Essays
Building ventures past the point where the imported advice stops working.
Mastering the Pivot: How African Founders Stay Ahead in Unstable Economies
Pivoting in an unstable African economy is not a sign of failure but a discipline of survival. Internal pivots strengthen the venture's spine; external pivots align it with the market. Most founders run only one and wonder why the other does not move.
From Start-Up to Stay-Up: The Sprouting Curve, Explained
The Sprouting Curve is the framework I built to explain why most ventures fail before year five and what separates the survivors. Drawn from Beyond Inception, this is the case for treating early-stage learning as the asset and earnings as the lagging indicator.
The Conversation No Founder Wants to Have With Their Cap Table
When dilution becomes a moral question, not just a math problem. Most founders treat the cap table as a financial document. It is also a record of who they trusted at what moment, and the moments do not always age well.
Why Most Quarterly Goals Are Theatre
The honest test: can your team predict next quarter's goals before you announce them? If yes, the goals are not goals. They are the predictable continuation of last quarter's work, dressed up in the costume of strategic planning.
Survivorship Bias Has a Brand Problem
Why the founder stories you read are statistically the wrong ones to learn from. Survivorship bias is well-known. The brand layer that compounds it is not, and it is the reason imported founder lessons consistently fail to transfer to the contexts where they are most enthusiastically applied.
Beyond Independence: The Founder’s Stake in Zimbabwe’s Unfinished Project
Independence gave Zimbabweans a country. Building it is unfinished work, and founders carry a particular share of that responsibility. A piece for the operators who refuse to write the country off.
Storytelling as Strategy: How to Make Your Brand Unforgettable
What makes some brands unforgettable while others fade into obscurity? The answer often lies in their ability to tell a compelling story. Storytelling isn’t…
Success Stories: A constellation of projects
Gone are the days of "I'm going to be a doctor" or "I'll work for Tesla for life." My career path has always been…
The High Cost of Bad Advice: Why You Need to Be Cautious When Seeking Business Guidance
As entrepreneurs, we seek guidance from experts to help our businesses grow and succeed. However, not all experts are created equal. Some may provide…