> case study
AfroRank
University review platform · React, Node.js, Express, MongoDB · July 2025 to Present
> what it is
A university review and discovery platform helping African students studying abroad evaluate schools across the US, UK, and Canada, including city-level cost-of-living comparison. Founder and product lead.
> research
Surveyed 200+ prospective African secondary school and university students and ran 13+ structured interviews to identify decision gaps in university selection, after analyzing gaps in existing platforms including Niche. Used those findings to define MVP scope, product roadmap, and go-to-market plan.
> execution
Led cross-functional execution from concept through pre-launch, coordinating a UI designer, contracted developer, social media growth lead, and ASA presidents across campuses. Led weekly sprint reviews and strategy sessions, tracking progress against OKRs and reprioritizing features from team and user feedback.
Onboarded 16 university communities and generated approximately 180 pre-launch reviews and 180+ student sign-ups. After user discovery exposed a channel mismatch, pivoted acquisition from low-response institutional email to direct student-leader outreach, which drove the community growth.
Presented at Drexel's BAIDA Startup Fest pitch competition, placing 4th.
> technical
Built on React, Node.js with Express, and MongoDB with JWT authentication.
> see this in context