The story of Kabir and Mr. Ade Oduwole - Part 2/2

When you reach out to strangers on Obasanjo's internet, they need to answer two questions very quickly.

Hi guys,

Hope you’re well. I'm doing okay, Alhamdulillah.

A few days ago, I realized there was a newsletter post from 2021 that I never quite finished. I had cause to think about how best to optimize the chances of success for professional cold mail outreaches when it occurred to me that I did half a newsletter on the same topic in October 2021.

And so here I am 3 years later, completing a story I had intended to continue “next week in sha Allah.” 😅

On a separate note, reading from myself 3 years ago was an interesting experience. In many ways, I am still the same person e.g.,

• I mostly care about the same topics I did

• I still prefer (mostly fictional) storytelling as my preferred tool for content creation

• The struggle against burnout did not start yesterday

But in some ways I am different:

• I have much less personal time than I used to - I sent out that newsletter at 8:58 pm on a Sunday, but these days I'm working on 90% of Sunday nights

• How I recharge is slightly different - While I still do all the same things, I spend slightly more ‘rest time’ on books, movies, and tennis and slightly less on podcasts

• I cook much less than I used to, Alhamdulillah 😉🥴

Okay, let's get to it.

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**Part 1/2, October 2021**

Today, I am thinking about our professional interactions. You know, all the random people you try to build relationships with to help find a job, make an introduction, share career advice, fund your startup idea, etc.

Some of them are basically friends x family, but many more are people with whom you have no strong ties. Maybe your roommate’s Uncle that was classmates in secondary school with MTN's CEO. Or your Mummy’s second cousin that is now the Commissioner for Science & Tech in Ekiti State. Etc etc.

From my (both successful and failed) attempts at connecting with people in the past few years, I have learnt a few things. Let's dive into one of them.

Nobody wants to do your homework for you

You know what?

The vast majority of ‘successful’ people I have met are quite nice. Sure there are quite a few jerks as well, but most of the people I have been fortunate enough to interact with are pleasant, kind, genuine people. At least to your face.

And part of this niceness is that, more times than not, they genuinely want to assist with our requests. But almost nobody is willing to do your homework for you.

Let's assume Kabir is a tech entrepreneur with an early-stage idea that can solve a problem for mobile banking apps. He's not sure yet if this idea would work, but he needs access to the software x database infrastructure of a Nigerian mobile-first bank to test it.

He has been following Ade Oduwole, the (fictional) VP, Commercial Operations of GTBank for over 2 years on social media. Ade is a great guy, and genuinely seems to be interested in helping young people develop themselves. From what Kabir can see on his LinkedIn at least.

Kabir is 100% sure that Ade would either be able to help him or introduce him to another person in the banking industry willing to give him access to their back-end infrastructure for testing the idea. After asking many of his friends about contacting Ade, Cynthia tells him what to do.

C: Kabir, send an email to ade.oduwole84@yahoo.com - that’s his personal email. I’m not close enough to introduce you, but I know he checks this mail and actually replies some people.

K: Are you sure it will work?

C: Yes, just send it.

And so Kabir gets to work.

"Good morning sir.

My name is Kabir Olaoye, a graduate of Actuarial Science from Adekunle Ajasin University in 2017. After serving with Silverbird, I spent two years working with Interswitch as a Software Engineer.

I left Interswitch last year to work on my startup - a blah blah blah solution for mobile banking. I believe that this can be revolutionary for banking in Nigeria but currently lack funds and access to the database infrastructure that would allow me test the idea.

I need your help sir. Any guidance you can provide - introduction to people, financial, advice - would be much appreciated. May God Almighty continue to bless you sir. Amen.

Kabir Olaoye

08075724536”

He clicks send. And then he waits.

And waits. And waits.

He never hears back.

What happened?

Well, Ade is a very busy man. And an email like that, while it sounds very nice and straightforward, is immensely stressful for Ade. He receives so many similar emails and prioritizes the few that are easy to act upon.

This one is a bit difficult - How does he verify that Kabir is who he says he is? Who exactly in his network should he introduce Kabir to? How does he know Kabir is competent and will not waste the person’s time? Plus, Kabir just seems so confused. He needs maybe advice, money, corporate resources, and time?!

Ade decides that Kabir seems like an interesting guy, and he will respond to him properly when he has time.

But life happens and he just never gets to it. And so Kabir is back to square one.

But what could Kabir have done differently to better increase the chances that Ade would have replied positively or replied at all?

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**Part 2/2, August 2024**

I think there are 4 building blocks to a well-crafted cold mail.

(a) personal connection

This is a reference to a unique shared experience you have in common (e.g., alums of the same secondary school, your parents grew up on the same street, etc). The key word here is “unique”.

The rarer the thing you have in common with them (e.g., you are both UI alums who work in Private Equity in Kaduna), the higher the likelihood of success. The more common it is (e.g., you are both Unilag alums working in Banking in Lagos), the lower the likelihood of success.

(b) ego appeal

I have yet to meet a human being who does not appreciate a genuine compliment. People want to be seen, valued, and appreciated for the things they do, and this is even more so for visibly successful people. They often give a lot to the world and a genuine compliment is a reminder that their efforts are worth it.

The key thing here is for the compliment to be both genuine and super-specific. A compliment like “Thanks for all you do” is neither genuine nor specific, and a compliment like “You have impacted my life more than you could ever imagine” might be genuine but is not specific. You want to get to something like “I have watched 27 interviews of Nigerian Bank CTOs in the past year, and none has impacted me more than listening to you talk about the challenges of selling kuli kuli as a 15-year-old in Offa.”

(c) authenticity and proof of work

When reaching out to random people on Obasanjo's internet, put yourself in their shoes for a minute. They need to answer two questions very quickly - “Is this person who they say they are?” and “Is this person worth my time?”

There are three ways to validate authenticity

1. email address: If you’re claiming to be a Harvard graduate, use your Harvard email address. Or simply use your “birth certificate” email address i.e., some variation of firstnamelastname@gmail.com, not “flyboi1995@gmail.com” 😂

2. proof of work: Include a link to external references that reinforce your story - whether it be your LinkedIn account, Behance portfolio, Medium blog, startup website, etc. Ideally, it should be something that refers to your full name and shows that other (verified) humans interact with you.

3. a mutual connection: Illustrate that you are connected to someone they know well. An example might be, “I got your email address from Dr. Ruth Nkigbo of Heritage Bank, with whom I had lunch 3 weeks ago as she thought you would be a great person to connect with as well.”

(d) very specific request

The only person you should expect to solve all your problems is God 😅 - For any other person, the request should be very tailored to what they are most suited to provide.

The idea is not to ask for “any support you can provide ma, whether money, time, or advice” but something much more specific, e.g., “Might you have 15 mins to share any advice on how to optimize my pitch deck for Y Combinator's winter application?”

————

With these four principles in mind, an updated version of Kabir’s outreach mail to Mr. Ade Oduwole might look something like this.

Hello Mr. Oduwole,

Hope this message finds you well.

My name is Kabir Olaoye, and I am an Electrical Engineering graduate from your alma mater, Adekunle Ajasin University (which still has your name on the departmental honor board from the class of 2003, and which I joined myself in 2017 😊).

I am a big fan of yours sir, and I think the work you did setting up USSD Validation when you were a Product Manager for NIBSS is possibly the most impactful piece of innovation Nigerian Banking has ever seen.

Since graduating from university, I spent 5 years as a Software Engineer at Interswitch, and am now building Adeja, a start-up focused on open banking infrastructure for Nigerians.

• We have made some early progress, and currently process around 2,900 transactions daily

• We have also been featured by TechCabal as one of the 10 Nigerian FinTechs to Watch Out For in 2025

• We have raised $150k pre-seed from Dr. Ruth Nkigbo at Heritage Bank, and she thought you might be a great person to connect with, as we build our database infrastructure to be optimal for larger banks

Might you be available for a 15-minute call sometime next week for a quick demo of how our tool works and to share any feedback and advice for partnerships in the banking ecosystem?

If so, please let me know what date and time might be convenient and I will send a calendar invite and Zoom link. Thank you so much for your support sir, I truly appreciate it.

Warm regards,

Kabir Olaoye

[LinkedIn profile]

[Phone number]

*Fun fact: I found out in your March 2024 Founders Connect interview that you grew up around Araromi GRA in Ondo state - My grandparents live there as well and I visit at least twice a year! 😄

————

A few additional notes:

1. An email like the above is probably more of an ideal state and might not always be feasible (e.g., grandparents living in “Araromi GRA”), but there are often ways to find commonality with the person on the receiving end. If they are a fairly public person, all you need to do is watch 10+ YouTube videos / read 10+ of their articles and I guarantee you will find something you have in common. Alternatively, find someone else of their stature with whom you have a closer connection (e.g., VP of FCMB who also graduated from Igbobi College).

2. Being associated with established brands and/or academic markers of high achievement does wonders for your credibility - It is why I encourage so many undergraduates to strive for excellent grades (e.g., referring to “honor board”).

3. Follow up! No matter how great your email is, Mr. Ade Oduwole is still a busy man. You're much more likely to get a response by following up once or twice (a few weeks apart each time).

4. I'm not sure Kabir demoing his FinTech product to a bank executive is the best idea as they can fairly easily replicate it and put him out of business! 😂

** Jara content:

وَإِذْ بَوَّأْنَا لِإِبْرَٰهِيمَ مَكَانَ ٱلْبَيْتِ أَن لَّا تُشْرِكْ بِى شَيْـًۭٔا وَطَهِّرْ بَيْتِىَ لِلطَّآئِفِينَ وَٱلْقَآئِمِينَ وَٱلرُّكَّعِ ٱلسُّجُودِ

And remember when We assigned to Abraham the site of the House, saying, “Do not associate anything with Me in worship and purify My House for those who circle the Ka’bah, stand in prayer, and bow and prostrate themselves.”

- Chapter 22 verse 26

Have a great week. ✨