I help people return to themselves.
I've spent 8+ years at the intersection of venture building, founder support, and emerging markets. I left Silicon Valley to build in East Africa. Now I'm exploring what's possible when you stop waiting for permission.
Currently in Helsinki. Bridges Silicon Valley, East Africa, and the Gulf.
No CS degree. No connections. I taught myself into Silicon Valley—started in marketing, learned product by doing. At Shift.org, I led a product pivot that generated $1M+ in revenue and 95,000 signups on day one. The system said I didn't belong there. I showed up anyway.
I walked away from the trajectory. Moved to Rwanda, then Kenya. Founded Rafiki Labs and supported 50+ startups across East Africa. Led research at 54 Collective—80+ interviews mapping the ecosystem's systemic challenges. Started The Great Return, writing about what it means to go back.
Now I'm building with AI as a core collaborator—not a feature, but the architecture. Advisor at Billow Capital in Somaliland. Leading stablecoin infrastructure work to bypass SWIFT and unlock investment for excluded economies. The tools are finally here. The question is what we build with them.
I believe everyone has a dream they've set aside.
Maybe it was practical. Maybe someone told you it wasn't realistic. Maybe life just happened—bills, responsibilities, the weight of expectations from people who love you but can't see what you see.
So you took the safe path. The "smart" job. The role that pays but doesn't feed you. And now you're stuck. Not broke, but not alive either.
I know because I was there.
I had the Silicon Valley job. The title. The trajectory. The thing that looked right at the dinner table when someone asked what you do. And I walked away from it—moved to Africa, started from zero, chased something that made no sense to anyone but me.
Here's what I've learned:
The gap between where you are and where you want to be isn't as wide as it feels. It never was. The gap is just fear wearing a suit—disguised as logic, disguised as timing, disguised as "I'm not ready yet."
You're not going to be ready. That's the whole point.
I called my movement the Great Return because I was talking about the diaspora going back to Africa. About the millions of us scattered across the west who feel the pull to return and build.
But after living it—after three years on the ground—I understand now that the Great Return is bigger than geography.
It's about returning to yourself. To the thing you wanted before the world told you to want something else.
So here's the question: what are you waiting for?
Not what's stopping you—you already know the answer to that, and most of it isn't real. I mean what are you actually waiting for? The right moment? The right amount of money? Someone to tell you it's okay?
Nobody's coming to give you permission. You have to give it to yourself.
If you're a founder sitting on an idea with no roadmap, a professional suffocating in a role that doesn't fit, or someone who just feels like there has to be more—I've been there.