Scale Is A Dirty Wor(d)k.

Every pitch deck hides a dirty secret: operations. I was reminded of this yet again recently. Tuesday, I spent a few hours with a multimillion-dollar investor reviewing two investment opportunities—a healthtech company and a fintech startup.

The conversations were made memorable not by the sectors, technology, or projected returns, but by a simple reminder: businesses are built on operations, not just ideas.

Many proprietors underestimate what it actually takes to run a business.

They obsess over the product, the platform, the app, the technology, and the market opportunity. Yet the real question investors eventually ask is far simpler:

“What does it take to make this work every single day?”

Technology can automate processes. It can improve efficiency. It can create scale.

But some businesses have significant human components that technology cannot eliminate: customer acquisition, compliance, service delivery, quality control, partnerships, training, supervision, collections, support.

These things are rarely captured in a pitch deck, yet they often determine whether a business succeeds or fails.

As we analyzed both opportunities, we kept returning to the same conclusion: founders need to truly think through the model's operational complexity.

• Can they execute it repeatedly?

• Can they do it at scale?

• What’s the reality on ground?

Enter Transtura

An example that comes to mind readily is Transtura, a transport-tech startup that attempted to digitize parts of Lagos’ mobility system.

On paper, it was a strong idea: shared mobility, payments, and a marketplace layered on top of transportation infrastructure.

But in practice, the operational environment was far more complex than the technology.

The company had to contend with daily revenue levies, informal enforcement structures, union pressure from transport associations like the NURTW, and regulatory friction across multiple government agencies — LASTMA, FRSC, VIO, and MOT.

In some cases, these pressures translated into direct interference with operations: impounded vehicles, disrupted routes, and a system where informal actors effectively became unavoidable “stakeholders” in daily execution.

Even with a solid tech backbone and a clear vision for mobility innovation, the business reality required continuous negotiation with a fragmented and highly operationally intensive ecosystem.

That gap — between what the technology enables and what the environment demands — is where many startups quietly struggle.

On the Flipside

Shuttlers, another transport-tech startup. Founded in 2016, they leaned into operational reality rather than fight it. Focusing on corporate partnerships, they offer structured mobility for employees rather than battling unions in the open market.

They've worked with regulators, aligning their model with existing frameworks. They invest in the daily mechanics: fleet scheduling, driver training, customer service, and compliance. Their tech backbone supports scale, but their operational discipline has made it sustainable.

That balance has enabled them to raise funding, expand across Lagos and Abuja, and build a reputation as a trusted corporate mobility provider.

The Investor’s Lesson

Back to the meeting… It was great to sit with this gentleman, who has been investing in alternative assets (given my bias) before I was born. He has collected art from as far back as 1979, and has deployed tens of millions of dollars into businesses over several decades across local and global markets. Yet despite all that experience, he still approaches every opportunity with curiosity, discipline, and rigorous analysis.

I was grateful—and admittedly flattered—that he invited me into that process, not only to observe how he thinks, but also to contribute my own perspective.

So yes—great products and innovative technology aren’t enough.

The business still has to operate successfully in the real dirty bastard world.

Chaos tax is a thing.