Talking about a business with a founder is like talking about life with an old drunk.. so much wisdom and zero chills. Here is Mark high as a kite, as only a former investment banker-to-truck logistics startup founder could be. The shiny coins battle the god of regret: Time.    Music: Sun El Musician: Ntaba Ezikunde (feat. Simmy)

My African Startup Story

Ep 39: Mark Mwangi Pt 2 - Shiny coins and the god of regret: Time.

A  5 billion Euro portfolio wasn't enough, said his 85 yr old self. So he dropped it all and started from scratch. And trucks became his new thing. Trucks. If nothing else, this man is that black monk that sold his Ferrari...   Music: Sun El Musician: Ntaba Ezikunde (feat. Simmy)

Ep 38: Mark Mwangi Pt 1 - Amitruck and my 85 yr old friend.

Audrey's entire story is just a mix of happenstance and purpose mashed up with randomness and focus. The juxtaposition is incredible. The grit, unbelievable. See how far she's come, then understand that she is just 27. Then sit back and appreciate how little age has anything to do with success. Getting things done is everything. Music: Sun El Musician: Ntaba Ezikunde (feat. Simmy)

Ep 37: Audrey Cheng Pt 2 -Be human. Be human.

Audrey's entire story is just a mix of happenstance and purpose mashed up with randomness and focus. The juxtaposition is incredible. The grit, unbelievable. See how far she's come, then understand that she is just 28. Then sit back and appreciate how little age has anything to do with success. Getting things done is everything.   Music: Sun El Musician: Ntaba Ezikunde (feat. Simmy)

Ep 3r: Audrey Cheng Pt 1 - I had one friend... and other fun stories.

Do it for you. Only you. Music: Sun El Musician: Ntaba Ezikunde (feat. Simmy)

Ep 35: Patricia Kihoro Pt 4 - Do it for you. Only for you.

Sometimes it's not what we want to do, it's what has been laid up for us that we find ourselves having to do. You can call it a calling. Fate. Life. The universe. God. Call it what you will, but do it, you must. How does that sit with you? Music: Sun El Musician: Ntaba Ezikunde (feat. Simmy)

Ep 34: Patricia Kihoro Pt 3 - The life that chose me.

Higher education vs. real-life experience is always going to be a coin toss. If you have never had to choose between going to school and to learn the skill and get into the business and honing the craft, you have never really seen a devil's choice quite as vividly.  How did she play it? The pink university or the green screen? (see what I did there ;-) ) Music: Sun El Musician: Ntaba Ezikunde (feat. Simmy)

Ep 33: Patricia Kihoro Pt 2 - The pink university. PINK!

It takes 1/1000th of a second to take an Instagram photo, but it can take years for that to mean something commercially. And then there is the whole 'privacy' vs 'authenticity' angle, 'controversy sells' vs 'good is boring' and we can keep going. Being an influencer is a profession. Here is one of the best there is, and the startup story of herself. Music: Sun El Musician: Ntaba Ezikunde (feat. Simmy)

Ep 32: Patricia Kihoro Pt 1 - Ditch music for Agriculture. And other fun curve balls..

When we are planning for the future and you have optimism driving you, you make awesome plans. When things seem to go sideways, yeah, the only thing you really do have is your attitude. Do something with that. Because that is the only thing you can do something with... Life will go on. That's just truth.Music: Sun El Musician: Ntaba Ezikunde (feat. Simmy)

Ep 31: Joram Mwinamo Pt 3 - Life does go on. It does..

The influence the mantra you have, while you are going through something, is often so underrated. You can be outwardly positive all you want, but if inside you do not have that same vibe, you will be in all sorts of trouble. In this CONVIB 19 planet lockdown, especially with our lives literally depending on our ability to successfully social distance from one another, here is something to build you up. YOU have this! You just do. You're a freaking beast! That's the mantra for a time like this.Music: Sun El Musician: Ntaba Ezikunde (feat. Simmy)  

Ep 30: Joram Mwinamo Pt 2 - This is the Jungle. This is the Jungle. This is...

Joram just launched the $500,000 entrepreneur all-in-one stop shop called SNDBX in Kenya. I know, we can't use it right now because we are all working from home with CONVIB 19 doing what it does, but when we leave our houses..in June..we may need a spot to go re-learn collaborative co-working spaces. So being the optimists we are, we talked about his journey to this point. Then we quickly washed our hands with soap...Music: Sun El Musician: Ntaba Ezikunde (feat. Simmy)

Ep 29: Joram Mwinamo Pt 1 - My first salary was $9...NINE DOLLARS!

It ends here. Well not really. Erik Hersman on what is now, and what will be the next thing he works on. And the other important conversation that will be had in time...Music: Sun El Musician: Ntaba Ezikunde (feat. Simmy)

Ep 28: Erik Hersman Pt 3 - Be all in or don't be at all...

How do you sit with yourself when the product you thought about in the forest, that was coded overnight for starters, has founders that have met once in person and has a "strange name" is deployed in the largest natural disasters in the world? It's like driving in a storm, on the wrong lane, with your car on fire, a bear in the back seat and your tummy having the runs. Well...you get some more tea. And improve the code.Music: Sun El Musician: Ntaba Ezikunde (feat. Simmy)

Ep 27: Erik Hersman Pt 2 - Lesson 1; how to run the world from a coffee shop.

A big part of the African tech scene was ignited by stories. Many of these stories were synonymous with ambition, adventure and the grit that led to success, when forcing your way through stereotypes, privilege and a lack of access that was technology a decade ago. For a continent in a world where was never meant to be for us, we have come a very long way. Many voices were part of the choir and few as loud and glaring as Erik Hersman's keyboard. He tells his story with as little pazazz as possible. But he knows, as do many people in the tech space, there's a lot that would not have happened if the renegades he was a big part of did not exist. Music: Sun El Musician: Ntaba Ezikunde (feat. Simmy)

Ep 26: Erik Hersman Pt 1 - Chocolate. Brooms. Bikes. Tech. Same thing really..

"We teach what we know, but produce what we are!" Dr. Chao Mbogo.Remember that. Always. Music: Sun El Musician: Ntaba Ezikunde (feat. Simmy)

Ep 25: Chao Mbogo Pt 2 - We teach what we know, but produce what we are!

These are the first-hand stories of Startup founders in Africa, both African and international, and the unromanticized madness that goes into this amazing but demanding continent.

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My African Startup Story

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