softech

Software Engineer · Backend Developer at @salesplat @zlocan_ng @cisadoc || Smart Contract Developer · Blockchain Dev · Building decentralized applications

[softech @softechZ3]

“Open Delivery, A Blueprint for Seamless Interoperability in Food Logistics” by Ituaosemeilu. https://t.co/JJpuyKhk2L

[Osaretin Victor Asemota @asemota]

Just chatting with your closest friends and family about an issues is better than the best AI. Please do more of that. I just learned something important from my 12 year old son.

My Russian neighbor’s kid had a challenge with doing an animation, and he told my son. My guy figured out the issue by himself and went back to teach his friend and others how to do it. They had the conversation for hours and I saw how happy he was to have been able to be the one to solve the problem and teach his friends.

Friendships are about selflessness and generosity. I feel a lot better when I am able to help friends and family than doing anything else. The fear of being used doesn’t arise when relationships are real.

[Osaretin Victor Asemota @asemota]

First, I agree with her. “Toxic unemployment” where you are humiliated by those supporting you is worse than the worst boss. You are powerless and can’t do anything about it. It is the humiliation some people have experienced without a job that makes them endure the worst jobs. It is also necessary to learn how to deal with people and not run away from problems.

The only reason you should leave a job is if you are not learning anything and your health is threatened. Sexual harassment is also a very good reason. That nuance is important.

A bad workplace is also deadly. I just chatted with a friend today who lost her job in America and was forced to relocate back to Africa and losing that job saved her life.

She believes God saved her by making her lose that job as she became addicted to pain killers as a result of the stress of working in a high-end American law firm. She has a PhD and is putting it to use now in other ways.

If you get the opportunity to leave a bad workplace for a better one, don’t think twice. Unless the new job cannot pay all of your bills. Considering a lifestyle change should ALWAYS be on the table. This is why a low burn rate is important as it gives you the most flexibility. People who can’t leave bad jobs because they can’t afford to do so are in bondage.

[softech @softechZ3]

@jasadot Lol.

[Osaretin Victor Asemota @asemota]

I have been part of major bank acquisitions before and have seen other business consolidations happen, thanks to my family. I have been fascinated with M&As for a long time. My MBA thesis was on Nigerian M&A activity in the 90s.

As a small business owner, I have had merger and acquisition offers for the business we started in the 90s, but neither panned out. One was a genuine offer to merge from someone with an INSEAD MBA who would later raise $200m to buy others like us. The other was from a large corporation that later decided it was cheaper to hire our engineering team from under us.

Both experiences taught me different business lessons about exits. They are not common in Africa because founders are never mentally prepared for them, so they often make mistakes. Many don't survive the mistakes.

An exit has two parts: preparation and execution. The preparation part is largely a mental exercise before processes kick in. I started a business with my friend, and my entire existence was defined by it; an offer out of the blue to merge took me by surprise.

The offer came because we had done some things right. The paralysis happened because I was not prepared at all for this option. This is why I always ask new founders today what they see as the endgame. Every business should have an exit strategy because founders don't live forever. My co-founder Salil died in February. I almost died in June.

While mortality is a good reason to consider exits, most small business owners often dream of continuity within the family, but the chances of that happening are slim to none. I still remember the bales of clothes and drinks my late paternal grandmother left behind after her death and how none of the children became traders. The world changed, and priorities became different.

Africans notoriously do poor estate planning and are even worse at ensuring business continuity. The result of these is viable but stranded assets everywhere. I have a more recent family experience with my late mother-in-law's hospital. It is an asset performing well below its potential that could have benefited from an exit. You can sell a business and not the property it sits on. You can still rent your property to the business.

There are many angles to handle execution from, as exits take so many forms. The most important thing is the willingness to sell and the willingness to buy. We are taking the step to normalize both sides of this with https://t.co/deudTQSxeQ.

By the way, this will not only be about small businesses, but it will also be about ALL types of exits, partial or full. Nothing too small and nothing too big. I never knew how deep and extensive this could be until I started the process, and it almost consumed me with sleepless nights of research, resulting in poor health.

Something I found out in 2017, thanks to Google Launchpad, sowed this seed. Matt Mossman of College Heights, now of Pelion, mentioned that 98% of all exits in Silicon Valley are acquisitions. IPOs are the exception and not the rule. More American millionaires are created from acquisitions than IPOs. This can also happen in Africa.

This will be a marathon and not a sprint. Let's get it on!

[softech @softechZ3]

https://t.co/q285yo9zs3

[Overeducated Gibbon @MostlyMonkey]

A lot of people don't realize that if youre not in sales or management by the time you're 40, you will not have a high-paying job 10 years forward.

[Osaretin Victor Asemota @asemota]

I realized that many of the biggest rewards I hope for today came from the compounding effects of my actions about two decades ago. My most significant investments in my future were made between 2005 and 2018. They were not the years I worked the hardest but worked the smartest and learned. I do a lot less now and learn a lot more.

Success and comfort in life comes from investing time and effort and then letting the rewards compound over time. It is that simple. There is no “big bang” and sudden change in circumstance for 99.99% of people. You work at it and build up your future one day at a time.

Your current happiness is almost always a result of past actions. Your future actions depends on today’s actions and efforts. Progress and happiness are about action and response. We may already be much happier than we were before but don't realize it as we strive for that elusive goal of satisfaction.

You are most likely not going to suddenly become permanently happy. Instant gratification never lasts. You will most certainly not win a lottery better than the genetic one you have already won. You are alive. You may not be as rich as you want but you are most likely richer than others.

It is always important to take stock of our progress and be grateful for many reasons. I told someone recently that our worst days and worst periods are usually the blessings others doing much worse than us will crave for.

You can complain about bills, but the homeless will wish for a home to pay bills in and a job with income that can help them afford it. You complain about unruly kids and high school fees while others are desperately looking for children to call their own.

Time is the most valuable commodity in the universe, being alive means being blessed with time. Life’s value compounds when time is spent on endeavors that bring rewards that compound positively. Wasting it on wishing for what you don't have yet and envying those who have what you admire is unproductive.

Yesterday determines today. Tomorrow is a product of today. Yesterday has already determined most of your future if you don't keep making progress. All your actions today will be accounted for tomorrow.

Carpe diem!

[Ben X @Benn_X1]

The best thing you can do for yourself is to tell yourself the truth.
Don’t try to fake it to make it. Understand who you are. This is the only way you can know your weaknesses and become better.

You don’t need to live a lie and perform for an uninterested audience. The posturing as a thought leader, show off, packaging, etc, won’t take you anywhere.
Sit yourself down and accept who you truly are. This is the only way you can become who you want to be.

[Ben X @Benn_X1]

In tech, the farther away you are from the end user, the better your work-life balance.

[softech @softechZ3]

@Kareemmmubarak 😭

[softech @softechZ3]

I might be wrong but I'm open to listening to alternative views.

[softech @softechZ3]

It's the first time in the last 12years that l've barely been able to sit through 45mins of a World Cup campaign. I'm guessing the games being played at midnight hasn't helped, but I think football isn't just as exciting and interesting as it used to be.

[Osaretin Victor Asemota @asemota]

This is not really an insult but the truth. Being in one place will doom you. This is why I laugh when people criticize migration, especially the "go beck" clowns. A moving man/woman finds their luck. A genius at rest is worse than an idiot.

[softech @softechZ3]

@lanreadelowo There’s been lots of alternative energy products these days, it’s a huge market I think

[softech @softechZ3]

@hackSultan @asemota 🙏

[Osaretin Victor Asemota @asemota]

The VC fraud said this first. Others are still repeating the trope.

Ray Kroc, who created the current McDonald's, said:

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful individuals with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

The only true test in life is perseverance and satisfaction from the result. Success can also be largely due to luck, which fools people into believing they are more intelligent. The cemeteries are full of unfulfilled intelligent people.

[softech @softechZ3]

@hackSultan https://t.co/kZZpCvRDPW

[Osaretin Victor Asemota @asemota]

So many things we do in Africa in the name of helping to alleviate poverty are useless to poor people. All poorer people need is for the odds against them to change. The odds against them are sometimes created by those who claim to be helping them, particularly the government.

[softech @softechZ3]

@hackSultan “So many things we do in Africa in the name of helping to alleviate poverty are useless to poor people.”

~ Big Chief

It’s funny how big Chief actually tagged you on that thread over a year ago

[Osaretin Victor Asemota @asemota]

"If there is one lesson I have learned throughout my journey, it is that success is rarely determined by who starts first or even who starts strongest. More often, it is determined by who remains committed long enough to see their vision become reality."

Ray Kroc, the "founder" of McDonald's as we know it today, said this - "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated failures.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."

That quote alone inspired me to pursue entrepreneurship.

[Ben X @Benn_X1]

My final take on this olodo uprising topic is that most of the Nigerians who had their big break in the last 10 years don’t seem to understand, in fact, they can’t relate to how things have changed for the 16 year old fresh out of secondary school or the university graduate going into today‘s labour market in Nigeria.

It is sad that an entire generation of young Nigerians have turned to creating social media content and doing all sort of ridiculous things online for money. There are 30-year-olds without any professional experience. They’re smart and have been applying for jobs since they graduated from university. For many of them, NYSC has been their only 'employer'.
Social media monetisation presents a legitimate lifeline, but Ycee sat in an air-conditioned room to talk about Olodo Uprising after releasing a new album in which he sang about breast and nyash.

These young Nigerians will repay the loans FGN has been accumulating. They’ll be left with no skills, no professional experience, absolutely nothing, but will repay the loans anyway. They’ll be taxed to death and have no pension or retirement benefits.
Your idea of decorum and intellectual content is the least of their problems.

Let the poor breathe!