Dear Reader,
I mentioned in the 2023 review article that this year I’ll share a curated newsletter of the articles, books and resources I’ve read in the past week. Here goes. Enjoy😊.
Nero’s Pick: I’ve just finished reading 12 Notes on Life and Creativity by Quincy Jones; a book by the legendary record producer, songwriter and composer who worked with the greats such as Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, and Michael Jackson. With a career over 70 years, 28 Grammy Awards and 80 nominations.
Business
Harvard Business Review – Kodak’s Downfall Wasn’t About Technology
This article moves past the basic explanation that Kodak failed and missed the digital camera revolution (even though they invented it) to something more significant. The real opportunity was that in 2001, Kodak acquired a photo sharing site called Ofoto, to get more people to print digital images. Unfortunately, it sold the site to Shutterfly for less than $25m in April 2012. That same month Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion. “Kodak created a digital camera, invested in the technology, and even understood that photos would be shared online. Where they failed was in realizing that online photo sharing was the new business, not just a way to expand the printing business”.
Fast Company - The 6 Pillars of Steve Jobs’ Design Philosophy
Here are six of the design lessons Steve Jobs learned and applied to his products. My two favorite lessons were ‘Craft, Above All’, and ‘Finding simplicity for the future in metaphors from the past’.
I love the explanation of the 2nd lesson here - ‘Jobs realized that for computers to be intuitive, their UI’s had to be based on metaphors’ – “Jobs wanted his products to be simple above all else. But Jobs realized early on that for them to be simple and easy to use, they had to be based on things that people already understood”.
Technology & Product Management
10 Rules for Making Products That Customers Love
Peter Yang has spent over a decade on product management at Meta, Reddit, Twitch and X. He is currently a product lead at Roblox. He also writes a really good newsletter on being a creator. This is an excellent summary on building products customers love. My favorites are: Use empathy to diagnose the problem, know when to hit the brakes and change directions, and make customers part of your team.
You can think of Discord as a slack or skype for gamers. It started off in 2015 and has since grown to be a leading Gaming communication platform. Users can easily start a server and channel (group room), invite friends, and join/leave a live voice or chat session. Despite the already crowded market, Discord has succeeded by creating a 10X better experience for different communities. Through integrations, Discord has grown to be a leading developer platform, with a thriving AI business for its 200m+ users.
Nero - Figma: Why Multiplayer is Hard
Africa
Mozambique – Mozambique eyes Africa's hydropower crown with $80 billion energy overhaul, tapping into Zambezi's power.
The Mozambique government has ambitious plans to add 14,0000 megawatts of hydropower and launch a green hydrogen industry between 2030 -2040. This access to cheap, clean energy would help the nation industrialise sustainably. The plan would leverage the Zambezi River (Africa’s fourth longest) which already operates a 2,075 Megawatts power plant.
Morocco - GOTION High-Tech Team Up to Build Africa’s 1st Electric Car Battery Gigafactory.
The Moroccan government and a Chinese-European electric mobility company GOTIO High-Tech signed a MoU for the establishment of a gigafactory dedicated to producing electric batteries and energy storage systems, the first in Africa. The $6.4 billion project would strengthen Morocco’s automotive industry, creating an estimated 25,000 job opportunities over 10 years.
It’s been impressive to see the Moroccan Government prioritise the automotive industry over the last decade, and grow usurping South Africa as the largest car exporter in Africa. Fun fact: In 2023 Morocco exported $13.9bn in automotive and components, surpassing phosphates as its key export.
Kenya - Airtel Africa to construct a data hub following Nigeria’s project
The telco Airtel Africa is establishing another data centre in Nairobi, after its current one in Nigeria. Completion is expected in mid-2026. This is line with a common trend with African telcos diversifying from their traditional businesses to mobile money and now data services. The goal is to service Africa’s growing digital economy.
Career Development
Jim Collins – Ten Lessons I learned from Peter Drucker – 50th Anniversary Edition of The Effective Executive
Peter Drucker was the father of the modern practice of management, and wrote The Effective Executive, an excellent book on self-management. Jim Collins (author of the famous Built to Last, and Good to Great) provides an excellent review with ten lessons from the Effective Executive.
My three favourite lessons were #1: First, manage thyself, #2: Do what you’re made for, and #5: Prepare better meetings. My takeaway from these were on managing yourself better to be effective, leveraging your strengths, and preparing better meetings for team effectiveness.
Fast Company - If you want breakout success, this is the place to start. Part of the key to getting unstuck is to ditch plan B.
Matt teaches the course “Moving Beyond Direct to Consumer” at Harvard Business School. He also cofounded RSE Ventures, an investment firm for consumer brands. He shares five key insights from his new book: Burn the Boats: Toss Plan B Overboard and Unleash Your Full Potential. My two favourites are: Humans perform better without a safety net, and the principle of compounding applies just as much to your career and personal life as it does to your bank account.
There you have it. If you’re finding this newsletter valuable, consider sharing it with friends, or subscribing if you haven’t already.
You can message me questions or feedback at notesbynero@gmail.com.
Thanks for reading and bye for now.
Nero
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