David (template)
TEMPLATETEMPLATE — This story is a draft. It will be replaced with a real interview.
David saved £95,000 in 6 years of London banking and returned to Lagos to build a payments startup. The Naira's 40% devaluation in his first year back wiped out a third of his foreign-currency savings' local purchasing power. He pivoted the business model twice before finding product-market fit in month 11.
TEMPLATE — This story is a draft. It will be replaced with a real interview.
David saved £95,000 in 6 years of London banking and returned to Lagos to build a payments startup. The Naira's 40% devaluation in his first year back wiped out a third of his foreign-currency savings' local purchasing power. He pivoted the business model twice before finding product-market fit in month 11.
Key numbers
Background
David left Lagos at 25 for a graduate scheme at a London investment bank. He earned well (£75,000-95,000 over 6 years) but London living costs consumed 60% of his income. He saved aggressively — 30-35% savings rate — and sent £200/month to his mother in Surulere.
The decision
David always planned to return. After his promotion to VP, he realized the London career ladder would keep him another 5-7 years if he didn't set a hard deadline. He gave himself 18 months: save another £30,000, validate his fintech idea with 50 potential users in Lagos, and move.
The numbers
Total savings at return: £95,000. Relocation cost: £8,500 (minimal shipping, no family). He held £70,000 in GBP and converted £25,000 to NGN at the official rate (1,500 NGN/GBP at the time). The Naira then dropped to 2,100 NGN/GBP within 6 months — his remaining GBP was worth 40% more in NGN terms, but his NGN-denominated business costs had stayed the same while his GBP runway shortened.
The return
David moved into a 2-bedroom apartment in Lekki Phase 1, paying 6 months upfront (the landlord wanted 12, they negotiated). He registered the business in week 3 — faster than expected because he'd pre-paid a lawyer to handle CAC registration before arriving.
First year reality
The original business model (B2B payments for small businesses) didn't work — Nigerian SMEs were too price-sensitive. In month 6, David pivoted to cross-border remittance comparison. By month 11, he had 2,000 active users and raised a small pre-seed round from a Lagos-based angel investor.
What they'd do differently
"I would have held more of my savings in USD/GBP and converted gradually, not in one lump. The FX timing cost me roughly £8,000 in lost purchasing power. I also would have talked to 100 potential customers before arriving, not 50. The ones I missed would have told me the B2B model wouldn't work."
Lessons learned
Convert currency gradually, not in one lump
The Naira dropped 40% in David's first year. If he'd converted monthly over 12 months instead of all at once, he'd have averaged the rate and lost less.
Validate with 100 customers, not 50
50 conversations gave David false confidence in his B2B model. The next 50 would have revealed the price sensitivity problem before he invested 6 months.
Pre-register your business before arrival
David's lawyer handled CAC registration while he was still in London. He landed with a registered company — saving 4-6 weeks of bureaucratic friction.