Or that 64 percent of buyers trust your thought leadership content more than your company’s marketing materials and product sheets? 

Before the dawn of social media and the rise of personal branding, many African founders were already promoting themselves, their ideas, and their stories of wins and failures—and by so doing, selling their company’s products and services.
 

What do Cosmas Maduka, Tony Elumelu, and Strive Masiyiwa all have in common?

From this generation of entrepreneurs—what I call the pre-internet founders—I’ve learned that they seized every opportunity to amplify the power of personalized storytelling and channel it into their companies. 

Take Cosmas Maduka, founder and CEO of Coscharis Group. In every speech, gathering, or interview, he tells the story of his upbringing—hard work, resilience, and personal reputation—and weaves it into how these values built Coscharis Group. 

Maduka’s “grass to grace” story—how he dropped out of school at seven to support his family, and at 12 apprenticed in his uncle’s automobile parts shop (which he calls his “best university”)—instilled the discipline and principles that later defined his success. Told with admirable intentionality, it makes you see Coscharis as a company you’d want to do business with.

He is not alone. 

Although a champion of the digital age, Tony Elumelu’s roots are in pre-internet banking. As social media dawned, he used it effectively to tell his story—and in telling his story, he sold United Bank for Africa (UBA).

Likewise, Strive Masiyiwa, founder of Econet, is another pre-internet builder who consistently shares his wins and failures through public speaking and interviews. 

The lesson for today’s founders is simple: nobody can tell your story better than you. Maduka, Elumelu, and Masiyiwa understood a secret many young founders still ignore—you don’t just build companies, you build stories people want to buy into. 

No matter how many marketing professionals you hire, if storytelling doesn’t emanate from a personalized standpoint that feeds your company’s image, it’s difficult to create a brand that truly resonates.

When I tell founders I would tell their company’s story from their own lens because it drives connection, they often push back—questioning how sustainable this is in the long run. But the truth is, the form of personal branding I advocate is not in conflict with a company’s mission.

Instead, it humanizes the process, puts a face to it, and makes it more relatable.

Why is this vital?

According to a 2024 Edelman study, 71 percent of consumers are more likely to buy from a company if its CEO is active on social media.

Another study by Kickstand x Pavilion shows 98 percent of tech executives believe building a personal brand boosts business outcomes.

The reason is simple, and it’s summed up in a Forbes article by Maha Abouelenein: “People don’t just buy products, they buy into the people behind the product.”