2021: The beginning or an era
My year 2020 was the culmination of a host of struggles 15 year old me started with.
A major resolve I made later this year was to start to treat myself right. I guess this is a residue of the African context of being “responsible”. You are taught to cater to family, friends, etc. Unfortunately you mostly forget you are a person that needs to be catered to as well, first and foremost by yourself
A lot of things happened in my 2021, some I probably cannot remember; But as I am writing this for posterity, I will try to keep it concise but encompassing
Career
My 2021 career can be described in 2 phases; Software Engineer (H1) and Founder (H2)
H1: This year I switched from being a code mercenary to a more stable career path, I took up a
- Lead developer at EPNS
- Engineering manager at TechAdvance (Bloc)
- I also briefly touched SF money while working at a crypto company
These roles were extremely amazing and challenged my growth, especially mentally
H2: This was the beginning of my era as a founder, I had tried in the past to co-found a few startups that never saw the light of day. Earlier in the year we raised a 6 figure seed round from GreenHouse Capital and Syndicate protocol. We set out to build what would be known as GetEquity.
Since we launched in July, we have
I’m forever grateful to my team of 23 (both fulltime and part time consultants), we made this happen.
Also to our amazing community, I hope to achieve even more multiples of this
I also started another project code name EquityDAO; this will be a decentralised VC firm. Launch date is sometime in 2022, watch out for that
Also started angel investing (duh!). My portfolio is worth a pretty penny, and they mostly seem to be doing quite well
Family
The goodwill of 2021 didn’t just happen to me, It affected every member of my family.
My aim for 2021 was to eliminate black tax; tbh I can say I don’t even know what that is anymore, the attributes of that being my earnings multiplying, or my siblings both doing well for themselves in their own capacity.
I did 2 major things this year, made sure we had new wheels at home, and then remodelled home (This was one thing I wanted to do since I first set my eyes on that house. i’m picky, yes)
I’m walking into 2022 broke AF, but happy I was able to achieve these, not as a necessity, but because I wanted to spoil my yard people.
Writing
Instead of doing this, I gave a few talks; for the first time, both virtual and physical. They seemed okay, might never do again.
Also appeared on TV, talked a few things tech, might do more of this as the company gets more visibility. This has been one of the hardest things to grasp. I love to talk online, not so much in person.
Personal
I think i’d just need to take these in stages;
Mental health: Officially got a diagnosis for what I had always known was ADHD, started therapy right after.
Therapy has been nothing short of amazing, I also was put on medication to manage my ADHD. Safe to say the side effects are very interesting.
Gym: Wasn’t as consistent as previous years, but finally sucked it up and moved to I-Fitness; Tbh if I see a way to invest, I just might
Relationship: I chose out of a (toxic?) relationship. That came with its own mental stress and retrospections; In hindsight, maybe that relationship shouldn’t have happened in the first place
Anyways, we move…
I decided to submit myself to the streets, but that didn’t last long. Got into a relationship with an amazing person, who daily shows me there is a version of “love” that shouldn’t be painful. Hopefully someday, I completely get over my PTSD
Friends: There’s many friends I have not spoken to in a while, unfortunately I have never been a reconnecting person; I did reconnect with two special women in my life, and get to be present at her wedding
I also watched Ray develop into the man he is, the man who married the love of his life. the wedding will probably be the happiest day of my life (no expenses spared)
Turning 26 was me looking around, satisfied with what I had achieved; Spent an amazing time in Zanzibar, Ethiopia, and also did some cooling off in Abuja…
L’s
Obviously, life is always about Ups and Downs… Took some nerve wrecking L’s that seem meaningless in retrospect; and I think a lot of them happened in crypto
- A major one would be me leaving close to $1m in vesting equity (not really sure this is an L, I guess the next 3 years will tell)
2022
My main aim for 2022 is to be intentional and actively pursue what I want. I have always been a passive planner, it seems to have worked so far but let’s see what a new experiment brings
PS: There are already a few 2022 wins that have started arriving, seems an active planning is working already
