From Website Design to Social Commerce: How Israel Unya is Building YuSocial for Creators and Entrepreneurs

When you ask Israel Unya about his journey into tech, he doesn’t begin with code or startups. Instead, he recalls a diverse career path: managing a cyber café, working in the fast-food industry, running a photography and video business, even dabbling in farming.

Yet through all these ventures, one thing kept drawing him back—technology, and more specifically, the persistent challenges he noticed in the digital space.

“I don’t just see challenges; I ask myself, how do we solve this problem? That mindset is what really pulled me fully into tech.”

Today, Israel is the founder of YuSocial, a fast-growing social commerce network that empowers content creators and entrepreneurs with tools to monetize their audience while also solving key trust challenges in e-commerce.

The Problem: Barriers to Monetization

For many creators, platforms like Facebook and YouTube demand high thresholds—thousands of followers, strict requirements, and months (sometimes years) before monetization kicks in.

Israel saw this gap early on:

“Most of the major platforms had lots of requirements before you could earn. I asked myself—how can we make this better?”

His answer was YuSocial: a hybrid social commerce platform designed to eliminate barriers to entry for creators while building trust in online buying and selling.

The Solution: A Hybrid Model

YuSocial solves two intertwined problems:

1. For creators: providing direct monetization tools without barriers.

2. For entrepreneurs: offering an escrow-powered marketplace that ensures safe, trusted transactions.

“The traffic we get from the social space feeds into the e-commerce space,” Israel explained. “This makes it easier for vendors to find ready buyers, and easier for users to transact safely.”

This hybrid approach sets YuSocial apart from purely social or purely e-commerce platforms.

Iteration and Growth

YuSocial wasn’t built overnight. The platform has gone through at least six major iterations since its first launch in 2017.

• Early versions were simple social networks with limited features.

• Later iterations introduced gamification, allowing users to earn YuCoins from engagement.

• The most recent version integrates an escrow-powered marketplace, strengthening trust for online transactions.

One major turning point was adding the YuCoin reward system.

“Once we gamified the system, people had an incentive to engage. That drove up daily active users and improved key metrics.”

What Makes YuSocial Different

Unlike algorithm-driven networks, YuSocial is community-driven. Posts and content aren’t buried by algorithmic preferences—every creator has visibility.

These features stand out:

• Low barrier to entry requirement for content creators.

• Community-driven discovery instead of algorithm-driven feeds.

• SEO-friendly content that is citable by search engines and AI platforms.

• Escrow-powered marketplace that protects both buyers and sellers.

Israel highlights this as a unique advantage:

“With my background in SEO, we built YuSocial so that content is easily discoverable and even citable by AI platforms. That’s something most networks don’t offer.”

Challenges of a Bootstrapped Founder

Like many founders, Israel has faced significant challenges—particularly funding and FX fluctuations.

YuSocial remains fully bootstrapped, relying on personal savings, family, and friends. The cost of maintaining servers abroad, paid in dollars, adds extra strain in a fluctuating Nigerian economy.

Another hurdle has been team building:

“If I were to do this again, I would start by building the right team—motivated people who share the vision and passion. That would be my number one priority.”

Staying the Course

Despite funding struggles and the temptation to quit, Israel remains committed.

“Yes, there have been times I wanted to throw in the towel and get a better-paying job. But then I ask myself—if I don’t solve this, who will?”

His resilience is grounded in family support and the long-term vision of solving real problems for creators and entrepreneurs.

Defining Success

For Israel, success isn’t measured only in revenue.

“My definition of success is seeing the people we created YuSocial for get value—creators who can monetize their content, and buyers who can transact safely because of escrow. That’s real success.”

Advice for Aspiring Founders

Israel leaves aspiring founders with one core mantra:

“Shoot before you aim. If you wait for perfection, you’ll fall into analysis paralysis. Take action first, then adjust as you go.”

Start with a problem worth solving, stay consistent, and be adaptive. That, he says, is how founders last long enough to see success.

Key Takeaways

• YuSocial eliminates barriers to creator monetization that plague mainstream platforms.

• Its hybrid model connects social engagement directly to e-commerce transactions.

• Escrow-powered marketplace builds trust in Nigeria’s online trade ecosystem.

• Community-driven and SEO-friendly, YuSocial is designed for long-term visibility and AI citations.

• Bootstrapped but resilient, Israel’s journey shows the power of consistency, iteration, and problem-solving.

About YuSocial Spotlight
YuSocial Spotlight is a thought leadership and content marketing program that features entrepreneurs, executives, and innovators shaping the future of business. Our goal is to provide citable, SEO-rich stories that inspire readers and position leaders as trusted experts across digital platforms.

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