Intelligence LENS

Innovation series (Part 4)
__Every crisis should result in an innovation explosion from entrepreneurs

“Who is the best person you want around you in the midst of a crisis?”

In a book about the founder of OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, there is a funny comment made by someone about him which goes something like this:

“If you leave Sam Altman on an island full of cannibals, he will manage to convince them not just to spare his life, but also to be their leader!”

Jokes aside, this is just to say that there are people who have a knack for turning even the worst crisis into an opportunity. Whatever you think about Sam Altman, whom I have met several times, he is an amazing entrepreneur.

I have my own favourite entrepreneur’s mantra which you all know by now: “We work IN the conditions, not against them.”

Take this fuel crisis caused by war in Iran. Oil is the feedstock for transportation, fertilisers, and plastics, to name just a few things. If you push up its price, everything else goes up!

The whole world, particularly the poor nations, is facing a total tsunami of inflationary pressures. And in many instances, the tsunami has not yet even arrived fully.

Are you taking steps to ensure that your business is not washed away when it does fully hit the shores of your economy? You should already be on the move, carefully assessing the potential impact and how to mitigate it.

For you as an entrepreneur, it is a waste of time simply to complain or vent on every social media platform you can find. Does this pay the bills or help you meet the payroll?

Instead turn your attention to look at opportunities created by the crisis. I do not mean opportunities to exploit others, but innovative opportunities to develop or pivot your business for growth. And also reach out and meet a human [or environmental] need with your innovative .

Let me give you one example: In our mobile business, like any other mobile businesses in Africa, we consume millions of litres of diesel every month to keep the networks operating. So we are one of the worst affected right now.

If we reduce diesel usage, we degrade network quality dramatically. If we pay those prices, then it would blow away our profitability and ability to meet network expansion requirements.

So what do we do? There are short term things we can do, and there are long-term solutions. We got this!

But what about you? What are the challenges you face today? What are you doing to head them off?

Now I don’t expect you to tell us the details on this platform please. No. I just want you to quietly, efficiently, and urgently address them. And when you have addressed them, then how do you become "King of the Cannibals" in this challenge that threatens to eat you and your business alive?

- You will not be spared by sitting and doing nothing.

Image credit: Nick Garbutt, Serengeti, Tanzania. “You never know how strong (and innovative) you are until being strong (and innovative) is the only choice you have.” Adapted from Bob Marley

Building Africa's century together
__Not for you, but WITH you!

This week marked a major milestone for Africa’s digital and AI journey, as Liquid Cloud and Cybersecurity (known as Liquid C2), in partnership with Google Cloud, launched Africa’s first “Partner Experience Centre” designed to help partners, developers, and enterprises to architect, test, and scale cloud and AI solutions built for African markets.

Our state-of-the-art facility, located in Johannesburg, South Africa, will also showcase to enterprises across Africa the vast array of products and solutions on offer from Google.

Unveiled for the first time to the public, our Partner Experience Centre launch was headlined by speakers including Hon Solly Malatsi (South Africa’s Min of Communications and Digital Technologies), Tara Brady (Google Cloud President for EMEA), Maureen Costello (Google Cloud, VP for UK, Ireland, and Sub Saharan Africa), and Clayton Naidoo (Google Cloud, Director of Strategic Missions and Partnerships).

I was sad not to be able to attend in person, but was there online and in spirit, humbled and inspired by the fine work carried out by both our teams so far.

In our press announcement, Google Cloud President for EMEA, Tara Brady remarked: “…By combining our advanced AI capabilities, including our Gemini models, with Liquid C2’s localised expertise, we are not just building a facility; we are building a hub for innovation that will empower businesses, create jobs, and deliver the benefits of digital transformation to every corner of the continent.”

As a business of Cassava Technologies, Liquid C2Africa has always been at the forefront of bringing cutting-edge digital technologies to African businesses, both directly and through our partner ecosystem.

Our Google Cloud-powered, Partner Experience Centre is another landmark reflecting our commitment to partnerships that leverage Liquid C2’s wide continental footprint, serving organisations across a broad base of sectors in 30+ African countries as well as globally.

Well done and congratulations to the teams involved.

Together we are building Africa’s century. everyone!

Somewhere on this continent, the entrepreneur who will build Africa's first trillion-dollar company could be reading this right now. I hope it is you.

Here’s a link to read the full launch press statement: https://www.cassavatechnologies.com/liquid-c2-launches-africas-first-google-cloud-powered-experience-centre-to-accelerate-ai-adoption/

to Hope Joy!

Following a comment I made about a discussion with Aliko Dangote, I received this remarkable response from Hope Joy, which I consider one of the best responses ever!

Here is what I wrote:

"Afterthought 5.
I recently ran into Aliko Dangote, and he told me about his plan to build a network of oil pipelines across Southern Africa. My only response was: 'Can I also put our fibre cables on your pipes?'

As entrepreneurs, I am going to ask again: What do YOU see?"

__Here is Hope Joy’s response:

"Strive Masiyiwa - You always tell us to focus on what we know best and your focus is on technology. Dangote told you about fuel and your mind never left technology.

While everyone else heard pipeline, you heard corridor. While everyone else thought about fuel, you thought about fibre.

You didn't try to become an oil man. You simply asked one question — how does this serve what I already do?

That is mastery. Go so deep in what you do that every conversation someone else is having eventually points back to your work.

You didn't chase Dangote's opportunity. You brought your own opportunity into his".

__You absolutely nailed it in your response, Hope Joy!

It’s not about me or Aliko Dangote. It’s about YOU because I’m trying to teach you an important principle. Hope Joy [and many others] saw it, too:

# You must focus on the opportunity presented to you [personally] based on what you do, not on what others do.

When I was a child in Zambia, my mother heard there was going to be a new mine, and she rushed to ask them for permission to set up a canteen to feed the miners, because she was into fast food.

She never interested herself in mining because she knew nothing about mining. She made a lot of money in her own way!

I never step out of my lane, but use every opportunity to go faster and further within that lane.

Don’t despise what YOU do well and look for so-called “big money” in things that others are doing that THEY are good at.

Use what is in your hand and work with that; it will still take you to the big money.

I’m always asking myself, “What can I do with what is in MY hand?”

There is something very precious in your (own) hand. Use it!

Image credit: Stay focused. With thanks to photographer Mohammed Jinnah. Kruger Park, South Africa.

Quote of the day from Our Industrious Brand Ambassador,"It's better to try and fail than fail to try."

To build a big business you can scale, you must lean on
__"Entrepreneurship is about building something that works without you!"*

The family of a very well-known elderly businessman came to see me one evening in a desperate state: “As you know, our father has been hospitalised, and he cannot sign cheques for us to pay our suppliers and our staff. Could you please lend us some money?”

“Your father’s business is quite large," I said gently. "Why is he the one who signs the cheques?”

“Baba signs all the cheques; he is old school, not like you, Mr Masiyiwa. As you can see from the bank statements, we have money, but we just can’t access it.”

And it was true, they had a lot of money!

I provided the money without adding to their stress because he was a good friend.

When the old man recovered, he paid me back, but wisdom told me not to raise the issue at that point.

An opportunity arose many months later when he told me he couldn’t understand why, despite his “tight personal controls,” he was still being “robbed blind." Then he asked:

“Young man, everyone knows that your business is very big, and they say you don’t sign cheques, and none of your relatives are involved in running your business. How do you do it?”

I then gently and patiently explained the principle of the “Three Ps”: , , and .

“Having a lot of relatives, most of whom are not skilled, is a form of self-deception. It has nothing to do with having the best . If you really want ‘control,’ you focus on what we call .”

It was then that I showed him how we organise payments and the signing of cheques.

“You mean you don’t sign cheques?!”

“No,” I said quietly and firmly. “I have no time for such things.”

“Here is another thing: I don’t recruit 98% of the people who work for us.”

“How do you stop them putting in their relatives?”

“Process should take care of that.”

Finally, I said, “I don’t set the prices for what we sell. I don’t know what we charge for airtime or data. Those decisions are taken by the CEO and his management team.“

“You don’t hire people, you don’t set the prices, and you don’t approve payments. So what do you actually do?” he asked, completely flabbergasted.

“If I did those things myself personally, I would be totally exhausted, and our business would not grow big. I focus on developing and deploying the processes that are used by the biggest companies in the world," I shared.

He nodded thoughtfully.

I will never stop hammering home to you the importance of the “3Ps”! Whether your company is high-tech or no-tech, they always apply.

A few of you may have heard me tell this story before. That's what I mean when I say that I will never stop hammering!

Image credit: KWB - Ubuntu Hope via AI.

Subtitle quote is adapted from Michael Ge**er: "Entrepreneurship is not about working harder. It's about building something that works without you..."