From Developer to Product Leader

I started my career as a developer, not just writing code, but solving real problems for startups trying to build, launch, and survive in a fast-moving digital world.

Very early on, I realized something: building software is not the hardest part.

Building the right product is.

I had the opportunity to work with several startups, including Epistrophe, a company focused on reseller hosting and domain registration.

There, I worked as both a developer and technical support, a dual role that gave me a deep understanding of systems, but also direct exposure to users and their frustrations.

More importantly, it allowed me to interact closely with founders and CTOs navigating real-world challenges during the early 2010s a period marked by the rapid growth of digital services in Africa. These conversations changed my perspective.

I started asking different questions:

Why does this product exist?

Who is it really for?

Why does it struggle to scale?

That’s when I realized that technology alone doesn’t create impact : Alignment between product, users, and execution does.

Over time, I moved beyond pure development into launching my own products, advising startups, and working as a consultant on digital transformation.

This shift allowed me to experience product challenges from multiple angles as a builder, a strategist, and a partner to founders.

One of the most important lessons I learned is this: great products are built by great people.

That realization led me to build CODELN.com, a platform dedicated to helping companies recruit top engineering talent across Africa.

Through this experience, I’ve worked closely with startups, non-technical founders, and scaling companies, all facing the same challenge: finding the right people to execute their vision.

It gave me a deeper understanding of the talent gap, the opportunity gap, and the direct link between team quality and product success.

Today, my work sits at the intersection of product, talent, and execution.

Across collaborations with organizations such as Simplon Africa, DigiFemmes, Enpact, EPITECH Côte d’Ivoire (as Ex Country Launcher), and through CODELN, I’ve had the opportunity to mentor talents, support founders, and contribute to the growth of the African tech ecosystem.

As a Product Strategist, Career Coach, my focus is simple:

helping people build products that create real impact.

Through my platform website, I’ll be sharing insights from the field lessons from building, scaling, failing, and learning.

Not theory.

Not hype.

Just real-world thinking.

Because in the end, great products are not built by code alone.

They are built at the intersection of people, systems, and vision.