5 startup ideas to disrupt Africa

The word ‘disrupt’ is one tech entrepreneurs have gotten used to and find it so easy to throw out every now and then that it has become quite difficult to know what startup ventures will really disrupt industries.

Perhaps the most convincing definition of a disruptive idea is one by Clayton M. Christen, where it is more about making a product or service more accessible and affordable to a larger market.

That said, I have come up with six startup ideas that, ceteris paribus, will disrupt Africa. I am sharing five of them in this article as I’m currently working on the last one – Travel Bay, to launch soon. So let’s get started.

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5 Reasons Why Every Startup Founder Should Blog

Content marketing is increasingly becoming core of any Sales, PR, and Marketing strategy, and if you roll in the cycle of digital marketing pros and enthusiast, ‘storytelling’ is one buzzword that trended in 2014 – a fairly ‘new’ way of engaging with prospective and current customers in other to generate leads and make sales respectively.

Mirror this to a startup and it becomes evident that blogging which happens to be the go-to place or better yet warehouse for any content to be used for marketing purposes – driven on to social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, et al – is one not to be taken for granted.

So why should startup founders get on the blogging train with the likes of Jason Njoku of IrokoTV, Mark Essien ofHotels.ng, and Iyin Aboyeji of Andela?

Here’s what I’m doing instead of daily quotes for 2015

No more daily quotes from me this year. I’ve decided to go with weekly videos in 2015. So that’s 52 videos on tips, lessons, and packets of knowledge gained in business, personal development, as well as investment opportunities.

See the Week 0 of 52 and intro video below

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5 startup lessons from an entrepreneur’s interview

For Context: TechCabal had an interview with Kola Oyeneyin, founder of Autogenius — a startup looking to disrupt the insurance industry in Nigeria. Having read the interview I culled up 5 valuable lessons for entrepreneurs who aspire to launch game-changing startups. The original interview of Autogenius is here.

1. Good idea that sounds like a bad idea

Peter Thiel was in Dublin recently for the Web Summit and after seeing him talk (along side 3 teen entrepreneurs from his foundation) I started to get a better grasp at his rant on ‘good ideas that sound like bad ideas’ and how these are ideas that eventually disrupt or carry attributes of true innovation. Ben Horowitz jumped on the bandwagon and this video of his does shed good light on the topic.

I realized that Insurance worked. I had tasted the value of insurance and I loved it.

I’d like to think Autogenius is one of such type of ideas especially since you can draw a parallels with the beginning of Airbnb as both Founders have secrets, in this case it is Kola Oyeneyin’s personal experience with insurance.

Beijing Memoirs – moments, memories, and happenings from my trip to China

12 hours later and it’s touch down Beijing in the company of a pumped Enactus UCD team from Dublin. We had been crowned champions of Ireland a couple of months and were now to present the award winning project — Generation Accommodation on a world stage.

I have tried to capture moments, memories, and happenings in little packetsand themes as shown below. Enjoy.

On Travel

Missing Luggage. Extra Yuan

I had arrived the Dublin airport with two bags — both able to fit in the cabin and weighing under 10KG each. After debating with myself I checked-in the bigger bag only to arrive Beijing and no bag on the belt. Arrrgh, I should have just taken the bag on board, after all other people’s hand luggage are…

This thought was interrupted when the airport official handed me a British Airway Visa debit card and a 400 Yuan compensation — a silver lining you could say as I was reunited with my bag 24 hours later.

Key lessons: Travel is a [higher] form of education. The journey is of more value than the destination; and nothing comes of panicking, so relax.

5 Takeaways from TEDxDublin

Thanks to my friend, James McBennett, I was able to secure last minute tickets to the sold out TEDxDublin 2014 that took place at the Bordais Gas Theater. It was an amazing venue and kudos to the organizing team for creating such an interactive environment.

At @TEDxDublin with @mcbennett pic.twitter.com/1k2Zp3Bz4D

— Nubi Kay’ (@NubiKay) September 13, 2014

However, the most remarkable part of the event was the people, especially those that took center stage to touch on our ever changing landscape. Here are 5 takeaways from folks that rocked the stage.

What’s on your playlist? How I make music part of my everyday living

“Braaaaaanngh! Your alarm goes off, and you spring out of bed, into the shower, off down the stairs, trying to knot your tie and fix a cup of coffee at the same time. Oh! The toast is over baked, but then you think to yourself – “Lunch at (school, work) would be better”, and with that thought you run out to catch the bus down the street.

Tic-Tac-Tuc. The day flows so normally, just like any Tuesday would; and even without looking at the time, you get off the chair and head for the cafeteria. It is 12.15pm – Lunch time! Then follows the usual sounds: people chatting and chewing; metal cutlery clicking on ceramic plates; and the occasional door slamming.

The rest of the day drains away with sounds like: humming from the photocopy machine; (more) clicking sound of the office stapler; zooming sound of the cars passing by; not forgetting the frequent shouts from Mr. Tom – he sure has a temper. So one is grateful to be out of the building and back to “home-sweet-home”.

The Social Chef

My name is Nubi Kay’ and I’m a foodie.

It’s pretty rare to watch interesting movies that have glaring lessons for small businesses and brands but this was not the case with the movie — Chef.

I’d recommend every business owner, marketing department, and aspiring start-up founders to watch the movie as soon as possible. In the meantime, here are 5 social media takeaways:

How to get your $5 social media plan

Came across any awesome web service, Fiverr, and saw it an opportunity to help startup brands and business with their social media plan.

With a good number of inquiries been made especially on clarification on a pro bono deal that seems too good to be true, I have decided to make it clear and simple for you to opt-in.