This!!! I recently ran a small study on 12 YC employees. At least 4 were hired after a very public, well-documented failure. 2 others had quieter failure that still shaped how they got in. See, failing builds proof for you. But that same proof has value to other people too if you're brave enough to show it. It’s why it irks me a lot to know that lots of us in this part of the world are still stuck where we are because we are scared of failing publicly.

Apart from credits and microfinance agents, another category of field agents we see in the market are aggregators. Aggregators get POS terminals from fintechs and put them into the hands of businesses. Now note this: if an aggregator is given four POS terminals to distribute in a month, three may need to remain active and process a specified transaction volume before the aggregator gets paid. When POS terminals first came, many businesses with accounts at the issuing bank could get them for free. Today, acquiring one can be expensive. And for businesses that manage to get a free terminal through an aggregator, there is often pressure to meet transaction targets. It makes sense that aggregators have to be selective. They need businesses capable of generating enough volume to meet those targets. This already eliminates many businesses and individuals from accessing POS terminals through existing fintechs. So if acquiring a POS can be demanding for both businesses and aggregators, why is it still such a strong switching trigger for Nigerian businesses to open a Mabe account? To understand this, we need to look at what a POS terminal actually does for a business. Please note: this article does not unpack everything we discussed with these willing-to-converse merchants. Watch the full video for the conversation. A POS helps businesses serve customers, process payments efficiently and reduce dependence on an app that can hang, experience network issues or simply run out of battery. But there is something else. The sound a POS makes when a transaction is successfully received gives a merchant an immediate signal that payment has gone through. That is more efficient than relying on a customer's word or checking your own phone. There is also the ability to accept or reject transactions, as one merchant explained about his Moniepoint terminal: “Sometimes people will come and negotiate withdrawal charges. After I insist on my money, they will still send what they want, hoping that since the money is already in my account, I won't want to waste time sending it back…” “If I say someone should send ₦10,200 and they send ₦10,100, I will reject it.” The merchant therefore has a dedicated device for processing and confirming transactions, with greater control over how payments are handled. In a busy, fast-paced business, that matters. For context, our market experiment is showing us that if Mabe can distribute free POS terminals, some businesses are willing to open a Mabe account to get them. They don't necessarily mind the transaction target because the business already generates the volume. But the POS terminal is not the only interesting part. We also discovered that people ask merchants for recommendations on financial products and account opening. They ask him things like “I want to open an account for my uncle in the village. Which of these banks that you have their cards here do you think would be good for him?” He recommends one, opens the account, and even helps process how the ATM card will get to the uncle in the village. Think about that for a moment. The merchant already has a relationship with these people. They know him, interact with him and trust him enough to seek his recommendations on financial products. He is not just running a business. He is also functioning as a trusted access point to financial services. This becomes particularly interesting in places where access to formal financial services, digital literacy or onboarding support may vary. The merchant can help connect people to services beyond their immediate location. Merchants have also raised the need for ATM access, including the inconvenience of having to travel to a bank when they encounter certain issues. For a business owner, time spent resolving a banking problem is time away from the business. Some business owners also told us that with Moniepoint, when they have issues with their terminals and call their dedicated contact, someone can be sent to assist them at their business location. Then I asked him: Why are you guys always asking us if Mabe has ATM cards when you're not necessarily using them for your business operations? He replied me sharply: “Because I make money from reselling them nah.” He told us about one customer who comes back every 3 months for another ATM card. He gave me an analogy that helped explain why he restocks so many cards. And then, in the middle of this conversation, Paga got an honorary mention. The merchant mentioned that he uses Paga for his personal savings. Hey @paga 👋🏾 — you made it into our field notes. He also mentioned that most stores selling electronics, gadgets and offering repairs resell ATM cards, and that the profit margin is good for their businesses. He explained that many of their customers are older and financially limited. If something happens to a phone, replacing it can be expensive. Having a physical card in your pocket, which can be replaced at relatively low cost, provides reassurance. This was an interesting revelation. We've been looking at ATM cards primarily from the perspective of access to funds and banking convenience. But for some merchants, these cards are also products they resell to customers and a source of additional income. And this brings me back to why I think we need to look beyond the feature list when studying switching behavior. It also changes the questions we should be asking as builders. Instead of asking: “What feature can we add to attract users?” Ask: “What does my target user spend money, time and effort trying to access or solve every day?” Then understand whether your product can provide that value sustainably. Our field experiment is still ongoing, so we're not treating these early conversations as universal truths about every Nigerian merchant. But one thing is becoming clearer from what we're documenting: The requests for POS terminals and ATM cards are not simply requests for more features. They point to the economic, operational and social realities of running a business. And if we're building for these markets, we need to understand those realities before deciding what to build. @blocstreetss