Author: Smart Megwai

Ben Eluan’s journey with Flux is very compelling. I find the narrative of Flux itself noteworthy, especially the part where Ben describes how four founders, all university students, made the difficult decision to drop out. In an interview, Ben shared that he was already in his final year, at the…

The first time I realised that Google could fail at something was when I discovered a name I had never heard before: Orkut. It was a social network created by Google and launched in 2004—the same year Facebook was founded. Orkut became incredibly popular in countries like Brazil and India,…

I once worked at a large, well-known organisation that, on paper, had everything you’d expect from a great workplace. Large team. Big mission. Even a daily “morning devotion” meant to inspire us before the day’s work. But none of that mattered. Because three women managers technically held the place hostage.…

When was the last time you stopped to think about Google Maps? Probably not often. You use the app, and it meets your needs. It’s there when you need directions, when you’re looking for a coffee shop, or just curious about what that new restaurant looks like on Street View.…

I’ve scanned hundreds of QR codes, and I’m not exaggerating. From paying for groceries at the supermarket, to accessing a digital menu in a café, to filling out a form in church during announcements. Once, at a movie cinema, I scanned a QR code to check movie times, then scanned…

A while ago, I found a book online called How to Break Up with Your Phone  by Catherine Price. The title caught my eye, so I searched Google to see if I could find any reviews. Not just star ratings, but I wanted to see what people really thought. Did it…

You might not know this name, but I recently read about a man named Gary Kildall, someone who could have become as famous and successful as Bill Gates. Gary wasn’t flashy. He didn’t act like a typical business leader. But he was a quiet kind of genius, the kind who…

I’ve seen promising ideas fall apart, not because they were bad, but because the people behind them believed too much, too soon. I’ve watched startups with beautiful branding, early funding, and plenty of Twitter hype disappear within 18 months. What took them down wasn’t laziness or lack of vision. It…

After reading The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni, something shifted; not just agreement, but a quiet recognition. If you’ve ever worked on a remote team where things feel off, people avoid giving feedback, and no one speaks up, you already know: dysfunction is expensive. This is my…

I never imagined Crocs would become a billion-dollar company. Seriously, those soft, strange-looking rubber shoes with holes in them? When I first saw a pair, I didn’t even know they were from a real brand. I just knew people around me called them “Crocs.” So I was surprised to learn…

I love real business stories, the kind that embrace uncertainty, risk, and the struggle to push through difficulties. Not long ago, I came across a lesser-known chapter of Samsung’s early history. Before it became a global tech giant, Samsung was a grocery business in 1930s Korea, selling dried fish and…

In Nairobi, Kenya, the average one-bedroom apartment goes for about $400 a month. Yet the latest flagship smartphone, let’s say the Galaxy S24 or iPhone 15, starts at $1,200. You’re not just paying three months’ rent for a pocket computer; you’re signing up for a cycle where next year’s model…

You know what they say about Nigerian scams. But what if you stopped thinking of it as a joke or a headline and started looking at it as a business? Because that’s exactly what it is: not a one-off hustle, but a structured, evolving economy. Nigerian fraud has grown into…

In 2010, every startup was chasing the Silicon Valley playbook: raise venture capital, burn cash, scale fast, sell high, repeat. But in a cramped Beijing office, a man fresh off a quiet software career was building something else entirely. Lei Jun didn’t want to build another iPhone clone. He wasn’t…

In 2016, a little-known Indian company made an announcement that stunned the global tech industry: a full-featured Android smartphone priced as low as a cup of coffee. The device, called Freedom 251, was set to retail for just 251 rupees, which was roughly $3.70 at the time. In a country…

Some products fail without anyone noticing, while others fail dramatically and spectacularly. The Amazon Fire Phone, Red Hydrogen One, and Samsung Galaxy Beam were all launched with big names, huge budgets, and ambitious goals. These weren’t just random ideas. Each of these phones had exciting features that sounded impressive, like…

A product can look great but still be hard to use. You might tap, swipe, or scroll, only to find nothing happens as expected. Often, this isn’t because of poor visual design; it’s because the logic behind the design is flawed. For instance, some apps have a back button that…

How do you make a call, send a message, or drop a voice note without a SIM card, Wi-Fi, or using your data? You don’t—unless you have the Tecno Spark 40. This smartphone introduces a remarkably innovative feature known as FreeLink, a peer-to-peer Bluetooth-based communication system. This functionality allows users…

You’ve launched your platform. The product is functioning well, the design is clean, and the endpoints are live. However, something isn’t quite right. Developers are taking longer than anticipated to integrate, teams are repeatedly asking the same setup questions, and potential partners who seemed “excited” last week now sound hesitant.…

I remember being part of a team that built a disbursement platform, a FinTech web application. We had already drafted key documents, including the Product Requirement Document (PRD), to guide the engineering team. I worked on the Transaction Flow diagram and collaborated on various app designs. Then, the conversation shifted:…