Inside the VP Founders’ Retreat 2025: Insights, Strategy, and Community

We confess: we love retreats - but not just any retreat, the VP Founders’ Retreat. And 99.9% of our founders feel the same. The reviews from our founders is a testament to that!

The start of a new year often brings renewed determination, and for entrepreneurs, heightened pressure about the uncertainties and challenges ahead. Since 2023, we have made it a tradition to gather our founders for the VP Founders’ Retreat - an intentional pause before they step into another demanding year. This immersive experience is designed to help our founders reflect, recharge, learn, and build meaningful connections before diving back into the high-stakes world of entrepreneurship.

This year, we embraced the theme Sustainable Growth through Transformational and Resilient Leadership, focusing on the delicate balance between scaling rapidly while preserving core values - capital, mission, culture, and long-term vision. As economic conditions shift and investor expectations evolve, this retreat was about immersing in peer-driven learning, gaining actionable strategies for leading with resilience, learning from industry experts, and building a support system that extends far beyond the retreat itself.

What made this year unique?

A shift in setting set the stage for transformation. Instead of Lagos, we gathered at the tranquil foothills of Zuma Rock in Abuja - a location that encouraged deep reflection and meaningful connection. New additions to the agenda included founder-led sessions, where founders shared battle-tested insights, and a bonfire night that fostered camaraderie. These sessions complemented expert-led workshops, ensuring a diverse and well-rounded learning experience.

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Key Insights from the Retreat

A Perspective for 2025 & Framework for Resilient Leadership

In his welcome presentation, our Founding Partner, Kola Aina, set the stage for the retreat’s theme. Taking the group on a brief reflection of 2024, he highlighted the six key trends we anticipated at the start of the year: the rise of resilient companies, persistently low valuations, the normalization of Pre-A/Seed extensions, the dominance of local investors, the prevalence of flat rounds, and the increasing acceptance of M&As as a strategic tool for preserving and expanding value.

Looking ahead to 2025, Kola outlined six perspectives for founders and the ecosystem: moderate to high GDP growth, FX stabilization, a US tech rebound, a gradual return of investors, the rise of AI and climate solutions, and transformative policy reforms in key African markets. He noted that several African economies, including Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania, and Senegal, are poised for rapid growth. As AI and climate innovation gain momentum, African startups are expected to attract more capital in these sectors. 

Closing his presentation, Kola introduced the Peacetime vs. Wartime CEO framework, encouraging founders to embody the leadership traits needed for their journey. He highlighted Uber’s CEO and the Co-founder/GP of A16z as examples of leaders renowned for adaptability and execution in challenging environments.

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Adedotun Sulaiman on Structure, Governance, and Building for Longevity

A fireside chat with Adedotun Sulaiman, Chairman of Absa Nigeria, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, SecureID Limited, and Parthian Partners, was a highlight of the retreat. Moderated by Kola Aina, this session was packed with insights on the crucial role of structure, governance, and strategic decision-making in building enduring businesses.

Mr. Sulaiman emphasized that long-term success doesn’t happen by chance—it requires strong systems, discipline, and clear governance frameworks. He spoke candidly about risk-taking, explaining that while seizing opportunities is critical, founders must balance ambition with financial prudence. He highlighted governance as the backbone of sustainable enterprises, reinforcing the idea that startups should think like legacy businesses from day one, embedding strong structures that allow them to scale with integrity.

His journey from executive to board member and chairman of multiple leading companies underscored the importance of resilience, adaptability, and forward-thinking leadership. Founders left the session with a clear understanding that lasting success requires more than just operational excellence—it demands strategic foresight and institutional stability.

A Framework for embodying Transformational & Resilient Leadership 

Uche Ezichi, Managing Director of ACEEVA Consulting and Executive Coach at INSEAD Executive Education, delivered a standout presentation on what separates good leaders from transformational and resilient ones. 

Breaking down leadership models into good and bad, he highlighted three critical stages that effective leaders must progress through to find success:

He broke leadership into three critical stages:

Self-Awareness + Self-Acceptance + Self-Improvement = Success

He contrasted transactional leadership - which relies on contingent rewards and performance corrections - with transformational leadership, built on four key pillars:

• Idealized Influence: Leading by example, setting a high standard and embodying the values they wish to instill.
• Inspirational Motivation: Crafting a compelling vision that excites and mobilizes teams.
• Intellectual Stimulation: Challenging conventional thinking and fostering innovation.
• Individualized Consideration: Investing in people’s growth through mentorship, coaching and empathy-driven leadership.

A major takeaway? Leaders must continuously nurture motivation drivers - whether intrinsic or extrinsic - to build strong, engaged teams.On resilient leadership, Uche highlighted four common pitfalls that erode resilience:

• FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): The pressure to keep up with competitors.
• Comparison: Measuring success based on others’ journeys instead of their own.
• Unrealistic Deadlines: Setting unattainable expectations leading to burnout.
• People-Pleasing: Overcommitting to meet external expectations at the expense of self-care.

Through self-assessment exercises and breakout group discussions, founders identified their leadership strengths, areas for growth, and strategies for improvement.

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‍Capital Efficiency: Making Every Dollar Work Smarter

‍Rajendra Jhawar, Group CFO of Inlaks Group of Companies, led a hands-on workshop on capital efficiency, helping founders develop structured approaches to financial planning and strategic capital deployment. He mapped out key business objectives - such as product expansion, sales blitzscaling, market share growth, and operational efficiency - against crucial financial decisions, including:

• Build vs. Buy: Deciding when to develop in-house capabilities versus acquiring external solutions.
• Outsourced vs. In-House Operations: Identifying which functions should remain internal and which are best outsourced.
• Marketing Channel Selection: Evaluating which platforms yield the highest return on investment.
• Efficiency & Productivity Measures: Optimizing resources for sustainable outcomes.

Rajendra introduced a disciplined financial strategy through a three-tier spending framework:

• Mandatory: Essential expenses crucial for business continuity.
• Good to Have: Investments that drive growth but are not immediately critical.
• Discretionary: Optional expenditures that can be adjusted based on financial performance.

He also emphasized the importance of financial flexibility by maintaining Responsible Financial Obligations, Strong Governance Policies and transparent Financial Reporting. 

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Expanding into Francophone Africa with Aicha Toure

‍Aicha Toure, ex-CEO of Orange and VP Venture Partner, led a deep dive into Francophone Africa’s business landscape. In a Q&A-style session, she dispelled common myths and offered strategies for market entry, emphasizing:

• Localized communication strategies - not all consumers speak French.
• Understanding geopolitical risks- Business climates vary across Francophone countries.
• Navigating strict labor laws - Workforce management can be complex.

A key takeaway? Speed is critical for startups entering Francophone Africa. If a market already has an incumbent player, expansion efforts must be aggressive and well-coordinated to capture market share before the opportunity closes.

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‍Founder-Led Sessions: Learning from the Trenches

‍This year, we introduced Founder-Led Sessions, where a few founders shared firsthand insights on scaling businesses:

• Dr. Emmanuel Okeleji (Seamless HR): Shared experiences on their Growth trajectory, team-building strategies, and expansion approaches.

• Njavwa Mutambo (Caantin AI): Practical insights on optimizing business efficiency through Voice AI. A highlight of his session was a live demo of his company’s flagship product, showcasing how Voice AI can revolutionize business operations - from sales and collections to onboarding and customer support, all in multiple African languages.

• Joshua Chibueze (Piggyvest): distilled five pivotal lessons from Piggyvest’s product strategy and customer acquisition playbook: - customer success is key; trust is the ultimate growth driver; growth is constant, not instant; partnerships expand opportunities; and measure what matters.

The Founder-Led Sessions exceeded expectations, providing deeply practical insights from founders actively building and scaling their companies. The retreat also featured sessions led by distinguished subject-matter experts. Elo Umeh, Venture Partner at Ventures Platform and Managing Director of Tarragon, explored the psychological and strategic dimensions of business success, offering founders fresh perspectives on decision-making, strategic trade-offs, and the mental agility needed to scale.

‍Innocent Isichei, another Venture Partner, and CEO of ACIOE Associates, led a highly informative session on key policy shifts set to shape African startups in 2025. (You can get his presentation in our latest newsletter here).

‍Beyond Business: Connection, Camaraderie, and the Bonfire Effect

‍Beyond the deep discussions were moments of joy - team games, morning yoga, and a memorable bonfire night under the stars.

The retreat wasn’t just about learning; it was about strengthening the fabric of the VP founders' community. Many founders have already begun implementing insights from the retreat into their businesses, and connections made here have evolved into partnerships and friendships.

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If there’s one thing we took away from this retreat, it’s that the theme was spot on and every session delivered exactly what our founders needed. The intentional balance of expert-led discussions, peer learning, and immersive experiences made it a transformative gathering.

And it wasn’t just us who felt this way - our founders made it loud and clear: “We’re already counting down to Founders’ Retreat 2026!”

‍We feel the same. Here’s to another year of scaling, thriving, and winning together.

Till the next Founders’ Retreat - keep learning, keep building, and keep winning.

See you in 2026!