Yele Bademosi: Losing His Dad At 19, The Weight of FTX's Collapse and The Power of Introspection!
Yele Bademosi is a founder, investor, and creative thinker exploring the intersection of culture, capital, and clarity. He’s the Co-Creator and CEO of Onboard, a global financial app designed to help people live radically better lives by expanding access to world-class financial services.
Before Onboard, Yele founded Microtraction, one of Africa’s foremost early-stage funds, backing over 80 startups and helping shape the continent’s new generation of founders. He also co-founded Bundle Africa, a social payments app that reached over a million users. Earlier in his career, he served as a Director at Binance Labs, where he invested in blockchain startups and helped launch Binance in Africa.
Beyond his work in tech, Yele’s philosophy is grounded in mindfulness, creativity, and self-mastery. He’s deeply interested in how people find freedom, build alignment, and use culture as a catalyst for transformation.
Rooted in mindfulness and creative intention, Yele believes we find contentment in the pursuit of alignment between who we are, what we create, and how we serve.
Yele Bademosi on:
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/yelebademosi
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ybademosi/
X: https://x.com/yelebademosi
We cover:
- Family Dynamics & Losing His Dad
- The Current Funding Landscape in Africa
- His Crypto Journey & Beliefs
- Reflections on the FTX Collapse
Timestamps:
(00:00) - Coming Up
(01:09) - Yele in Three Words
(04:08) - Early Childhood Memories
(06:40) - Growing Up In Ibadan
(09:50) - Family Dynamics
(11:44) - Sisters' Influences
(16:14) - Lessons from Parents and Entrepreneurship
(19:44) - Losing Dad and The Impact
(24:19) - Yele and Ideas
(27:10) - Getting Into Tech
(29:21) - Yele's First Startup - Purple
(34:07) - Reflections on the Nigerian Tech Ecosystem
(35:40) - Starta As A Launchpad Into Nigerian Tech
(43:18) - From Community Management to Fund Founding
(52:27) - Assessing the Current Funding Landscape in Africa
(59:58) - Yele's Journey Into Crypto
(01:04:09) - Yele's Binance Journey
(01:11:57) - Reflections on the FTX Collapse
(01:20:39) - The Power of Self-Awareness and Introspection
(01:25:48) - Future Aspirations and Building Onboard
(01:28:25) - If You Only Knew
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About Roots & Wings Podcast
Roots & Wings is an intimate interview-style YouTube podcast that explores the personal journeys and transformative experiences of remarkable individuals across diverse fields.
The podcast, hosted by Dayo Koleowo, delves beyond achievements to uncover the foundations that ground people (their roots) and the elements that propel them in life (their wings).
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