When Steve not only sent me a review copy of his book, but also allowed me to interview him (please refer to the previous podcast) I knew I had to do something special to say thanks. So I came up with a:
My-goodness-isn’t-that-the-most-original-thing-since-cubic-zirconia-idea
I called it:
The Two Days of Steve
Yeah, I know, my creativity took time off to make room for the blatantly obvious :P.
Yesterday was all about getting to know the man. Today is all about the man’s book.
I got Coach Caroline on the phone with me and we had a freewheeling discussion about the impact the book had on both of us.
The discussion was very loosely scripted and we had a discussion more like a radio show than a podcast, which is what I was after.
Lest You Forget:
The book is Personal Development for Smart People: The Conscious Pursuit of Personal Growth. You can find out more about the book using the link below:
I hope this is of value and service to you.
The Podcast
Things Discussed
1) What we both loved about the book?
2) The practical nature of the book
3) Things I would have improved about the book
4) The things that surprised us about the books.
5) The ideas that deeply resonated with both of us
6) We had a feel good session (I think she made me blush as much as my complexion would allow
)
7) We had a lot of debate
8 ) A lot lot more
Any feedback, tips, hints and you are free to leave a comment below and/or hit the “Contact” button at the very top of the page and get in touch with me.
One Quick Final Thing
For those who want to support the release of my first ever information product, or just want heaps of videos and interviews with experts that teach them all they need to know about podcasting, please check out the site: www.MyPodcastingTutor.com.
Have one of those days that is so awesome you rename it “Perfection-Crammed-into-One-Day”,
Mwangi
Update on 28th October 2008: Steve Pavlina linked to this review of his book, among many many others. Check it out on this article entitled: More Book Reviews (there were that many)

Wherever I go in Africa, one of the consistent comments that I hear from young entrepreneurs in the technology space is that there is no way to get started. There is little seed capital and very few angel investors to be found. That’s a problem - and it’s true in East Africa as well as South Africa.
In a conversation with John Balen, General Manager of Canaan Partners - a top tier Bay Area venture capital firm, over breakfast this morning at PopTech Fellows we discussed a few of these challenges. Canaan has operations and offices in India, Israel and the US, which means that they have some experience working in areas with non-traditional VC ecosystems.
Problem: The Investment CommunityIt turns out that one of the main problems in places like Africa, which is somewhat similar to places in India, is that the investors have to be educated first. Seed capital and early venture funding is a high risk proposition. There are few investors who care about technology, and those that do are interested in the later stages of investing.
A common problem in Africa is finding young entrepreneurs with a good idea, generally technical in nature, and they need about $5000-$10,000 to handle operations and build out of their technology in the first 6 months to a year. If they can find a local funder, that person generally wants an inordinate amount of equity in the operation - anywhere from 40-80%.
Some serious education in the investor circles in Africa needs to take place.
Lastly, there should be some recognition that a lot of the young entrepreneurs need some help. Beyond the funding, just giving some help in learning how to set up and grow a real business is hugely important. Introducing potential partners, helping broker deals and giving advice on how to hire employees are ways that investors grow into being a true partner - and African entrepreneurs badly need this too.
IdeasI’m interested in seeing some Y-Combinator style venture funding companies AND communities developing around different regions in Africa. Groups that only fund the very early stages of development ($5000 - $15000) for very short periods of time (3-6 months).
I know there are some individuals doing just that, but let’s talk about communities around this space. What I think would be interesting would be to see these individuals band together and create real communities that connect with and plug in to the community in much closer ways. Become part of the local technology ecosystem and really learn how to find promising individuals and foster them to greatness - and make a lot of money along the way.
As John Balen said, “It’s hard for large VC funds to invest in small enterprises.” This is especially true in Africa, so why not figure out a way to foster earlier stage investments as a community of smaller investors?
You might notice the snazzy new design, and the realignment of things on my blog, I just completed the redirection of the RSS feeds on Feedburner, so please note the new RSS feed link. The old feed link should redirect to the new one, but in case it does not, please just re-subscribe.
If you ever need to redirect feed links, check out this post for the short instructions.
The theme of the blog is based on Firebug, it was customized and given the ‘Mweshi treatment’ by the talented designer Mulumba.
I switched hosting companies from Locomotive Media, which was actually powered by wind, to Dreamhost. I racked my brain quite a bit about this, but the fact that Dreamhost offsets its carbon emissions made my decision easier. Granted I would prefer to use a data center that actually uses renewable energy like I did before, Dreamhost offers a very good deal and gobs of space for further growth.
It is quite an honor for me that my blog is on the list of Top 45 Female African bloggers, I am so excited! The email Lester sent had a really cool picture that captures my excitement. Yay! to blogging, and here’s to a relaunch of Afromusing. Thanks for the honor AfriGator, and thanks to Mweshi for helping me switch hosts. Cheers!