7 DAYS

The other side of life

Frankly, life is hard for some people. It can be really hard. If you are well educated about the contrasts between people's experiences, you'd appreciate and pardon some people. Some people are going through really terrible things in life.Sometimes, I'll tell people that they will need a laptop for the skills they want to learn. Months go by, and they still don't have a computer. Not because they do not want one, but because they can't afford it. Life is not too decent with them, financially. Some people are hungry. They don't get to enjoy the luxury of three-square meals like you do. And there is nothing wrong with them, it's just the circumstances of life they are faced with. Morgan Housel once said, "You'd be mistaken if you assume people are rich because of their hard work, and others are poor because of their laziness." Most people are incredibly hardworking. And intelligent. And they make efforts to become more, but eventually, life isn't so candid with them.The point is that when you become well-versed in observing life and human experiences, you become more tolerant of some people. SOME people. You'd need a higher level of empathy and sophistication to reach that level. But, it's possible.

9 DAYS

Stage Hysteria and Juxtaposition

You might know him as just Elvis. Elvis Presley was the sensational "King of Rock and Roll" of the 1950s. Some said Elvis commanded an electrifying response from his fans, most of whom were young women who, sort of, worshipped him. He had these funny dance moves with his waist that were characteristic of his style. (Well, it's conventional for most star actors to have their definitive style, whether in the arts, sports, or business.)But for Elvis, it was different. The way these fans scream and the atmosphere his presence creates for them is worth being studied. Some say that his work represented a new kind of rebellious music that resonated with the younger generation of his time; they also attribute the reactions to his good looks, stage presence, and moves that were sexually provocative. But, my point is the response. This could not exactly be compared to the responses of the conventional artists of today. The only comparison will be the likes of The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Bob Marley etc. These people represented something much more than what their professional roles were. They allowed people to find their tribe; they allowed people to use their work as a medium to express and exude deeply seated spiritual and congregational concerns and pursuit for freedom. They allowed people to have hope and contribute to a rebellion they found purposeful.I must confess that these people might not have understood the role they were playing for humanity: to be a medium of human expression. To create work that tells a unique story people would love to identify with. It's a powerful position to be in, and it comes with a mishmash of feelings that need to be handled with a careful hand. Some of these men allowed this role they played to unconsciously sway them into uncontrollable delectations and irrational satisfactions of the same.And I must say this is not just about the arts. In business also, we have seen these responses. Men like Steve Jobs have a unique charm and charisma in their work that they command a cult-like following. Some of them let it get to their head. And down they fell. There's a quote that says, (and I am paraphrasing), "It takes more than intelligence to hold the brimming cup of success." And truly, it does.With the work that you do, if you are uncommonly charismatic and inspirational, few people will enable your work as a plaque for some monumental cause. (Maybe even the majority.) But, don't let it create an ambience of a subtle aura of pride and irrationality. References: Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley Official website | Girls screaming - Bygonely.com by Heather Brown

7 DAYS

Dilemma - Part 1

When some people ask me what Netintui is, they really want to know how Netintui is going to make money. What is the commodity that it sells, and why will people be interested in buying that item? These are legitimate concerns, but in my opinion, they are the wrong questions.When intelligent people ask questions, they ask on a deeper level. When common people ask questions, they inquire about noticeable graphs and balance sheets—something tangible for them, like a battery percentage. This is how our world works; we sometimes have to live with that. (I have to live with that.) Yet, when you are building something where the results of what you are building and the progress you're making have no obvious battery percentage, people become confused and ask strange questions.It's not people's fault. They can't see beyond certain realities. And that's why advertising exists. Mass marketing aims to simplify the most complex and unrealistic results of certain products and projects so that the hoi polloi can understand. Sometimes, this leads to over-simplifications, making the proposition an utter lie compared to what the product actually is. But people don't care! They just want you to give them a promise of what the product or project stands to bring.In the case of Netintui, I will relate it to the Wright brothers building an aeroplane. Now, that was the media's oversimplification of what they were building. I know that because the Wright brothers did not say to themselves that they were building an aeroplane. They didn't even know what an aeroplane was. They didn't know what it could become. They didn't envision what diverse use cases humanity would apply aeroplanes to. They didn't! They only understood that they needed to discover how to make a flying object. They needed to discover the underlying aerodynamic principles by which flight could happen. And when they finally did, humanity progressed their discovery to the complexities we have today.Starting out building products for an industry and a market that people understand is a simple endeavour. It's like starting a company that sells shoes. It's understandable to regular people because there is a paradigm to explain that it exists. People will only require you to explain why they should buy your shoes and not others. And I think that's what people are trying to rationalize with Netintui Notes. They keep asking why they should use Notes when Medium, Substack, Tumblr etc., exist. I think it's like asking the Wright brothers why humanity would need a flying object (or aeroplane) when it already had hot-air balloons. Of course, they couldn't see the possibilities. And that was fine.So for me, it's totally fine. I get the skepticism: What is this? How is it different? What's its differentiation? What about its value proposition? And all that. People are trying to understand tomorrow's realities with today's experiences. It's not that simple. Those questions were only invented for today's product development principles. Taking them to be the Bible for explaining future narratives of creating tools for humanity will be unintelligent. Man creates trends. And trends evolve because man's behaviours with one another likewise evolve. To objectify the principles used to explain a trend will, again, be unintelligent.So, here's my advice: If you can't contribute to the vision, just sit and watch. (And also beta test.)

22 DAYS

Marketing Strategy (II)

The creator economy in text, photo, audio, and video content is growing quickly, with more people eager to share their stories. However, starting out, building a presence, and earning income can be challenging and time-consuming. Our goal is to make it easier for individuals to create and distribute simple, high-quality content and establish themselves, creating something valuable and monetizable. We've discovered that people value quality, convenience, and self-expression in both creating and consuming content. They want easy ways to express themselves, discover content they might like, and have control over how others might impact their experience; thus, a few new-entrant content creators prefer options for simplicity, personalisation, choice, control, and privacy. The media platform industry shapes our stories and perspectives, so providing a platform where people can create and share their unique narratives is essential. Our approach is Notes, a microblogging platform that focuses on simplicity in creating and distributing content. Its key feature is educating and enabling users to create simple, distributable 7-paragraph articles, categorized into collections, with a choice of privacy and control.

22 DAYS

Marketing Strategy (I)

We believe that marketing is about values. The world is noisier than ever in the last few decades. And if we want to bring together a community of creative people, we shouldn’t talk so much about what we do and how we’re 6 steps ahead of the competition. We have to talk about our identity. We have to talk about what we stand for, at the core; we have to talk about what our vision for Netintui is. This is our strategy to get our word out, not to the world, at first, but to the ones who will listen to us.We believe that when we launch our first brand marketing campaign, it’ll liberate our innovators to stand and say, "We also believe that. So how do we get started?" It’ll teach Nigerians about what they are currently losing and in my opinion, it's hope. We call this strategy, Identity. We’ll have to remind everybody through this marketing about the ones who stood for something they truly believed in and they fought hard to "found" things that have -till today- revolutionised our lives for the better. And we have to show that we’re thankful and will lead on the legacy. The strategy: Identity, we believe, will change the narrative of the production weakness in Nigeria.

2 MONTHS

This Song Makes Me Cry

Almost every time I listen to this song, it makes me cry. I don't seem to know why. But, I think it's what the song makes me remember. The other thing is the current emotional challenges I am facing: working as hard and as often as I do on Netintui is taking a real toll on me emotionally, physically, and spiritually.I know you want to know the song and probably find it online. The song is by The Secret Place and it's titled Morning Light. Here's the cover below.I meditate with it. I read the Scriptures with it. And it also makes me cry when I do the latter. (That's a whole new level of experience.) But, like my mentor Jim Rohn said, "Let life touch you." I think I'm being vulnerable for life to reveal itself to me. To cry is a remarkable experience, if it's not for a sad purpose. Having a heart that's malleable to experience and relate with life's various happenings is a gift every human should offer themselves.Learn to cry, to laugh out loud, to feel pain. Learn to let sad things make you sad and happy things make you happy. You don't have to experience them first-hand before you experience the emotions. Be able to relate, regardless. I love what the Bible says about Jesus. It says Jesus is able to relate to our infirmities; he's able to relate to our pain, our suffering, our lack, and our hurt. That's powerful! Jesus is able to relate to the loss of a loved one, loneliness, poverty, lack, sadness, pain, sin, rejection, whatever it is. That's POWERFUL! You have to be really skilful to become that competent to relate to other people's difficulties, without really experiencing them first-hand.You know, when you can relate with others, you can better communicate. You can better empathize with others. I love that. That's powerful.Another honourable mention is I Exhault Three - Instrumental by Rivers and Robots. Great work.

2 MONTHS

Believing

I think I can believe for it. For the impossible. With my heart, my hands, and my head, I think I can take actions that reflect the things that I believe.It could be difficult but, I've had a lot of difficults in the life to be fully experienced to not be afraid of it.It could be lonely. Come on, I'm having my fair share of lonely.The results could be uncertain. Well, that's why we are believing. It's beyond our power; it's a metric we cannot control; and that's why we sustain our faith.

2 MONTHS

Shazam hits 100 billion song recognitions

Shazam has reached a milestone of 100 billion song recognitions since its launch. This achievement highlights the app's popularity and its role in music discovery. Shazam started in 2002 as an SMS service in the UK and has evolved significantly, especially after joining the Apple family in 2018. Recent innovations include Music Recognition on iOS and macOS, and integration with the Action button on iPhone and Apple Watch. Shazam continues to connect over 300 million monthly active users with their favourite artists, according to the press release post on Apple's Newsroom website.You should know Shazam, not the superhero, well, you can also call Shazam a superhero: your music discovery superhero. It listens to a part of a song that's playing and searches online to tell you the song. For the most part, it works like magic!It's amazing to see that it has reached a hundred billion song recognitions. Wow! What a milestone. It even fascinates me to know that they have been keeping count of every discovery. That's some data diligence.(Insights and photos: Apple Newsroom)

Notes

Joshua Francis

The other side of life

Stage Hysteria and Juxtaposition

Dilemma - Part 1

Marketing Strategy (II)

Marketing Strategy (I)

This Song Makes Me Cry

Believing

Shazam hits 100 billion song recognitions