Adeniyi Adebayo https://niyiadebayo.com Writing on cities, marketplaces, and emerging markets. en Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Pricing as Language https://niyiadebayo.com/pricing-as-language.html https://niyiadebayo.com/pricing-as-language.html A price is not a number. It is a statement about what a market values. Most companies entering emerging markets get the statement wrong because they are translating from the wrong language. The Second Player Problem https://niyiadebayo.com/second-player.html https://niyiadebayo.com/second-player.html Why second movers almost never catch density leaders in marketplace businesses. The race is not about entering a city. It is about having a density strategy when you do. What We Get Wrong About Cities https://niyiadebayo.com/cities.html https://niyiadebayo.com/cities.html City GDP is the real signal, not country GDP. Why venture capital in emerging markets is misallocated by population thinking, and what Abidjan reveals about the actual math. The Density Dividend https://niyiadebayo.com/density-dividend.html https://niyiadebayo.com/density-dividend.html Market density in emerging market cities follows power law dynamics. Why Geoffrey West's scaling laws, Glaeser's agglomeration economics, and Jane Jacobs's street-level conditions explain where marketplace businesses actually compound. The Informal Stack https://niyiadebayo.com/informal-stack.html https://niyiadebayo.com/informal-stack.html The informal economy runs on its own logic. De Soto's dead capital, Scott's metis, and what marketplace platforms actually build on top of $9.3 trillion in unrecognized assets. The Leapfrog That Isn't https://niyiadebayo.com/leapfrog.html https://niyiadebayo.com/leapfrog.html Physical AI in emerging markets won't follow the mobile phone playbook. Why labor cost thresholds, city structure, and demographic scale determine what gets skipped and what doesn't. Entropy and Marketplaces https://niyiadebayo.com/entropy-and-marketplaces.html https://niyiadebayo.com/entropy-and-marketplaces.html Why most marketplace disruption destroys the resources it needs to sustain itself, and how to design for reversible entropy. The First 72 Hours in a New City https://niyiadebayo.com/first-72-hours.html https://niyiadebayo.com/first-72-hours.html The checklist for assessing a marketplace opportunity on the ground. Three things matter in the first 72 hours. The Financing Loop https://niyiadebayo.com/financing-loop.html https://niyiadebayo.com/financing-loop.html How vehicles, data, and banks create a self-reinforcing system in emerging market transport. Boring Businesses That Print Money https://niyiadebayo.com/boring-businesses.html https://niyiadebayo.com/boring-businesses.html Pharmacies, BNPL, and the economics of institutional vacuums in emerging markets. Addis Ababa https://niyiadebayo.com/addis-ababa.html https://niyiadebayo.com/addis-ababa.html The city most people in emerging market tech are missing. Four things converging. Know Thyself https://niyiadebayo.com/know-thyself.html https://niyiadebayo.com/know-thyself.html Market density, monopoly thinking, and the math of venture ambition.