Hello
there,
Well it’s
been a while since I posted here, lots of things, projects and hustles have
kept me busy. But as I turn 25, I’d love to share this post with you.
For your
information I started this blog in 2011 with a simple goal. Share my knowledge
and experiences in entrepreneurship, careers and social media with class mates
at the University of Nairobi; school of Business. My entry to blogging inspired
others in our class to start blogs & publishing online. People like Wesley,
Walter, Muthoni, Kato, Mariah among others have becoming better than me at it
& consistently post great articles.
Well as I
look forward into the future it’s only fair that I reflect upon my past. By the
way I still look back at my very first 5 or so posts with amazement.
Well back
then I thought to myself, people should know most of these things but post
after post I got encouraging and breathtaking feedback. I got readers beyond my university and I
started guest posting on other bigger and authoritative blogs. The unemployment rates are disturbing, friends
were working in bad jobs and need to exit, guys in their 40s sought my career
advice, entrepreneurs we’re suffering in silence too and much more. Pessimism
filled me…and excitement went away. For someone who was looking forward to
clearing school, get a good job, buy a car, get married, build a house, have
kids…..I became more worried, fear gripped me. I felt like I wasn’t ready yet!
However I
had to do something as my passion for sharing knowledge grew but this was only
limited to what I knew, read, heard or experienced. So I kept on thinking of
how I could use social media to share
what we knew with others who needed that input to scale up, do something or
just learn something new.
My first
venture was Social Edge Africa, a social media agency which could
help brands (Personal, team and corporate) tell/share their stories and niche expertise
on social media. That worked but only to a small scale.
My focus turned
to helping social media users and especially university students and lecturers publish
and share their own local knowledge and educational content online. SocialPRO
clubs initiative was born and we had a SocialPRO social media clubs launch in October 2012.
Fast
forward I had to train lecturers on tapping into the massive potential on
social media to share knowledge and on the other hand encourage/inspire
students to use social networking sites for learning. The task was huge. We had
to do it one on one….person by person. People had to publish on different
platforms and share that content across other platforms. I was overwhelmed. Our
backers left, sponsorship dried up.
Necessity
is the mother invention so they say. And that is when the idea of building a
local content and knowledge sharing platform was born. The name was Shakili a morph of two words (Share
akili) which loosely translates to share knowledge. Shakili is a content
distribution and a knowledge sharing platform that offers teachers an easier way to publish, organize and share
multimedia educational content with students and interested learners online
across devices.
You can
read more about Shakili here
So now what
are some of the lessons here?
Passion is key: I enjoy what I do, I don’t do it
just for the opportunity in it, nor monetary gains. If it was just all about
the money I’d be cooling my heels in one of these Multinational firms setting
up here. I hear they pay well. However I deeply appreciate and thank all my previous employers, people who gave me a chance to try it out and learn something as well as meet amazing people. I remain forever grateful. That experience comes in handy today!
Collaborate to build: This is 2013. The talented guys
are taken by bigger and well paying firms. The bolder guys are in our startup
community trying to build something. Those freelancing can be a little bit
pricey for startups (The brilliant guys). So my way of working with the best guys has always been to
collaborate. Put up a team and share the vision and get to work. Well this hasn’t
been easy as well. But at least my model works if you get them to commit and build something together.
It will be just okay: Sometimes we worry too much over
things we got no control over. Well that’s human but no amount of work
experience will ever set you up and ready for your first day as an
entrepreneur. The grass is greener in business but the water bills are higher
too. The commitment, energy, psychological price, emotional input and others untold factors are higher on this end. People stay longer to save more capital but this thing
called business doesn’t spin wholly on money. Lessons are key…make mistakes (not
twice) and move on. I still make mine. But work on it…stay on track.
Seek validation from the right
people: At times I
have sought advice from people who just led me astray. Other times I have
sought validation from friends to fit in and look cool. At one point I talked
to top industry thought leaders (Mentors). Some were kind enough to lend me
help but others took advantage of my naivety. It’s a capitalistic world. Some
paid me for consultation by buying me coffee or a beer. ( I appreciate) . But the key take away is I now never honour all the
invites I get, I have learnt to say a firm NO when my gut instinct feels so. My
point here though is just figure it out with whoever you seek to validate your
models, assumptions, seek advice, or second opinions. Always question/think about people who want
to help you, who want to partner with you. Think about “What’s in it for them”
first and you’ll probably figure out how to approach certain issues.
The Future for me lies here
Why be on our waiting list?
2. You’ll help us make our platform better in ways that work for you.
3. Your suggestions could determine the future direction of the product.
4. You’ll get feedback right from the development team. Click here to be among the first to use shakili
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