Startup Kenya

The CL Series is a series of blog posts about my journey to attain the Competent Leader award in Toastmasters. Visit http://startupkenya.blogspot.com/2014/08/becoming-competent-leader.html to learn more about why I started this journey. Management consultants love using tools and techniques in undertaking assignments. A well outlined and well thought out "Approach and Methodology" section can give you the edge you need when your proposal is being compared to the next guy. I trained to become a management consultant, and I thought that while desire and commitment in achieving my Competent Leader (CL) goals were admirable; a good plan with milestones and resources needed were essential to ensure that I pulled it off. The Toastmaster year run from July 1 to June 30. If I was to get the CL award (and contribute towards my club's success plan), I wanted to do it before June 30, 2015. Luckily there were 10 projects in the CL manual, so I could easily plan for 1 pro

"If you want to know if you're a leader, look behind you and see if you have followers". I read that quote yesterday while browsing through articles on my LinkedIn home page. I can't remember who it was attributed to and don't remember much of the article but that quote stuck. It's a great quote: simple, catchy and easy to apply. But is it true? What makes someone a leader, and better yet how can you evaluate not just whether you're a leader but a good leader? Throughout history we've had all types of leaders - some who've led their countrymen to slaughter innocent thousands; others who got their followers to commit mass suicide; while still others milked their followers dry for personal financial gain. How do I ensure that I am a good and competent leader? Personally I have struggled with this question. As I get older, get assigned more responsibility, and have more people dependent on me to lead them - I need to ensure that I not only l

There is a new player emerging on the cultural and business scene today: the idea entrepreneur. Perhaps you are one yourself — or would like to be. The idea entrepreneur is an individual, usually a content expert and often a maverick, whose main goal is to influence how other people think and behave in relation to their cherished topic. These people don't seek power over others and they're not motivated by the prospect of achieving great wealth. Their goal is to make a difference, to change the world in some way. Idea entrepreneurs are popping up everywhere.Research into this phenomenon has produced interesting results at how many different kinds of people aspire to be idea entrepreneurs. From librarians, salespeople, educators, thirteen-year-old kids, marketers, technologists to consultants, business leaders, social entrepreneurs — all over Kenya — who have an idea, want to go public with it, and, in some cases, build a sustainable enterprise around it. The ones who succe

Architect John Kithaka began his journey in business immediately after high school at age 18. A small farming venture in his rural Kenyan hometown with US$70 as capital from pocket money his parents gave him, built his foundation in business. Today, at 40, Kithaka is the CEO and founding member of the Fountain Enterprise Programme (FEP) Group of Companies. John Kithaka The group, made up of 18,000 Kenyan shareholders, has made investments in 14 companies worth $18.3 million in the financial, media, hospitality and education sectors. Despite running several successful ventures while in university and immediately after graduation, Kithaka established FEP out of a “burning desire to create a club of tomorrow’s billionaires”. Kithaka draws a lot of inspiration from his profession as an architect, insisting that he never invests in anything until he has laid a solid and unshakeable foundation. He also must have a picture in mind of what the end project will look like and whether

At the heart of any successful business is a great idea. Some seem so simple we wonder why nobody thought of them before. Others are so revolutionary we wonder how anybody could've thought of them at all. But those great ideas don't come on command. And that leaves lots of would-be entrepreneurs asking the same question: How did everybody   else   get inspiration to strike—and how can we work the same magic? To find out, here are a few tips from Guy Kawasaki   ( Author and former chief evangelist of Apple) : Look at What's Bugging You Ideas for startups often begin with a problem that needs to be solved. And they don't usually come while you're sitting around sipping coffee and contemplating life. They tend to reveal themselves while you're hard at work on something else. You're Never Too Young Mark Zuckerberg   with Facebook, —is a success story that leads some people to think that coming up with big ideas is an middle-aged person's game.