Chemistry, Building Trust & Creating Opportunity
Chemistry in many ways reflects my view of working with teams, building products that matter, and doing business with purpose.
(Cover photo by CDC on Unsplash)
Over the last few months, I have been in a bit of a research and discovery mode, understanding various domains and figuring out what (big) problems I should work on for my next (vocational) phase. I’m now doing this under what we are calling a product R&D studio – alba.one - alongside an old friend, who has loads of technical and business knowledge. This dawn (alba is ‘dawn’ in Spanish) for us is a new way of working, with trust as a key value, bringing together people and building products that matter, and that tackle worthwhile problems. We love tech, and are exploring old and new tech ( like hashgraph and blockchain) with this in mind.
Vocationally, my last few years has been about connecting people, building communities, first helping convene tech community meet-ups (skunkworks-ke and others), supporting a few projects such as wazua.co.ke, while working in the telco corporate world, then as part of the team at iHub until last year. I have been part of an amazing team with the iHub since joining full time in 2013, and it has been quite the experience with lots of ups and downs, as well as great personal growth. I’ve certainly learnt that one cannot build anything worthwhile alone – you need a great team!
I’ve loved tech since my first interaction with a computer in my teens, and I also enjoy bringing people and ideas together. I want my next phase still be about bringing together people and organizations, but now focused on building tech products and businesses that have lasting value and legacy - that create opportunity and build trust.
Chemistry
So where does Chemistry fit in here?
Part of this process of 'figuring out my life', as I have previously described it to some people, has involved lots of prayer and reflection, as well as getting feedback from close friends and trusted advisors. It is during this process that I came up with this application of high school chemistry almost by accident. (It does however help to be married to a trained biochemist!).
This chemistry analogy in many ways reflects my view of working with teams, building products that matter, and doing business with purpose. Mixing an acid and a base can be quite explosive, and useful (think NaCl).
I’m searching for chemistry in all that I do, and looking to create opportunity.