2023 - The year I stopped playing

I learned. And I learned the hard way. This is why I am trying to decentralize common sense.

As the reality of the end of 2023 hits, it seems I may have underestimated the need to take account of how the year went for me.

In summary, I think it went very well, and here’s why-clarity and direction. 2022 was all speed, and I burnt out fast. I learned that humans are not wired to multitask.

My efforts were more focused and deliberate this year, and this helped to move faster into new territories. My only resolution for next year is to build on the momentum.

Everything I do and will continue to do can be summed up in one line — building, writing, speaking, teaching, and mentoring. 

Some key highlights for me in 2023:

Building

For most of this year, I was building CIL Academy and CIL Teams.

We hit some milestones, and the engines that I built are still running the marathon.

I was leading RevOps, managing 10+ direct reports across SSA, and we were out to conquer the world.

I joined another Pan-African lot in Q4 - Bujeti (YC W23), and this email snippet from the CEO sums up the experience.

Email from Achille

The rest of the email was very emotional but you don’t need to see that.

I also floated a Growth Agency with Kayode (the website currently doesn’t tell the full story cos we’ve been building and validating). 

The gist is that I love emerging markets. I love startups. I love to build, and I love to solve problems. I have explored a number of non-scalable ways to do this in the last few years.

Writing

I started writing again. I lost my mojo all through H1 this year, but when I found it, I managed to publish:

• A 4-part series on Navigating the Startup Landscape in Africa.

• One of the articles in the series was featured on Vanguard News. 

Vanguard News Feature - Fintech Sector

• I wrote A Letter to the Church in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Speaking

I was in a few places to say a few things about a few things.

• Pre-Event Judge — PAADC Design Competition 7.0 

• Panelist — Bujeti x TheCANS: Business Sustainability, Growth & Scale

• Panelist — Lagos Startup Week 2023

• Speaking Engagement: CIL x AWS — Lagos Executive Cloud Technology Summit 2023

• Tech Tuesday Conversation: Univacity

• Twitter Space: Female Staff vs Female Bosses: Unresolved issues; Myth or Fact — Univacity

Teaching & Mentorship

I spent 630 minutes mentoring on ADPList.

I was also a pre-event judge and mentor at Professor Ayodele Awojobi Design Competition (PAADC 7.0). 

I took on another Training engagement with Utiva, to train and mentor Technology Sales Professionals. Last year, I was one of the trainers for the Product Marketing School.  

I also stepped behind the camera to share concise, thought-provoking 90-second videos discussing diverse topics, intended to decentralize common sense.

And life happened

I relocated within cities and made some lifestyle adjustments. I made some new friends and connections, joined new communities, and naturally lost some other friendships. But, I grew tremendously. 

I also found a long-term answer to the infamous “tell me about yourself” question. https://jamespraise.xyz/about 

See you in 2024!