An update and a reintroduction

Hello friend 👋🏽.

Firstly, I’d like to thank you for subscribing to Growth Case Studies. As I type this, 1031 people like you have subscribed to this newsletter.

When I announced Growth Case Studies in September, I was one week deep into onboarding at my new job. Two things informed my announcement. One - If I posted about it, I would be committed to writing a growth case study. Two - I could figure out work and write the first newsletter simultaneously.

Reader, it was a challenging month. Not only did I have to commute to work for the first time in over 5 years, but I also had to read many technical documents, meet stakeholders and generally get up to speed with the business. If you know me, you know I like to understand technology products and business models wherever I work.

As September progressed, it was clear that I wouldn’t make the first edition of this newsletter. So what did I do? I panicked for a bit - realising that over 1000 people relied on me to write, and I hadn’t even started researching.

Anyway, we’re here now, and I am sending you something. While reviewing the list of subscribers, I noticed a lot of names I hadn’t come across before. So here’s a bit of a reintroduction.

My name is Olabinjo Adeniran, and I like computers. I’ve spent the last 10 years primarily working in different marketing roles for technology companies. While preparing for a career in software development, I rediscovered marketing and made a hard career pivot towards it. I’ve led multi-channel campaigns for some of Africa’s most impactful startups (including 2 unicorns) and now work globally.

I started writing about marketing in 2017 via digitalmarketer.ng, focusing solely on digital channels and occasionally talking about offline channels.

In 2019, I co-founded Future Africa, turning it into Africa’s most prolific venture capital fund. The firm is most notably known for its angel investor community, the Future Africa Collective, which invests alongside it. By my exit from the firm in February 2022, it had invested over $6 million in over 60 startups and went on to invest in about 100 startups by the end of 2022.

Before I left Future Africa, I wrote a 30-day newsletter series called 30 Days of Growth - challenging myself to write consistently. 30 Days of Growth is a series of emails on growth, marketing, product, startups, VC, and everything in between. You can get the ebook here.

Following my exit from Future Africa, I had more free time and wrote The Growth Handbook - Scaling Fintech in Nigeria. The book takes a unique marketing lens at growing fintech companies. It is a compilation of lessons, mistakes and advice from seasoned professionals across the fastest-growing companies in the technology-enabled financial services industry. You can get The Growth Handbook here.

As you can see, my interests have been consistent since I was about 5 years old. I love technology, ads, and learning about how technology companies grow worldwide.

This time, I’m doing something a bit different. I am embarking on a journey to spotlight global technology companies and learn lessons from their successes & failures - some are underrated industry leaders, while others are pretty popular.

Thank you once again for coming with me on this journey. Please expect a case study soon.

A bien·​tôt,
Olabinjo.