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 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 colorful background, his experience founding Kippa, and a lot more! Sit back, and enjoy. Watch the Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_eSVCUTPog Video timestamps 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.

Assembly

Funding

YouTube

#FoundersConnect: Chimezie Emewulu, Co-Founder and MD of Seamfix Limited.

#FoundersConnect: Ben Lyon, CEO and CoFounder of Stax, an Offline Payment App for Africans

Nominated for 2022 - Top Tech Youtuber

Nominated for 2022 - HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - Edtech

Too Long; Didn't Read

Get Free Unlimited IP Geo Data With IPinfo Lite

#FoundersConnect: Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph, CEO of Kippa, a Company Helping Small businesses Grow.

About Author

Comments

TOPICS

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN

Related Stories

Adewale Yusuf, Co-founder TalentQL, on Helping Young Africans Launch Their Tech Careers

55 Stories To Learn About Peace Itimi

61 Stories To Learn About Founders Connect

Being the Only Woman in a Room Full of Assertive and Passionate Men

#Founders Connect: Moses Enenwali, CEO & Co-founder of Topship (YC W 2022)

#FoundersConnect: Abdul Hassan, CEO & Founder of Mono, Backed by Ycombinator

Adewale Yusuf, Co-founder TalentQL, on Helping Young Africans Launch Their Tech Careers

55 Stories To Learn About Peace Itimi

61 Stories To Learn About Founders Connect

Being the Only Woman in a Room Full of Assertive and Passionate Men

#Founders Connect: Moses Enenwali, CEO & Co-founder of Topship (YC W 2022)

#FoundersConnect: Abdul Hassan, CEO & Founder of Mono, Backed by Ycombinator

Light-Mode

Classic

Newspaper

Dark-Mode

Neon Noir

Minty

HN StartUps