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A True Entrepreneur Embodies Ubuntu: “I Am Because We Are”

By Sename Agbossou Entrepreneurship can feel lonely. You carry vision, pressure, expectations—and often, doubt. But Ubuntu teaches us a profound truth: "I am because we are." A True Entrepreneur understands that individual success is inseparable from collective flourishing. They don't just build support, they contribute to the humanity of others while growing their own. Why Ubuntu matters in entrepreneurship: You can be a leader while recognizing your interdependence with others. You can pursue your vision while lifting others toward theirs. Ubuntu reminds us that our humanity is affirmed through our connections and contributions to our community. Success is never a solo act—it's a shared journey. Behind every great entrepreneur is not just a team, but a web of relationships built on mutual respect, shared wisdom, and collective growth. Ubuntu shapes everything: Your compassion and empathy Your commitment to others' growth Your understanding that prosperity should be shared Your resilience through community bonds True Entrepreneurs don't try to be superheroes. They build ecosystems where everyone thrives—because when our community succeeds, we all succeed. The Ubuntu truth about success: There is no individual achievement without collective contribution. Every success story is woven from threads of community support, shared knowledge, and mutual encouragement. But here's the Ubuntu paradox many entrepreneurs miss: You cannot pour from an empty cup. Ubuntu teaches us that caring for ourselves is caring for our community. When you neglect your own growth, you diminish what you can offer others. Many entrepreneurs get trapped in endless giving (mentoring, supporting, solving everyone else's problems) while their own development stagnates. This isn't Ubuntu; it's self-sacrifice that ultimately serves no one well. The True Entrepreneur knows when to lead, and when to serve. When to give, and when to receive. When to support others, and when to seek the support that fuels their own growth. Ubuntu Entrepreneur's Challenge: Who are you lifting as you climb? Are you building a circle that not only supports you, but that you actively support in return? And critically: Are you allowing others to pour into your growth too? Start being intentional about practicing Ubuntu in your entrepreneurship. Ask yourself: • "How am I contributing to the humanity and success of those around me?"• "Am I surrounding myself with people who challenge and develop me?"• "Is my desire to help others preventing me from receiving the help I need?" Remember: Choosing the right circle isn't selfish: it’s Ubuntu. When you grow, your capacity to serve grows. Because true infrastructure isn't just about what supports you. It’s about creating sustainable systems where everyone, including you, can thrive. Want to build a future rooted in Ubuntu principles where success means collective flourishing? 👉 Download my free ebook "The Secrets of a True Entrepreneur"

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20 août 2025

Sénamé Publication

Beyond the Talent Arms Race: An Obuntuo Compass for AI Hiring

"AI hiring will look like Champions League free agency: few teams, sky-high caps, and everyone else playing Moneyball."— Isar Meitis, Leveraging AI podcast, Episode 203 (5 July 2025) The headlines read like transfer season gossip from football's biggest clubs. Meta reportedly dangling $300 million over four years to poach OpenAI's top talent. Google matching with nine-figure packages. Junior engineers seeing $200,000 "AI premiums" added to their offers like signing bonuses. But here's the uncomfortable truth: when only the richest clubs can field a team, the entire league eventually collapses. The Numbers That Broke Reality Let's look at what's actually happening in AI hiring right now: $300 million over 4 years - That's what Meta is reportedly offering to top AI researchers. For context, that's more than most professional athletes earn in their entire careers. $100 million+ first-year bonuses - These aren't just salaries anymore. They're venture capital investments disguised as employment contracts. $200,000 average "AI premium" - Even entry-level ML engineers are commanding premiums that inflate labor costs across every sector. 85-134 TWh extra electricity by 2027 - Because talent is now funded as much in GPUs as in actual dollars. These numbers are staggering. But they're also symptoms of a deeper problem: we're playing the wrong game entirely. Where the Silicon Valley Narrative Breaks Down The current AI hiring frenzy operates on a simple assumption: talent is scarce, so whoever pays the most wins. It's a winner-takes-all mentality that treats brilliant minds like rare commodities to be hoarded. This approach has three fatal flaws: 1. It creates artificial scarcity. When companies stockpile talent they don't immediately need, they're removing potential innovators from the broader ecosystem. 2. It prioritizes individual brilliance over collective intelligence. The most breakthrough innovations in AI have come from teams collaborating across institutions, not from isolated genius in corporate silos. 3. It's ultimately unsustainable. Even the biggest tech companies can't keep bidding against each other indefinitely without breaking their own business models. From an African perspective rooted in Ubuntu philosophy, this entire approach misses the point. Ubuntu teaches us "I am because we are" - our individual success is inseparable from our collective flourishing. Enter Obuntuo: The Human Potential Compass This is where Obuntuo comes in. While Ubuntu focuses on shared being, Obuntuo extends this to shared thriving: "From 'I am because we are' to 'we thrive when each person contributes from their core potential.'" Obuntuo isn't just philosophy - it's a practical framework for building teams and organizations that unlock human potential at scale. It operates on three core principles: 1. Shared Wealth Instead of concentrating resources in the hands of a few superstars, we distribute opportunity and reward across the entire ecosystem. This means capping internal pay ratios, redirecting surplus into employee profit-shares, and creating community compute grants. 2. Shared Knowledge Rather than hoarding proprietary research, we pool foundational knowledge in open consortia. We rotate researchers through fellowships with institutions across the Global South. We build on each other's work instead of duplicating efforts…

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12 juillet 2025

Sénamé Publication

Tony Parker’s Business Journey: A Case for the Pseudo-True Entrepreneur Framework

A few days ago, I listened to an episode of "Secrets d’info" on France Inter Radio titled “Du basket aux affaires, la reconversion contrastée de Tony Parker.” The show analyzed Parker’s entrepreneurial ventures, highlighting the challenges and criticisms he has faced since transitioning from basketball to business. As I followed the discussion, I noticed something: while the show focused on his struggles, it missed a crucial point.The real issue is not that Tony Parker is a bad entrepreneur, as some critics implied, but rather that he is navigating a phase that many talented individuals experience when entering the business world. This phase is what I call the Pseudo-True Entrepreneur stage—a stage where ambition, creativity, and drive exist, but the critical skill of surrounding oneself with the right people is lacking. Instead of simply joining the critics, I want to use this article to explore how this framework helps explain his business journey constructively. (For those interested, you can listen to the original podcast episode here.) What Is a Pseudo-True Entrepreneur? A Pseudo-True Entrepreneur is not a bad entrepreneur—far from it. This type of entrepreneur possesses initiative, boldness, and vision but struggles to build a truly self-sustaining business due to one missing piece: the right people. The key traits of a Pseudo-True Entrepreneur include:✅ Creative and resourceful – they generate ideas and pursue opportunities.✅ Driven and proactive – they take action rather than waiting for things to happen.❌ Struggles with delegation – they either trust the wrong people or try to do too much alone.❌ Lacks a strong, reliable team – they haven’t mastered the art of selecting, developing, and retaining the right talent. This is not a permanent state, but rather a learning phase—one that many high achievers, including Tony Parker, go through. Why Tony Parker Fits This Framework 1. Creativity and Initiative? Yes. But Strategic Team-Building? Missing. Parker’s creativity in business is evident. He’s taken bold initiatives, investing in sports, media, and other ventures. He has the mindset of an entrepreneur—he doesn’t wait for opportunities; he creates them. But initiative alone doesn’t build a successful business. The most successful entrepreneurs understand that choosing the right people is as crucial as choosing the right business moves. 2. From the Basketball Court to the Boardroom: A Different Game Parker mastered teamwork on the basketball court. He worked under great coaches, surrounded himself with elite teammates, and trusted a system. However, business is not sports. In basketball: The team is built for you. Scouts, coaches, and managers assemble the right mix of talent. Your role is clear. You focus on performance while others handle recruitment and strategy. In business, the entrepreneur is the coach, the recruiter, and the strategist. If Parker had applied the same strategic team-building principles from basketball to business, his journey might have been smoother. 3. The Missing Piece: Surrounding Himself with the Right People The podcast criticized his business decisions, but it overlooked the real issue—his difficulty in assembling the right team. Many ex-athletes, celebrities, and professionals fall…

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19 mars 2025

Sénamé Publication

The Rise of Pseudo-Productivity: How AI is Accelerating the Illusion of Work

In today’s hyper-connected world, productivity has become a badge of honor. Workers pride themselves on responding to emails in minutes, attending back-to-back meetings, and juggling multiple projects at once. But is this real productivity? Or is it merely the illusion of work—what Cal Newport calls pseudo-productivity? Pseudo-productivity is the trap of looking busy without achieving meaningful results. With the rise of AI, this phenomenon is not only continuing but accelerating at an unprecedented pace. In this article, we’ll explore the origins of pseudo-productivity, how AI is amplifying the illusion, and the dangerous parallels with the pseudo-true entrepreneur. The Origins of Pseudo-Productivity: When Did It Begin? Productivity wasn’t always so intangible. In the industrial era, productivity was measured by physical output—how many cars were assembled or how many garments were produced. But with the rise of the knowledge economy, work shifted to emails, documents, meetings, and strategy sessions—intangible outputs that are difficult to measure. The digital revolution in the late 20th century brought email, instant messaging, and open offices, increasing the demand for constant responsiveness. Instead of focusing on deep, high-value work, employees became caught in a cycle of shallow tasks, mistaking activity for accomplishment. Technology, meant to boost productivity, ironically became a source of distraction. Workers felt pressure to be seen working, prioritizing visibility over impact. Then came AI. And with it, pseudo-productivity took on an entirely new dimension. How AI is Supercharging the Illusion of Productivity AI is a game-changer for efficiency, but it is also a double-edged sword. It automates many tasks—but not all automation is useful. Here’s how AI is amplifying pseudo-productivity: More Work, Not Better Work: AI can draft emails, generate reports, and schedule meetings instantly. This makes it easier than ever to produce more output—but does that output translate to real value? A worker who once wrote five reports per week can now generate ten using AI. But are these reports actually being used, or are they just feeding the illusion of work? The Flood of Low-Value Content: AI-generated text, presentations, and emails create an endless stream of content that clogs inboxes and meetings. Companies may seem more productive, but in reality, they’re drowning in information. The Acceleration of Task Switching: AI tools allow workers to jump between tasks more quickly, but multitasking is a myth—rapid switching between tasks reduces deep focus and creativity. A New Layer of Digital Noise: AI-driven chatbots, automated emails, and instant AI-generated replies contribute to a constant flow of interruptions, preventing workers from engaging in focused work. The Illusion of Intelligence: AI can simulate thinking but does not replace human strategy and creativity. Companies relying on AI to make decisions may be mistaking automation for progress. The end result? A workforce caught in an AI-driven busyness trap, where the sheer volume of output is mistaken for true progress. The Pseudo-True Entrepreneur: The Business Version of Pseudo-Productivity This pattern isn’t limited to employees. The same illusion of motion without real progress plagues the world of entrepreneurship. Enter the pseudo-true entrepreneur—someone who…

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19 mars 2025

Sénamé Publication

A Guide for Entrepreneurs to Foster a Results-Driven Company Culture

The success of your business hinges on the prevailing company culture, especially one that is results-driven. Every business inherently possesses a culture, whether by design or happenstance. From my own experience, I've come to understand that establishing a results-driven company culture for entrepreneurs necessitates more than mere instruction or discussion; it requires a fundamental shift in the mindset and behaviors of individuals within the organization. Creating a culture requires systemic organizational changes transforming how people think and behave. In this article, I will share my discovery on developing and cultivating a culture of results to improve performance in your organization. The work environment greatly influences people. Company culture can make weak people highly productive, and the stronger lose their edge. It is the primary concern and responsibility of every business owner, manager, or executive to create a culture of results inside their company. Every employee makes and maintains this through disciplined adherence to ensure profitability and continuance of the company's operation. Getting the right people that can come together with unique business systems to create a culture of results through discipline, enthusiasm, and high productivity is not easy. The magic begins once you find the right team, and performance shoots up the roof. ((Efficient People + Motivation) * Accountability) = Effective Team Results HIRE THE RIGHT BEST PEOPLE The only proven way of getting good results is to ensure you have the right people to drive your dream. No matter how good your ideas are, you'll have difficulty getting the expected deliverables if you don't have the right people to actualize them. "Those who build great companies understand that the ultimate throttle on growth for any great company is not markets, technology, competition, or products. It is one thing above all others: getting and keeping enough of the right people. GET THE RIGHT PEOPLE ON THE BUS FIRST, AND THE WRONG PEOPLE OFF THE BUS, THEN FIGURE OUT WHAT DIRECTION TO DRIVE THE COMPANY" – Jim Collins, Good to Great. Results depend on employee performance, which is why every business owner or manager should only hire Top performers. Top performers have a history of getting results and are unafraid of accountability and scorekeeping. They are self-confident, can apply past successes to new assignments, and are teachable and eager to learn. Top performers make good things happen, especially when their personal goals align with your company goals. Note that you always pay less cost for the Top performer as compared to what you pay for the Poor performer. The Poor performer comes with a hidden cost of lower performance, poor decisions, and costly mistakes, which in the long run, eclipse the cost of keeping the Top performer. It would be best if you always went for the Top performer for effective performance and results. Take Away: Hire and empower goal-oriented people. To achieve better results, you must ensure the team understands why you created the system, how it works, and how it will benefit them. Enlist their knowledge, talents, energy,…

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22 novembre 2022

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