Sys Nica

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

The world belongs to thinkers – regardless of their spiritual status

By Lolu Elegbe

Steve Jobs – Apple. Jack Ma – Alibaba. Elon Musk – Tesla. Bill Gates – Microsoft. Brian Chesky & Joe Gebbia – Airbnb. Mark Zuckerberg – Facebook. Jeff Bezos – Amazon. Garrett Camp & Travis Kalanick – Uber.

What do these people have in common? Through their dedication to technological innovation and advancement – and sheer force of will, they’ve created products and services that have literally changed the world we live in.

I always ask certain questions whenever I get into debates about technological advancement. Why wasn’t the Iphone invented 3000 years ago? Most of the components needed to make it are as old as the earth itself – so why did it fall to Steve Jobs in 2007 to do that? Why weren’t cars, airplanes, computers, etc, invented sooner? Why weren’t they invented by say Adam & Eve or Solomon or Paul or even the great inventors of old like Leonardo da Vinci? If we believe that God is all knowing, then it stands to reason that He knew these inventions would come in the future even before He created Man. So why didn’t He just give them to the first man and woman or the ones that followed shortly after?

The answer I believe is a simple one – God expects us to seek knowledge and understanding. Imagine the technological advances that have taken place in the past fifty years and how primitive the world back then now seems. Now imagine the advances in the next fifty years and how primitive our generation will seem to the generation of that time. This I believe is God’s design for the world – the creative process. Each generation learns from the success and most importantly, the failures of the preceding one, thus having a more advanced starting point to create needed products and services. Now here’s where it gets interesting – contrary to what is taught today, the pre-requisite for all this isn’t salvation! Salvation is about reconciling man to God – that does not absolve a Christian of the creative process. Instead the prerequisite is the ability to think and do – think through an idea and execute it. Thinking and executing have nothing to do with your religious beliefs. If an atheist can think and do, he would have put himself in a position to follow God’s design and will thus be favoured. An example of an atheist who is also very successful? Richard Branson, billionaire founder of the Virgin Group.

Take the people I mentioned above. I’ve read books on all of them and their companies and I can say for a fact that the most important thing they have in common, is an unshakeable belief in the power of their ideas. This belief meant that when they started out, no matter how many hoops they had to jump through, how many setbacks they faced, how many times they had doors shut in their faces, they kept going.

For example, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, the founders of Airbnb, went through so many setbacks that even seasoned start-up experts couldn’t understand why they kept going. Almost no one was interested in “their crazy idea to monetize your spare room when you’re out” (as one investor put it). They built the site but required serious funding to take it to the next level. They tried all sorts of gimmicks including selling cereal boxes with “O”s and “M”s representing Obama and McCain in 2008. Sounds ridiculous, but that particular ridiculous gimmick was what finally opened the doors for them after years of fruitless toiling! A friend set up a meeting for them with a venture capitalist, who was looking for tech start-ups to join a mentoring/training and potential investment programme (Y Combinator). The venture guy, unsurprisingly, didn’t like the idea – specifically, he thought it was too crazy to succeed – so he declined. But as they were leaving his office, he noticed one of the cereal boxes and asked for the story behind it. Once he heard the cereal box story, he suddenly became impressed – not by the idea (which he still thought was ridiculous), but by their cereal box story , which showed him their level of determination and refusal to give up.

He immediately recommended them to the program and also recommended them to a major investor who wasn’t looking for the best idea but the one(s) most likely to stick it out through the rough and tumble of life as a start-up. About a year later, they secured funding of $7.2 million – the rest as they say, is history. Today, Airbnb is worth $30 billion – making its dogged founders billionaires.

The entrepreneurs that have changed the world, started out with similar stories of ideas most people thought were too crazy to succeed. Jeff Bezos left a job with a six figure salary on Wall Street to start Amazon in 1994, a company founded on the idea of being a one-stop for online shopping – but he decided to start with books and then gradually move into other products. When he approached his parents to invest in the company, his dad said, “what do you mean you’re resigning to sell books on the internet?” Remember that this was 1994 – the internet wasn’t what it is today, so his parents didn’t see how his idea made any sense. But his dad relented and said, “We’ll invest – not because we believe in the idea, but because we believe in you”. Today Amazon is worth about $430 Billion, making Jeff Bezos the world’s richest man with a net worth of $110 Billion. By the way, his parents are also now billionaires through that seed investment they made in 1994!

There’s a saying that fortune favours the brave. What that really means is that God favours the thinkers and those who put in the work to execute ideas. It’s got absolutely nothing to do with spirituality (or lack of it). And it’s got nothing to do with giving or tithing or first fruits. I hear all the time that Bill Gates is a billionaire because of his giving – he’s given away a total of $28 Billion. Even a simple fact-check will show that Bill Gates (and almost all the other billionaires) became givers AFTER they became wealthy. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with giving – of course we should all give. But let’s stop spreading this idea that giving was what made these people the fortunes they did. Jeff Bezos isn’t exactly known for giving – he sent out a tweet sometime last year, asking for philanthropy suggestions. This wasn’t just after he became a billionaire, this was AFTER he became the world’s richest man! So I fail to see the logic when I hear that these guys became billionaires because of their giving.

They found favour with God, despite not being spiritual or religious. Why? Because they put themselves at the centre of God’s design for this world. Innovation, development and advancement, brought about by thinking and doing – that’s the design of this world and those that key into that are the ones who change the world, regardless of spiritual status.

PS: Could I recommend 2 books…both by Brad Stone.

1. The Everything Store – Jeff Bezos and the age of Amazon.

2. The Upstarts: How Uber, Airbnb and the killer companies of the new Silicon Valley are changing the world.

• Lolu is a management consultant, with over 10 years experience managing large IT and Business Change projects across multiple UK & European industries including financial services, telecoms, pharmaceuticals, etc. Following his training as a lawyer in Moscow, Russia where he received his LLB, he worked on a number of criminal and immigration cases in London, before switching to the consulting industry. Over the past year, he has worked as Country Director for a technology start-up, as part of an exclusive partnership with Microsoft. He is a prolific writer and has written several well received articles. He is also a published author of “Through My Eyes – A foreign view of the 2008 US Presidential Election”

5 Solutions to Help You Get Out of a Financial Rut

Have you ever been in a financial rut, where you feel like you can’t get ahead? Do you feel like your financial systems aren’t working? Well, you’re not alone.

Many of us find ourselves in a financial rut from time to time. It’s easy to get stuck, especially after complacency sets in. Old systems may no longer work for your current reality.

If you’re feeling stuck and looking for a way out of your financial rut, try these 5 tips.

1. Go On a Cash Detox

To completely overhaul your finances, go on a cash detox. For at least three months, put away the plastic and say no to credit cards.

While credit cards are convenient and nice for accruing rewards, they have a way of enticing you to spend more money. Parting with hard-earned cash has been proven to be more difficult — it’s also easier to track when you’re about to run out of cash.

Start by employing the envelope budgeting system, popularized by finance guru Dave Ramsey. List out your expenses and understanding how much you typically spend. Create an envelope for housing, groceries, transportation, etc. and fill the envelopes with the desired amount of cash.

Let’s say you allot $200 for groceries for a month. You’d withdraw $200 in cash from your bank account and deposit it into the envelope. Throughout the month, use the cash from this envelope to buy groceries. Once the cash is gone, it’s gone. This method can help you spend within your means and lessen the dependence on credit cards.

Credit cards can be addictive, so if you’re looking for a fresh start, a cash detox is the way to go. It will make you hyper aware of where you are spending your money and how often you are parting with it. If you have no money left in the envelopes by the 15th, you know you’re spending much more than you should.

2. Cut Out One Expense for a Month

Being in a financial rut can often arise from the status quo. Things have gotten stale and there’s a lack of progress. So if you want to jolt your finances and boost your savings, commit to cut out one recurring expense for a month.

Do you like to go out for daily coffees? Or go out to eat three times a week? Pick one expense and commit to cutting it for 30 days. This exercise will help in two ways: one, it will help you realize that you don’t need those extra expenses (even as hard as it may be), and secondly, you will save a ton of money.

From the money you save, put that extra money to debt or savings. If you feel inspired, challenge yourself once-a-month to cut out, or significantly cut back on, one expense.

3. Focus on Making More Money

Cutting back can be a great way to save money and get out of a financial rut. Unfortunately though, there are only so many areas you can cut back on, before you’ve reached your bare bones, necessities-only budget.

On the other side of the coin though is earning more. I personally believe that making money feels more empowering and can inspire action. Whenever I feel like I’m in a financial rut, I start looking for ways to make more money.

I’ve worked as a babysitter, pet sitter, house cleaner, writer, editor, and so much more. I like working extra gigs to help fund my debt payments and I always end up learning more or acquiring a new working relationship.

4. Figure Out Your Problem Areas

If you’re really feeling stuck, it’s imperative you figure out the problem areas and what exactly is causing this rut. Is it a stunted savings rate? A lack of income growth? A reliance on credit? Whatever the case may be, write down your problem areas and come up with a proposed solution.

The point is to try something different than what you’ve already been doing. A rut often occurs after we try the same thing, with little change in results.

Start going about things differently, in both the ways you save and spend. Consider automating your savings for maximum impact, and creating positive money habits like checking your account balances daily.

5. Start Dreaming (Big)

Being in a financial rut can feel frustrating and isolating — like you’re going around in circles. While following the above steps of cutting back, earning more, and changing your systems, will help you get out of a rut, it’s also important that you don’t stop dreaming.

Dream of what you want out of life — what you really want, not what your parents want, the Joneses want, etc. What you want! Maybe you want a house on a hill, or the opportunity to sail the Caribbean. Perhaps you long for days of working for yourself and not being chained to a desk.

Whatever your dream is, hold it close and start thinking about how you will get there. It may seem intimidating at first, but with every big action, there are small steps.

Create a map of small actions you can take every day to get you closer to your dreams. Don’t get sucked into the day-to-day needs that can blind you from your dreams, but stay focused. Dreaming big can help keep your priorities straight and remind you of the big picture.

These tips will help you get out of a financial rut and make the necessary changes to live the life you want.

10 Steps to a Tech Career

"Where do I start?" That's an obvious question when you're considering a technology career. Should you get a technical certification? Learn a programming language? You'll hear a seemingly endless variety of answers, largely because the technology field is so vast, with numerous career paths ranging from database administrator to network engineer.

For those just starting to consider a technology career, it's best to avoid the temptation to jump into a potentially expensive, time-intensive training program unless you know it's the right program and career path for you. Instead, explore the field by picking and choosing from this list of 10 mix-and-match steps to get a sense of the technology job world and what you're likely to find fulfilling.

Attend an Industry Organization Meeting

Techies working in the industry's trenches can provide lots of guidance to those just getting started. They can also serve as mentors to assist you as you embark on a tech career. Where can you find these mentors? At industry groups, many of them with college chapters and mentoring programs. Be up front with your need for advice, and ask lots of questions.