As a first-year Computer Science student at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Timilehin Zubair wanted to become financially independent.
His parents gave him ₦15,000 ($11.12) a month, which was supposed to cover his expenses as he adjusted to living away from home. But Zubair could spend the money within two weeks. He began looking for ways to earn his own income.
His first attempt was an Instagram blog, where he reposted pictures from other accounts and tried to build an audience. When that failed to gain traction, he moved into vector art, teaching himself Photoshop and spending hours drawing people. He attracted some attention, but the commissions he expected never came.
Graphic design was one of his first experiments that actually made money. Zubair began designing for brands and used some of his earnings to advertise his services.
In his second year, a roommate asked him to design a flyer for a crypto business he was starting. The design job became Zubair’s introduction to crypto.
“That was not the first time I was hearing about crypto,” he told TechCabal in an interview. “This time around, I was very interested in knowing more about it. So, I told him to put me on and give me more information about the business.”
By the time he finished the design, Zubair had started trading crypto himself. He bought cryptocurrency from people at one price and sold it at a higher price, keeping the difference. His graphic-design earnings helped him advertise the business, while customers began contacting him on WhatsApp to buy and sell crypto.
As the business grew, Zubair realised that he could not handle every transaction manually. If he wanted to serve more customers, he needed to automate the process and build a product.