Kwame Som-Pimpong

  • No. 185: Affordable Housing | Soulection Radio

    The Urbanist: Affordable housing The struggle for regular folks to find a place to stay is global. This is an very interesting survey of housing situations in California, Finland, Egypt, and Portugal. The California situation is so interesting. For a state that prides itself on leading other parts of the country in pushing progressive policy,…

  • No. 184: 2 Thoughts – Future Africa | Acquisitions

    Welcome to the Future Whatever Flutterwave and Andela cofounder Iyinoluwa Aboyeji is building, its focus on building a shared vision for the future of Africa is something I can get behind. Excited to see where this goes. Ghanaian startup mPharma is buying Kenya’s second-largest pharmacy chain You don’t see too many deals where a startup…

  • No. 183: 1 Thought: Historical Thinking

    American Democracy: Conversation between Roberto Mangabeira Unger, Peter Thiel, and Cornel West This is a fascinating conversation that covers a range of topics that impact our form of government – technology, creativity, and economics to name a few. I’m not the biggest fan of Peter Thiel’s world view. I struggle with his mix of contrarianism…

  • No. 182: 3 Thoughts: Shellye Archambeau | Africa’s 2018 VC Activity | Pollution Inequities

    Take Bigger Risks: Shellye Archambeau, Former CEO, MetricStream I’ve seen Shellye Archambeau’s name around and have been intrigued to learn more about her story. Her appearance on Masters of Scale gives a great peak into how she’s navigated her way through Silicon Valley. What stood out in particular was her telling about a Bible her…

  • No. 181: 3 Thoughts: Cashless| Amazon|Masayoshi Son

    3 Thoughts: Cashless| Amazon|Masayoshi Son

  • No. 180: Black Folks Monetizing Black Culture

    I’m writing this while sitting in peace after listening to Seinabo Sey’s latest album, I’m a Dream. It’s a very strong project you should give a listen. It’s fitting that album put me in good mood, because a recent interview media critic Jay Rosen did with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey had me shaking my head.…

  • No. 179: On Going Home to Ghana

    Kwame Anthony Appiah’s excerpt on Amo Afer is fascinating. I had never heard of Amo Afer, a Nzema man, who became a philosopher in Germany in the 1700s. After gaining relative stature for his thinking, he decided to move back to his family’s village on the Gold Coast, a place he hadn’t been to since he…

  • No. 178: What Happens When AI Meets Africa’s Demographic Boom?

    Africa is projected to have more people at working age than the rest of the world’s population by 2035. By 2045, artificial intelligence is projected to reach the singularity, where it will be self-improving rapidly rather than being dependent on human inputs. On their own, these two developments are concerning. For years now, policymakers have…

  • No. 177: African Banks: 1920 vs. 2018

    I’m working through “Negro With a Hat: The Rise and Fall of Marcus Garvey,” and it’s fascinating to learn more about life in Jamaica during colonial times and Garvey’s experience trekking to Europe. While living in London, Garvey got a job at The African Times and Orient Review, a paper published by Dusé Mohamed Ali. The paper…

  • No. 176: Advertising vs. Subscriptions

    In a world where advertising rules everything around me, how do I keep CultureBanx’s subscribers front and center while growing this business? Financial news streaming startup, Cheddar, announced yesterday that they raised $22 million. As part of the announcement, they declared that they are doing away with paid subscriptions. My mind went back to their…

  • No. 175: What’s Your Oath?

    I initially rolled my eyes at this question during the latest KindredCast episode with Oath CEO Tim Armstrong, but Armstrong and KindredCast host Aryeh Bourkoff both had really interesting answers to the question. KindredCast is a podcast hosted by the CEO of Liontree, a boutique investment bank that does some of the biggest deals in…

  • No. 174: What’s Your Company’s Belief System?

    As I’ve spent the past year studying whatever I can get my hands on to get insights on the business of media the past year, I’ve come across some fantastic podcasts. The Adlandia podcast is one of them. Their latest episode with Ross Martin, CEO of Blackbird, had a lot of gems. The one that…

  • No. 173: Thinking About Ads Differently. Indexing Diversity.

    Thinking about Ads Differently https://twitter.com/BenedictEvans/status/936323784155414529 One of the latent questions I’ve had about the tech industry is the seemingly unchecked dominance of advertising in tech company business models. Google. Facebook. Snap. Advertising is practically the sole driver of their businesses. Aren’t there more creative revenue streams for their businesses? Benedict Evans turned that question on…

  • No. 172: Bob Johnson on Building BET

    This is a fascinating conversation between Guy Raz and Bob Johnson. I had no idea he was a policy guy who then got into lobbying. His work at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association opened his eyes to the opportunity in cable TV, a nascent idea that hadn’t yet caught up with broadcast television. The…

  • No. 171: Gratitude

    There’s so many incredible things on my mind for which I’m grateful: 1. My daughter is this incredibly sweet, hardworking, funny, disciplined little person. Just incredible to watch. 2. Hosted friends at my place twice this past month and got so much joy out of it. Grateful for the people who have invited me into…