Welcome back to The Wave Podcast! We're kicking off with an unfiltered, high-stakes conversation featuring Odun Eweniyi, Co-founder and COO of PiggyVest.

Odun delivers a masterclass on the unwritten rules of building a multi-million user platform in Nigeria. She explains why the obsession with external funding is a distraction, the cold truth about scaling infrastructure, and why the humanity in communications is so important in the face of AI. If you’re a founder, investor, or innovator in the African ecosystem, this is the essential roadmap you need to start and grow like PiggyVest has.

KEY CHAPTERS & TIMESTAMPS:
00:03:22 - Building for Your Peers: The core philosophy that launched Odun’s first ventures and defined PiggyVest’s mission.
00:10:29 - The 'Kolo' Principle: Why digitizing an old cultural habit, not competing with banks, was the secret to PiggyVest's early growth.
00:13:48 - Stop the Hype: Odun's blunt lesson on why press coverage and "founder euphoria" distract you from the core work.
00:17:31 - The 1 Million User Lie: The cold truth about scaling and why PiggyVest’s infrastructure failed at 1M users, forcing a massive rebuild.
00:21:06 - The Anti-AI Strategy: Why the PiggyVest CEO still insists that "humanity in communications should not be lost."
00:26:00 - The Patient Capital Crunch: Odun’s definitive statement on why "a lot of capital is not patient," and how this reality shapes African startups.
00:27:06 - African Priorities: Why focusing on "the bottom of the pyramid" with the wrong product is a distraction from solving fundamental problems.
00:33:04 - Funding is a Preference: The strategic advantage of running a founder-led company and choosing not to constantly raise.
00:37:09 - Volatility Blueprint: How PiggyVest manages Nigeria’s chaos by relying on a "smart treasury team" and economists.
00:44:45 - The One Thing I Wish I Knew: Odun's final, crucial piece of advice to her younger self (Spoiler: It’s all about regulation).