Andela co-founder Iyinoluwa Aboyeji has shared his changing perspective on entrepreneurship, revealing that he now prefers creating and running businesses himself rather than depending solely on other founders to bring ideas to life.
Speaking on the Afropolitan Podcast, Aboyeji said he has developed what he described as a “radical view” about investing. According to him, building companies directly offers more control and impact compared to simply backing other entrepreneurs.
He questioned the widespread focus on investment as a pathway to wealth, pointing out that several of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs became successful by creating businesses rather than investing in other people’s ideas.
“I’ve never heard of Elon really investing in anything. So for me, I’m not interested in investing in all those things. I’d rather invest in myself and build something of my own. Investing is for lazy people, in my view” he said.
Reflecting on his entrepreneurial journey, Aboyeji explained that his career has gone through different stages. He said that during the first six years, he worked closely with experienced entrepreneurs to build companies, while the next phase saw him transition into investing by providing capital and allowing others to handle execution.
However, he noted that this approach often produced inconsistent outcomes, describing the results as “shaky.”
Aboyeji argued that some of the major challenges he wants to address require a deeper level of involvement and cannot be left entirely in the hands of founders who may have different motivations.
“The problem I’m trying to solve is too important for a bunch of founders who just want to ride the big car and japa for me to trust them with my vision.”
The entrepreneur also stated that investors with the ability and experience to create companies should consider taking a more active role instead of assuming founders are always best positioned to execute ideas.
“Some of us investors can actually build stuff, and we have built stuff before.”
He further highlighted the challenges of building companies in Africa, noting that execution remains a major risk factor for investors who depend completely on founders to deliver results.
“If you can help build, why don’t you just build? As an investor, you’re trusting somebody else’s execution.”
Aboyeji concluded that he is gradually moving away from being solely an investor and is placing more emphasis on directly building and operating companies where he can have greater influence over outcomes.
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