Business model encapsulates the logic of a firm and the way it uses factors of production to create value for stakeholders. To a large extent, that is the outcome of any business strategy framework. A good strategy decides on the best business model through which a company will compete and operate in the market.

In the scheme of things, you can have many models at the end of the strategy session. The business model you commit your business to has a catalytic impact on your success. Period – business model is supreme.

At Tekedia Mini-MBA Live today, I will explain that supremacy and why leaders must pay attention to the business models they operate. Microsoft had a lost decade until they changed a CEO. When the new boss man came, he changed the business model. Looking at the plot, the impact is significant and well correlated. I will present more cases to show why a change in CEO who comes with a new business model has transformed the destinies of firms.

Yes, the company has been bleeding revenue, but they changed the CEO. Magically, using the same staff on the products, the revenue started going north. What happened? New business model has been deployed.

Join me at Tekedia Mini-MBA live; Zoom link in the Board.

The inflow of investment funds into Nigeria, which has been largely focused on tech, has touched the entertainment industry – a sector of Nigeria’s economy that has been sidelined as the country records huge numbers in foreign investment.

Lagos-based LaVida Studios has secured $50 million production investment and signed a partnership deal with The Story Lab US, a subsidiary of Dentsu.

“We are thrilled to be working together with Dentsu and its The Story Lab team in the U.S. to bring authentic and compelling African stories to the world,” Chioma Ude, founder of AFRIFF and managing partner in LaVida Studios, said.

The three-year deal with The Story Lab will birth 10 films and television properties which will showcase African stories on the global stage. Covering both scripted and unscripted film and TV projects, the partnership will see production handled by LaVida Studios for all Africa-based production out of The Story Lab.

The Story Lab invests in talented creators and producers to develop entertainment that challenges storytelling conventions. It also innovates the way entertainment is packaged, distributed and marketed to reach global audiences.

“It is partnerships like this one which really help move the dial when it comes to discovering and elevating emerging talent. I’m so pleased we can be part of amplifying the diverse voices of Africa alongside our friends at LaVida and AFRIFF,” Mike Ferry, head of The Story Lab U.S. said.

LaVida is supported by PAC Capital Limited with an initial $50 million for LaVida’s film and TV projects, including the collaboration with The Story Lab. The funding comes from PAC Capital’s Pan African CCI Fund 1, a $100 million fund dedicated to financing film production and distribution in Africa.

Also, both LaVida and Dentsu are working on collaborating with the African International Film Festival (AFRIFF) to create a joint initiative, which would recruit and support top African writing talent in creating original stories that appeal to a global audience.

“The combination of LaVida’s partnerships with top Nigerian creators and Dentsu’s global network and presence will serve as a bridge between these top content creators and the global market through this collaboration. We are honored to bring these stories to the world,” Geneva Wasserman, executive VP and head of scripted content, The Story Lab U.S said.

LaVida Studios and Chioma Ude are represented by CAA and The Story Lab US is represented by UTA.

Nigeria’s Nollywood is the second-largest film sector globally with a projected worth of $6.4 billion in 2021. It is also Africa’s largest in terms of value, number of annual films, revenue and popularity – producing around 2,500 films annually.

In recent years, the industry has seen a new phase of skit-making being spearheaded by young talents. With the rising popularity of short-form films that is increasingly adding millions of dollars to the industry’s market value, investors are expected to follow The Story Lab’s steps by betting more money on Nigerian film companies.

For the past 50 years, ever since America’s Supreme court decision on Roe V. Wade, women in America have had the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion. Since June 25th, 2022, that right has gone away. The law has been passed by the majority of the Court, it has been erased from the law book and this shocking change is about to bring division in America’s states, which will be deciding for themselves whether the Roe v. Wade law should be kept or not.

The abortion flash point all across the USA, a wave of new restrictions gaining steam in states far beyond Alabama and Missouri are putting into place strict anti-abortion laws. The public opinion, especially among women in the USA, is clear that this major change is taking away women’s right to choose. A right that has been in place for nearly 50 years. Forced motherhood is illegitimate.

It’s no secret, that these are some of the most extreme abortion laws America’s ever seen. In fact, Alabama and Missouri have made abortion a crime, even in the case of rape and incest. And for some Republicans, this is a step too far. For instance, Ex-President Trump tweeted last year that he is strongly pro-life with the three exceptions: rape, incest, and protecting the life of the mother. The same position was taken by Ronald Reagan. However, those three exceptions are still bullshit because it is still taking away a woman’s right to choose what to do with her own body. It is just simple as that. So far, it just seems reasonable by comparison. So, for every woman in America now who wants to be in control of her own body, this is a scary time.

Abortion has been one of the most divisive issues like racism in the United States, with opponents citing religious beliefs to declare it immoral, while abortion rights advocates say a woman should have the right to choose on matters affecting her body. Now that the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade abortion law, Americans worry what other laws might be facing the same fate. Same-sex marriage? Right to contraception?

All this chaos started in May 2022 when the U.S Supreme Court leaked a draft opinion, which was published by the Journal Politico, stating its intentions to overturn the historic Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide. The leak has triggered a shock wave through the country, with a mass of people protesting about overturning the « right » to abortion. Now that this law has been finally overturned, opponents or pro-life people think that overturning Roe’s abortion law will save many innocent lives.

In a historic decision powered by its conservative majority, the US Supreme Court did not only uphold a Mississippi law banning abortion after fifteen weeks, it took the additional step of overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion law, leaving the issue up to the states. The outcome of this or the immediate effect of this will be to uphold the Mississippi law that would ban abortion law after fifteen weeks. But this also means that, in roughly half of the country, abortion is as of now or soon will be illegal Thirteen states have already triggered laws that were intended to make Roe v. Wade’s abortion law illegal in those states.

Up to now, opinion polls show a majority of Americans support abortion rights. However, according to medical experts, the abortion must be made in the first six weeks of pregnancy. Roe v. Wade granted American women that constitutional right back in 1973. But according to many observers such as conservative Samuel Alito, Roe v. Wade was wrong from the start and stated that this law was about terminating a life rather than protecting women.

Where is this chaos taking America?

 A growing number of the U.S States such as Oklahoma among others are moving to restrict access to abortion now that is formally overturned by the Supreme Court. This has become a direct assault on the dignity, rights, and lives of American women living in those states, not to mention decades of settled law.

Overturning this decision leaves abortion access to States to make their own decision. In fact, several states like Georgia, Alabama, and Missouri already have laws in place to ban abortion nationwide. In those states, doctors caught performing an abortion might face a heavy sentence of up to 99 years in jail. Yes, 99 years behind bars.

Many Americans are pissed off because of extreme laws in place of anti-abortion. It is no secret that these are some of the extreme laws America’s ever seen. The American States like Alabama have gone far by making abortion a crime. Women in Alabama or Missouri can’t even get an Uber to get to an abortion clinic. Many drivers have to cancel their routes in fear of getting sued just for transporting a woman to an abortion clinic. Far worse, even if a woman from Alabama goes into another state that allows abortion, on her way back she could get finned up to US$100.000, or worse, going to jail!

Now that the abortion right is overturned, the legal fate of abortion is left up to individual states. However, abortion is likely to remain legal in some states, especially liberal states despite the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe’s law. But so far, since the law is finally overturned, abortion is likely possible to remain legal for some time. For instance, a dozen states have already laws in place protecting abortion rights. But, there are also other states, mostly Republican-led states, which have passed already laws against abortion in defiance of Roe v. Wade and support the Supreme Court decision.