- Oladosu Teyibo is the founder of software development company Analog Team.
- To Insider, he talks about career beginnings and business ambitions.
- This is part of Insider's entrepreneur series Star, Rising which highlights early entrepreneurs and businesses.
Name: Oladosu Teyibo
Age: 29
Location: Washington, D.C
Business: An outsourcing
Backstory:
Founded by Oladosu Teyibo in 2018, Analog Team connects talent from underrepresented backgrounds with tech companies looking to build digital products. Aside from working in the US, Analog Team focuses on connecting African engineers with startups based in the states. His company is betting on the idea that others will begin sourcing talent from Africa, the way outsourcing is currently done to India, Teyibo said.
"There is not a pipeline issue or a knowledge gap," he told Insider. "It's just about providing opportunities and looking for the gems that are in the rough."
Growth: Analog Team now operates in six African countries, including Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, and Nigeria. It has worked with top cell phone providers, social media, and gaming apps and is projected to net more than seven figures this year.
Next, it's sourcing talent to build a new social media app, a database for user experience (UX) design, and new data transformation tools. Last month, with plans to further expand nationally, the company partnered with the city of Montgomery, Alabama to create an innovation lab that will help foster local tech talent.
"We're also in conversation with HBCUs [Historically Black Colleges and Universities] and local universities to create robotics programs that focus on drone technology," Teyibo said.
Before Analog Team: Teyibo studied information technology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and worked at the Cyber Innovation Center where he oversaw mergers and acquisitions. He left the company in 2016 to start Analog Team.
Challenges: Many tech companies have bad experiences working with outsourcing companies, so Analog Team built a business model to ensure it would be different from the rest. "We integrate and become part of the company," Teyibo said. "We get so close you actually feel like we're a part of your team."
Advice: "The most important thing about building a business is to be the last one standing," Teyibo said. "The right way to do that is to constantly innovate."
Mentor: Teyibo counts his mother as a mentor who told him "when you leave somewhere, leave the place better than you met it."
Why now is the best time to start a business: The world is on the "precipice of innovation and change," and positioning oneself as a business leader early can pay off in the long run, Teyibo said. "In the next 10 or 20 years you can actually have a say in where we go as a global community," he added.
On hiring: Right now, Analog Team consists of 30 people and aims to hire 1,000 people across software development, recruiting, and customer service by 2025. Interest in the company has increased as word of it continues to spread. "It's now just about finding enough opportunities to hire everyone that we see across the world," Teyibo said.
Managing burnout: Teyibo prays to help recenter his focus, and encourages his employees to take breaks when needed so when it's time to deliver, everyone is at their best.
"It's absolutely necessary to take breaks when you need them," he continued. "But it's important to remember a break isn't a vacation - every moment you're not focused on your goals, the competition is outworking you."