Nero’s Weekly - Week 8

Dear Reader,

Here is the latest edition of my curated newsletter, ‘Nero’s Weekly’. ?The goal of these articles is to enable you to be informed and effective in your work and enterprise. Past editions.

This edition covers recent AI developments, such as OpenAI's latest funding round, AI Agents, and the AI product development process. Business: Learn everything about marketing communication.

In the technology/product management section, we look at the PM job market, history, and a valuable article by Steve Blank on really talking to your (prospective) users.

The Africa section this week is all about Energy. The World Bank and the African Development Banks launched a new program to provide electricity access to 300m people in Africa by 2030. Together they are committing $30bn to this vision. Progress. We end with 4 helpful leadership book recommendations for your career. Enjoy??.

P.S Last week I wrote a deep dive article on my experience at London Tech Week 2024. at nerookwa.substack.com. Subscribe there to receive all 80 of my articles.

Nero’s Pick – My pick of this week is Foundations. Why Britain has stagnated - This was a thought-provoking essay that argues that British economic growth has stagnated because of increasing barriers to investment in infrastructure - housing, transportation, and energy. It offers useful comparisons to growing peers like France, and the US. “Britain has denied its economy the foundations it needs to grow on”.

Update: After writing this draft last week, At the UK International Investment Summit 2024 yesterday, the UK secured investment of ￡63 billion focused on infrastructure, data centres, Energy and more. The Prime Minister’s speech emphasized stability, and removing barriers to private sector investment. Coincidence? I think not, someone is reading this newsletter ??.

?“We’ve got to look at regulation where it is needlessly holding back the investment, to take our country forward.

“Where it is stopping us building the homes, the data centres, warehouses, grid connectors, roads, trainlines, you name it then mark my words – we will get rid of it.

-?Sir Keir Rodney Starmer, Prime Minster of the United Kingdom

AI

1. OpenAI – the startup behind ChatGPT closed its latest funding round, raising $6.6bn at a $156bn valuation, the highest ever.? Some interesting insights that came out of the round is OpenAI has 250 million weekly users. The company is also being restructured as a ‘for profit’ company. This is coming after a wave of exits by high-level executives.
2. HubSpot - HubSpot co-founder and CTO, Dharmesh Shah discussed the future of AI agents. He highlights the recent AI advancements, like larger AI models and multimodal capabilities. He introduces AI agents, and demonstrates different AI agents for marketing, sales and customer service. A big part of his talk was showing how anyone can easily build an AI agent, responsibly.
3. Marily Nika - The AI Product Development Lifecycle – Ever wondered how AI products are developed ? Google’s Gen AI Product Lead, Marily Nika Ph.D, provides a short insightful article on the AI development lifecycle. I really like the (overly simplified) breakdown below:

Business

1. Snap – 13 years at Snap - The Snap CEO Evan Spiegel sent the following note to team members in September reflecting on their financial results, product strategy, and growing advertising business. It’s always good to see a company’s CEO reflect on their journey, business, and plans for the future. “The reason that I’ve dedicated so much of my life to building Snap is because I believe deeply in the power of technology to make a positive impact in people’s lives”.
2. Steve Blank – Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Marketing Communications - Steve Blank, the ‘father of modern entrepreneurship’ discusses how to implement effective marketing communications by focussing on the Audience, Message, Media, and Messenger. You use the Value Proposition Canvas to understand who your audience(s) are, then craft messages to match your audience based on their feedback. You pick the media they already use. Messengers are key people of influence (reporters, experts, evangelists and connectors) who can amplify the message.

Technology & Product Management

1. Mind the Product - Everything wrong with the product management job market. And how to fix it - This was an insightful article by Product Career Coach, James Gunaca on the PM job market. He outlines what has changed, the problems candidate and employers are facing, new opportunities, and the role of experimentation. This is part 1 of a two-part series.
2. Cold Water - How the Product Bubble Burst - ?The author argues that the product management bubble was fuelled by massive investments from investors, and based on unrealistic valuations and unsustainable growth models. “Software projects now have to compete with the guaranteed return of higher interest rates. Planning horizons have shortened, and money is being soaked up. Investors are now looking for stories that will come true rather soon, rather than stories that could come true for as long as possible”.
3. Steve Blank again ?? – Your Product is Not Their Problem – This article is a valuable resource. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking your product is the solution without understanding the customer's real problems. As Y Combinator famously advises ‘Talk to Your Users,’ start by deeply understanding a customer's problem before pitching your solution.

Key lessons from this article include:???

1. Your product is not someone’s problem.
2. Start with a deep understanding of a customer problem or need before you start pitching your solution.
3. Ask customers how they solve the problem today.
4. Understand future regulations that might change your customer’s priorities or challenges.

This article pairs nicely with the one above on marketing communication. Once you have clarified the problem, and your solution, you can craft a winning marketing message. Good luck!

Africa

1. Energy Capital and Power - Africa Energy Bank has secured 45% of the $5bn needed to establish it. The bank was created in June for the financing of oil projects across the continent. This is to address the funding crises driven by the global shift towards cleaner energy.
2. World Bank - New Partnership Aims to Connect 300 Million to Electricity by 2030 – African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank have launched Mission 300, an ambitious new initiative to provide electricity access to 300m people in Africa by 2030. The World Bank has pledged $25bn to the programme, while the AfDB has committed $5bn. The goal is to unlock $90bn in funding. About 600m people in Sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity (this does not include industrial needs).?

“No economy can grow, industrialize or be competitive in the dark without electricity.” ― Akinwunmi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group.

Career Development

1. London Business School - Books to improve your leadership skills – ?Four trusted London Business School professors share an impactful leadership book that they have recently read. I read Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull, in 2016, and it was excellent. Need a refresher.

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

There you have it.

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Thanks for reading and bye for now.

Nero

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