Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph, Founder of Kippa #FoundersConnect

Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph's Linkedin states that his "north star is to unlock socio-economic prosperity for Africa." He is taking steps to do this through Kippa, a package deal of financial management solutions for small businesses in Africa. Kippa gives merchants easy digital tools to help them run their businesses successfully, and provides various services including accounting and banking.

Before Kippa, Kennedy lived a robust academic life, he was Nigeria's #1 ranked competitive debater for 2 years, was awarded and recognized by key political leaders like Sir John Mayor, David Beckham, Theresa May and the Queen of England herself. He also won the President Obama's Young African Leaders Fellowship and presented a keynote address at the United Nations Youth Assembly.

In this interview, Kennedy shares slices of his incredible journey with me. We discuss his very colourful background, his experience founding Kippa and a lot more! Sit back, and enjoy.

0:00 - Introduction
1:00 - Kennedy shares his background
2:16 - Fondest Memory growing up in Calabar
3:23 - Studying Philosophy
4:30 - Transition from University of Calabar to Grad programme in China
6:38 - Highs and Lows of living in China
7:54 - One thing from that experience that is fundamental to who he is.
8:37 - Life after the programme
9:46 - Funding a company with his brother, closing it and searching for fresh ideas.
12:51 - Ideas he found while on trips across Nigeria and the birth of Kippa
14:19 - Skillset of him and his Founders, Community Building
15:55 - First iteration of Kippa
16:41 - Key things he used to measure success at that point of his product
17:15 - Kennedy shares whether they got monetized from day One and when they started getting revenue
17:44 - Next steps after first 13 weeks, transition from product to company.
18:46 - Meaning of the word "Kippa"
19:24 - Building a company with his brother
20:22 - Key Challenges the business has faced.
22:33 - Experience working for Tiktok in China
24:14 - Specific Lessons learned from Tiktok
25:14 - Biggest lesson he has learned in his career
27:22 - Most significant experiences summarized
28:11 - What motivates him
29:11 - Meeting the Queen Elizabeth
29:45 - Anything about life or career he would do differently
30:41 - Advice to other people that want to build businesses
32:24 - Expectations for the future of Kippa
33:56 - Something he wants to share that I didn't ask.

[exonnkemchor]

Kennedy is a rare gem. I had a chat with him in the dm’s on twitter back in February and he just spoke and encouraged me on a few things I needed to do. His ability to think from first principles makes him stand out a lot and it’s clear from this interview that he is full of substance and depth. Really learned a lot from this and thank you for putting this together Peace.

[emmanuelonwoh]

Watching this #foundersconnect series I noticed that most founders and co founders japka in a particular time in their life

[PaxyPJnr]

Peace, I think you are phenomenal. Your platform is impactful. Kennedy is amazing.

[segunplay]

Nice one Peace, can we get any CEO or founder in the ML niche tech. I am looking to make an inroads in that sector. All the best.

[Oreoluwa]

Ayeeee. I grew up in calabar too! It's definitely a small town haha.

[oluwaseundaniel]

Awesome interview, i really learnt alot as I'm motivated. Thank you Peace and Joseph

[obieWanmotivation]

Another brilliant interview from an inspiring brother. Keep it coming, Peace. Thanks 🇳🇬

[ugbogbogodspower]

Amazing takeout from this video
Discover frankly if you are doing it for the title sake or being wedded to the process for impact and posterity sake 💯