From Trading Intern to Successful African Entrepreneur: Shaun's Inspiring Journey - Part I
By Chris Owusu-Barfi
In the world of trading and tech startups, success stories are aplenty, but few are as inspiring as that of Shaun Opoku. Born and raised in Ghana but currently residing in Canada, Shaun's journey to startup success has been nothing short of extraordinary. Overcoming challenges as an African in the trading space, Shaun's hard work and perseverance have paid off as he recently sold his startup. In this exclusive interview, Shaun takes us through his incredible journey and shares valuable insights for aspiring African entrepreneurs.
Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you got into the trading industry?
I've always been interested in finance and how the markets worked; I got into trading when I was 16, and I started studying babypips.com like everyone else does when they begin. Eventually, I interned and worked at a few trading shops like FMI, Daytrade4x, and Etrading Co before branching out to start my own companies.
What inspired you to start your own trading startup, and how did you go about building it?
My passion for entrepreneurship started at a very young age; my first "startup" was Shaun's honest bank at age twelve, loaning my allowance to my aunties and cousins; unfortunately, that business collapsed quickly, and I learned my first finance lesson.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced while running your startup, and how did you overcome them?
It's hard to narrow the challenges into one form because some were internal and external conflicts. Still, the one thing that held me back a lot was not networking enough at the beginning and the lack of an official Co-founder to help me in areas I lacked. The only way to truly overcome anything is to eat the pain and learn from your mistakes to make swift changes which I did.
How did you end up selling your startup and what was that experience like?
I was at my wits' end with the stress of running a B2C finance platform, and my love shifted towards my new current B2B fintech Prime Bridge. However, a few prospective buyers had been emailing me over the past months about mergers and acquisitions, so I reached out to a couple of them, talked it out, and chose the firm that best fit.
The experience was straightforward; I knew the owners from past business dealings, so we already had trust between us, which kept the negotiations direct, and we closed the deal in a month.
Can you share any advice for other entrepreneurs looking to start a business in the tech industry?
Build a personal brand, get a good co-founder, network hard in your industry, and build a solid community with your customer base.
A picture of a blossoming Shaun