Nero’s Weekly - Week 7

Dear Reader,

Here is the latest edition of my curated newsletter, ‘Nero’s Weekly’. ?You can read all past editions here. This edition covers recent AI developments, such as OpenAI's new o1 model series and Google's Audio Overview feature. It also discusses business trends in the tech industry and strategies for acquiring initial users.

In the tech/product management realm, there are articles on business models and product strategy. This edition also covers significant news from Africa, including Google's AI centre in Zambia, China's investments, and the EU's collaborations. Finally, there's a career development piece on leading your peers in a professional service environment. Enjoy??.

Nero’s Pick – My latest article: What I learned from Issra Omer: On Building Products, Cultivating your Community, and Embracing Imposter Syndrome - includes valuable insights on how to fall in love with the problem and not the solution.

AI

1. Google – NotebookLM - Google announced a new ‘Audio Overview’ feature which basically turns your document into an ‘AI-enabled audio discussion’ podcast. “With one click, two AI hosts start up a lively “deep dive” discussion based on your sources”. Google previously built NotebookLM to help you to ‘make sense of complex information’. You simply upload a source (via PDF or URL) and it analyses the source and creates a summary, given you the ability to prompt or ask questions about your document.
2. OpenAI - Released its new o1 model series – These o1 models are better at reasoning than previous models because they were trained to ‘pause and think’ before providing a response. Using reinforcement learning algorithm and its ‘chain of thought’ the model is taught to think. With more time spent thinking (test-time compute), the result is better answers.

The o1 models would get getter in reasoning ‘unlocking many new use cases for AI in science, coding, maths, and related fields’ such as Health Science (see demo in article).

Business

1. Stories of how startups got their first users through unscalable tactics – Great directory on how several well-known Startups (Airbnb, Stripe, Door dash, Uber) ignited early user growth by doing unscalable things. If you enjoy this read, a helpful follow up article is: Do things that don’t Scale by Paul Graham, cofounder of YCombinator.
2. The Pragmatic Engineer - What is Old is New Again – Excellent write up by The Pragmatic Engineer on the major changes over the last 18 months that have reshaped the global tech industry. ?He considers how these changes affect businesses, product teams, and what software engineering would look like in the future. I like how he links the rise of interest rates (by the Federal Reserve and Central banks) to not only reducing inflation but also higher cost of borrowing and VC investments for Startups leading to unintended consequences like layoffs. He also discusses two other key factors (during this low-interest rate season) that drove startup investing over the last decade: smart phones, and cloud computing – a new platform and technology that made it easier and cheaper for startups to build products.

Technology & Product Management

1. Business Notes by Nero Okwa - What I learned from Issra Omer: On Building Products, Cultivating your Community, and Embracing Imposter Syndrome - My latest article was on a product management event in London with Spotify Principal Product Manager, Issra Omer. It includes valuable insights on how to fall in love with the problem and not the solution, and links to helpful frameworks: Spotify’s 4 step product development process, thoughtful execution tree, and Five Whys.
2. Product Artistry - Business Models as Product Strategy: A Deep Dive – Great deep dive on how behind every great product is a successful business model, and how it actively shapes every product decision. This excellent write up takes you through how to strategize with your business model, align stakeholder interest, make data-driven decisions, and communicate effectively.

How do our current business model and its incentives align with our product goals?

How does this product decision impact our incentive structure, and does it align with our long-term vision ???

Africa

1. Ecofin Agency - Google to Establish AI Center of Excellence at the University of Zambia – Google has partnered with Zambia to establish an AI Center of Excellence at the University of Zambia (UNZA). This is expected to ‘foster digital skills, research, and technological advancement, positioning Zambia as a regional AI development leader’.
2. Afreximbank - The Africa Center and Afreximbank in New York launch diaspora centre - The Africa Center and Afreximbank have joined forces to launch the Afreximbank Africa Diaspora Center (AADC). This new platform aims to bridge the gap between Africans and people of African descent globally, by facilitating information sharing and promoting economic opportunities. The official launch will be held at the upcoming 2024 Future Africa Forum on the 23rd of September at The Africa Center
3. European Commission - EU strengthens ties with Namibia and South Africa on renewable energy and green hydrogen - The EU Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson visited Namibia and South Africa to bolster the EU’s energy relationships with these 2 nations. This is following an endorsement of a roadmap for the EU-Namibia strategic partnership on sustainable raw materials value chain and renewable hydrogen. ?This roadmap is backed by €1 billion in investments from the EU, member states, and financial institutions. I attended the Oxford Africa Business Summit this year and was able to hear the High Commissioner discuss Namibia’s vision for renewable energy and green hydrogen. ?You can watch it here.
4. News Central - Egypt accepts UAE’s US$900 million offer to establish solar energy farms - The Egyptian government has approved a proposal from (Masdar) Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company to establish solar energy farms that would generate about 1,000 MW of electricity, in the Upper Egypt region, at a project cost of $900 million. The project would be developed and financed under the BOO (Build, Operate, and Own) model, with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) committing to purchasing the entire production.
5. African Business – FOCAC ends with $50bn of Chinese pledges to Africa- At the recent FOCAC summit, China reaffirmed its commitment to Africa by pledging $50 billion for 30 infrastructure projects. Additionally, they announced plans to enhance China-Africa land-sea logistics. While China has long been Africa's top trading partner, the nature of this trade has often been skewed towards raw materials from Africa and manufactured goods from China.

With increasing Western restrictions on Chinese green technologies, Chinese manufacturers are seeking new markets. Africa, with its abundant resources and growing demand, presents an attractive opportunity. However, this influx of cheaper Chinese products (solar panels, batteries, and EVs) could inadvertently stifle local manufacturing industries and job creation. As a result, Africa risks importing manufactured goods while exporting potential manufacturing jobs.

Career Development

1. Harvard Business Review -?How to Lead Your Fellow Rainmakers – This article highlights the unique dynamics that leaders in ‘consensus’ environments (e.g. a managing partner at a professional service firm with other partners) require ?to lead their peers. They involve three key interconnected factors: establishing legitimacy, manoeuvring politically, and negotiating perpetually.

“People are always trying to add more stuff to life. Reduce it to simpler, pure moments.” — Jerry Seinfeld

There you have it.

If you enjoyed this article I have written other career articles, product articles, and book reviews.

Would you like to read more career focused articles or something else? Is there a topic you currently struggle with? Let me know. You can message me [email protected].

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Thanks for reading and bye for now.

Nero

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