Jan 21, 2022
2021 -A Review, 2022-A Promise.
Racing Towards Excellence
2021 was an interesting year. I handed in my notice and left for Business School. From Lagos, Nigeria to Durham, United Kingdom.
The goal was to use the time to reflect on my experiences, and to do a career transition back to Technology.
I arrived in London and observed the 10 days quarantine. Usually, by day 6 the isolation starts to get to you, but I had an idea which started with these questions:
What can I do creatively to share the lessons from my experiences?
From the books and resources, I have read, how can I clarify my thinking?
And just like that, on day 10, this newsletter was born.
Name? About What?
I had already been writing for a few years on my Medium blog called Notes by Nero, where I covered everything such as Solar Energy, Nigeria, African Travel, Book Reviews and more (see Table of Content).
So, I knew I wanted to do something similar, maybe a bit more focused on Business and Technology. So, I appended Business to my blog name.
That’s how I got the name Business Notes by Nero.
Now, I knew I wanted a subtitle that reflected an underlying theme.
By early 2021 the covid pandemic was dominating the global discourse, but I had resolved to not let that deter me. I still wanted to have an exciting, and productive year.
That resulted in the subtitle: A Pandemic free Adventure in Business School.
As mentioned earlier, I was focused on Business and Technology, this was coming from my experiences working on different business propositions, my impending business degree, and desired career transition back to Technology.
With the name and content finalized, I setup my newsletter, and was ready to get started.
2021–31 Articles Later
In 2021, I was able to publish 31 articles, which had 7,280 views!!!
My first article was a review of the book Choose Yourself by James Altucher.
The premise of choosing yourself was so key to what I was trying to achieve. My top 2 quotes/takeaways were:
“The world is changing. No longer is someone coming to hire you, to invest in your company, to sign you, to pick you. It’s up to you to make the most important decision in your life: Choose Yourself”.
“Success comes from continually expanding your frontiers in every direction — creatively, financially, spiritually, and physically. Always ask yourself, what can I improve? Who else can I talk to? Where else can I look?”
Imposter Syndrome = Superpower
At the time I had to battle with the imposter syndrome of starting a newsletter.
Would anyone read it? What do I have to say?
So, I wrote my next article on this very topic: Imposter Syndrome = Superpower.
I ended it with 6 ways you can turn imposter syndrome into a superpower. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
Readers found the topic very relevant in their job.
Business Course
I followed this up with articles related to my Business School on Strategy, Business Economics, Organizational Behaviour, Strategic Marketing, and Operations.
Success Lessons
I then began a series on successful public figures (and the lessons we can learn) with Tyra Banks, and followed up with Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, Kanye West, and Ben Chestnut.
Spotify: A Product Story
At the time, I got a Spotify subscription and was blown away by the product and decided to do a product review.
Discovering Spotify had a podcast on their product strategy presented a unique opportunity to review a technology product from a strategy and technology point of view, (and the music business) across 5 parts: Part 0, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
This is still ongoing.
Career Advice
One of the most rewarding and relevant articles I have ever written is Career Advice.
It was birthed out of a conversation with a graduating MBA who was concerned about his job prospects, and uncertainty. It also builds upon an article I wrote in 2018: In Pursuit of Why.
There seems to be a gap between studying at business school and securing the right opportunities afterwards. This is a gap I would love to explore in 2022.
Top 10 Most Read Articles in 2021
Below is a list of the top 10 articles (in descending order)
1. #15 Kanye West: Lessons in Business and Self Confidence
2. #23. Strategy, Management & Teamwork for 2022. Part 1 — Management.
4. #1Week 1 — Strategy — Introduction to Strategic Management & Strategy Diamond
5. #11. Spotify: A Product Story ‘Review’. 00: The most epic battle in music history.
6. #9 Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry: One lesson in Business
7. #13. Spotify: A Product Story ‘Review’ 01: How do you steal from a pirate?
8. #7: Tyra Banks: Lessons in Business and Personal Branding
9. #18. Spotify: A Product Story ‘Review’. 03: This party is going to end.
10. #8: Strategy — A Strategic Analysis of Netflix
2022 and Beyond
On my final train ride from Durham, I reflected on my experiences in business school, and in writing this newsletter.
Where do I want to go with this? What is the Why? What is the Need?
Again, I needed a new subtitle that reflected a new theme in my journey, and I got it!!!
Racing Towards Excellence.
This subtitle was apt because it encompassed what I think I represent and can contribute through my newsletter and creative work: Lifelong Learning, Reinvention, and Adventure.
I don’t see myself as an expert, merely someone documenting his journey to expertise.
My chosen newsletter topics are:
Business, Technology, Africa, and Career Development.
As always, I would aim to provide practical advice, and to publish a new article on Thursdays at 7pm.
Conclusion
I hope you would join me on on this adventure as we have our best year yet. If you’re finding this newsletter valuable, consider sharing it with friends, or subscribing if you haven’t already.
If you have any questions kindly email me at notesbynero@gmail.com .
You can also follow me on LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Yours Sincerely,
Nero.
P.S.
In 2021, I was fortunate to be a finalist in the Autocar Drivers of Change competition, where I proposed that the UK should build a scalable ‘gigafactory-as-a-service’.
You can watch this video here.
Onwards and Upwards.
