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Home Blog Page 6289

Entrepreneurship isn’t a title, it’s a way of life

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You’re the CEO of your life, other times you’re the CEO of a business, live like one.

Allow me share my story with you.

There was this one time as a child about 13 years old when I started learning how to use the computer at a cyber cafe. My dad bought a desktop and a printer for me to continue my learning experience at home.

I’ve been learning Corel draw on my desktop for a while and I convinced my dad to get A4 papers for me that would enable me to print my designs.

It was a moment of excitement for a 13-year-old me when I finally got to see my designs on paper.

I was feeling fly.

About the same time I was enjoying my newly found passion in the designing space, my church had an ongoing revival and the pastor asked the members to bring envelopes to church before the weekends.

Bum, A thought immediately crossed my mind, ‘what if I used my A4 papers to make envelopes and sell it in church’.

After the revival on that day, I spoke about it to my dad and mum, and I got the go-ahead.

The next day I proceeded to get a paper gum, I dismantled one of the ready-made envelopes I saw at home to observe how the paper was cut and folded to make an envelope.

After about an hour, I finally made my first envelope.

I’ll Repeat that statement aloud ‘I made my first envelope’

After making a couple of envelopes, I handed it over to my dad who is an usher at the church to help me market my product.

I can’t recall the amount I sold each but I’m sure it is either N10 or N20.

If my memory serves me right, I made a 100% sale on the first day and felt on top of the world.

Making money at age 13, what could go wrong?

This story I shared is just one of the little insights into my entrepreneurial journey.

I’m sure you want to share yours, just spare me 3 minutes so we can expose the entrepreneur inside of you.

I’m going to reveal 3 things about you that qualifies you as an entrepreneur, let’s jump right into it.  

  • You’ve been punished by your teacher or parent 

Disobedience is mostly the prerequisite for punishment either by parents or teachers.

Isn’t it funny that Entrepreneurs are rewarded for the exact same thing ‘disobedience’.

Entrepreneurs must do what others say can’t be done to be rewarded.

Contrary to popular opinion, society doesn’t only punish criminals, it also punishes entrepreneurs.

I’m sure you’ve heard of the numerous challenges great entrepreneurs had to face to become successful. 

Society likes order, entrepreneurs disrupt order. Little wonder why society doesn’t favor entrepreneurs. 

Punishment is a sign that shows you’re willing to take risks even against popular opinions. 

Although this attitude is punished in school, it is absolutely vital in the real world, there is no manual that teaches you how to live life so you must be willing to take initiative.

We’ve all been punished, right? 

  • Crazy Idea crosses your mind 

How does telephone work?

How can I teleport out of Nigeria? 

How can I read people’s thoughts? 

These are a few of the ideas that have crossed my mind, I’ll be waiting to listen to your crazy ideas in the comment section.

Like Einstein said “imagination is everything, it’s the preview of life’s coming attraction”

Steve Jobs said “Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use”

Don’t ever shut yourself from embracing your crazy ideas’

The more crazy your ideas sound to people, the greater the reward when accomplished.

Now onto the last thing. 

  • You always crave for more 

Just like Oliver famously said ‘Please sir, I want more’ in the movie Oliver Twist. I sure haven’t met anyone who isn’t hungry for more whether that means more money, more achievement, etc.

Although Some are willing to sacrifice a lot for their ambitions than others, we all want more in one or more areas of life. This desire is a powerful indication of the entrepreneur within you.

Don’t kill the fire of entrepreneurship within you.

Like I said at the beginning of our conversation, you don’t have to be a CEO to develop the entrepreneur within you, leading your life is the greatest form of entrepreneurship. 

 How are you leading your life? 

Nikola: from zero revenue to $34 billion valuation

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Seven  months ago, the name Nikola Corporation was largely unknown to automobile consumers. The company, which makes hydrogen fuel cell-powered semi-trucks, went public on NASDAQ on June 9 with so much fun fare. Interestingly, Nikola did not pursue a traditional IPO. Instead, it went through a reverse merger with a special-purpose acquisition firm VectoIQ. This trend is becoming common. Traditional IPO takes at least a year to complete. But with a reverse merger, a private company can go public in as little as 30 days. 

Riding on the swift rebound from coronavirus lows, as well as Tesla’s new highs, Nikola raced to a $34 billion valuation, with its shares skyrocketing more than double. That made it more valuable than legacy Ford and Fiat Chrysler. Trevor Milton, the 38-year-old founder of Nikola, became an instant multi-billionaire. The market seems to have settled, and the shares are currently trading at $62, with a market capitalization of $22.71 billion

Remarkably, the company has not sold any semi truck yet. It is obvious the market is placing an aggressive forward valuation on Nikola. This is very outrageous for a company that is yet to generate any revenue from its revered hydrogen trucks. The little bit of revenue it has generated over the last three years, including $500,000 in 2019, has been solely from small scale solar projects, according to its SEC filings. In 2019, Nikola generated a net loss of $88.7 million, while its net losses were $64.3 million and $17.6 million in 2018 and 2017 respectively. Of course, Nikola is a futuristic company. But to put things in perspective, Pacca, one of the world’s largest truck makers, sells about 200,000 trucks a year. Its revenue for 2019 was $25.6 billion, and its current market capitalization is $25.76 billion

By the way, valuation of tech companies is a bit different from traditional processes. Rather than start with the company’s past performance, it examined its future development, and then worked backwards. It’s common for tech companies to have aggressive valuations at IPOs. Sometimes it works out well, and the company grows into its valuations. And sometimes, it doesn’t. The most probable instance is that companies will always revert to their intrinsic value. Already, Citron Research has predicted that Nikola’s shares will fall 50% over the next month

Nonetheless, Nikola is banking on some huge deals. It has secured more than 14,000 pre-orders, which worth about $10 billion in revenue, from companies led by Anheuser-Busch. It also estimated that sales will increase from “$150 million in 2021 to $3.2 billion by 2024 as it ramps up production. In 2024, it expects to sell or lease 7,000 battery-powered units and 5,000 hydrogen fuel cell trucks, according to its filing”. 

Let’s take a brief look at history. Fuel cell technology has been around since 1960. In 1966, General Motors developed a hydrogen Electrovan prototype, but never made a business out of it. You can check some of its designs here. When Ballard Power opened a fuel cell manufacturing facility in 2000, its shares climbed to $140. But now, it trades at $19.2. Also, in 2003, President George Bush, poured $350 million into hydrogen research projects, but now, there are just about 8,000 hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicles on the U.S roads. Many technology innovations like this go through cycles of boom, and burst. And during these cycles, it gradually builds infrastructures, and converges with other technologies, that will quicken its adoption rate and aid its future sustainability. Based on this hypothesis, hydrogen fuel cell adoption might be closer to a tipping point than ever before.  

In all of this, what are the other automobile companies doing? Early this month, Hyundai Motor opened the first commercial vehicle hydrogen station in Korea. In 2018, it invested $6.7 billion, to boost fuel cell output. In 2019, the engine maker Cummins acquired Hydrogenics, which makes fuel cells, for $290 million. Toyota Motor Corp. has been testing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles at the Port of Los Angeles for years. And by next year, General Motors and Honda Motor’s $85 million joint venture, will begin producing the fuel cell systems.

While massive investments in technology does not imply market adoption, hydrogen fuel cells might have its chance this time, and may be better than electric vehicles. Yes, a KPMG report, revealed that senior executives believed hydrogen fuel cells have a better long term future than electric cars. This does not still nullify the fact that Nikola’s shares have been over priced. And it will be interesting to see how things unfold.

Tekedia Mini-MBA: Master Digital Transformation, Innovation & Strategy

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On Monday, we will begin a knowledge excursion into the world of innovation, and business growth. Both would be packaged within the construct of digital execution. ICT gave the world productivity, the web is providing the capacity to operate with near-zero marginal cost. The banks of the future would be technology companies that offer banking, not banks that use technology. The storefronts of the future would control demand, not supply, explaining why Facebook is possibly going to be a better retailer than Jumia later in the decade.

This slide is from our Digital Transformation, Innovation & Strategy session, from an industry player, Jude Ayoka of Africa’s largest bank, by customer, Access Bank Plc. Come and understand digital by registering today.

 

The US is Paying for Brazil’s 5G Infrastructure to Boot Out Huawei

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Most parts of the world have been pushing to cage Huwaei

The United States has offered to pay for Brazil’s 5G roll out if only the South American country will disengage Huawei. Brazil offered hope to Huawei amidst intense attempts from the US to stop its dominance in 5G technology.

Other countries like Canada, France and the UK are also receiving fierce pressure from the US to dump Huawei. The Chinese company’s newly found succor in Brazil has been dampened by this move.

In an interview with Brazilian newspaper Folha de S Paulo, the US ambassador to Brazil Todd Chapman said the move to push Huawei out of Brazil is a matter of “national security” to Washington and the aim is to “protect data and intellectual property, as well as sensitive information of nations.” That has been what the American government has dwelt on to administer every of its oppressive moves against the telecom company.

Huawei has been working to establish itself in the Brazilian telecom market for the last two decades which sets it up for a big loss if the US reaches a deal with Brazil. According to TFIpost, the company has conducted 5G trials with all major telecom companies in the South American country including Telefonica Brasil SA, TIM Participacoes SA, America’s Movil Claro, and Oi SA. It is also planning to set up a factory in Sao Paulo with an investment of 800 million in 2022.

Huawei has been taking cover under these existing footprints until the US showed up with this irresistible deal that has got Brazil to reassess its relationship with the tech company. The American government wants Huawei replaced by its European counterparts, Ericsson and Nokia, and has been urging its allies to embrace them instead of Huawei.

About two weeks ago, Canada showed Huawei the door following pressure from the US. Canadian telecom carriers – BCE Inc and Telus Corp have decided to use Nokia and Ericsson’s equipment in their 5G rollout. The decision has however, created tension between China and Canada.

The United States appears to be acting from the same playbook as it pushes for a global action against Huawei over perceived security challenges that may follow Huawei’s deployment of 5G. The rest of the world seems to be gradually yielding to the US call. The number of countries willing to give up on Huawei has been increasing since the outbreak of coronavirus. Many believe that somehow China is culpable but has refused to come clean and it confirms the fears that a company of Chinese origin cannot be entrusted with the deployment of a sensitive technology like the 5G.

Chapman echoed the sentiment of many leaders who are confronted with the decision to choose between Huawei and others in 5G roll out: “Who wants to make investments in countries where their information will not be protected?” he said.

Huawei offers the cheapest and most sophisticated equipment in 5G deployment, but has been increasingly rejected by countries out of concern that the Chinese government uses the technology as a spy tool. The situation has offered an unprecedented lifeline to dying Finish Nokia and Swedish Ericsson.

Globally, the 10 companies selling the 5G equipment are; Altiostar, Cisco Systems, Datang, Telecom/Fiberhome, Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung, and ZTE. But three Chinese companies, Huawei, Datang and ZTE lead the global race in 5G roll out due to their cheap and sophisticated products and services.

Donald Trump’s administration has instigated a global backlash against the Chinese companies, leaving them to beg for survival. The newly introduced ban on sale of semiconductors to Huawei by the US authorities has so far done more harm to the company than the number of countries rejecting its services.

Last year, when Huawei was kicked out of the US, it was counting on other countries around the world to stay in business. The US pressure on these countries has ensured a dashed hope and compounded woes for the Chinese company.

The relentless clampdown on Huawei by the United States government has resulted in revival of the Europeans companies, Ericsson and Nokia whose stocks have been trading well recently.

The US has been introducing new ways to punish China and her companies since Trump became president. The new approach of paying for Brazil’s 5G roll out is a precedent that will destroy whatever is left of Huawei and other Chinese companies in the business of 5G.

COVID-19: Group Chides Nigeria’s CDC on Poor Data Management, Calls for Improved Management Strategies

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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has been advised to increase its processes and capacity for capturing and reporting COVID-19 related data before disseminating to the public. This advice was given in a report released by Know COVID-19 Nigeria, a non-governmental organisation led by two Nigerian youths, fighting fake news and misinformation around the virus since March, 2020. The report is one of the monthly reports being published by the organisation to enlighten stakeholders on progress made and where strategies need to be tweaked for total containment and elimination of the virus.  The group captures the discrepancies thus:

In the wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic in Nigeria, it’s been said that information and statistics are one of the best tools to fight the pandemic successfully. Thus, Nigerians have relied on the daily updates by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and their respective States government response Teams for genuine information about confirmed, active, recovered and death cases in the country. However, there have continuously been series of discrepancies and errors in the report given by NCDC and some state government.

For instance, NCDC may report a case already announced by a state government on a different date or vice versa. Also, NCDC, sometimes, will not update the public on transferred cases from one state to another. Some states government also fail to confirm NCDC reports while others give a different report and statistics that contradict the NCDC reports. This lack of coordination has created a lot of preventable discrepancies in the COVID-19 data management system in Nigeria.

Some Discrepancies in the Centre’s Data Management

  1. Katsina State Government announced the discharge of 4 patients from their facility on 25th of April. This was duly reported in the NCDC report on 25th and 26th of April but has was deleted from their report since 27th of April.5
  2. Ondo state government confirmed five new cases between Saturday and Sunday, 25-26th of April 2020. The Governor made this known in a statement he gave to reporters on the 27th of April stating that two persons were confirmed in the state on 25th of April and three persons on the 26th of April. However, NCDC did not report the confirmed cases on the 25th of April for the state but the confirmed cases of 26th were reported. Meanwhile, the number of confirmed cases in Ondo state increased in the NCDC report without the announcement of new cases by the state or the NCDC from 28th to 30th of collation, management and use. With discrepancies in the number of cases being reported by NCDC and states Response Teams, the credibility of data is diminished. It becomes expedient for NCDC to be a central coordinating agency and should be able to manage case reportage both at federal and state levels. Therefore, NCDC requires more capacity development to execute their tasks and mandate.
  3. On the 26th of April, NCDC reported that six persons were discharged from Lagos State Infectious Disease Facility. Meanwhile, the state government always announce all developments in the state. However, no announcement was made by the state on that date to corroborate NCDC’s announcement. Thereafter, NCDC has been having an additional six figures to the total number of discharged persons reported by the state government. For instance, the total number of discharged persons reported by the Lagos State government as at 2nd of May, 2020 was 247 but it was 253 in the NCDC update.

Download the full report here