Empowering Innovation: The David Lanre Messan Story

In this compelling episode of the Venture podcast, host Sadaf Abbas engages in a rich discussion with David Lenre Messan, also known as DLM, who shares his invaluable insights and profound experiences from his journey in venture building and entrepreneurship across Africa. The conversation illuminates the indispensable role of strategic support and financial literacy in nurturing startups and ensuring their sustainable growth.

About Our Guest

David Lanre Messan (DLM)

Venture Architect | Entrepreneurship Evangelist | Innovation Steward

From his early engagement with small and medium enterprises to becoming a venerated figure in Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, David Lanre Messan, popularly known as DLM, has cultivated a stellar trajectory in venture building and strategic startup investments. As the founder and CEO of FirstFounders Inc., his profound influence spans across nurturing nascent ideas to scalable successes, infusing over $10 million in emerging ventures. His adeptness in marrying market needs with innovative solutions through FirstFounders has not only democratized entrepreneurship in Africa but has also propelled the venture studio to the forefront of institutionalizing startup ecosystems in the region, creating an indelible mark that has galvanized a new generation of African entrepreneurs.

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What You’ll Learn:

• The critical importance of experiential support for entrepreneurs to navigate the early and often turbulent phases of business development.
• The role of financial acumen and operational efficiency in transforming innovative ideas into successful, scalable ventures.
• Insights into the founding of First Founders Incorporated, a venture studio that not only funds but meticulously supports startups, ensuring a higher rate of success and impactful growth.
• The necessity of understanding and managing the intricate dynamics between founders, investors, and other stakeholders to foster long-term success and mutual benefits.
• The enduring value of mentorship and strategic partnerships in democratizing entrepreneurship and expanding opportunities for startups across different regions.

Transcript

Sadaf Abbas: Welcome to the Venture podcast, where we dive deep into the world of entrepreneurship, innovation, & strategic partnership. Today we have a very special guest, David Lenre Messan popularly known as DLM, who is the founder and CEO of the first founder. David, welcome to the show and just let me know what is your experience and expertise and your educational background.

David Lenre Messan: Thank you very much Sadaf, for inviting me to your wonderful podcast. I’m excited to be here. Again my name is David Lenre Messan and people call me DLM. I’m a venture builder, but before I became a venture builder, I was a strategist and spent twelve years as a strategist. I’m still a strategist, but then I sort of delved fully into venture building following my experience with providing strategy and ideations for over 250 businesses across Africa, and with that, I’ve now sort of streamlined into technology where I work with early stage founders to build their status from scratch for equity. And that sort of led to setting up First Founders Incorporated, which is a venture studio that partners with real estate founders to build their startups from scratch. And then of course, we take equity for that. And what we basically do is to provide the initial financial backing that the idea requires and also provide operational support over a period of three years. And also we provide strategic partnerships that enable faster growth for the startups, as they were. And we have a very robust team that supports this. You know, these startups and all of that. My background, basically, my first time, I studied mass communication first and then moved on to studying destructive strategy with Harvard Business School online, then did another entrepreneurship and innovation course with Scalable International in Dubai, then moved on to do some short courses in London business school as well as Oxford University to the african, Oxford African Arts center, basically. So those are my background. But I’m an avid reader. I love to discover new things. 

David Lenre Messan: So I would say that over the last 16 years of my professional career, I’ve spent more time trying to unravel the concept around innovation, disruption and entrepreneurship in itself. Because I’m more particular about entrepreneurs at the bottom of the pyramid. And that is simply because these are the people that are actually very close to the problems that exist. And since entrepreneurship is about problem solving, I’m able to identify these people that discover very painful problems that they are now trying to turn into solutions that can make a global impact but lack the resources to be able to translate these ideas or innovations into core products. And that’s simply because I want to be able to democratize entrepreneurship. It’s my vision, my purpose is to democratize entrepreneurship, hence why I’m sort of more interested in all of that. So I bring the innovation, the disruptions and all of that entrepreneurship capacity or skills that enable an average person to sort of take on that journey more successfully. 

Sadaf Abbas: So thank you so much, David, for sharing the whole journey. Now let’s come to the second question. Now let’s talk about the first founder. Please share with us the story behind the founding of First Founders and what inspired to create a venture studio. 

David Lenre Messan: So since 2001, when I was, I discovered myself. I know that my purpose on earth is to solve problems for people, and more particularly to enable them. I joined entrepreneurship myself trying to do business. I succeeded. I became a millionaire after six years of my business. I think I was 23 then. And then by the time I was 25, I lost all my money. And I was trying to figure out why I lost all my money. And then I realized that I was entrepreneurially equipped, but not financially learned, and also understood the psychology, emotional intelligence that comes with managing processes and managing operations of business. So it’s a different thing for you to be very passionate about business, an idea, and then you solve that problem, you unravel, you launch that idea, and it might, for some luck, you might be able to attain a virality with that idea. That does not mean that the fact that your idea has gone viral in terms of growth, that does not mean that you have the capacity to run the operations and understand the end to end processes of sustaining that business and moving through the various phases of growth. For that business, I lacked that in those early stages. And I, because of that, I got distracted, and ran into some small challenges. And I thought that because of that challenge, business is going to die. I delved into other things, and before I knew it, all the money I had got lost. And that sort of, you know, sort of revealed to me something very special about entrepreneurship, that whether you like it or not, you don’t know it all. In entrepreneurship, you need some type of experiential support to be able to help your business grow through the ranks of development. And more so for the fact that as an entrepreneur, I believe that you need, as an early stage entrepreneur, you need some type of apprenticeship where you get to learn for experienced people who will work with you internally and externally, to be able to help to consolidate upon the operations of that business and the sustainability. So that gap in itself, having gone through that experience, I just thought that come, you know what, there are several other people like me that double into entrepreneurial success in those early stages. 

David Lenre Messan: And at the same time, you know, deep dive and everything goes into team air. So the First Founders was better on that premise to help entrepreneurs who are just starting to grow, to go through the process of entrepreneurship despite their passion. So that with all of the experienced venture builders, the legals, the marketing guys and all that, working with you to understand the core process, what to avoid and what not to avoid, all of what you need to do to be able to get the business growing from end to end, you know, it helps to help enable what I call operational efficiency, financial efficiency, and also helps you to manage what we call resource efficiency. You understand? So where you are supposed to spend $10,000, when an experienced person comes in, you will likely spend $3,000. You have saved 70% of that same capital that you wasted because some experience has sort of come into the picture. So venture, the very First Founders, as a venture studio, is solving that problem and helping entrepreneurs to go through the nitty gritty of entrepreneurship, but more importantly, helping them to grow, to adopt a sustainable way to run, you know, their business, to maintain efficiency across board, and to also grow in a way that, you know, allow them, allow the business to remain more scalable and generate more impact and revenue.

Sadaf Abbas: Same goes to, I need to add over here, that same, like that. What you are saying, we are providing financial consultancy to startups because when they have the investment, or they are going for the investment, they have no idea how much the operation cost they will have, what will be their capex, how much investment they would require, and what equity they can easily share with the investor and in what terms. So here we are helping out startups as well, like how to manage their cash properly, how to manage their equity properly, and what terms and conditions they should have with investors. So, and it’s really crucial because after six months and one year, they will say, okay, we are not achieving the breaking point. Why not? What is the reason behind it? So we are doing the whole, scrutinizing the gap analysis, smoothing the whole process regarding the financials and accountability, so they have more power on the cash management, so they will have more profitability and cost effectiveness. So same like First Founders Limited. We are helping the startups as well, David, and it’s really very, I’m very pleased when the startup is having growth and profitability after having the financial strategies, which is a very good point. 

Sadaf Abbas: Now, come to the next questions you have. It’s a very, very, very interesting thing, David, that you answered all three questions, which I need to ask from you. So I need to jump over the next question, which is number six throughout your career. What are some important lessons you have learned about building successful ventures? 

David Lenre Messan: Well, one of the key lessons that I’ve learned in building a successful venture is that you have to first of all, understand that business is about people. People. And when we talk about people, we’re talking about customers. We’re talking about stakeholders, the regulators. We’re talking about your investors, we’re talking about your employees, we’re talking about your co founders and all that. And because it is all about people, you will see that the connecting rope within all of those moving middle is for you to be able to provide value. You get what I’m saying? And your inability to provide value on those end to end, you know, segments within the ambit of the people that you are serving, the business will begin to deep dive into its loss or whatever it is. So if you don’t serve your customers well, don’t provide strong value, that repeatable value, trust me, you’re not going to have customers, you’re not going to generate revenue. If you are not accountable to your investors and meet up with the expectations of your investors, your business is just going to die. If you don’t treat your employees well or even pay them or communicate or share the vision with them. In a way, even if there are challenges, you know, let your employees be part of fast so that they can share in your pain while solving the problem. You are going to run into a type of date if you don’t, you know, if you don’t adhere to regulatory policies and all of that as a business. So you slide about creating value and also serving people. So if you are able to pick on those two without omission, you can be sure that your business will be successful.

Sadaf Abbas: Absolutely. I totally agree. Team coordination, team motivation and employee attention. It’s very important for the startups and investors’ relationship with the founder because investors are linked with the founder, employees are linked with the founder. So as customers, stakeholders linked with the founders, the founders have much more responsibility in the first three to five years because they need to make the processes smooth for the investor, for the employee, for these customers, and each team member takes the responsibility. But again, all things go to the founder’s hat. So it’s very important that founders should have some mentorship because we are people, we can make some mistakes. But founders make mistakes, if it happens, it happens to the company and the company is having a mistake. It means it’s all back to the people who are linked with the company either the employee, that investor, the customers. So it’s really very hectic sometimes to be a founder, but it’s really a very best journey. I think so. I believe so. I really totally agree with your advice, David. And it’s last 16 years I have learned a lot. And the same thing I learned today as well, that whatever you are saying is definitely 100% true. And I agreed.

Sadaf Abbas: Let’s talk about something starting the strategic partnership between the first founder and business consultant. So what do you think we can be the first strategic partners? How can we collaborate with each other? 

David Lenre Messan: Okay, so for us, I think our strategic partnership can stem around providing CFO services to our community of startups, getting to engage them on pitch deck development, financial model development, all of this and most of the further, we can collaborate, introducing startups within both communities to investors after review of their pitch decks and all of that. And I believe that I can continue to evolve into some more bigger stuff. As much as we can see the need and where we think that we can, we can provide what I call shared value, why not? We’ll be able to partner on those sorts of levels. At the end of the day, it’s more about adding value, trying to expand the cost of entrepreneurship, and more importantly, democratizing entrepreneurship across borders.

Sadaf Abbas: Absolutely. So for our listeners who are new to the world of finance and business, a strategic partnership is a formal alliance where two businesses collaborate to achieve common goals, leveraging each other’s strengths for mutual growth. I totally agree with David. We can have a good strategic partnership in future and I will share a few startups as well with you, so you can just go through it. And I’m happy to have a common ground to work together. David, thank you. David, can you share more about your benefits manifesting in your partnership with Oak Business Consultant, what benefits do you think we can manifest for each other?

David Lenre Messan: I mean, the benefit will be the outcomes. The outcome will be that at the end of the day, we are able to serve more startups by offering them affordable services, right? And also linking them up with opportunities within the funding space. So as a startup that aligns with us on this partnership, we’ll be able to benefit from those opportunities where they can have access to professional services offered at a very good price. And also we’ll be able to have access to our pool of our VC network where they can raise their funds and also have access to the opportunities that can also further enable the growth of your businesses.

Sadaf Abbas: Perfect. So outside of your professional life, what are some of your hobbies or activities that you enjoy? And how do you balance your personal and professional life?

David Lenre Messan: I love to skydive a lot. For every country I travel to, I love to skydive. That is my number one sport. Nice. And of course, I’m trying to try my hands on golf now, but then I read a lot. I love to read a lot of books. Just be able to discover new information, new ideas in terms of work life balance. Yeah, I am busy, but I have specific periods that I spend with my family, especially my children. I love my children a lot, and I try to connect with them, help them to understand the power of freedom as a human being, understanding the power of character as a human being, and then also helping them to dream, because I believe very strongly that as a father, in bonding with your children, you need to be able to teach them the free will to live life, you know, and then to develop the character that will allow them to cohabit with people. But most importantly, the ability to dream, because when you are able to dream, there are no boundaries to who you can become in life. So those are ways that. I mean, of course, in my play time, in my serious times with them, I let them, you know, ..(inaudible), not just on the ..(inaudible), but even to leave it, because they can see that their dad is like that too. 

Sadaf Abbas: Absolutely. And being a mother, I have three kids and from scratch. When I had a baby in my hand, I started to dream that they would grow. So I think that what they will do, they will have a decision making, they will have their own ability to think. Because sometimes you have a right decision, sometimes you have wrong decisions, but you need to take the responsibility. 

David Lenre Messan: Exactly. 

Sadaf Abbas: So it’s…

David Lenre Messan: Exactly.

Sadaf Abbas: And you need to dream. It’s not just a big small, it’s just a dream. So whatever you think, it’s right or wrong, it doesn’t matter. You just need to think properly, have ethics, honesty, loyalty with your work, with your family and with yourself as well. This is the best thing you need to teach your kids. Because if this is the. If one kid is an ethical and natural human being, we are basically making one kid as a one generation. So it means that I’m teaching one kid, I’m generating one whole generation. So now three kids, it means three generations. Because if one person is a human being, a natural human being, they will teach other people as well, very well, and be the leader rather than to follow the things. So yes, with the three kids, and every kid is very different, David, believe me, I have no idea. Yeah, seriously, I had no idea before eleven years ago, but it’s now. Every kid is having their own dreams, their own personality. You need to take care of them at every time and together.

David Lenre Messan: This is a very challenging thing I can imagine, honestly. But you know, sometimes the way we work is that you just have to be able to find, you know, your own way around how things work for you. You know, sometimes I always tell people that if you have the capacity and the psychology to keep a kid, do one. If you can do it, if you can do ten, why not? As long as you have the capacity.

Sadaf Abbas: Absolutely, absolutely. Seriously, your kids are so blessed because you have a very great father and you have a very visionary. This is a very good thing. David, I really appreciate you and thank you so much, David, for your sharing, your insights, your experience with us today. It’s been a pleasure having you on this. 

Sadaf Abbas: Now to our listeners, stay tuned for more episodes where we bring your story and strategy from the world of entrepreneurs and business leaders. Until next time, keep innovating and stay inspired and blessed. Thank you.