My CTO announced he was leaving to build a new fintech and invited me to join as a founding engin…
T=0: The Decision
Offered a full scholarship for an MSc in Computer Science at a Russell Group university in the UK. Already employed as a backend developer at a Lagos fintech earning ₦3.2M/month. The scholarship had been my goal for three years.
My CTO announced he was leaving to build a new fintech and invited me to join as a founding engineer. The timing was impossible. Every person I respected told me to take the scholarship. The UK is the rational choice. I stayed.
A company that lasts three years. Not regretting the scholarship.
6 Months Out
CTO title at 26. Building the core payment infrastructure. We raised seed from a Pan-African VC in month 4. Everybody who told me to take the scholarship has since asked for the investor contact.
“The scholarship will exist again. The founding team opportunity is specific to this moment with these people. Evaluate which is time-sensitive and which can wait.”