Akin Jones is is the co-founder and CEO of Aella Credit, a provider of financial employee benefits. Aella credit is working towards eliminating the hassle of standard loan applications and enabling employees to borrow at competitive and fair rates through their employers. Akin Jones is one of the few startup founders that got multiple offers to join some of the best accelerator programmes in the world. In Today’s Episode, you will learn: Why Akin believes there is no real credit system in the country because banks are built to be conservative. The difference between investing for immediate dividend and investing for an exit. Why startup investors should choose the latter. Why it isn’t advisable to put too much information in your pitch deck. What event gave Akin this insight? What should you do instead? How Aella credit got into Barclays accelerator What is the golden rule in fundraising? Akin has just one rule and if you are keen on raising funds from investors, you should get this golden rule How Akin got access to investors? What Akin considers a “foolproof” way to get investors Why did an initial $4million term sheet agreement fall through? How Aella credit went back to the drawing board and finally raised money. What did Akin think of the whole process? How has Aella credit achieved a repayment rate of 99%? What is Akin’s disposition to risk? Why does he think Nigerians are very afraid of risk? What does Akin mean when he says “Macroeconomics is more damaging to entrepreneurs?” What are the single most common mistakes Startups in the Nigerian ecosystem make? And more! Selected links from the episode Selected Book from this episode