Thank You Mr Mike Macharia, CEO, Seven Seas Technologies

Yesterday, on Citizen TV, Mr Macharia made a profound observation.

When a young lady on a panel he was sitting on kept on saying that the youth are the future of innovation and entrepreneurship (just like many do-gooders and politicos keep telling us, with their eyes firmly focused on 2017), Mr Macharia said that a healthy business ecosystem must be inclusive of all ages and genders.

While affirmative action for women and the youth should be encouraged, Mr Macharia said that putting the infrastructure in place for ALL innovators and entrepreneurs of all ages to thrive was ultimately more sustainable than trying to tilt the playing field in favour of certain segments of the society.

It reminded me of a simple fact: VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING WE USE TODAY OUTSIDE ICT WAS INVENTED BY PEOPLE ABOVE 50 YEARS, AND EVEN 60 YEARS. 80 per cent of the books we read have been written by…you guessed it! Being older does not mean one becomes less innovative…

In Israel, the entrepreneur/innovator of the year is a 69-year old!!!

Hii maneno ya moving from one extreme to another (just see what the girl empowerment is doing to our boys) is unhealthy and unnatural. And think about it. Because the youth are defined to be 18-35 years old, what happens to the young people between 35-50 years who Mr Macharia pointed out have “been in the trenches long enough - looking endlessly for jobs, trying to start businesses with very little capital, etc etc - to learn from their mistakes”?

Why do we have government funds (Uwezo, Women’s Fund, 30% AGPO) to support women even in their 70s but we do not HAVE A SINGLE FUND TO SUPPORT 36-YEAR OLD GUYS? Does it mean after 35-years men become useless?

I agree with Mr macharia wholeheartedly. We must develop the social sophistication to build sustainable business ecosystems that support ALL our people, not expend our energies on quick-sand social engineering experiments.

Just a thought.

PS: Mr Macharia is less than 40 years old and a billionaire to boot…

…and an asshole to work with.

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Is it that it they are 50 - 60yrs now and are they face of the companies that own or produce these technologies or they were 50 - 60yrs when they invented the technology? as for the books, i believe having put in the time and having experience gives them the ability to write the books. I doubt if anyone would have wanted to read a book by say Jack Walsh or Steve Jobs when they were 30yrs old. they would have been deemed too green.

Nairobilay, Gugu Benny Landa. He invented digital printing in the early 1990s. He was in his 40s. His company Indigo was bought b HP for a couple of billions.

Youth, like sex, is over-valued.

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@aviator share your experience…punda alichoka mawingu yakatanda

Fafanua tafadhali!

I once worked for him at Knowledge Transfer and it was a nightmare. The guy treated us like trash and once attempted to slap a colleague. Tulimpatia mob justice (4 men and two ladies) na tukajifuta job. That marked the beginning of the end of the institute.

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That was ugly but at least you did something about it. I have heard similar stories regarding Michael Joseph and James Mwangi.

True. It’s assumed men are okay since they’ve been at the helm of businesses for long but that’s not the case. Shifting the focus to girls and women and all that has in some way led to neglect of the boy child. Affirmative action-girls with lower marks or grades can move to the next level of education but some boy with equivalent marks will be left behind. How does that help the boys. Any measures taken should be beneficial to ALL ages and gender.

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Michael or Bob? huyo jamaa naskianga ni asshole x10.

For some reason I find this statement very funny. On which side did you count yourself?

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Hata Bob Conmemore? Anyway from what I have heard from some friends, Safcom overworks its employees.

I gave him a kick in the nuts.

The primary role of any government it to ensure there are more poor people than rich people. That is the reason why men above 35yo do not have a kitty yet it is their prime age.

Tufungue section ya conspiracy theory alafu @Tim Kit awe mod huko!

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