2 Years After University

Why Give this talk

• To mentor students who were as clueless as I was about life after university. It feels like tainted glass that you cannot see through
• To inspire young people to venture into building startups and get into tech
• To highlight various misconceptions you have about work, life, tech and startups
• To market Shukran, Impact Africa Network and get life-long supporters of our cause

Who is this talk for

• Those who want to build something new in their 20s
  • You are not satisfied with building things for other people. You want to build out your own ideas and bring them forth into the world
• Be part of the next wealth-creation wave of our lifetimes
  • Digital technologies - startups
  • Other generations had the industrial revolution, working in corporate and government
  • We have startups, innovation
  • Give example of startups raising millions, IPOs, the top billionaire charts
• Those who are working on something and feel stuck on what to do next
  • You have been working on projects but they never get used or don't go beyond a presentation or documentation
• Those who want to challenge the status-quo like:
  • Go to university, get a job, get married .etc.
  • Work at corporate before doing business
  • Doing big things is for people with money and experience
  • You cannot be a CEO at 25
• Those who want a purpose-driven life
  • It's not just about the money, you want impact, victory, glory, greatness
  • You want to tell a great story when you are old
  • You want a journey of a lifetime
  • To become one of the greats in your generation

Lessons learnt after 2 years after university:

• Outcomes matter more than your brilliance and what you know
• Imposter syndrome is a good thing - if used correctly, it can push you to work harder
• Be mission-driven - you are young and can take risks on crazy ideas, you don't need that high-paying job
  • Don't follow passion, follow purpose. Purpose will give you passion
  • Find challenges and problems to solve
  • Build projects and not focus on interviews
  • This will not apply to everyone, but I am speaking to those who don't want a conventional job. They want to build something new
• Always have a direction - a poor 1st draft of a plan is better than none
  • This is a why, next steps, how and so on
• Your mistakes and failures are your greatest points of reflection
• Know your why (Steve Jobs video)
  • The people who know the how will always work for the people who know the why
  • It will take a while but if you ask yourself every day, you will come inch closer to it
  • The concept of towards zero. You will never get there, but every effort gets you closer to an approximation of it
• Align your goals with the mission of your organisation
  • If achieve your company goals is not taking you closer to where you want to go in life, there is something wrong. It could be that you haven't thought hard about what you want to do or who you want to become. You may also know but you are not being honest with yourself.
• Think about the long-term trajectory of what you are doing
• Be curious and learn new things
  • My story of using Docker
  • Have study time to just learn something new. Watch documentaries, read reports, explore Github repos
  • Read widely on many topics
  • Talk to amazing people
• Project-based learning is the key
  • You are just as good as the challenge ahead of you
  • Tutorials and certificates are only a means to building something. They are not the end
  • Stacking certificates is for losers
• Find and work with great people you resonate with and admire - you talk for hours, you can give feedback, you can work long hours
• Find a boss or mentor who pushes you to your limits
• Start with the problem, then the solution
  • In school, you are taught to do the opposite
  • You are made to be solution-oriented and answer questions correctly
  • What you are not taught is how to ask questions and identify problems to solve
  • It always starts with asking why
• Building product is only 5% of the work. Building a business is the other 95% (Fine, if there is no product, there is no business but there is no future if there is no business)
  • Explain using the example fo Google - in order to take Google to the next level, they needed a business guy to build an organisation
  • A company's main product is the organisation (this is the people, the processes, the distribution and so on). It is the machinery that gets the product to your consumers
  • Explain the idea state-machine
  • Selling
  • Go-to-market
  • Culture - what do people do when no one is looking
  • Strategies
  • Fundraising - you need money in the bank
  • Revenue - finance (Being ramen profitable)
• Your relationships will suffer after university if you are not intentional

What I would do in university (even after)

• Explore more ideas and build many projects to learn - Project-based learning
  • Avoid tutorial-based learning or exam-based learning
  • You are only as good as the challenge in front of you. Do projects to grow
• Went for more networking events and hackathons
• Met with more experienced people - alumni, mentors, industry-players, any external parties
• Be more attentive in class (Explain Shukran Architecture here)
  • Three-tiered system
  • Database management
  • Analytics
• Learn business by doing - attempt to build a startup (This is a whole other talk)
  • Question: What makes building something worthwhile? What is the effectiveness of your code?
  • Answer: Whether people used it and find value in it. Do they use it, how often they use it and what they say about it
• Read books, listen to podcasts and watch videos that expand your knowledge - in your chosen field like startups, leadership. Relationships .etc.