It is a new redesign – Google wants to spread $1 billion to media outlets around the world. Facebook had also flown a similar plan. Yes,  aggregators are providing help to the disintermediated, and that is a good thing. But never think Google has become Father Christmas. It knows the temperature and feels the heat:  the regulators are circling Google, and it needs to stay ahead of them with this ignition gift.

Google is implementing a new licensing program that will enable it to pay news media outlets for their contents. The program will take more than $1 billion over the next three years.

The Silicon Valley giant has signed licensing deals with about 200 publications in select countries with plans to add more and expand geographically.

The program is part of Google’s attempt to address the challenge of poor revenue generation hitting news organizations, especially in the COVID-19 era. The crippling impact the pandemic unleashed on the global economy, forced news organizations to take drastic measures, including downsizing, to stay in business.

Hello Nigeria’s consumer watchdog, a small shaking of Google Nigeria will open this wallet for Punch, Guardian, Thisday, Sun and Vanguard. If not, they get nothing. The problem I have articulated in my “Law of Diminishing Abundance of Internet.” Nigeria needs to make noise to get the attention of Google as it shares this money to save media!

Law of Diminishing Abundance of Internet: It is a construct that some companies become poorer even when they are growing in numbers of customers reached. That applies to industrial sectors like publishing and telecoms. The lesson here is that risk in any business model must be examined from the lens of this mirage abundance which Internet has provided in some sectors.

Our hearts to families affected. I always like to get out of discussing job cuts as I know what a job does in a life, a family and a community. At Alade Avenue, Ikeja, where I lived when I worked in Diamond Bank Lagos, the area boys hanging along the Fela family residence gave me a title “Chairman”.  

Whenever Diamond Bank paid me one of those mammoth salaries – money everywhere – and to celebrate it, I called all the area boys, paid out the mama put and asked them to eat all the food. It was one way of getting even with skipped meals while in college.

That said, learning that Chevron Nigeria is trimming its workforce to a really high number – 25% – is painful. But if you look, Shell is doing the same thing. Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to cut 9,000 jobs globally, including Nigeria, as part of its cost-cutting measure to manage oil crash.  Largely, the oil & gas sector is going through a structural redesign.

Chevron Nigeria Limited has announced it will lay off a quarter of its work force.

The firm said Friday it was “reviewing its manpower requirements in the light of the changing business environment”.

The company said it will continue to evaluate opportunities to improve capital efficiency and reduce operating costs.

“In this process, the company will be streamlining its workforce and improving service delivery and overall performance at all levels,” the company said in a statement signed by Esimaje Brikinn, General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs.

The statement noted that the aim is to have a business that is competitive and an appropriately sized organisation with improved processes.

[…]

Meanwhile, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has vowed to resist the move “with all available tools”.

In a statement issued by Chevron Branch of PENGASSAN and signed by its Branch Chairman, Ete Oyegbanren, and Branch Secretary, Lavin Aghaunor, the union claimed the affected workers have already been locked out from the office by Chevron Nigeria Limited under the guise of COVID-19 restrictions.

Our world is changing rapidly before us, and the oil & gas sector is going through this rapid change, with massive career dislocation at scale. Indeed, this no-fossil future is moving faster than most of us think. Yes, do not be surprised if Shell becomes a renewable energy powerhouse in 30 years as I do think that the future of global energy would be electrons and not carbons.

That the oil sector labour union is protesting is expected. It is a tough one because unlike public sector workers, there is no treasury to tap into, in perpetuity, to cover the bills. Nigeria has only four core sectors – financial services, oil & gas, telecoms & foreign funded startups – that pay good wages. If oil & gas begins to see cracks, the implication would be massive across communities.

Time for that diversification to happen in Nigeria.

In the US, we earn around 10% of television screen time and less than that of mobile screen time. In 2 other countries, we earn a lower percentage of screen time due to lower penetration of our service. We earn consumer screen time, both mobile and television, away from a very broad set of competitors. We compete with (and lose to) Fortnite more than HBO. When YouTube went down globally for a few minutes in October, our viewing and signups spiked for that time. Hulu is small compared to YouTube for viewing time, and they are successful in the US, but non-existent in Canada, which creates a comparison point: our penetration in the two countries is pretty similar. There are thousands of competitors in this highly-fragmented market vying to entertain consumers and low barriers to entry for those with great experiences. Our growth is based on how good our experience is, compared to all the other screen time experiences from which consumers choose. Our focus is not on Disney+, Amazon or others, but on how we can improve our experience for our members.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings

So, as a founder, give yourself a break and focus on the real business: building great products and a fantastic company. Do not allow another new fund-raise by a perceived competitor to stress you. Do not allow another new city expansion by the same competitor to stress you.

But worry if you are not serving your customers and improving your products. Many African startups do not die of competition, they die due to lack of execution.

Execution rules over competition because the problems remain there and unsolved. Continue reading here.

Founders, Competition is Not Your Problem; Execution Is.