For one unforgettable event, Mainstack gave Nairalife the tools to focus on what mattered most — telling authentic money stories — while we handled the tech that powered the event ticket experience.
Overview
When Big Cabal Media decided to bring Nairalife— their flagship series exploring how Nigerians earn, spend, and live with money — to a live audience, they knew it had to be done right.
Every Monday, a new story dropped and each one hit home. The stories resonated. The community grew. And by 2025, it was time to bring those voices together in person.
But they needed a platform that could make it all work — ticketing, payments, and a smooth attendee experience — without the usual event-day chaos.
So they chose Mainstack. The result? Over 1,000 tickets sold.
Zero downtime. And a seamless experience that looked and felt every bit like TechCabal brand quality.
We sat down with Bolu Omoniyi, Senior Events Associate at Big Cabal Media, to chat about what it really takes to bring NairaLife Live to life and how Mainstack helped make it all possible.
"Experience with using Mainstack to process payments was pretty seamless. We knew what we were looking for while we were in the shop for a ticketing partner, and Mainstack ticked, if not almost all of the boxes."
— Boluwatife Omoniyi,
Senior Events Associate at Big Cabal Media
The Story Behind NairaLife
For six years, Zikoko's NairaLife series has told raw, authentic stories about Nigerians and their relationship with money— how they earn it, spend it, save it, and sometimes, how it slips away.
Every Monday, a new story dropped and each one hit home. The stories resonated. The community grew. And by 2025, it was time to bring those voices together in person.
The team at Big Cabal Media saw an opportunity to create something special. The NairaLife Conference would be a space where the people who had shared their stories online — alongside new voices — could meet to have honest, face-to-face conversations about how money worked for them.
On the 8th of August 2025, that vision became reality in Lagos. Over 1,000 NairaLife community members met face to face with tickets powered by Mainstack.
The Challenge: Turning a digital series into a flawless live experience
Bringing NairaLife from screen to stage was exciting, but also demanding. For this to happen, The Big Cabal Media team needed more than a basic ticketing platform.
They needed a partner who understood their goal and could deliver on creating a seamless ticketing experience without compromising on quality.
"The recurring problem was just making sure that the same experience locals have in paying, the international guys have the same seamless experience in paying and purchasing a ticket," Boluwatife explains.
Here’s what they were looking for in a platform:
- Payment flexibility to process multiple currencies without friction.
- A no-code platform to design and launch event page.
- Infrastructure built to handle the spike in page visit in minutes.
- A mobile-first experience. Most of their audience would be buying tickets on their phones, so the checkout had to be quick and intuitive.
- End-to-end ticketing with analytics to monitor real-time insights from one comprehensive dashboard.
That’s where Mainstack came in.
"I think that the solution for ticketing in Nigeria does need extra work, and Mainstack is doing the work to make it as seamless as possible."
—Boluwatife Omoniyi
Why Big Cabal Media chose Mainstack
The search for a ticketing partner was deliberate. Big Cabal Media knew exactly what boxes needed to be checked, and Mainstack delivered on almost all of them.
"We knew what we were looking for while we were in the shop for a ticketing partner, and Mainstack ticked if not almost all of the boxes."
—Boluwatife Omoniyi
Using Mainstack, Big Cabal Media’s events team launched the NairaLife Conference page in just a few hours. The Mainstack page became the hub of the entire experience:
- Ticketing and payment handled seamlessly.
- Automated confirmations sent instantly to buyers.
- Live analytics tracking audience engagement.
- Custom branding that mirrored NairaLife’s bold editorial aesthetic.
A huge plus was the exceptional customer service from the Mainstack’s team.
"The customer service was really thoroughly done. We love the fact that whenever we had queries, they were promptly addressed and we got responses in record time,"
Boluwatife says.
But what sealed the deal was Mainstack's agility. This wasn't just a vendor relationship; it became a collaboration.
What made the difference: Four pillars of Big Cabal Media's ticketing success
Big Cabal Media's success with The Naira Life Conference came from choosing a partner that could move fast and deliver a frictionless experience for both local and international attendees.
Here's what sets Mainstack apart.
1.) Agility over rigidity: Building features in real-time
The best partnerships adapt to your needs, not the other way around. For Big Cabal Media, Mainstack's ability to ship new features mid-planning became a game-changer.
"We had a lot of features that we literally came up with on the fly, right at the thick of the events. We thought this feature would really be nice to help the experience become seamless, and the team took that back, worked on it, and gave us those features,"
—Boluwatife recalls.
This responsiveness meant the team could refine the attendee experience in real-time rather than working around platform limitations. When they needed to make ticketing smoother, Mainstack's team treated it as a priority, not a feature request buried in a roadmap.
What this means for your next event: Choose partners who adapt quickly. Test their response time, ask how they handle feature requests, and be clear on what’s customizable. The right partner should feel like part of your team, not just a vendor.
2.) Customisation that Reflects your Brand
Generic ticketing experiences signal generic events. Big Cabal Media understood that The Naira Life Conference ticketing needed to feel like Naira Life: authentic, thoughtful, and distinctly theirs.
"I really love the customisation, and I like the personalisations that came with using Mainstack. I think it was really, really well done,"
Boluwatife says.
Mainstack's customization options let the team create a checkout flow that matched their brand and website. It had no redirects or generic templates; just a seamless experience.
How to approach customisation: Before choosing a platform, define your brand’s visuals, tone, and UX standards. Then test how much control each tool gives you over colors, fonts, copy, and layout. The smaller the gap between your standards and the platform’s flexibility, the better the fit.
3.) Payment parity: One seamless experience for every buyer
When your event attracts both local and international audiences, payment flexibility becomes non-negotiable.
Big Cabal Media's previous events struggled with this problem; local buyers had smooth experiences, while attendees faced checkout issues with currencies and processing.
Mainstack solved this. So, whether someone is purchasing a ticket from Lagos or London, the experience feels equally seamless.
Questions to ask your ticketing platform: Can international buyers pay in their local currency? What payment methods work in each region? How does checkout differ for local vs. international users? Ask for conversion data by region. If they can’t provide it or there are major gaps, that’s a red flag.
4.) Seamless integration: Making third-party tools feel first-party
A broken hand-off between your event website and your ticketing platform is one of the fastest ways to lose buyers who are ready to purchase.
"Another problem that we also wanted to solve was the integration between a third-party payment receiver for tickets and our own event website. We wanted that integration to be as seamless as possible, and I think we tried to solve that with Naira Life,"
Boluwatife notes.
Mainstack's integration capabilities meant the ticketing experience felt like a natural continuation of Big Cabal Media's website, not a redirect to an unfamiliar platform that made buyers second-guess their purchase.
Integration essentials: Map your ideal user journey from event discovery to ticket confirmation. Identify every point where a visitor might leave your site or encounter visual inconsistency. Then test potential platforms against that journey, click through the entire flow yourself, on both mobile and desktop. Any moment that makes you pause or question where you are is a moment where you'll lose ticket buyers.
"Would we use Mainstack for future events? Yes, I believe so. We are currently on another streak of partnership with our tickets for another event, Moonshot by TechCabal."
—Boluwatife Omoniyi
What to do next
Ready to create a ticketing experience that feels truly yours?
See how Mainstack can help you create a seamless, branded ticketing experience, whether it's a 100-person gathering or a 1,000+ attendee conference.
Explore what's possible when your ticketing platform becomes a true partner, not just a vendor.
For one unforgettable event, Mainstack gave Nairalife the tools to focus on what mattered most — telling authentic money stories — while we handled the tech that powered the event ticket experience.
Overview
When Big Cabal Media decided to bring Nairalife— their flagship series exploring how Nigerians earn, spend, and live with money — to a live audience, they knew it had to be done right.
Every Monday, a new story dropped and each one hit home. The stories resonated. The community grew. And by 2025, it was time to bring those voices together in person.
But they needed a platform that could make it all work — ticketing, payments, and a smooth attendee experience — without the usual event-day chaos.
So they chose Mainstack. The result? Over 1,000 tickets sold.
Zero downtime. And a seamless experience that looked and felt every bit like TechCabal brand quality.
We sat down with Bolu Omoniyi, Senior Events Associate at Big Cabal Media, to chat about what it really takes to bring NairaLife Live to life and how Mainstack helped make it all possible.
"Experience with using Mainstack to process payments was pretty seamless. We knew what we were looking for while we were in the shop for a ticketing partner, and Mainstack ticked, if not almost all of the boxes."
— Boluwatife Omoniyi,
Senior Events Associate at Big Cabal Media
The Story Behind NairaLife
For six years, Zikoko's NairaLife series has told raw, authentic stories about Nigerians and their relationship with money— how they earn it, spend it, save it, and sometimes, how it slips away.
Every Monday, a new story dropped and each one hit home. The stories resonated. The community grew. And by 2025, it was time to bring those voices together in person.
The team at Big Cabal Media saw an opportunity to create something special. The NairaLife Conference would be a space where the people who had shared their stories online — alongside new voices — could meet to have honest, face-to-face conversations about how money worked for them.
On the 8th of August 2025, that vision became reality in Lagos. Over 1,000 NairaLife community members met face to face with tickets powered by Mainstack.
The Challenge: Turning a digital series into a flawless live experience
Bringing NairaLife from screen to stage was exciting, but also demanding. For this to happen, The Big Cabal Media team needed more than a basic ticketing platform.
They needed a partner who understood their goal and could deliver on creating a seamless ticketing experience without compromising on quality.
"The recurring problem was just making sure that the same experience locals have in paying, the international guys have the same seamless experience in paying and purchasing a ticket," Boluwatife explains.
Here’s what they were looking for in a platform:
- Payment flexibility to process multiple currencies without friction.
- A no-code platform to design and launch event page.
- Infrastructure built to handle the spike in page visit in minutes.
- A mobile-first experience. Most of their audience would be buying tickets on their phones, so the checkout had to be quick and intuitive.
- End-to-end ticketing with analytics to monitor real-time insights from one comprehensive dashboard.
That’s where Mainstack came in.
"I think that the solution for ticketing in Nigeria does need extra work, and Mainstack is doing the work to make it as seamless as possible."
—Boluwatife Omoniyi
Why Big Cabal Media chose Mainstack
The search for a ticketing partner was deliberate. Big Cabal Media knew exactly what boxes needed to be checked, and Mainstack delivered on almost all of them.
"We knew what we were looking for while we were in the shop for a ticketing partner, and Mainstack ticked if not almost all of the boxes."
—Boluwatife Omoniyi
Using Mainstack, Big Cabal Media’s events team launched the NairaLife Conference page in just a few hours. The Mainstack page became the hub of the entire experience:
- Ticketing and payment handled seamlessly.
- Automated confirmations sent instantly to buyers.
- Live analytics tracking audience engagement.
- Custom branding that mirrored NairaLife’s bold editorial aesthetic.
A huge plus was the exceptional customer service from the Mainstack’s team.
"The customer service was really thoroughly done. We love the fact that whenever we had queries, they were promptly addressed and we got responses in record time,"
Boluwatife says.
But what sealed the deal was Mainstack's agility. This wasn't just a vendor relationship; it became a collaboration.
What made the difference: Four pillars of Big Cabal Media's ticketing success
Big Cabal Media's success with The Naira Life Conference came from choosing a partner that could move fast and deliver a frictionless experience for both local and international attendees.
Here's what sets Mainstack apart.
1.) Agility over rigidity: Building features in real-time
The best partnerships adapt to your needs, not the other way around. For Big Cabal Media, Mainstack's ability to ship new features mid-planning became a game-changer.
"We had a lot of features that we literally came up with on the fly, right at the thick of the events. We thought this feature would really be nice to help the experience become seamless, and the team took that back, worked on it, and gave us those features,"
—Boluwatife recalls.
This responsiveness meant the team could refine the attendee experience in real-time rather than working around platform limitations. When they needed to make ticketing smoother, Mainstack's team treated it as a priority, not a feature request buried in a roadmap.
What this means for your next event: Choose partners who adapt quickly. Test their response time, ask how they handle feature requests, and be clear on what’s customizable. The right partner should feel like part of your team, not just a vendor.
2.) Customisation that Reflects your Brand
Generic ticketing experiences signal generic events. Big Cabal Media understood that The Naira Life Conference ticketing needed to feel like Naira Life: authentic, thoughtful, and distinctly theirs.
"I really love the customisation, and I like the personalisations that came with using Mainstack. I think it was really, really well done,"
Boluwatife says.
Mainstack's customization options let the team create a checkout flow that matched their brand and website. It had no redirects or generic templates; just a seamless experience.
How to approach customisation: Before choosing a platform, define your brand’s visuals, tone, and UX standards. Then test how much control each tool gives you over colors, fonts, copy, and layout. The smaller the gap between your standards and the platform’s flexibility, the better the fit.
3.) Payment parity: One seamless experience for every buyer
When your event attracts both local and international audiences, payment flexibility becomes non-negotiable.
Big Cabal Media's previous events struggled with this problem; local buyers had smooth experiences, while attendees faced checkout issues with currencies and processing.
Mainstack solved this. So, whether someone is purchasing a ticket from Lagos or London, the experience feels equally seamless.
Questions to ask your ticketing platform: Can international buyers pay in their local currency? What payment methods work in each region? How does checkout differ for local vs. international users? Ask for conversion data by region. If they can’t provide it or there are major gaps, that’s a red flag.
4.) Seamless integration: Making third-party tools feel first-party
A broken hand-off between your event website and your ticketing platform is one of the fastest ways to lose buyers who are ready to purchase.
"Another problem that we also wanted to solve was the integration between a third-party payment receiver for tickets and our own event website. We wanted that integration to be as seamless as possible, and I think we tried to solve that with Naira Life,"
Boluwatife notes.
Mainstack's integration capabilities meant the ticketing experience felt like a natural continuation of Big Cabal Media's website, not a redirect to an unfamiliar platform that made buyers second-guess their purchase.
Integration essentials: Map your ideal user journey from event discovery to ticket confirmation. Identify every point where a visitor might leave your site or encounter visual inconsistency. Then test potential platforms against that journey, click through the entire flow yourself, on both mobile and desktop. Any moment that makes you pause or question where you are is a moment where you'll lose ticket buyers.
"Would we use Mainstack for future events? Yes, I believe so. We are currently on another streak of partnership with our tickets for another event, Moonshot by TechCabal."
—Boluwatife Omoniyi
What to do next
Ready to create a ticketing experience that feels truly yours?
See how Mainstack can help you create a seamless, branded ticketing experience, whether it's a 100-person gathering or a 1,000+ attendee conference.
Explore what's possible when your ticketing platform becomes a true partner, not just a vendor.
https://mainstack.com/
