When Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook, he simply wanted to connect people on a social media platform. He never knew that Facebook will become an essential tool for reconnecting families, friends and long-lost love. However, when Babatunde Akin-Moses and his partners decided to create Sycamore, they had one goal in mind—to give loans to SMEs, as well as create a platform where friends can give loans to their friends.

Babatunde Akin-Moses who grew up in the northern part of Nigeria was fortunate to intern, for three months, in Lagos under the supervision and mentorship of a successful business leader. It was during the internship he reached a conclusion—to work for five to ten years, save up, and then set up his own business in Lagos. He was just 17 years old when he reached this conclusion.

Several years later, Babatunde Akin-Moses deliberately attended Lagos Business School, a prestigious business school in Lagos, Nigeria. It was during the executive program in Lagos Business School that Akin-Moses and his partners discovered a market that is under served, and that gave birth to Sycamore.

In this interview, discover the business lessons wrapped around the life and entrepreneurial story of Babatunde Akin-Moses, the co-founder and CEO of Sycamore, a peer-to-peer lending platform, which connects lenders with borrowers.