He Left Goldman Sachs to Build Africa’s First Electric Road

Chinedu Azodoh has a formula for everything. To him, the formula for success is simple: Preparation plus Opportunity equals Success. With degrees in computer and electrical engineering and a Master’s in Finance from MIT, Chinedu was the ultimate "prepared" candidate for a career in high-frequency trading at Goldman Sachs. But during a winter break in Lagos, the "Opportunity" hit him in a very uncomfortable way.

Commuting daily on the city’s notoriously rough bus system, Chinedu, a tall, broad-shouldered man, found himself constantly cramped and physically exhausted. In just six weeks, he lost four suits to the sheer wear and tear of the Lagos commute. He didn't just see a personal inconvenience; he saw a $100 billion mobility market that was desperately broken. He realised that while he could build technology for Wall Street, the real "call of the unsolved" was in the streets of Nigeria.

Chinedu co-founded MAX with Adetayo Bamiduro, and became the President and Chief Growth Officer. While others were obsessed with the "shiny" parts of the business, the app and the marketing, Chinedu focused on what he calls the "iceberg work". These are the hidden 90% of a business: the physical infrastructure, the financial models, and the maintenance systems that allow a company to scale. He understood that in a country with poor road networks and a fragile power grid, you couldn't just import a solution; you had to build it from the ground up.

His most ambitious project to date is the transition to electric mobility. Chinedu realised that gasoline costs were eating up 50% of his drivers' earnings. His response was to design and assemble the MAX M3, a high-performance electric motorcycle tailored for African roads. It features a double-wishbone suspension to survive unpaved terrain and a waterproof BLDC motor that laughs at the tropical rains. But he didn't stop at the bike. Knowing the power grid couldn't handle thousands of chargers, he pioneered "sub-stations" where drivers can swap a depleted battery for a fresh one in less than five minutes.

Chinedu’s work is a masterclass in combining engineering rigour with financial savvy. By offering vehicles on a "lease-to-own" basis, he has turned 15,000 independent drivers into micro-entrepreneurs who own their assets within 18 months. He is a maker who is willing to "stoop to conquer," leaving a comfortable desk on Wall Street to build the electric future of a continent.

Lessons for Budding Makers

Chinedu Azodoh’s transition from financier to hardware pioneer offers two key lessons for the modern maker:

1. Tackle the "Iceberg Work": Don't just focus on the visible product; spend your energy building the "unseen" infrastructure—the maintenance, financing, and supply chains—that actually makes the product work in the real world.
2. Build for Your Reality: If the grid is weak, don't just build a charger; build a "battery-swapping" station. Chinedu’s success comes from designing solutions that account for Nigeria’s poor roads and power deficits rather than ignoring them.