Episode 007 Kola Aina, Founder at Ventures Platform, How to build a platform for accelerating the next generation of entrepreneurs in Africa

Kola is the founder of Ventures Platform, an early stage fund and startup accelerator for founders across Africa. Within a year, Kola and his team have invested in over 20 startups through the programme. Kola bootstrapped his original business, Emerging Platform from idea to a significant success by mixing healthy dose of risks with grit. I met Kola last year, and we seem to immediately connect due to our shared belief in entrepreneurship as a viable way to accelerate growth potentials in Africa. He recently wrote . On the show,  we discussed his journey to entrepreneurship from grad school to running family business and starting Emerging Platforms. Kola also provides some insight into the kinds of businesses Ventures Platform would accept into its accelerator program.   On This Episode You’ll Learn: Important lessons about being a serial entrepreneur he learned from his father who took big risks  bootstrapping several businesses with a family in tow. How to sell your product to big clients through ‘proof-of-concept’ sales pitch Handing a family business over to another family member may not necessarily be the best thing for the business. How productising your service business can significant transform your revenue and make it more predictable. And much more   Selected links from this episode   This episode was brought to you by: is a legal firm that specialise in working with early stage startups in Africa. They understand the peculiarities of business as a startup. They are trusted by many other startups including the likes of paystack, callbase, pass.ng, techcabal, printivo, wecyclers, and many others. To get free consultation as a listener of this podcast… fill out the form on is a ridiculously simple online accounting platform specifically designed for small and medium scale businesses in Africa. Accounteer simplifies your financial report, help you to create invoices, track your expenses and avoid overpaying taxes. It is integrated to local payment solutions such as PayStack in Nigeria and DusuPay in Uganda, Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania. To get an exclusive 75% off your first year subscription, sign up FREE at