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πŸ“’ An Update as of Oct 2021

I am currently focused on: 

 

1) πŸ’ΌπŸ’» Finding opportunities to build and grow products customers love. 

2) πŸ—πŸ“ˆ Building businesses that deliver impact and profit. 

3) πŸ’°πŸ₯‹Backing entrepreneurs by investing capital, leveraging networks and coaching (product, growth and leadership) 

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At The MBA Fund, we invest up to $50,000 in pre-seed and seed stage companies. If you are an entrepreneur raising capital and a student or alumni of Penn, Harvard or Stanford, feel free to reach out!
 

Industries of interest: 

  • future of education & work

  • talent & workforce development

  • productivity

  • developer training & tooling (incl. low / no-code)

  • product & product design

  • passion economy, online creators, & community

  • fintech & e-commerce

  • productivity

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In the last 12 months: 

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1) Product Leader

a) At the African Leadership Group:

- I joined as a Product Manager growing an online developer training program from 100 person cohorts every 6 months to 1,000 person cohorts every 2 months, generating over $2.5 million in revenue.

- I was promoted to Senior Product Manager building our marketplace and platform for connecting talent to job opportunities.

b) Products I currently am obsessed with include:  
Productivity: πŸ“„Notion | 〽️ Miro | βš™οΈ Roam | 🌩 Clover  
Learning: πŸ“š Growth.Design Product Case Studies

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2) Entrepreneur
a) πŸŽ’πŸ‡ΏπŸ‡¦ 1st: I served on the Board for a school network that I cofounded that grew to 350 students Grades K-6. We teach coding and were invited to join the global Scratch Education Collaborative in 2021.
b) πŸ‘©πŸ»‍πŸ’»πŸ‘©πŸΎ‍πŸ’» 2nd: I started building a community and 6 week experience to empower experienced software engineers to get to the next career level, whether as a lead or manager.

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3) Investor 

  • Helped recommend a fintech company (Hopscotch) founder for an opportunity to find a technical cofounder (βœ… an MBA Fund investment) 

  • Helped The MBA Fund source and diligence:

  • Boost Technology, a fintech & ecommerce company founded by a 2x fintech founder building the Shopify for Africa's informal retail entrepreneurs 

    • 🌱 ​currently raising a seed round (as of Oct 2021)

    • ❌ not an MBA Fund investment

  • FlutterFlow (YC W21), a tool for making building apps a breeze

    • βœ… an MBA Fund investment 

  • Financial Choice (YC S21), a fintech company that gives consumers the power to invest their checking account funds for market returns while retaining instant cash access

    • βœ… an MBA Fund investment

  • HiHome, a real estate tech company (backed by among other Global Founders Capital, Bain Ventures and General Catalyst)

    • ❌ not an MBA Fund investment β€‹

  • Teamble, an HR tech company giving teams super powers to grow professionally through feedback and continuous development 

    • ❌ not an MBA Fund investment

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[ARCHIVED]🧒 My Recap for 2020

Some milestones in 2020 that brought me the most pride and joy: 

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πŸ’Ό I started working with the African Leadership Group.

🏫  I transitioned from CEO to Board member at Streetlight Schools. 

🌱 I began seed investing w The MBA Fund in Penn, Harvard, Stanford students & alumni. 

πŸ“ I published 20,000+ words across 14 Medium posts, becoming a top writer in Innovation. 

πŸŽ“ I started at Wharton for my MBA and completed the fall semester virtually from Johannesburg. (I also started a leave of absence shortly thereafter.) 
πŸ’ͺ🏼 Inspired by Kumail Nanjiani's transformation, I ate over 300 chicken breasts, added 6.5 lbs of muscle mass and maxed squats at 220 lbs.

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I also:

🏒 helped start two companies.

πŸ‘¨πŸ»‍🏫 ran an education unconference.

πŸ’‘ conceptualized an Education Venture Studio.

πŸ‘¨πŸ»‍πŸ’» explored the online course and broader edtech landscape.

✍🏼 undertook weekly reflections Mar-Sep (reverting to biweekly Oct-Dec). 

Some of my top hits on Medium:

  1. πŸ“© a letter to my past self reflecting on 2019 for Streetlight  

  2. πŸ‘οΈ my vision for learning design 

  3. πŸš— the wild west of ride sharing 

  4. πŸ“ƒ an open letter to Marc Andreessen 

  5. 🌍 emerging global opportunities for entrepreneurs 

  6. 🎯 living a life of purpose 

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Some of my top hits on Twitter:

  1. πŸ”¨ tools for investor updates 

  2. πŸ’» powerful learning experiences 

  3. πŸ“° hard won insights and lessons for building your newsletter 

  4. πŸ“š my favorite books / articles for ideas and the early stage of businesses 

  5. πŸ’¬ how to compose tweets that get traction 

Updated 30 June 2020

πŸ“· cred: Lita

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[ARCHIVED] What I'm exploring & working on now 2020

1. Leading Streetlight Schools

2. Conceptualizing an  education institution to scale learning experienecs and outlive my life

3. Organized and produced🌍🌎🌏 Global Edu Unconference vol. 1 on 30 May 2020 with 30 attendees from Hong Kong to San Francisco to Johannesburg to Atlanta to London to New York to Mochudi (Botswana)

4. Building, testing, iterating various education and startup ideas, including courses / communities / experiences for people in transitionary phases looking to unlock personal growth, MBAs, and seasoned education leaders

(a testimonial from one pilot below)

5. A new vision for transformational learning design & experiences

6. Connecting with and assisting entrepreneurs by serving as

a) a mentor at Startup Weekend UK, b) a judge at Milken PennGSE Edu Biz Plan Competition, and
c) education lead for BlockCOVID's Virtual Innovation Camp

d) joining Be On Deck's 4th Cohort

7. A post on Emerging Communities For Entrepreneurs Globally (and spaces to monitor for dealflow for angel investors and seed funds)

8. A letter I wrote to Marc Andreessen titled It's Time (To Empower People) To Build

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