POV: YOU FORCE YOURSELF YOURSELF TO LEAVE THE HOUSE AND ATTEND ANTILER NAIROBI MIXER

Hey guys. So last week I attended the Antler Nairobi Mixer. A quick confession, I almost didn't go. I didn't feel like it, to be honest. But this being my year, I did. Looking at the blurry images, apa, you know, with my, you'll see I was too busy networking though. And honestly, that's kind of the point of this thing, right? For anyone who doesn't know, Antler is a startup investor and venture builder that backs founders at a very early stage. Okay. The mixer focused on fundraising and what the investment landscape looks like right now, especially in Africa. There are investors, founders, operators and people building some really interesting things across the ecosystem. Very interesting actually. Um, one thing that struck me, uh, was that none of the advice that was given was new. Those are the things I keep telling you guys, okay? Build something people actually need. Understand the problem deeply, talk to customers, get traction and focus on creating value, okay? Fundraising is not the business. It's not the business. The business is the business. Understand your business, understand your niche. Anyway, it was amazing to hear the panelists echo some of the words I've been telling you guys. That really felt good. My biggest takeaway was not even from the panel, mhm, it was from being in the room because you generally never know what can happen when you show up, right? A conversation can easily turn into a collaboration very easily, okay? A connection can turn into an opportunity very fast. And an introduction can open a completely unexpected door. Case in point after the event, Antler shared two opportunities with the attendees through the email, of course, thanking us. Stuff great. One of them is their founder residency program where selected founders can get support and potentially secure $100,000 in investment. The second one is a Startup World Cup Kenya Regional where founders get a chance to compete for, um, a spot at the global stage and potentially win $1 million in investments. Not is not even the point, right? The point is that none of these opportunities would have landed in my inbox if I had stayed at home. So, uh, so here's a reminder. Go to that event. Talk to the people. Network. Ask questions. Introduce yourself. Introduce what you do. You don't have to be the smartest person in the room by the way. You just have to show up. You just have to be in the room.