How Adia Sowho led Thrive Agric through the crisis. A look at the career of a corporate veteran and her new path.Nigeria's ecosystem, which is less than two decades old, is rapidly evolving. There is a lot of learning involved in starting a startup, despite the hype and funding.Retrospectively, the founders of Nigeria are doing a lot when you think about the harsh market they work in. They deserve all the praise. However, some questionable antics require addressing.Sometimes founders are aware that their company is in trouble and would prefer to sink with it (without a plan) rather than having someone else run. There are also instances when founders realize they need a CEO to scale their businesses but prefer to see mediocre growth.There are very few stories of startups taking drastic measures to save or scale their company.Adia Sowho is a well-known operator in the region. She has only been around for a short time, but she has had the opportunity to live and learn from many. She was appointed CEO of Thrive Agric in 2017, an agricultural fintech company. This was after the COVID-19 pandemic caused a crisis.Prior to that, she was the VP for Growth and managing director Nigeria at fintech platform Migo. Outside of the startup scene, she was also the director of Digital Business for telecom operator 9mobile. She is currently the chief market officer at mobile telecoms giant MTN Nigeria.TechCrunch sat down to Sowho to discuss her experiences as a telecom executive, operator with Thrive Agric, Migo, and her views on how founders can work with operators. We also discussed her decision to quit the startup scene, and her new path.Was your previous career in tech operations?My career spans many areas of mobile telecom, my last being in charge of digital business. The digital business is the arm of a telco that interacts with third parties, usually startups, who may have products that are more innovative than the ones the telco has in its current portfolio and that might be of interest to customers.This department was created at 9mobile in its inception and I grew it to a $100m revenue segment. I worked with a variety of sectors, launched music apps, gaming platforms, and content platforms.Mobile advertising, financial services, and the Internet of Things were all part of our work. The telco industry is huge and has a lot of infrastructure that is difficult to transfer into the internet economy. I wanted to find something new after that. I had been bitten by startup fever as my team was basically an internal startup to 9mobile. I was eager to get more of that excitement. And that was when I decided to invest my money.Why Migo, when there were many startups at that time? We are talking about early 2018, I think.After 9mobile, my decision to move to Migo was made because financial services were crucial and the foundation of a holistic financial plan with four components savings, credit, and insurance.In Nigeria, there was some savings but it wasn't a priority for a country with a low GDP per capita. We were just beginning to accept payments and this period was still in the early stages Flutterwave and Paystack.Credit was not a very active area. If the company I worked for was well-known to the bank, I could get a loan. Accessing credit was difficult. Migo was the right choice for me. I feel like you can't solve your financial problems if you don't solve them. It is the foundation that all other things depend on.What was your experience with the fintech startup?The team was small when I first joined. The team could fit in one conference room. I was the managing director and began building the Nigeria business.I hired the team to begin delivering products via partnerships. The userbase grew to more than a million before I left. It was a challenging but enjoyable experience. It was a learning experience for me, and it gave me firsthand knowledge of the challenges of leading and building a startup in emerging market markets.What happened in the startup that caused you to leave?Let's say that I wanted to embark on a new adventure. Look, COVID was a big hit for many businesses, so you need to make some changes in your startup journey.Migo is now more focused on embedded finance. This required changes within the company, and those were made with COVID. It seemed like a good time for me to leave. I may have also been exhausted at the time.You joined Thrive Agric just four months after you left?It was only a few months later, which is quite interesting [laughs]. We've discussed how I felt drawn to financial services as they are fundamental to economic development. I felt the same way with Thrive Agric: We eat food. Nigeria has millions of smallholder farmers. Nigeria's future is dependent on the work of Thrive in consolidating their production to be sold to local off-takers.It is food security. Food security is one of the Global Sustainable Development Goals. Even though I was trying to sleep, it wasn't possible for me to say no, even though I wanted to. It was like they were calling me to serve them and help them get out of this crisis. I didn't want to see them go bankrupt.It was a difficult period for the company, I recall. It was quite challenging, because it was a completely new experience.It was hard. I don't think I have ever apologized for any of the things I did in my life. It was intense to deal with the rage of so many people at once. It's an unforgettable experience. Although it wasn't pleasant, everyone was under immense pressure.It was understandable. It was something I could not challenge or dispute. While it was true, many businesses around the world were affected by the pandemic. Thrive could have done better. That is why I joined.It was difficult to keep customers happy and protect the founders, because many people were willing to take extreme measures. But, we all survived it.How did you rescue the company from the crisis?I was very focused on solving the problem when I first stepped in. Because I was so focused on the people, teams and resources that were needed to solve the problem first, it took me some time to get to know everyone.Only after I had created a plan, could I begin to look at the rest the company in order to fix the systemic problem. Startups cannot have a chronic problem if they are not supported or led by someone within the company.Let's get to the bottom of this problem. Let's find out what happened.Thrive's biggest challenge was timing. Thrive partners with farmers to help them grow crops. They provide fertilizer and seeds and the farmers plant the crops. We assist farmers in harvesting and help them get the harvest to the warehouse. We then take the goods from warehouse to the market and sell them on behalf of our clients.COVID was a barrier that prevented farmers from accessing their farms. It stopped us from selling the goods on the market. It stopped us from going to farms to collect the produce and then taking them to market.You can't do anything during the lockdown because you can't move. The lockdown prevents you from delivering seeds to farmers. Farmers cannot plant the seeds, and you can't get support for them harvesting. You also cannot receive the goods. The company's ability to make money was compromised.It was a new problem that no one had ever seen before. The team did not know how to respond and didn't pass the bad news on to subscribers. Bad news is difficult to deliver. It created a timing problem, and we were able pay back with delay. We were committed to fulfilling our obligations to subscribers. It works. The problem is that Thrive was not prepared for a pandemic. However, we were able to catch up a bit.Because you were brought in as a manager to assist the company, your case with Thrive Agric stands out. This is not the norm in the ecosystem. Even if the company is in decline, founders are not likely to give up their positions. Why do you believe this?Part of the reason is that startup culture originates in Silicon Valley, and Silicon Valley startup culture prefers to rely more on less-experienced people early on. Experience and innovation do not make a good pair. You will rely on the things that have been tried and true, if you have it. You are throwing away the tried and true when you try to innovate.The challenge for African founders is to localize the context. However, I want to add that we can see that Google as well as Facebook have made adjustments when needed. It was Sheryl Sandberg with Facebook. Eric Schmidt did it with Google. Our startups might have to start it a bit sooner and more informally than the rest of us because there isn't enough infrastructure in the country.You can learn from someone who has made mistakes or tried it before. That is why I joined Thrive. I am happy to see more interest in welcoming people who have experience, and that more people feel empowered to jump into startups.I believe the trend is changing. However, it can be difficult if you are looking for a long career. You have to give up many comforts in order to embrace a startup culture.What would you rate the current performance of Thrive Agric?They are better off because I used a systematic approach to managing the team and the startup. The founders and senior team are now able to see around corners a bit better. You can only manage or prevent risk.When I joined Thrive, my focus was on the causes and retraining the team so they could see around these kinds of corners. This work continues. As an advisor, I will continue to work because I want the company's continued success for exactly the same reason that I gave before: food safety.Thrive is just one of three companies that the Central Bank of Nigeria has approved to support food security in Nigeria. The sky is the limit when it comes to growth, as Thrive has already gathered 100,000 farmers in the country this year. This company has incredible growth potential.What can your experience at Thrive reveal about startups and Nigeria's tech ecosystem?In countries with infrastructure, startup life can be difficult. It's harder to start a business in countries with low infrastructure. This forces startups in Nigeria and Africa to create infrastructure they don't have. However, some people end up individuating the infrastructure they create.The low-hanging fruits are also amazing. I am excited about the possibilities of creating a new economy by connecting to the internet and connectivity.There are many opportunities to support startups in a different way for me. This is what I believe will be my main focus in the future with the ecosystem. Based on my experiences, I'm able to suggest ways for the ecosystem to build better products and run more startups.Since I cannot go in and do it for everyone, I'll work to find a way to spread my knowledge on a larger scale.What can you do now that you have left the startup world and are back in the corporate world with MTN.Let's talk about infrastructure. What does your startup's trajectory look like now that MTN is a partner in it? It is huge. It is huge.I am still involved in startup ecosystem work. I believe there will be a telco role for all future unicorn stories. To make this happen, both sides must have empathy. This is something I have written about, discussed, and worked for years to improve the relationships. It is why a candidate like me was attractive to the company. I'm eager to be there and continue my work at scale using the knowledge I have.
