Promise Okeke is just entering his 30s, but he already has the wisdom of a seasoned CEO – including the ability to trust his instincts and go after what he wants.
As only the second Chief Executive Officer of NovoPath, he has expanded the company’s products to include cloud technologies and is exploring ways to leverage AI to serve more customers. The laboratory information system is transforming the health care industry with software that improves workflow efficiency, accuracy and patient safety. Okeke plans to continue the company’s growth trajectory while also contributing to the community, a value ingrained in him from an early age.
Learning early
Growing up in Nigeria, Okeke excelled in science and math courses and always wanted to be a doctor. But he also grew up helping at his parents’ small convenience shop, honing an entirely different set of skills that would later influence his career journey.
“I got to interact with adults early on and learn how to negotiate, to be firm and understand what it takes to sell something,” says Okeke. I didn’t realize it then, but it was shaping who I would eventually become.”
He followed his dreams of becoming a doctor and headed to the United States, where he attended Augsburg University in Minnesota on a scholarship with a promise to work with Nobel Prize-winning scientists.
He graduated with a degree in biology and was offered internships at Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Harvard Medical School, but ultimately, his passion for business won and he went to work for management consulting firm Bain & Company, startup Home Chef and investment bank Bank of America Merrill Lynch, before finally taking the plunge and enrolling in Harvard Business School to earn his MBA, interning at Bank of America between hist first and second years.
“I was this entrepreneurial guy,” Okeke explains. “I was hungry to negotiate and get involved on the business side of things, and frankly, medicine wasn’t going to give me that.”
Forging a risky path
During his time at HBS, Okeke learned about search funds, which allow investors to financially support an entrepreneur as they find, acquire, manage and grow a privately held company. His path was now clear.
“As I learned about more search funds, it felt like the sort of thing that would bring out the best in me. I know who I am, and I just know what I do best.”
But the road had its risks. The biggest was that he wasn’t an American citizen and didn’t have a guaranteed visa that would keep him in the U.S. long term.
— Promise Okeke, CEO of NovoPath share
“It was quite challenging going into it,” Okeke says. “And some people didn’t invest in the fund, I’m sure because they didn’t have confidence that I could solve the visa risk issue.”
However, he was determined. He set up Victoriaside Partners as the framework for his search fund, eventually landing on NovoPath as the company he would acquire and grow, a medical software company. For Okeke, it felt like the perfect marriage of his medical and entrepreneurial interests.
“I went into the search phase with an open mind trying to find a company, though I wanted to find a company with high operating leverage, which led me to focus in on software companies,” he says. “And when I started looking into health care a few months into my search, all the medical terminology came back to me and made it a lot easier to dig in. That ended up driving my experiences.”
He officially took over as chief executive officer in July 2020.
Earning respect and preserving legacy
“Stepping into this this organization that had been someone else’s, I was the new guy and I had to prove myself,” he says. “They weren’t just going to respect me because I’m the CEO. I had to give them a reason to respect me. I needed to show them that I’m going to make the organization better and that we’d do it together, collaboratively.”
One advantage he brought with him is his understanding and appreciation for legacy. By the time he joined NovoPath, it was a 25-year-old company.
“Coming in, I understood what it meant to work for small business. I understood how a small business can be the foundation of what drives the local economy in different places, especially in places like my village in Nigeria,” he says. “So, it’s so important for me to know not only my employees, but customers and our suppliers, because that’s the legacy that I was raised on, and I will have that legacy for my kids.”
Okeke admits that at the beginning of his tenure, he grappled with some doubts, one being he’d never run a company before. But he knew he had to learn quickly, so he spoke to other CEOs, read countless books on management and leadership (including a favorite, “Good to Great” by Jim Collins, repeatedly) to gain advice and a solid foundation.
— Promise Okeke, CEO of NovoPath share
One piece of advice he took to heart came from one of his board members at Victoriaside: Ease into the role.
“He said to try not to make any drastic decision in the first quarter, and don’t go in thinking you have to do everything. Instead, just try and learn and have an open mind. If I had to ask 70 questions, I should do it. Ask how things work. Ask about how employees work and what they do and where the pain points are,” recalls Okeke. “That was the approach I took, and I think that really brought the company together and helped me navigate the first six months.”
Okeke is expanding on his opportunities to learn at YPO, having joined early 2023.
“Before YPO I only had my board to rely on, for perspectives. So, to be able to speak with people who might have tackled similar situations in the past, and have those people be my peers? It’s fantastic. And it’s something I’ve only gotten a taste of so far, but I look forward to diving in more.”
