Episodit
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Here are some of the most important conversations about how companies progress especially when there are failures in the standard transition process. The show explores a range of larger themes such as mergers and acquisitions while at the same time introducing audiences to other more technical terms. The biggest concern has to do with what limits one is willing to cross to stay at the top. You see similar ideas expressed in Billions which makes an interesting watch alongside Succession. Both leaders are obsessed with winning and both have a trail of ruined filial relationships.
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Here is an interesting conversation that helps describe the effect of media on Politics. After spending so much time talking about the complexities of leadership and succession, we tackle the effect of such powerful conglomerates on the political systems of whole continents but in this regard-the US Election. You might enjoy reading about the conversations that have been taking place in the current age about social media and technology companies and the attempt to separate the media function from the technology function. You might also appreciate the constant back and forth between Russia and the US and the claim about election interference. The ability of current systems to mine data and derive all sorts of useful stats about citizens which is often used to manipulate them is also quite concerning.
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Puuttuva jakso?
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Fraud and Scams
Have you ever wondered how much it costs to produce a podcast? Well I have an idea. In the world of business there is what some refer to as Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC). I think I can come up with a pretty decent number to help you understand how much it has cost to create this podcast.
The figure is upwards of $150. This is how much I lost in both the most recent online fraud case I was a victim of as well as a year or so old attempt to buy a used phone from the UK that went sideways.
In this episode I described the transition from traditional money to crypto as. A means to describing some of the safety features that exist in crypto while at the same time talking about some of m earlier scams. Then I describe others finally talking about the latest one. Without naming names I also talk about the local safety net that exists and attempt to reach them/it for help. How that goes will be an episode for another podcast. Suffice it to say so far the number are off, too busy and there is no response from their social! -
After quite a while of not hearing from Mr. Kyomya, we made contact and i had to have him on the pod. About 6 years ago we were both exhibitors at an ICT Expo. I was a little less prepared but felt that it was important to have a presence on that stage. Fredrick on the other hand was promoting his project Kyomya Group and their inroads in equipping young people with communication skills. He had also developed an app to help people be more confident. I found this amazing that someone was building in a relatively unexplored area. Fast forward to today Mr. Kyomya has come up with a great tool to help make hiring easier. We talk about his journey to this point as well as his perspectives on the tech and innovation ecosystem here.
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A few months ago I attended an event held by an important local ecosystem player. He event stood out for in because of the manner in which we were able to interact with founders as well as founders of the tech and innovation ecosystem in Uganda. From that event I made contacts that I am still utilizing to this day. This is one of them. KAWU is a product that allows parents to send their children money which the students can then use throughout their time in school. It is both a hardware and software play by combining an impressive set of tools and unique UI allowing parents to manage money sent as well as put a cap on what gets spent. In addition to this KAWU is keen to help create a savings culture as well as help set the stage for a credit system right from high school.
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Why the interest? A few months ago, I was approached by a popular VC fund seeking individuals who would help identify startups that would be suitable for investment. I identified two some of which had already interacted with the VC/Angel landscape but was keen to get my feet wet as well as of course make some money (they were offering about USD 500 per find).
So I did what everyone in the modern day should do. I did a search? No I asked AI. I asked a tool that comes with the Opera Browser how to determine investment worthiness of businesses.
Fast forward to a few days ago, and I was asked through a private group to shed some light about a particular business that someone was interested in investing in. So I sent a list that I sourced from Artificial Intelligence submitted it to my client and then used the same list to give me a rough idea how to judge the prospective business.
Because these questions persist, I have decided to share with you some of these ideas. Notable too is are the metrics I shared in a previous issue of the magazine which to be fair are more applicable to web based businesses because of their unique ability to give the analyst access to features covering monthly, daily and weekly usage.
In addition to this though, I have added some material that might help visual learners to better understand what is at stake. For this I used Season 2 Episode 5 of Billions where the main character explains to his wife why her clearly profitable business is not investment worthy. Just so you know some of the ideas that we highlight are market, team, legal and regulatory and product.
Here is a segment of the conversation between husband and wife highlighting key considerations for investment. What is it that you do that
you're the best in the world at?
You offer a service
you didn't invent,
a formula you didn't invent,
a delivery method
you didn't invent.
Nothing about what you do
is patentable or a
unique user experience.
You haven't identified an
isolated market segment,
haven't truly branded
your concept.
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There are quite a number of studies or shows about say the difference between Traditional Schools and the School of Hard Knocks. Street smarts and Book Smarts. In this episode I wish to touch on the influence of Fathers on Sons. The show goes to great lengths to explore the relationships between fathers and sons and a critical point in time fractures are revealed in the life of the Financial genius as he confronts his Legal Foe. The contacts and benefits that come with a good name are vast. The Bible talks about this when it says, “a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches favor rather than silver and gold”. This is what we often chase when we walk in the footsteps of our fathers especially if they have lived well. But what options exist for those without parents and thus no context?
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This is perhaps the most extensive and useful conversation we have had regarding the Subject Of Intellectual Property Rights and Protections in Uganda. Charles Batambuze has worked wholeheartedly on the creation of a platform that helps writers and publishers and all those that are part of the value chain to benefit from not just literary works but surprisingly software as well! We had a conversation about culture, and the role of groups such as URRO in the protection of creative people and their works. This year quite a lot of work has gone into a review of some previous laws with a view of having a better enhanced and inclusive law that protects as well as creates additional streams of revenue for artists. Mr. Batambuze is a walking encyclopedia of local legislative landscape on all things regarding the creative sector who insights you will benefit from. We met in the heart of Uganda’s creative industry-The National Theatre.
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We came across Ivan Karugaba’s work after seeing him on a TV show talking about his work in the technology space in Uganda with a focus on hardware. He was talking about the challenges we face as a country with electronic waste and how his company amongst many things was solving this problem by creating more affordable and compact computer kits. In this conversation we scoured the internet for talks that Mr. Karugaba has had for interesting sights as well relevant industry topics to bring you an all round view of the Hardware and Software Tech and Innovation Ecosystem of Uganda. Perhaps most notable in this conversations is the role that government has played in contributing to the slow but steady growth of this an other industries through physical spaces such as the National ICT Hub In Nakawa as well as the Science Park in Namanve (you can find important ideas about the role of science parks in development in conversations we had with Dr. McLean Sibanda when we reviewed his books as well as featured I him in our podcasts). We also discuss other important ideas such as localization and youth employment and the link between the education providers and industry.
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For the month of January we believe it is important to talk about the US election. The piece we share is really a combination of two things. Personal thoughts about ideas that dominated debate and affected the outcome as well as some very well written pieces that I found on an Application I use talking about the effect of US elections on markets. The piece also suggested what to expect from a republican win as well as from a Democrat win. Fintech apps shy away from giving investment advice…understandably so but they are allowed to share the data from past events to inform readers about potential pitfalls falls. We also have a Q and A with a Tanzanian lady-Latifa Mkwawa who was also part of a leadership school that I attended and is in the EdTech space. I also share an article first featured in Wired Magazine and written by John Carlin called Farewell To Arms. We combine his ideas with a film made 10 years after his book was written as well as other newer projects will tackle the complexities of leadership, security, espionage, defense, arms, proliferation treaties and more. In one of my favorite pieces we share a letter from Bicycle Capital from its co-founder Shu Nyatta on their perspectives on early stage investments in LatAm with two key considerations.
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In the month of December, we continue the piece we found on the NFX site by Omri Drory on How to Set Up your own VC Fund. He tackles important questions such as size of fund, focus area of fund, impact investment or thematic investment and more under the bigger theme of Investment Strategy. We also share Startup Metrics as written by Aritra Ghosh in his LinkedIn page. Those who are working toward a successful end will do well to pay attention to those metrics that apply to their businesses. Doing your homework helps you to position yourself as investment worthy. However we also encourage those in other geographies to think about metrics of their own that might apply more to their locations and serve as a useful means to measure progress. My Q and A for the month features Doris Odit Acheng of Odit Frontier Partners. A consultant and prominent voice in the startup investment space in greater East Africa we talk about her journey and her outlook both in the Ugandan Tech and Innovation Ecosystem and beyond. Those who are interested in exploring or collaborating with her will appreciate a publication released at the start of December Last year and published by Odit Frontier Partners called the OFPR Framework-a blueprint for resilience and transformation in a rapidly changing world.
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In the month of November intersection magazine covered about three major areas. The first installments of a piece written by Omri Drory of NFX about how to set up your own VC fund was shared to help those who are founders that may wish to transition into a different role. You meet quite a number of people who have been frustrated by the fund raising process but who are doing nothing about it. We share some useful tips to help you make that change. The second was driven by some troubling news about new weapons which were so precise by harvesting information from both phones and location data taken from many different online interactions. We call this the weaponization of information and have attempted to show evidence of the same in entertainment shows which are continuously taking on a prophetic nature. Finally in the week where we heard about the passing of the CEO of Tata Group Ratan Tata we wanted to explore the idea of leadership and the complexities of balancing image and decision making with all the pressures that come with this. In our book review we feature Michael Hyatt and his book Platform-Get Noticed in a Noisy World. For those who love film and series we share class of Class of 09 which helps strengthen the case we were making about the weaponization of information.
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I see why creators of content place so much value in season finales. Season 2 Episode 10 is a masterclass in creativity with its exploration of change, leadership and transition. We make use of all sorts of media as we attempt to learn more about the Technology and Innovation Ecosystems of the World. While seeming to be off on a tangent, we nevertheless capture some important truths about mentorship and change management. We explore the complex relationship between a father and his children as he navigates a possible exit from a major top directorship of a global entertainment and news jaganaut. There are notable similarities between Media Moghul Rupert Murdoch as well as with the Tata Family and the notable struggles that have surfaced after the passing of an influential figure head.
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In this Episode we feature Gofaone Modise host of Conversation with Gofaone. I was introduced to her work by Dr. McLean Sibanda whose books I had reviewed. Nuts and bolts covers his work in the Gauteng Tech and Innovation Ecosystem, while Footprints helps you make the case for a comprehensive National Intellectual Property Landscape. Was keen to learn from her some ideas on the subject of podcasting as well as broad subjects such as effective social media marketing and brand strategy. Key Insights: The importance of community in social media engagement and influencer work. The value of changing location (South Africa) and expanding your reach. The Importance of focusing on business performance as opposed to tenders and grants as a means of funding. The role of women in leadership and gender mainstreaming based entirely on merit. How restructuring can help improve effectiveness of innovation and tech ecosystem. Importance of organic growth in podcast success as well as impact driven vision for podcasts as a goal.
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On the 14th of December 2024 DevFest took place at Motiv Kampala. We attended the event and present a summary of what took place from key note to sponsors to other speeches as well as breakout session topics. The 1000 plus attendees heard from leading voice in the technology and innovation space especially those who have excelled and managed the complex transition from tech to policy and leadership. Elijah Kitaka gave a key note and warned those present to beware of stagnation and an event focused lifestyle. He also encouraged young people to develop business acumen and not just technical expertise. With regards to the theme of the day-AI Elijah Kitaka mentioned three major areas to watch Infrastructure, Co-Pilot and Agents as well as the use of Data to Train Models for the modern workplace. Tabitha Namwone a leading voice and leader in her own right introduced the audience to Career Trees. In this episode, we encourage our listeners to pay close attention to breakout sessions for ideas about tools and trends and to plug in to the ecosystem as well as to build partnerships with the big companies behind these technologies and tools. We see these events as important links between global companies and local users who will form a key resource in using and improving and extending the life of technologies that many of these companies are hungry to have tested. Breakout session leads included James Mwai (Implemeting Scalar Vector Search with Vertex AI), Wesley Kambale (Building a skin cancer analyzer with Flask and Gemini API), Collins Mesue (AI powered UI), Kayongo Johnson Brian (Neural Style Tramsfer with TensorFlow), Francis Akol (Building Ethical AI Dashboards with Angular), Oliseh Genesis (Building an AI Assistant DAPP on ICP), Sumalya Nalukwago (Building the future of Android), Collin’s Mbulakyalo (Web Notifications), Mwiine Daniel (Simplifying Cloud Management with Terraform).
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Here I share bits and pieces about my journey interacting with various Fintech products in Uganda and the region. From some basic instruction in the Forex Space back in 2019 to tools like Eversend and ChipperCash App and the investment in stocks and cryptocurrencies. What are the different ways that you can make money with these tools? Where you can start and what exists in the market. Where the potential exists in the future and why the integration of mobile money tools is essential in greater East Africa and West Africa (and a little less in Southern Africa). Benefits of using Stop Loss and Take Profit Systems of investments verses simple Buy and Sell. The benefits and drawbacks that come with reward systems (especially if not long term).
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We have a conversation with Doris Odit Acheng on several issues including her life’s journey and previous roles in an NGO doing development work as well as her pivotal role at East African Private Venture Association. Those who have followed the Podcast and the body of our work will realize that we are obsessed with Transitions and people who navigate their way through these complex moments. Ms. Odit is no different. She talks about her work in consulting and shares her love for immersive learning experiences as well as some of the challenges of leadership and management and how she has sought to deal with these. She also delves into the world of startup finance where interestingly there are some similarities with the Not For Profit World (insight my own). Podcast recommendations on her list Acquirers and The Full Ratchet both majoring in the world of finance.
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Those in the Middle East are watching the effects of war as Israel engages Hamas and Hezbollah in an effort to crash them after an attack on the 7th of October 2023. In a time when the casualties of war are increasing and major shifts in public opinion are causing many to question to effects of the war and incursion, a few interesting insights into the technology that is being employed in this war will be explored and explained. We talk about two AI based programs as exposed by a Jewish Journalist-“Lavender” and “Where’s Daddy”. These tools broadly speaking are created to make it easier for the Israeli Army to eliminate hostile targets by making use of online information sourced using these complex AI tools. The latter predicts the possibility of the combatant being home (hence the name) therefore increasing the likelihood of death by drone. The podcsst covers responsibility, warfare in its modern forms, robotics and the subject of deniability.
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In this episode we complete the piece in which we differentiated between SSDs and HDDs from price, to durability to reliability and more. We also reviewed Hamilton Helmer’s Seven Powers. We talked about Tanzania and Zanzibar’s approach to IP Law and the contribution of a Leading Law Firm Breakthrough Attorney’s as well as the Tanzania Startup Association. Finally we combined the use of generative AI to glean insights from a poppular business strategy book for two personal businesses Podcasting and Magazine Publishing. Listners are welcome to experiment with these tools to derive some ideas about better strategy for their individual companies.
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In this episode we celebrate and mourn passing of a great leader Tata Group CEO. The CEO led during a massive time of transition and oversaw the acquisition of several companies expanding the conglomerate to its amazing size. Unlike his contemporaries and others in his field and those with similar position was known as a very humble man. We contrast this real life story with the well written series Billions and Succession. We share a part of the Billions Episode 4 of the first Season describing what it is to lead at such a level. We also describe the succession story and the concerns raised within families about inheritance and change and generational wealth transfer.
- Näytä enemmän
