Facebook Launches Libra!
So Facebook finally came out with some details on their Crypto project. It’s been led by David Marcus, of Paypal fame, and has been surrounded by lots of speculation for over a year. What they’ve actually released is = not…
Moving To Berlin
After ten years in Africa I’m starting a new chapter in my life and relocating to Berlin with my wife. It’s been a fantastic ride in several African countries, where I’ve launched 5 digital products and built some amazing relationships.…
Blockchain Applications in Africa
McKinsey released a good piece on practical applications of blockchain in retail banking. Most all of them apply more to emerging markets than the rest of the world, so it’s a good idea to post here. The three applications are…
Mental Model Monday: Get Outdoors
Yesterday I received Maria Popova’s weekly newsletter “Brain Pickings” and I enjoyed it so much I read it to my wife before bed. You can read the newsletter here and I encourage you to subscribe. The reason I enjoyed last…
WeChat Pay in China
WeChat Pay was everywhere in China. We noticed its ubiquity after arriving in Hong Kong, where mom and pop stores, as well as big retailers, accepted WeChat Pay. However, the dominance of WeChat Pay became clear after we arrived on…
Mental Model Monday: Kindness
This is one of the most overrated mental models in the world. People often miss this because it’s not clear that kindness is helpful to achieving goals. We live most of our lives in cutthroat competition with other people, companies,…
Organizational Change
This is one of the toughest challenges that organizations face as they grow from the startup phase. In my experience, and from what I’ve read, it’s difficult to implement, stressful for employees and usually value diminishing in the short term.…
Exporting and Explaining Business Models
Our company has been experimenting with an educational session for our internal staff as a form of onboarding. Leaders and specialists from the different parts of the business present to new starters on what their teams do. It’s been a…
Huge $170m Raise By Branch
Some awesome news coming out of the fintech scene yesterday as Branch raised $170 million from some top tier venture capital firms. I met Matt Flannery 8 years ago when I was at the GSBI incubator in Silicon Valley. He’s…
Mental Model Monday: Biases
Go follow @Buster on Twitter. He’s an ex-Twitter, ex-Amazon, and ex-Slack product manager. His writing on cognitive biases informs a lot of what I try an use in the workplace and in my life. He’s also super responsive on Twitter,…