FourthCanvas, a leading African brand consultancy, in collaboration with Paystack, announces Leading from within as a decisive brand. This is a timely conversation on how founders and operators can build intentional cultures that attract, retain, and transform elite talent.
The Nigerian tech ecosystem has matured far beyond the early Yaba days, when the biggest hurdle was simply finding available talent. Today, with the rise of bootcamps, online education, and digital natives raised on open-source learning, the continent is producing an unprecedented pool of elite professionals. Global companies like Meta, Microsoft, and Google have taken notice, actively hiring locally and raising the bar for startups.
This shift presents a new challenge: culture building. It’s no longer enough to find great people; the key is creating environments where they stay, thrive, and lead. As global examples have shown, intentional culture has become a prerequisite for building enduring brands.
Proven Examples from Paystack and FourthCanvas
Both Paystack and FourthCanvas embody what’s possible when culture becomes strategy:
- Paystack has built a formidable culture that not only attracts top talent but transforms them into leaders. Alumni have gone on to found or lead companies like Chowdeck, Mono, Borderless, Hoaq, and Grey; often dubbed the Paystack Mafia.
- FourthCanvas, over nearly a decade, has become a hub for elite creative talent. More than 200 alumni have passed through the consultancy, many now shaping impact at organizations such as Meta, Nike, Apple, Johnson & Johnson, and Revolut.
In different ways, both organizations have created powerful flywheels: great culture produces great people; great people build great things and reinforce great brands. For both, the conviction remains that brand is the voice of culture , making it visible, legible, and magnetic to the right people.
Core Discussion Points
The mixer will feature a panel discussion and audience Q&A, designed as a conversation rather than a lecture. Topics include:
- Culture as a Strategic Asset — Why culture has become business-critical for scaling, retention, and resilience, and how brand is its most honest external expression.
- Creating the Ambassador Effect — Practical strategies to build environments where top talent proudly associates with the brand during and after employment, seeding the next generation of startups and leaders.
- The Decisive Brand© — A perspective from FourthCanvas on why today’s complex, high-stakes realities demand decisiveness, and how clarity and conviction can guide internal teams and external customers alike.
Featured Panelists
- Victor Fatanmi — Director of Strategy, FourthCanvas: With a decade of advising founders and leading conversations, Victor will steer the discussion with the right questions, deepened by insights gathered from direct participation across different phases of the ecosystem’s evolution.
- Nana Aisha Salaudeen — Brand Storytelling Lead, Paystack: Nana Aisha is a creative leader and storyteller with a diverse background in journalism and media. At Paystack, she is tasked with shaping the company's narrative by sharing the stories of African entrepreneurs and creators. Her belief that storytelling is infrastructure that shapes trust and culture gives her a unique perspective on building brands that resonate from the inside out.
- Mary Afolabi — Director of Design, FourthCanvas: Mary is a seasoned designer with over a decade of experience, bringing a fresh perspective rooted in the belief that art can solve problems and influence people. At FourthCanvas, she has been instrumental in building one of the continent's most concentrated hubs of elite creative talent.
- Damilare Stark — Senior Brand Designer, Paystack: Damilare plays a pivotal role in translating Paystack’s renowned culture into a visible and compelling brand identity. He is responsible for crafting the visual language that communicates Paystack's ethos to the world, ensuring the brand acts as a powerful signal for attracting top talent and a point of pride for the internal team.
- Oluremi Akinfaderin — People Operations Lead, FourthCanvas: Oluremi is the architect behind the people systems at FourthCanvas. With a focus on long-term culture and day-to-day clarity, she creates the conditions that allow talent to thrive and teams to do their best work.
Event Details
- Theme: The Decisive Brand: Leading from Within
- Format: Panel discussion with audience Q&A
- Audience: Founders, HR professionals, and operators across the African tech ecosystem
- Date: August 26, 2025
- Time: 5:00 PM
