Iroko CEO, Jason Njoku Shares His Inspiring Start-up Story

Co-founder and CEO of iROKOtv, one of the early video-on-demand movie platforms for Nigerian movies (also known as Nollywood), Jason Njoku this Monday shared his inspiring start-up story.

The CEO, tweeting via his Twitter account, while addressing start-ups and founders said no one should assume anyone is interested in their start-up saying the onus lies on every founder to break the walls;

”12/02/2010 – for 13mths I sat in this room alone. No team no nothing. I left the apartment maybe once a week. My earnings were ~$100/month building the first Iroko product – NollywoodLove. My friends were scared about my unhealthy obsession with ‘making it’. Was it worth it?

Yup. It was. The blunt force trauma changed me. I can embrace pain consistently. No one invited me to any tables. No one mentored me about what it took to take hold of entertainment in Africa. I simply walked up and fucking grabbed a chair.

Its my 39th birthday this week. I’m taking some serious trips down memory lane. People will tell me to be humble and not enjoy life. Nah. I walked through walls. Fully optimised for happiness. It that offends you. So be it.

No one cares about your idea. Your mum supports you because she is your mum. But she doesn’t really care about your startup. If you are the lucky minority to have a partner whilst starting, then s/he doesn’t really care too. I wrote this almost 7 years ago