Often the idea is to come up with creative ideas that will reach critical mass. But how big is critical mass? I think there is no one definite answer to this question. The size of the critical mass depends on the nature of the idea and size of your target market. There is a certain…

This is my 150 StartUp Tip and my last post blog of The StartUp Tips series. Four months ago, I started one of the longest series I have ever written about. For the past four months for each day, week days, weekends, public holidays, I shared my thoughts, my experiences, the experiences of my mentees…

You can learn a new skill, today, for free. You can take initiative and do a new task at work, right now, without asking anyone. You can make a connection, find a flaw, contribute an insight, now. Or not. I believe in a fluid system, when people are moving forward, unfortunately others are falling behind.…

It is all well and good that we have thinkers in our midst. But more than ever before, Africa needs doers than thinkers. We need to build things that matter, than think about things that matter. We need more engineers and entrepreneurs than politicians. No, we don't need another meeting, and we definitely don't need…

Or merely creating new wants? Is it helping you or is it derailing you? Is it bringing you closer to people that matter or taking you away from them? Is it honoring your time or squandering your time? Is it making you look smart or is it taking you more into debt? Is it connecting…

We can choose to define ourselves [our smarts, our art, our brand, our character] on who rejects us. Or we can choose to focus on those that care enough to think we matter. Not everyone will embrace our art, but not everyone will reject it as well. Shun people who don't believe in you... They…

In my book: The StartUp Revolution: Fit In or Stand Out, I make reference to the fact that the concept of a job as we know it today started 100 years ago [91 years ago to be precise]. Before that, people didn’t have to go to work and get paid at the end of the week…

There is never enough time to get your message across. Even Fidel Castro, famous for giving six-hour speeches, had plenty more to add. If you are given 8 minutes, take 8 minutes minus 7 seconds, not 9 minutes. The extra minute is selfish. The extra minute does not actually make that much of a difference…

“Change creates incompetence…change creates an environment where you are not an expert.” – Seth Godin Had an interesting conversation for a colleague today about the fake interpreter at Nelson Mandela's memorial service. I believe that all professionals get incompetent during their careers. A professional is someone who navigates between competence and incompetence over short time…

Often when people justify their bad attitudes they say: "I can't help it, it's who I am, I was born this way." No, you were not born that way, you became that way. And if you can become that way, you can become the other way. If you want. Attitude is a learned skill You…

And it is still not enough... After you have written the best memo/blog post/novel/screenplay/art/poem you can possibly imagine writing, after you have contributed your pithiest insight or gone on your best blind date... and it still has not worked... You really have no choice but to do it again. To do your best work again,…

...that counts. It's all a mistake, until it works. That is what innovation is. Mistakes, experiments, mis-steps. Until it works. The process is not to avoid the things that don't work. Because that means avoiding the things that might work... Instead, our job is to eagerly embrace the mistakes on the road to the impact that we seek.