To all the companies and startups which have applied for considerations in our Private Client Services: Startup Growth [PCS-SG] across the continent, I am aware there is a minor delay getting back to you. Simply, the phone powering the WhatsApp ran out of space and in the process of expanding all, WhatsApp asked for number validation. But the SIM card was not handy. They have fixed all and you will get email and all will be fine.
Through PCS –SG, we work with startups, at any formation level, to create growth. In other words, we hack growth. Our invisible growth-makers get integrated in your operations, and we work with you as partners to fix whatever market friction you are working on.
There is no monetary compensation. You will have 24/7 access to me and my team. We will guide you in all phases of building that business. And we have great results not just in Africa but also in Silicon Valley.
This business began when in my first year in Carnegie Mellon University, a VC invited me as a knowledge expert in Silicon Valley, to make a presentation. A startup had referenced my publication in the pitch document. After the presentation, the startup signed me up. Then, it was acquired within 6 months. My eyes were opened and I had a great Christmas that year.
Since then, I have worked on refining a framework on supporting startups, and at this moment, we are scaling it. Email my team and they will get back to you. I look forward to speak with everyone. If you had applied, there is no need to re-apply; we will get back to you with new number as the technology issue has been solved.
Education is the liberation of the mind. The most important use was captured by University of Nigeria Nsukka many decades ago: “to restore the dignity of man” [and woman]. Largely, unless you develop a mindset of service, the education is a waste; that service can be at work, home, or practically anywhere. When 55% of Nigerian youth have no jobs, it means we have not restored the dignity of our young people.
You have a gift – make it flourish. But that gift is possibly different from your friends’ gifts. Honour those friends, and be inspired by them, but do not lose focus on what you can do best. To make progress in life, find ways to blossom on your gifts.
In secondary school, I was the dean in classroom – the undisputed onwu n’egbu akwukwo [the death that kills books]. (At least, as of today, my grades in SSCE remain all-time in the school history.)
But I was nobody on the football field. The school captain was my friend – he was always playing football and learning new dribbling moves. He was getting better. I decided to also spend more time reading to get better in my own domain.
He was a captain on the pitch. I was captain in the classroom. When our teacher does not make it to school, I take over and teach the class to my classmates. My friend did that many times on the pitch. You must do all necessary to be inspired by the right people but at the same time do not lose focus on what makes you different.
That your friend’s startup raised venture money does not mean you need to leave your banking job to startup a company. Possibly, your gift is running what others have started while your friend is just good on starting things. Unless you have confidence in your vision, you will be rolling around, aimlessly to be like others, and that is a bad thing.
When farmers go on demonstrations asking governments for food [they are hungry], it means we have not restored the dignity of farmers. When our women die needlessly in unlicensed clinics, it means we have not restored the dignity of the mothers of the nation. When we have people struggling with certain disabilities when solutions abound, it means we have not restored the dignity of our fellow citizens with disabilities.
Unfortunately, we haven’t managed to understand and internalize the meaning and purpose of education. And just like in many other things, we thought we could succeed by bypassing education, in our usual way of trying to cut corners and still wish/hope for the best. This one has proven to be impossible, we simply cannot bypass handing to our compatriots that education, the type that truly liberates minds!
It takes a sound mind in a sound body to have a sound man or woman, no other manipulation, incantation or abracadabra can change that.
As if being clueless isn’t terrible enough, we somehow managed to mix it with ineptitude. Nothing is going to work well, until we aggressively liberate minds; the dignity seems not to be in existence in the first place, so the issue of ‘restoring’ it even makes what is before us more complicated.
Even if we build the finest physical infrastructures, with rotten minds, you only have decay staring at you. The national rebirth must start with education, nothing else can be meaningful.
In this infographic created by IOTransfer, an iPhone Manager, you can learn something new about iPhone. The software company is one of the leading brands within the broad nexus of iPhone management and is offering some great tips on how to navigate data management and transfer. Here, there are tips transferring iPhone data to PC/Mac/iPad/iPod. The insights are important because everyone loses data for many reasons including accidental deletion, virus attack, lost device, factory restoration without prior backup and more. If you have any Apple device, it will be very good to pay attention to the suggestions and tips from the experts.
Hope the Sallah holiday is coming out fine – enjoy bountifully. With the Sallah holiday coming earlier than even Google Calendar has modeled [Google AI cannot read the moon well, yet], some of us had free hours. I spent part of the free hours in the Ikeja Computer Village. I like going there because that is where you find the magical Nigerian engineers that just make things happen. They are unlike most of us that desire to understand before we build or fix stuff!
In the Computer Village, you will find extremely brilliant young people accomplishing great things. Unfortunately, they are largely neglected by the nation. It is so painful that no Nigerian university has developed a program structured for the elite participants in the Ikeja Computer Village to attend.
Doctors volunteer in hospitals and I know many other people spend time with orphans and kids that need support; extremely noble calls – we do appreciate. Whenever in Nigeria, I volunteer in the Computer Village. But unlike in the past where the focus has been helping them understand some elements to help transition most from the “downstream” level they are to potential “upstream” for the good of the nation, I went to something new: scaling the shop.
Companies must develop and accumulate capabilities in order to compete in the marketplace. In this video, I explain how any firm can do that and why accumulating capability is very strategic. From Google to Dangote Group, when companies accumulate capabilities, they see themselves operating in the segments of markets with higher value (usually upstream) compared with where their competitors operate (usually downstream). Dangote Group can deploy massive assets and technical know-how in cement production, making it harder for new entrants and rivals.
I made a strong case that most of them will be fine but they will not change their communities. A decent phone and computer repair shop can make N100,000 ($300) daily. The business is totally downstream despite the apparent feats they accomplish via brute-force. And when they are engaged, they are simply engaged on the specific tasks, making it impossible to scale their missions.
So, the question is thus – how can they scale that service to Ibadan, Owerri, Uyo, Sokoto and Kano where there are many Nigerians that need those services? After all, it is not only Lagosians that get their phones or laptops broken. Sure -there is a new business where people outside Lagos collect broken electronic devices and send to the makers to fix and then return to the respective cities. Call it the electronics trade routes that end in Lagos.
In my talk, I pushed their leaders to begin a process to look at building scalable business systems over just doing what they are doing today. In short, some can climb the pyramid, from the downstream to the upstream, where they make new products right here in Nigeria.
Merger was a huge part of my messaging: yes, they can combine to pool resources and improve services. If they do that, they can deepen their unit economics which will help them and the nation. But it is not an easy call as they do fear that decent success will make the FIRS, Nigeria’s tax administrator, become very aggressive on them. Yes, the FIRS is on them – pay your taxes buddy!
Sure – I am hoping the FIRS will also go with support, not just for tax collection from these people. I think besides the brilliance on how they can fix your phones and laptops, unless someone can help them see beyond those rituals, Nigeria cannot utilize up to 20% of their capacities.
A University of Lagos or Covenant University program designed for the Ikeja Computer Village participants will help elevate that village. Nigeria cannot just abandon the best of its makers – they need help. Helping them to see beyond collecting N4,00 to fix phones to elevate with visioning systems to build companies of great value is something Nigeria must work on.
Trying to formalize or institutionalise the way our traders and makers do business is akin to designing a masterplan in an already densely populated city; the resistance to change could be overwhelming sometimes.
We are great when it comes to craft and going after things that generate income, but largely lazy to pursuing knowledge and the necessary capabilities which would enable us transition from mundane processes to knowledge-driven processes.
The value creation and delivery mechanisms largely remain flat, even after being in business for decades; it’s part of why our economic growth is barely noticeable.
Yes, a university here can design such a programme, but the desired outcome may remain utopian if the target audience are not ready to make a massive mind shift, which will help them recognise and admit their limitations, spurring them to yearn for newer insights and more advanced business visioning capabilities.
Even if you offer free training, if the intended beneficiaries aren’t willing to learn, unlearn and relearn new ways of doing things, no decent progress will be attainable.
There is a lot of work to be done in Nigeria, and the starting point must be in the area of mind reconstruction
My Response: Francis – what a mind! Boy, next time, you will go with me. As I noted, some are even thinking to reduce “production” [revenue] if that will make FIRS to stop coming. Yes, someone will desire to not make money if by not making money, government will not notice the cohort for tax. The mindshift is key – not just here but in Idumota, Ariaria, Kano, etc. But they are not different – the difference is that no one really cares to help them. Take China about 40-50 years ago, their state is better than most Chinese players. But Chinese government drove change and made their artisans big people!
Apple delivers one of the most fascinating consumer product interfaces in iPhone and iPad. So, I use iPhone and iPad as my mobility tools. But at home, it is my Windows PC that supports my professional works and when I want to get serious deals done. To deal with the interface paralysis, I have looked for a way to manage files between my iOS devices and Windows PC. This translation is important because for all the excellence we have in Apple, Windows remains the king of workplace productivity, and by that I mean that most companies are still powered by Windows when it comes to office work. So, one has to joggle these two worlds – Apple and Winows. For me, I have seen a solution that has helped me a lot to make the ecosystem translation – that solution is called IOTransfer 3.
IOTransfer 3 is an iPhone Manager app and it is a solidly built and engineered one. It is useful for downloading video even as it serves for converter for Windows. With it, you can move and transfer assets like videos, photos and more from any Apple device to Windows PC. Through many features and capabilities – import, delete, export, etc – this solution has evolved as a perfect iTunes alternative. There are many things you can do it with it as it supports many file formats. Besides, the AIR-TRANS feature allows users to quickly and wirelessly transfer photos, videos, and other files between iOS device and PC on the same local network.
One of the main features I have come to like is the ability to download videos from video websites like YouTube, Vimeo, etc, enabling me with the capacity to watch the contents offline later. And when you do and need to optimize and clean your device, you can use the CLEAN feature to bring productivity back.
IOTransfer 3 Installation Process
Download the software from the website.
Install it on your Windows PC.
Connect your iPhone, iPad, or iPod with USB cable.
Allow access to the device
Begin content transfer – here, you can see feature that supports transfer of photos, videos, and contacts to PC with a single click. This transfer is also selective making it possible to only select what you just want.
As you work on the steps, there are many tools like CLEAN option to clean junk files and free spaces in your Apple devices like iPad and iPhone.
Verdict
IOTransfer 3 is a brilliant technology and a very amazing iOS device management solution. It has truly fascinating capabilities which are solid and useful – a clean user interface, YouTube to MP3 on iPhone and iPad support, and a converter engine. This is top-grade software: I recommend IOTransfer 3.
