skills that will help your company out in the future.”
“We always share our success with the team in Nigeria,” said Olaleye. “I remind them, ‘Leading global companies are using the software that you built in Enugu.’”
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