Farouk Ibrahim is learning to build what people actually need

Farouk Ibrahim, a product engineer, began his career selling software while attending the University of Ibadan in Oyo State, southwestern Nigeria. His software, Peernet, allowed lecturers to share learning materials with students over a private network. Despite offering Peernet for ₦100 ($0.074) after 20 free attempts, nobody paid; students instead sought to unlock the app. This experience taught him that building a product was only part of the challenge – getting people to care about it was the greater hurdle.

Ibrahim's understanding of this principle shaped his future work with startups, including OpenInsured, an AI company developing a real estate data platform. He credits his work for helping the company raise $8 million in 2026, despite writing fewer than 100 lines of code that year. Ibrahim once disliked selling, but now recognizes its importance in making people care about his creations.

Before delving into software, Ibrahim made paper toys in Ibadan, repairing broken toys or constructing paper alternatives to sell to schoolmates for ₦5 ($0.0037). His most popular invention was a paper laptop featuring a stick-fighting game controlled by pulling threads attached to broomsticks. This invention made him famous among his peers.

However, his passion for building shifted when his mother purchased a Dell desktop for a remote course at age 10. Prior to that, he had been forbidden from touching the computer. Once he gained access, he became captivated by modifying games like Wolfenstein, sparking his interest in coding and computer programming. He learned 12 programming languages, including C++, Java, and C#, and built an operating system to better understand how they functioned.

After missing university admission on his first attempt, Ibrahim took Cambridge A-levels, where he met other computer enthusiasts. He learned programming languages and developed an operating system and kernel to better comprehend their inner workings. Despite not gaining admission initially, he eventually entered the University of Ibadan through direct entry, bypassing his first year.

As he approached graduation, Ibrahim wanted to focus on building products rather than seeking conventional employment. He desired one of his software products to become a success. Unfortunately, none of his creations garnered significant attention, and the COVID-19 pandemic further strained his finances. During his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) service in 2021, his father connected him with ICMA Professional Services, an audit and consulting firm with government clients, including Delta State.

Ibrahim secured a placement at the firm's Asaba office, where he built an application using text processing and patterns in previous transaction descriptions to classify new payments. This application saved accountants time by automating the manual sorting of transactions.

Upon completing his NYSC service in 2022, Ibrahim returned to Ibadan as a full-time employee at Crop2Cash, an agritech company he had completed his industrial training at in 2018. At Crop2Cash, he developed backend analytics to process data and a targeting engine to aid smallholder farmers in documenting their activities, accessing grants, and securing loans.

Through his work, Ibrahim learned to build solutions tailored to address specific problems, and he now views himself as a skilled professional capable of contributing value wherever he finds himself.