Random Musings on Companies

I'll try to this Once a Month, so 12 companies this year.
I'll start with @mono_hq

I will cover Company, Team, Competition, Current Stage and My future projection

It all started with that simple premise:
Access financial accounts across Africa

@ijbkid has had an unwavering focus on people from day one. The clear, ambitious mission combined with an extreme focus on talent has enabled the Company to attract amazing people. He and @whoisprakhar

have built the foundation of the company around the highest of bars when it comes to talent, even personally recruiting and interviewing the first 007 persons and it’s a focus that has paid off, resulting in the company being a talent magnet.

Most companies talk about the importance of design and delighting users, and research suggests that this is a new Mantra. But what has set @mono_hq apart from the beginning is a focus on design that started before the product and is a core part of the company’s DNA.

Something that has struck me as unique and unexpected for a fintech infrastructure company! From @mono_hq 's website to their API documentation, their product, and their schwag, an enormous amount of design thinking goes into every little detail.

When I see new companies, I look beyond the design and now look for taste. It's hard to explain exactly what this is, but you know it when you see it. I’ll let you decide which of the founders is the chef (probably @ijbkid )

When it comes to talent, they have never settled on quality in favour of hitting a headcount number which is 007, it is expected to hit 15 by Q1. Every new team member is driven by the mission resulting in a lean, high-functioning team which does more with less.

Another key factor for @mono_hq's success is that the company is building something that customers not only want but a solution that they need. Having experienced their customers’ frustrations first-hand as developers, the founders were able to build a platform that they knew

would solve the right problems.
This has led to an efficient go-to-market early. The company has also benefited from an ever-expanding universe of customers thanks to the booming fintech market in Nigeria.

This has allowed the company to capitalize on the megatrend of fintech startups like @PiggyBankNG @cowrywise @get_carbon which helps consumers to pay their bills, to send money, grow their savings, to manage their loans, and to create budgets they rely on to reach their goals.

The combination of a lean but highly productive team, a large and growing market, and a solution that customers need leads to a beautifully efficient business model.

This has allowed the company to do what it does best—execute on their mission while not getting distracted by fundraising(they raised $500k) and runway concerns.
Data is the new oil in the digital age, and @mono_hq has done something really simple—

make it easier for other startups to get financial data across Africa.
What @mono_hq has done successfully is to build a business that is central to powering the large and growing suppliers of digital fintech services

If online financial planning, stock picking and Bitcoin trading are in the gold rush mode in Africa, @mono_hq, @okra_HQ, @onepipeio have the surefire business: the shovels and pans to enable it all.
If @okra_HQ is the Microsoft, @mono_hq is the apple

One of @mono_hq biggest strengths to date has been its ability to adopt additional use-cases. its already on the path to success with payments, it has quickly parlayed its offering into a suite of new products,

each of which will incorporate the access and aggregation tools that have been built from the start. As banks and fintech companies continue vying for consumer’s money, new products and services will inevitably be created, giving Mono further ground to expand its market.

The customers have been growing in their own right as well, due to open banking trends and increasing interest by consumers to own and understand their financial data.

What does the future hold?
The growth question boils down to how Mono will extract more value from its customers and increase its customer base.
In the short run, it’s likely Mono will focus on getting as many overlooked banks and Fintech services onto its platform as possible.

There’s still an underserved demographic that doesn’t bank with large financial institutions, and it’s currently on Mono to get them to their favourite services.
In the future, my bet is on the inclusion of consumer products, which can manifest in a couple of different ways:

1. Building a tool that gives consumers transparency in what they’re connected to — including the consent that is provided, and how they can change that(e.g. reports, visualization. data, statements)

2.Launching an app that serves as a meeting point of all the newly automated financial tools — things like bill paying, savings, investing, and other tools. The average bank account is connected to a host of services; consolidating would reduce friction in using these tools.

3. Mono could help apps in hospitality, travel and shopping understand their users' spending to make them better offers.

@bigbrutha_ @idrisayobello @IAtalkspace @akindolu @OtunbaSho @TheOnlyIbukun

@ProtagorasTO @NateKorl @just_norm @Babajiide @celestocalculus