Douglas Kendyson: From Fixing Laptops to Building Selar

Early Life 

Douglas Kendyson’s entrepreneurial flame was ignited early. Raised in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, life hadn’t always been smooth. Having lost his father at the age of eight, Douglas Kendyson grew up under the watchful eye of his industrious mother, who instilled in him his independent spirit and spirit of resilience.

His fascination with technology began with his very first laptop in high school. Intrigued about why it functioned, he would fix it himself every time, picking up a thing or two from a computer engineer neighbor. This introduction planted the seed that would blossom into a lifelong passion for tech innovation.

University Years and Early Hustles

At Covenant University, where he studied Civil Engineering, Douglas Kendyson made a work of curiosity. He started fixing computers for his friends and progressed to learn how to code. In months, he was building little websites and earning money from the new ability.

All these became his problem-solving thinking and revealed his natural business intuition. He didn’t fix computers; he fixed problems, something that would eventually be the mission of Selar.

Corporate Experience and Genesis of Selar

After university, Douglas Kendyson worked at Paystack as a customer success expert and software engineer. In this role, he gained firsthand experience handling payment integrations and working with merchants on the continent. Later, at Flutterwave, he developed further insights into online payments and creator needs.

While working at Paystack in 2016, he recognized a significant void: there was no straightforward way for African creators to sell digital products, such as e-books, courses, or music. On this understanding, Selar was born as a platform to make it simple for creators to monetize their skills.

Selar’s Growth and Success

What began as a side project turned into one of Africa’s biggest creator platforms soon after. To date, as of 2024, Selar has processed over ₦2 billion worth of sales and enabled over 100,000 creators across Africa and the rest of the world.

Selar enables creators to monetize digital products, get paid, and grow their online businesses seamlessly. Douglas’s concept was simple: make digital entrepreneurship accessible to everyone, regardless of technical ability.

Selar is now a beacon of innovation in Africa’s creator economy, a bootstrapped success story driven by grit, mission, and customer insight.

A Legacy of Vision and Impact

From fixing laptops in school to piloting a billion-naira venture, Douglas Kendyson’s journey is proof of the potential of grand revolutions from ordinary beginnings. His success with Selar isn’t just about technology; it’s about enabling others to succeed in the digital economy.