Thus Spaketh Idd Salim

It is sad. Honestly, really sad.

I sat with Buju the other day and he asked me : “Salim. Wewe huwezi unda your own Facebook na venye code unaimesea?”. My response is the same respose I once gave DjCK, Okech and Sebi. “Put me in a position that I won’t have to worry about rent for 6 months, and I will give you the world.”

So, the discussion went on. I pointed out that ANYTHING Safaricom touches, turns to a pile of shiite. Mxit has MILLIONS of people all over the world. Safaricom brought it to Kenya, did over 100 pages of color ads, and it died, as expected. Meanwhile, 2Go is keeping Kenyans teens awake till 3am.

Next up, Facebook. In this encouraging post about the opportunities for Kenyan Coders, I did on March 9 2010, Facebook had 580, 000 Kenyans. On its own. No advertising, just viral value additions. Then Safaricom started doing their Ads and USSD codes + TV ads using that smigo-faced ugly rasta jamaa. 5 Months later today, the site has 776, 920 users. Pathetic, if you ask me. Facebook has Stagnated, As soon as SafCom stepped in.

They say EVERYONE IS ON FACEBOOK… Well, we must be the smallest country in the world.

Facebook has STAGNATED since Safaricom touched her

“So”, Buju continued. “Now that ONLY 19.43% of the Kenyans with the Internet are on FB, and the growth is stagnating., what can developers do to harness the massive 81% that is NOT on Facebook?”. I smiled.

“And what is this other system you are saying that is being tested now and will come to really shock Mpesa?”, He asked. I smiled more.

Back to code!

Wazi.

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Long time ago, when the word ‘gay‘ meant ‘to be happy’, I used to do ALL aspects of a system myself. From idea, conceptualization, wire-frames, testing, debugging, installing etc. This was mainly due to the misguided Idea that:

1. No one around was good enough to do exactly what I wanted and I had to do it myself.
2. No one could be trusted as a code/project partner and that everyone was a SurfCon just waiting to understand, then pounce on my Idea and steal it.
3. Everyone was busy with their own hassle and no one cared about my bizarre ideas.

And so, night in, night out, I coded deep into the night. Coding alone and debugging endless projects. until I learnt one word. DELEGATE. This article from About HR changed my whole view. I stopped being a do-it-all coder. And started being a live-like-a-human coder. Delegation does not mean you are weak. It enables you focus your strengths on the real meat, while you , proverbially of course, ‘let the garbage-man handle the garbage‘.

Whether it is coding, running a shop or even trying to get laid, you need to delegate some parts of the entire puzzle, to achieve the final, expected result.

The word GAY might have evolved in meaning, but certain success principles remains the same

The Curse of Yangu-yangu

Directly translated to mine-mine, yangu-yangu is a street phrase depicting that the owner of the object [idea, item, place etc] will NOT share under whatever circumstances, even if sharing would improve the loot and bring MORE for everyone on the table.

A certain Kamaray, once posted a comment on my blog talking about this and how it affects Kenyans :

Nice piece…time the talking stopped and the “cash-ing” started.

1 Problem : Kenyans don’t share : Coder dies with brilliant code, Marketer dies with brilliant marketing strategy, Finance guru dies with financing connections……bring them together….BAM!

This is what I feel Kenyan need. A Symbiotic relationship. A convergence of thinkers, doers and talkers who all work towards filling a common bucket.

If a good coder and find a brilliant marketer and a finance guru puts all the other pieces together, then this will be a story worth writing home about.

Back to code!

Adios!

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March 18, 2010.

It is the Tandaa Local Content Conference today in Nairobi. Thanks to ICT Board again.

I am at iHub Kenya and just heard Wanyama [@kenyafreelancer], say “What more do we Kenyans want? We have Fibre now”

I am at iHub Kenya and just heard Cynthia Muyoti of FabGuru , say “Facebook has made my business better? 1391 fans todate and I am soon expanding my Shoes Business”

Seated next to me is Agosta Liko, Mbugua Njihia and John Karanja. I hear talk after talk. Aly Khan Satchu talks about how anyone can be rich and gives examples.

So I brainstorm with fellow coders and the question becomes; ‘How can Kenyan Coders be rich?’. Not the “i can afford to go out and i own a toyota” rich. Or the “I pay all my bills and my rent is always paid on time” rich. How about the “I look at the food names on the menu, not the price before I order rich”, or the “I am undecided whether to drive my Range or my Mustang today rich”.

50 Cent said ‘get rich or die trying’ [GRODT], but I tell you, try ‘get rich or get rich’ [GRoGR]. We are in a position never experienced before. So, for free as usual, I will list the top 10 opportunities that are there open-legged and wet and just waiting for Kenyan coders to smell the coffee and dive in and start making the old-Money conglomerate wish they could impregnate their daughters.Only coders?? Naaah! ANYONE can jump into the eChapaa bandwagon. It is free and there for everyone.

My Top 10

1. Local Digital Content – Yes. Content is the buzzword. Enough Said. Anything you know [Yes, am speaking to Pamela, Wangechi and Anyanche] is sellable. Just grab word-press and google-checkout and walla!
2. Content Discovery Tools – Coders. The challenge is yours. Java Applications, Desktop Applications. There is over KSHS 100M not made per month by PRSPs because of lack of content discovery tools. That is why the guys down South are inviting  likes of Symbiotic to go down there and consult on HOW to convert content and knowledge into wallet-content.
3. Mobile Apps – Think of anything useful as a mobile phone app and there are 100, 000 people who NEED it and will PAY 20 bob each for it.
4. Mobile Games – Here we go again. the limit is only your imagination. grab a keyboard and write some code!! Stop these silly excuses that ‘programming is hard’. I got a miserable B in KCSE and can code, sembuse wewe!! But whatever you do, please don’t use VB.
5. Hacking and Security – The silence is deafening, but the hackers are on their way. Be equipped to defend Kenya. Your hacking knowledge will be invaluable in 3-6 months time. Tick.. tock…
6. Animation and Design – Some foreign jamaaz came here, partnered with HomeBoyz Studions and now are making millions of dollars per month. What are Kenyans doing? Facebook all day and complaining about how hard life is, how much of a a parent-hater Esther Arunga is and how much money Ruto is stealing. Kaeni papo hapo.
7. Kenyan Social Networks – YES. I said it. You can start your own Facebook tomorrow and become rich like crazy. There are 4M Kenyans with an Internet Connections. This number grows by the day. there are only 580, 000 kenyans on facebook. This is 14.5% percent of Kenyans with Internet. So what are the other 85.5% doing? Waiting for you to give them something better. Something Kenyan. Something more contextual. Lala tu.
8. Adult Sites – Ati Eish? We all know Kenyan is the mdinyano capital of East Africa. An average slut makes KSHS 2, 500 per night. And those are the cheap ones. Connect the clients and the vendors. Simple as! I wont say anything more.
9. eParty – Bring clubbing to the mobile phone. Hook people up to YOU on thursdays, fridays and sato. Just charge each user 10 bob per week. Kenyans will pay.
10. Your own WebTV Show – If you are that Kibera guy who can dance like MJ or that Kileleshwa bathroom singer, get heard online! Make some money. Sell yourself!

So maswali ni, what do KENYANS want! Are you going to waste all day thinking up cocky status updates for facebook and poking strangers who you mean NOTHING to, or are you going to monetize your time? Are you going to waste your life away in the digital world, or are you going to focus on what will really make your momma smile in public pointing at you and say, “yeah! that’s my baby!”. Are you going to complain all day about the government, corruption, the kaanjo and these bloody foreigners, or are you going to take control of your life?

Amua mwenyewe!

Ehh, back to code! Pole timo.

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