The decision to phase out Rocket Funds added another touch of complexity to Daniel's already packed schedule.
Executing the multi-stage shutdown plan while simultaneously managing his FUTA coursework, his relationship with Bisi, PeDan's investments, and his personal MH trades required meticulous organization and focus. He realized he couldn't effectively oversee all these moving parts entirely alone, especially with PeDan's ambitions to scale into more significant investments. It was time to hire his second direct employee beyond Mrs. Chukwuma's administrative and corporate secretarial role: a Personal Assistant.
He needed someone highly intelligent, exceptionally discreet, technologically adept, and capable of managing complex logistics, scheduling, and filtering information.
This wasn't a role for a typical fresh graduate; he needed someone with a degree of real-world experience and a proven track record of handling sensitive information. He also needed someone who wouldn't ask too many questions about the ultimate source of his directives or PeDan's rapidly expanding capital base.
In other words, he needed a professional.
He tasked Mrs. Chukwuma with initiating a confidential search. Instead of public job postings, she discreetly reached out to a network of executive recruitment consultants, providing a vague but demanding brief for a "Personal Assistant to a High Net Worth Principal of a Private Investment Firm." The emphasis was on discretion, problem-solving ability, and tech-savviness. The salary offered was generous so it could attract top-tier talent willing to operate under strict confidentiality agreements. The funding of course came from MH.
Several candidates were vetted through initial screenings by Mrs. Chukwuma. Daniel personally interviewed the final three pseudo-anonymously. He was looking for a specific blend of competence and a good understanding of the need for privacy.
He eventually found someone. Jude Okoro.
Jude was in his late twenties, perhaps early thirties, with a sharp mind that was evident even through the slightly distorted video call, a calm demeanor, and a background in operations management for a (now defunct) Lagos-based FinTech startup. He was articulate, clearly very intelligent, and during the interview, asked insightful questions about operational efficiency and communication protocols rather than the source of PeDan's funding or the principal's personal life.
MH's background analysis on Jude (based on publicly available data and digital footprints Daniel fed into the system) showed that he was organized, resourceful, and had no obvious red flags concerning integrity or indiscretion. He seemed like someone who could handle pressure and keep secrets.
Daniel, through Mrs. Chukwuma who acted as the official hiring manager, offered Jude the position with a comprehensive employment contract that included a stringent non-disclosure agreement carrying significant financial penalties for breach. Jude accepted.
His initial responsibilities would include managing Daniel's schedule, filtering communications to Daniel, conducting preliminary research on Daniel's directives for PeDan, liaising with Mrs. Chukwuma on PeDan administrative matters, and handling personal logistics for Daniel as required. Jude would be based primarily in Abuja, working from a small serviced office PeDan maintained, but would be available to travel as needed. His first major task was to set up a highly secure, encrypted internal communication system for Daniel, himself, and Mrs. Chukwuma.
While Jude was getting familiar into his new role, PeDan's first investment, FarmGrid Solutions, finally began to show explosive growth.
The initial partnership with the major food processing company had been a success, with FarmGrid's sensor data demonstrably improving yield predictions and reducing spoilage in the company's supply chain. This success attracted further attention, with word spread through the agricultural sector and even reached government agencies focused on food security and agricultural modernization in Nigeria.
The significant development came when the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as part of a new initiative to boost tech adoption in farming, announced a substantial grant and strategic partnership program. FarmGrid, was selected as one of the primary beneficiaries.
This involved not just a multi-million Naira grant, but also a directive for several government-backed agricultural development programs and large-scale farming cooperatives to adopt FarmGrid's technology.
The impact on FarmGrid's valuation was immediate and astronomical. What was a promising startup suddenly became a government-backed leader in a critical sector. Investment firms that had previously overlooked AgriTech were now scrambling for a piece. PeDan's 25% equity stake, acquired for N15 million, was suddenly valued at over N200 million on paper, as new investors clamored to buy in at much higher valuations in subsequent funding rounds FarmGrid was now able to command. Daniel received his first significant dividend payout from FarmGrid – N5 million transferred directly into PeDan Investment Ltd.'s corporate account – a tangible, legitimate profit from his first official investment. MH's earlier projection of a 3x-4x return looked laughably conservative now.
Simultaneously, the Lagos real estate joint venture with Haven Homes Ltd. was making strides. After taking care of the initial bureaucratic hurdles, development permits for the Lekki Phase 2 mini-estate were approved. Haven Homes broke ground, site preparation began, and foundation work for the first block of terrace houses commenced. PeDan's next tranche of funding, another N40 million, was disbursed to cover these initial construction costs. The project was still a significant capital outlay, but seeing physical construction begin, watching the daily progress reports from Haven Homes (which Jude now filtered and summarized for Daniel), made it feel more real and tangible than the purely digital gains from MH.
PeDan was being built, and at the same time creating assets, and generating legitimate economic activity. It was a crucial step in Daniel's long-term plan.